Tap me up

My beloved tap has finally given up. The centre bit that pulls out like an excited donkey is really stuck, and has become stretched from being yanked. The arm that controls water flow and temperature is getting stiffer by the day. It won't be too long before something explodes and I'll be standing in a fountain of Thames Water's finest.

Fortunately these taps are pretty common now. And for something virtually identical to what we have now you can get away with spending around £50 on sale (taps always seem to be 'on sale'. So do bathrooms). The replacement tap is guaranteed for 15 years. Our current tap limped towards 5 years and we paid £90 for it (down from £160, apparently). I'm sure it's guaranteed for longer but due to various adjustments it had to endure to get fitted I'm pretty sure all guarantees are void.

Not sure if Rob is going to be OK installing it or if we need to get in the professionals. Will report back. In roof leak news, Sunfold are coming back (again) in two weeks time. The rain is rumoured to be letting up next week so at least we can remove the towels and saucepans from the floor. I can't believe it's the middle of July and we've had so few days hanging outside due to the persistent rain! If I hadn't had a week in Croatia recently I'm sure I'd be suffering from seasonal affective disorder.

Six months on a leaky boat

Over two weeks ago I emailed Sunfold Systems about these persistent leaks but have yet to get a reply. I guess they're exasperated with us - the annoying client who always has leaks despite 5+ site visits. We're pretty exasperated too - it's not ideal paying over £20k for a brand new roof to live with pots, pans and towels on the floor. The leaks have gotten so much worse since the last visit that we're wondering if having the serviceman up there has somehow damaged the steel supports. Will write a firmly worded letter and update in due course.

In other news, LOVE having that second shower. Especially when the weather's been humid and the kids come home filthy. The shower space is easily big enough for both girls - it feels roomier than other showers we've used actually, and despite various warnings about soap scum the black tiles look fine.

PS title refers to a Split Enz song: Rubbish quality video but it's from 1982, pre HD:

Drip drip drip

Bad news - despite replacing the rubber seals around the vents/windows, the roof still leaks. Now it seems to leak in four places, when it used to be three. Actually I've spotted rogue drips landing on random places on our floor and can't even figure out where they're coming in.

The Sunfold System repairmen suggested we poke at the drainage holes in the rubber with a stick to clear any debris regularly, but as the drips started a few days after their last visit this is clearly absurd. Even if the drainage holes were blocked with roof moss or dirt or whatever, the overflowing rain should surely drain off the exterior glass towards the guttering rather than drip INSIDE the house.

Funnier still, once the rain stopped, the drips continued for another two days - as the water is obviously building up somewhere beneath the seals. How can we be the only customers to have this problem?! If you've heard of any similar problems with a newly installed glass roofing system please leave the details in the comment box below.

Is now a good time to mention that the customer care person I'm dealing with is called Sue Lake? There's an irony in there somewhere.

Shower doors

I can report that having a second (working) shower has been really useful. Having it's own water heating system means that both can run simultaneously without any problems. The one thing that made it a little tedious was having to squeegee down the floor after each shower and waiting for it to dry before using the loo or sink in there.

We had always planned to get doors in this room but as the size wasn't off the rack we'd need to get them custom made at a cost of around £700. For the sake of £700 my view was to endure a few months of sgueegee-ing. The builders said they might be able to find a cheaper supplier, somewhere around £500 but this didn't eventuate - and £500 + fitting was still going to be a bit of a whack on top of the already depleted bathroom fund.

Then Rob found a 90cm centre-opening bathroom door system on eBay - brand new for £90 including delivery. They arrived the next day. As the bathroom is 92.5cm wide it would mean having a 2.5cm panel or plinth on a wall to make up the shortfall, or putting in really wide rubber in the central join. Then Rob somehow had a genius brainwave and bought another bathroom door system the next available width up - 95cm. The builders fixed one half of the 90cm panels to the wall and one of the 95cm ones and lo and behold, it fits perfectly. You can't even tell that one of the panels is slightly wider as the sink & cupboard are in the way.

£180 worth of doors and £50 to install them means a £700+ job is done for £230! If you have a 92-93cm wide shower room and you need some doors we have a set here - get in touch.

These photos show the doors fitted and in action... The kids and I have had showers there this evening and there were no leaks or splashes even after three of us tried to make lots of mess. Happy days.

Laundry room

I can't believe how much time I spend in the new laundry room. And what a pleasure it is that the floor is level with the hall - for years I've been stepping down to put on a wash. It's the little things actually that make a difference. Also, putting the clothes dryer on top of the washing machine was a revelation. As it's a condenser I can now pull out the water compartment easily and tip out the contents. When the dryer was on the floor I'd just about do myself an injury trying to extract the water vessel. (NB if you're going to put your dryer on top of your washing machine, ensure they are fixed together otherwise the dryer will wobble off at some point).

We haven't made it to Ikea to sort out a wall-mounted drying rack - or shelves to store the cleaning equipment - yet. But I did find a shoe rack which means no piles of little shoes to climb over every night. With all the rain the laundry room being close to the front door has been brilliant - we're able to strip down and chuck everything into the wash or hang it to dry instead of dripping through the house.

Leaks in the roof

The rain in the UK has caused flooding, so you can imagine that quite a lot of water has fallen the last month or two. With it comes an ongoing problem that we have from our otherwise superb glass extension: The three vents (aka windows) all leak. Not from the frame, but from the rubber seals in non-consistent places on all three.

Sometimes one does it, sometimes two, but never so far all three. We've had Sunfold Systems (who installed it) out four times to remedy the problem over the last couple of years. This usually results in some rubber getting cut to improve drainage, then a fella coming back to seal up the hole which is too large. Then a fella coming back to cut a hole in the seal when the vents start holding water, a bit like an overhead glass-bottomed boat feature.

This time though they decided to pull up the external rubber and replace it with a wider version which should channel any water (rain, condensation, overflow from washing the windows etc) into the holes. From here it trickles over the glass and down into a gutter. That's the theory anyway. And yes, apparently we're STILL the only people to have this problem.

The top photo shows the dining area sporting roasting trays on the floor to catch the drips.

UPDATE

Two of the leaks have come back, so Sunfold are coming back next week to have another look...

Downstairs bathroom is finished!

And here it is!

Tiles are nearly done

The black tiles are virtually done. Wall to wall, top to bottom, and yup, it looks dramatic. Next step is to do the tricky edging and then fill in the gaps with grey grout. Annoyingly the kids are so petite that they'll probably need their little Ikea plastic step to reach the tap on the sink for the next few years. That ubiquitious bit of blue plastic will spoil the boutique wetroom effect somewhat but hey ho.

Here's my little alcove for housing shower gel and shampoo: it's narrower than I would've liked so the jumbo Aesop bottles won't fit. Sorry house guests, you'll be slumming it with supermarket brands who offer products in tall & thin bottles. The builders had to smash the alcove into concrete so it took ages, but it's worth it...

Wetroom progress

The black floor tiles have been laid and the wall tiles are on their way. The pipework has been installed, including a nifty thing that allows us to heat the back of the cabinet mirror - leading to a fog-free experience. The silver thing on the floor is the base of the shower drainer, and shows the line where the doors will open to. Did I mention this was a teeny tiny room?

I was having trouble with the idea of a regular shelf in the shower to hold shampoo and shower gel, but the builders are going to create an alcove in the wall instead. The power shower unit will sit next to the alcove, but can't be boxed in or it invalidates the warranty, boo. The sink arrived really quickly but must've been dropped as the entire corner was smashed. A replacement duly arrived the next day, but on closer inspection was designed to sit on a pedestal rather than being wall mounted. All sorted now, though I have to somehow get the wrong sink back to the Post Office.

Today the loo has been plumbed in and the heated towel rail has arrived. At this rate the whole job might be finished before Easter!

Laundry room taking shape

This will post will feel as dull as dishwater, unless you're about to make a laundry room (aka utility room) too? If not, then I'd have to agree. Probably the least exciting room your home will ever have. If like me you're from New Zealand this will seem like a totally normal thing to have in your home. London flat dwellers don't usually have the space to put in a laundry room and the British are fond of sticking the washing machine in the kitchen (why not the bathroom?! Who gets undressed in the kitchen?)

These photos show the former end of the garage, well, middle really as the end was used to make our kitchen. The space was gutted, a wall put up and behold - insulated. Amazingly the wall between the garage and kitchen was never insulated, which goes a long way to explaining the glacial blast which came out of our cupboards in winter. On the upside, our cupboard items remained fresh for ages. At least with an insulated wall our gas bill should be less of a fright next winter.

The room now has it's own (eco) light bulb and a separate switch to run an extractor fan. This means we can shut the door and leave the dryer on and the humidity won't get too crazy in there. Guests will be pleased they no longer have to climb over an airing rack in order to sleep in the spare bedroom.

A trip to Ikea is on the cards so we can buy one of their wall-mounted drying racks. The selection of such items online is pretty bad, and the so-called specialist websites that deal with such things are overwhelmingly awful. Definitely a gap in the market for anyone who can be bothered. The flooring is en route and then we need to think about how to house the mountain of stuff that used to be in the garage into this little space.