Bathroom tiling

Finally made a start on the tiling. Had no sleep last night - (books, quotes, materials sourcing & ordering etc,etc) took me till 4am so I didn't bother going to bed. While doing all my bits on-line noticed that there were four transactions on one of my accounts that weren't mine! Card trouble I suspect.
So I was at the bungalow by 6.30am after taking the scenic route and stopping for diesel. Had a bit of brekkie and then decided a power nap would be a good idea while waiting for my delivery - bloody 11am by the time I came round. Good thing the airbed has a slow puncture, if it weren't for being flat on the floor reckon I'd of slept till 2pm. So I had a couple of cups of tea, phoned the bank & sorted that out - card cancelled, money will be refunded in 24hrs and I have to fill some forms out and return them within 10 days or they take the money back. Set up the tile adhesive mixing kit & tile cutting kit and was just about to start mixing when my delivery arrived - the Thermaskirt is on site!
Then decided that now I didn't have to wait for the delivery it'd be a good time to go & get a new tile adhesive trowel with deeper notches as the walls are a little bumpy and the tiles are huge. Also needed to do some banking. And I managed to get the tile to vinyl trims picked up while I was out which I need for the wetroom en-suite. So it was around three this arvo before the first tile hit the wall. A bit tricky! I usually tile with smaller tiles which are a bit more forgiving if the walls are out. These big buggers make it difficult to get all the joints perfectly lined up as the walls are slightly out and to make matters worse some idiot decided that 'brick bond' pattern would be the way to go!! I am a glutton for punishment aren't I? I just have to keep reminding myself that it's going to look the tits when it's done, as long as I don't rush it.
Back down there tomorrow, toolstation.com delivery is due so I may as well continue with the tiling while I wait.

Carpentry!

A carpenter I'm not!! But needs must and the chippie that was going to build the meter cupboards has gone awol so I've attempted them myself. The doors are cut too so I just need to sort out the ironmongery, fit the doors and then fill/sand and paint. I also built the cubby hole/shelf at the end of the bath while I was at it. The top will be tiled and the rest painted. Will be a good loo roll store.
Monday will see the arrival of the heated skirting boards from http://www.thermaskirt.com/default.aspx and all being well the area sales guy will be with us on Thursday for a training day to ensure I fit it properly. If you pay for their training day then you get a listing on their website as a registered installer which had a bearing on my opting for the training.
So we're edging forward slowly. Hopefully we'll have heating & hot water within the next few weeks and then I can move in properly and spend all my spare time working there.
I'm off, got to order some materials and search the net for a towel rail for the bathroom & decorative rad for the kitchen.

Todays effort

The drains are now prepared, old gully that was set above DPC has been broken out and the pipe including its concrete shroud have been cut back to a sound collar ready for the new gully to be set in at least one course below DPC. The toilet drain has also had the same treatment and is ready to be extended from the collar into a new soil pipe taking both the new loos. I've made temporary connections so as the old loo can still be used for the time being and the rainwater pipe from the guttering will also run to drain.
The loft now has all of the celotex that I had in it - about seven 8'x4' sheets have disappeared! Looks like I'll need many more, anyone got any 100mm PIR insulation board (Celotex, Kingspan, Recticel, Ecotherm or similar) going spare? I could of had the loft insulated to current building regs under the government grant scheme but the grants only available if you use 270mm of fibreglass which renders the loft useless as storage space. Putting 100mm of PIR between the joists gives the same 'U' value as 270mm of fibreglass and means I can board over it and use the huge loft space. Trouble is it's so expensive that I've been trying to get the sheets cheap by buying surplus whenever it becomes available..... I need to find some more urgently!

Music

Here's me temporary stereo picked up for free from a freecycler. Can't get the CD player to load CD's but the Amp works fine and the speakers sound good too. I've rigged my Ipod up to it and have spent the last two days working to good music at a reasonable volume with a little bass. Thanks to Chris in Ash for the gift, I'm thoroughly enjoying being at the bungalow!!

I passed the BPEC Solar thermal course last week too. So I'm now trained & qualified to install a complete Solar thermal (Hot water) system including the unvented hot water store side of it, using my BPEC unvented ticket for that and my new BPEC qualification for the solar collectors & associated controls/pipework. Just need to find a building to practice on now......

Boiler Cupboard

Finally!! Here it is in all its glory - the Alpha Flowsmart 25 and all the controls & valves. I've managed to squeeze the lot inside a kitchen tower unit including the condense neutralizer, scale reducer, water shock arrester, Fernox TF1 system filter, and additional expansion vessel. Not quite as neat as I'd hoped but I should be able to get to and remove each component for servicing/future maintenance. The vertical flue went through the roof today so all I need are my heated skirting boards which are due around the end of the month and the electrical controls need to be fitted and wired up. All being well I'll have heating & hot water in 4-5 weeks time.

Also got the sun room roof finished today and the bath fitted, connected to waste and the thermostatic diverter valve is plumbed to fill the bath from the overflow. Bath is full of COLD water and levelled up, legs adjusted & fixed to floor and all siliconed around the perimeter.

Will think about making a start on the drainage alterations on Friday, weather permitting although there is a more involved repair to do before the drains will pass a water/pressure test (required by the BCO). And I now have the tiles for the en-suite and the bathroom on site so hopefully can start tiling over the weekend.

The front door has been sanded back and had a its final coat of gloss. The internal window cills have now had two top coats of paint and all the internal door frames have had two undercoats & 1 top coat - may give them a second top coat Friday, well young Gary may give them a second top coat as it is pretty much Gary who has done all the internal decorating.