A Thrush Sings

It feels as though it’s been a rather piddling week, an assortment of tasks swirling round in an eddy, nothing gaining any real momentum, but the hearing the first thrush singing and feeling the milder weather has kept spirits up.

Upstairs a black soil pipe now connects to an unfixed toilet bowl, runs diagonally across the floor and down through a hole, under the end of an imaginary bath. It runs on through the top of a cupboard, through the shower room wall and into the vertical soil stack. I chose black pipe thinking it would look neater and be less visible (although it should be completely hidden anyway) but grey would have been easier to mark with a pen…

We decided on the bath; large, steel, double ended. I got confused about who had actually given the best quote including delivery, which here makes a significant difference. We also decided on the basins and taps. The arrival of hardware would help me organise the two bathrooms, showing exactly where I need to build support and make waste pipe connections. In the upstairs’ bathroom it’s more a matter of practicality and style, in the downstairs shower room it’s more critical. It’s ‘an accessible‘ facility so must have particular clearances; trickiest is the keeping the one metre clear space between the end of the toilet and the wall.

A delivery of 15mm plastic pipe was left down by the gate so I’ve finished running hot and cold to both showers and some further dry weather plus Tash’s time let us finish half the boarding on the workshop’s eastern gable.

I’ve knocked up a timber former for casting the slab for the heat pump and the mechanical ventilation and heat recovery unit is on the wall of the plant room, its fat, insulated intake and exhaust ducts protruding outside through the faded pink membrane.

Having hung the MVHR on its bracket Andrew’s experience and expertise was invaluable, cutting through the wall, connecting the fat foam ducts (which needed to be shaved down one side) and making all good again.

I passed him things and did simple enabling jobs, feeling I’d made the right decision getting him in, saving time and getting it right first time. I realise now what a huge relief it is, as well as being a very significant point in my journey – now there is actual plant in the plant room everything else can follow.

Andrew sealed the wall up again, sealing the airtight layer and filling the void round the ducts with bits of wood fibre insulation and airtight (and insulating) foam then trimmed and taped the trimmed exterior membrane back in place. The black intake & exhaust box on the outside is a simple push fit until I fit the larch cladding behind it when it will be sealed and screwed.

Andrew’s invaluable help today was a swap; he did the ventilation unit work instead of building the bathroom stud wall – a great exchange from my point of view.

When Andrew left I took immediate advantage of the advance and began cutting and fitting the metal spiral ducting. It will need screwing together once it’s all assembled, but again, for now it’s a push-fit.

Tomorrow I’ll fit metal ducting to the exhaust manifold (pictured above) then continue with it upstairs.

If I can cast the slab before Tuesday (hernia repair day) then in a couple of weeks we should be ready for the heat pump, hot water cylinders and pipework to be fitted.

Things are moving on – I’d better write to the heating engineers and electrician and book them in.

More birdsong please!