May 2012: Opening Gambit

I had two weeks of annual leave booked to coincide with completion. Thankfully there were no delays and so I could crack on as soon as we had the keys! There was a lot to do as I was very conscious that soon we would have a two year old living in the property as well as she-that-must-be-obeyed so I wanted to get as much of the really dirty work done whilst they weren't around.

Our plan was to get the house rewired and a new central heating system installed in those two weeks as both these jobs involve disruption to every room in the house and both are pretty fundamental to everyday living. It is also much easier to have floorboards etc up when there was no one else in the house (although not foolproof...)

oops...

My uncle was having his house totally redone and we chatted much about the things his trades were doing what worked and what didn't. I decided that one good thing they'd done as to run the radiator pipes down behind the radiators above the skirting. This keeps the floor area clear and much easier to keep clean. 

Hiding these pipes is all very well in plasterboard stud walls but is a different story in old brick and plaster solid walls....

I'd never worked on a central heating system before, but was assured the plastic push-fit systems were fool proof and with a little research beforehand I formulated a parts list and pleased as punch placed my order with screwfix. 

What a waste of time that was. As anyone who has ever renovated a house knows things never go to plan and ordering a specific list of parts designed to make a carefully designed system is doomed to failure! Thankfully we are well equipped with many merchants, B and Q and screwfix all within 5 mins!

So as the electricians got on with the rewire, armed with a bucket-full of the commonest connections and parts, I slowly started to make my way around the house ripping out copper and replacing with plastic.

I quickly found out that Red and Blue tape are obligatory. The need to keep neat and tidy and identify flow and return arms means you have to be meticulous. Luckily being an Anaesthetist I have had 4 years of training on how to be anally retentive.