Help!

I love learning new skills, trying almost anything, but when it comes to DIY there are certain things I just can't do and one of these is water!

I mean I can plumb in a tap, take the kitchen drains apart, clean them out and put them back together, but plumbing in new bathrooms? That's just not for me!

The upstairs bathroom hasn't been working for many years. When the taps and shower were finally fixed there was clearly a leak somewhere in the main pipe and within a couple of days of the water being turned on, the entire hall side of the kitchen had wet patches along the wall and the cats weren't happy!

We got this fixed a number of times but it just didn't really work and the risk of such damp convinced me to keep the upstairs water turned off as I just couldn't face having to re-plaster a damp kitchen wall!

So when it came to designing the upstairs bathroom area I eventually decided that it all needed new water pipes and drains. This was confirmed when I spoke with my favorite plumbers who said they could take a little time out of their busy schedule to do the job.

These guys did the plumbing for my downstairs shower room about 8 years ago, they then came back and refitted a new boiler, they've done numerous jobs here over the years and are simply superb.

Projects like these hinge of having the right people to help you. I have a bit of an issue relying on others to do things and would much prefer to do a job myself, but there are times when you need to let go and trust in others.

After planning where the pipes should all go and confirming it at our first meeting with the plumbers, Dušan and I dug out the area between the bathroom floor and the vaulting of the ceilings below. This is not that pleasant as the void is filled with ancient dust and rubble, but once we'd got down to the brick we were able to drill a hole through to the downstairs loo where the new water supply would come from. We also covered the bathroom doorway with an old sheet to keep down the dust which proved most helpful.

Dušan managed to find where the wastewater pipes were and created a space around them so the plumbers could have enough access, and then we were ready. The view from the bathroom out into the new hallways is starting to take shape even if the bathroom itself is like a bomb site!

The plumbing was a three day job all in all and the plumbers as always were delightful. These guys are just brilliant and I'm so lucky to have found them. Like many skilled tradesmen nowadays, they're in high demand and told me that they're not taking on any new clients.

They arrived with everything they needed and after a quick coffee, set to work. Over the three days they called me over a couple of times to clarify certain details like the final thicknesses of the walls and heights of the floors, but other than that they just got on with it... and as quickly as they'd started, they were packing up their tools and heading off to another job.

As I said goodbye I had a great feeling. Thanks to these guys, this project has taken a big step forward and now we can move on to the next stage 💚