Lights

Well, we had a sparky........ he arrived Saturday 18th at 7.45 and we said 'can you leave the lights and get the boiler onto it's own power please...'. So he connected the signal wire to the UH1 control box downstairs and found the other end in the loft. We left him at about 9.30 sat in the loft contemplating the spaghetti of cables.

When we got home at 1 he was gone! The job was too big for him, especially as he planned to work at weekends only...

Anyway, we called EPS back and they started on the Tuesday. And now we have lots of lights everywhere.

These are the island lights - once the breakfast bar is fitted (a 3.6m x 60cm lump of wood according to Sarah!) they will not be an HS&E hazard any more!


Another remarkably similar light above the dining table. Plus one of the wall lights - we have four around the walls, and four more on a dimmer on the pillar. And it turns out these alone are enough to light the room, but now we have the ability to 'set the mood'... I can't see us ever turning all the lights on - there's over 3kW in here!!!!!!



Anyway, Geoff is pressing on with the kitchen. We have doors on most of the cupboards and Blum TandemBox drawers with auto-close for our pots and pans. Both of the ovens, the extractor and the fridge are on proper power although we're waiting for a grid switch for the oven isolators.

We now have lights in our master bedroom (piccies when it's a bit tidier!) and FINALLY - lights in the en-suite. We've opted for ceiling fans with in-line fan units for both the ensuite and bathroom so the wall units will be going back. That said, we used the tube and outside grill for the tumble drier!

Heating controls

Been a mixed week. The bath surround has almost been completed - just waiting for the tiles to be delivered now. Some plastering in the snug - once that's been skimmed, it will be ready for decorating. The kids room is still the tool store so no chance to decorate yet. The rear hall now has skirting boards so a few bits of plastic trim around the windows and the radiator and that's done (plus another coat of paint!). The light is up and (I think) it just needs the circuit breaking closing to make it work. The utility needs the door panel fitting, the radiator and the tiling round the sink then it's time for the washing machine, drier and fridge and the units.

The big thing this weekend was the thermostats came on-line! We now have control of the heating downstairs, and even after one day it's better. With UFH you don't turn it on and off, you 'set it back' - ie. turn it down - overnight. So we are running the main room at 22 degrees from 6am to 10.30pm and 16 degrees overnight. The thermostats take care of warming up and cooling down so the room should be at the chosen temp at the chosen time. This morning it was 20 degrees at 6am so tomorrow it will switch on earlier!

The controls come from Heatmiser in Darwen, Lancs.... very swish they are too!


Parlo ripped the landing apart yesterday taking out the old bathroom doorway to keep the ceiling level throughout the landing. He started plasterboarding as well so that should be boarded and ready for skimming today (?). Hopefully they will get on with the raidators today but the plumber has gone AWOL at the moment. And, yet again, we are waiting for the sparky's next visit...... Still plenty to do, but nothing that should hold the build up now.... apart from the isolator switch bank for the appliances, which all have their own fused spur anyway, it's mainly fittings now - switches, lights, etc.....

Ah.... the ensuite. Although we had success with one lot of UFH, the en-suite Walkwarm system failed to start. We are waiting to find out what's wrong. Worst case is the ribbon of wire was damaged, in which case the tiles will have to come up..... so we're going to wait until the bathroom is ready before we even think about that.

Utility

The utility room is now plastered apart from the sink wall - Geoff had 'fun' connecting our new taps. The old taps were about 6 inches apart on the wall and the pipes ran vertically into them. The new ones are a bit different, as you can see from the picture:
These aren't the actual taps, but they're similar enough. The entry point for the controls is at the side, so lots of pipe bending was required, but it looks good, and will be very smart when it's tiled...... ah.... tiles...

We have been struggling to pick tiles for the bathroom. We want it smart, but bright, rather than too conservative.








Sarah found some nice glass border tiles - 50mm x 10mm vertical strips in different colours - but unfortunately, at £17 for a 100mm strip, I think that's about £600 just for the strip round the bath..... maybe not then!

But we have found a mirror

BbbbbIiiiiGggggg bath....

Well, it's here, and they got it upstairs!

It's 2000mm x 1250mm and it is now a Bath Room, not a bathroom! The big silver blob on the side is a combined overflow and filler, and you turn it to open/close the waste underneath:


The bath is an Airspa, so it's not a jacuzzi, it blows hot or cold air into the bath so there are no jets for little fingers or toes to poke, just watering can style rose holes on the bath base. Here is all the compressors and gubbins:




We have bought some tap heads to go with it but they look so small, we're putting them on the box surround, not on the bath itself, they are about 1 inch square: