Warmth

posted by Jaitu at 21:12

Last night we huddled together on the sofa under a duvet before deciding to get an early night and climbing under two duvets and a waffle blanket and basking in the cold glow of the bedroom telly.
Waking this morning the thermastat read ten degrees in the house. I tried to re-fire the boiler but, as I had already known, it failed.
I left work a little earlier than normal in order to get home with a few minutes of daylight to work in. Expecting to have to climb a ladder and thaw the external pipe a somewhat hopeful ignition attempt of the boiler was thankfully met with unexpected success. The heating has been on for five hours now and the temperature in the house has just reached a balmy eighteen degrees. I'm leaving the heating on all night tonight in the hope that come the morning we will still have hot water.

The Boiler Says NO.

posted by Jaitu at 17:58

As the alarm went off at damn-it's-early o'clock this morning my pregnant wife got up and I stretched out across the bed to enjoy my twenty minutes of morning comfort while she showered. Moments later she called to me that there was no hot water. Even as I walked, bleary-eyed, to the boiler cupboard my senses were telling me it was colder than normal in the house. The recent cold snap has caused our boiler to throw a strop. The most likely reason is that the condensate pipe that runs out through the side of the house had frozen and the safety features on the boiler had shut it down. I attempted to reset it but the ignition sequence failed again.
So Nim and I washed using a pan of boiled water and got ready for work. As we were leaving the house an hour later I thought I'd give it one more go and the damn thing fired up.
I'd noticed that the system pressure gauge was also on the low side - another reason the boiler might protest. So when I walked into the disappointingly cold house tonight I went straight to it and worked through the refilling procedure to get the pressure back up. Sadly the boiler still would not ignite leaving me in little doubt that it is the condensate pipe. With temperatures forcast to stay in single figures for the rest of the week and the exterior pipe being in twenty four hour shadow things are not looking good for a quick thaw.

Re-Decontinues

posted by Jaitu at 23:53

Keeping with the general spirit of cleaning, clearing, sorting and rejuvenating I decided it was well past time that the site had another face lift. So here is the result. A cleaner, hopefully improved and enlarged space.

On the more tangible front the conservatory is now nearly done. We had most of the tiles laid this week. Embarrassingly we ran short by about four tiles, the first delay of our own making and so near the finish. We were able to buy more but following the trend we were promised a phone call on Wednesday to arrange another visit and have not yet heard anything more despite leaving messages and having Nuglas chase it up.
The pipe work has been boxed in and once the final tiles are down we need only have skirting and final fixings applied.
The spot lights flicker when the dimmer is in use but we should be able to get that rectified easily enough too.

Then it only remains for us to paint the plaster, move in the tumble dryer and build an enclosure for it, then get some furniture and we're completed. It will be an enormous relief when it's over.

After that we have plans to get the garden respectable, move and replace a couple of radiators and then completely redecorate our bedroom. The fun just never stops.

Happy Anniservatory

posted by Jaitu at 12:39

Last Saturday marked one whole year since we paid the deposit for our conservatory to Nuglas. A lot has happened in that year, a lot has not happened in that year.
Back in March I attempted to cancel the contract as we needed this conservatory built by mid-July and if we were going to get someone else to do it we would have had to get that underway. I was persuaded to leave the contract in the hands of Nuglas but agreed only on a few conditions:
That we be given a firm date for work to commence; That we be given a timeframe for completion; That all work be completed by the middle of July; And that failure to meet these conditions would result in financial penalty.
We were guaranteed that work would begin in the week beginning the 14th April.
It began on the 24th. It stopped very shortly afterwards for reasons not entirely down to Nuglas and ultimately properly began on the 3rd of June.

We were guaranteed the contract would take six to eight weeks to complete.
It has been eleven weeks so far and it will be at least another two.

It has not been the middle of July for more than a month.

On top of this we have been sent an invoice for the final payment. The final payment, according to our contract, is to be paid when the work has been completed to the customer's satisfaction. This is despite that fact that we are still waiting to have floor tiles laid, pipe work boxed in, skirting boards fitted, door handles replaced and some final trim finished.

Back Pipe Intervention.

posted by Jaitu at 17:20

We had another entire week of inactivity on the conservatory front last
week. We had a plumber out today to remove our inside/outside tap and
turn it in to an outside/outside tap. We're told there should be people
coming to begin the plastering tomorrow and everything should be done
within the next two weeks. Other than the plastering we have the screed
floor and tiling to be completed. I suspect that Nuglas will have
forgotten that they said that they will lay our floor tiles as they have
been unaware of other details within the agreed plan of work thus far.
Hopefully they will prove me wrong and we will get this thing completed
before we hit the twelve month mark in just under three weeks from now.

Room Going Spare.

posted by Jaitu at 08:56

With now less than a week to go before my Mother-In-Law arrives for a
month long visit the 'guest bedroom' is almost complete. What was our
spare/computer/storage room has been transformed into our new favourite
room in the house. Gone is the exercise bike, the enormous computer
desk, the shelving units and the insane number of boxes and bags. Gone
too are the sunshine yellow walls, the battered formerly beige (?)
carpet and the graduated purple curtains. Now we have a calm neutral
space. Plain cream walls and carpet, a new sofa-bed, new light shades
and lamps, fitted blinds in the window to control glare and provide some
privacy, clean coving and replacement door handles. Last night we put up
a new brown suede roman blind to provide full blackout. All that's left
to find is a chest of drawers to go in there and we're about done.
Finding this last piece of furniture has proven far more difficult than
expected though with many hours browsing both online stores as well as
real world bricks and mortar shops. No doubt we'll find something
suitable but with only a handful of days to go, and a friends wedding
occupying a large chunk of this weekend, time is tight.

It's Mostly A Conservatory. Mostly.

posted by Jaitu at 15:47

After the aforementioned delay the chaps turned up last Wednesday and
set to work on erecting the uPVC framework and glazing. By all accounts
they worked pretty tirelessly until Friday and now have the majority of
a conservatory in place.
All that's left to do is:
Lay the screed floor.
Tile the screed floor.
Wire the sockets and ceiling lights.
Relocate the formerly outdoor tap to the new outdoors.
Remove the botched dryer vent.
Make good the botched dryer vent.
Fit a new dryer vent.
Plaster the walls.
Fix and secure the new roof water down pipe.
Not in that order but I think that's it.

It really is a pity that this has been such a nightmare. The product
that Nuglas supply (the actual uPVC and glazing) is great, the fitting
that they themselves do is faultless. Unfortunately the unending delays
and poor communication as well as some of the sub-contracted work mean
there is no way we could ever recommend them.

No Conservatory: Update

posted by Jaitu at 09:38

We were supposed to have our conservatory guys attend site today to put
in the framework and start on the glazing. With dull inevitability I had
a phone call to say that there has been some kind of problem with the
frame and they won't be coming until tomorrow. It's been ten and a half
months so far so I don't know why I should expect things to start
happening on time now. So far the company who shall remain nameless
(Nuglas Southern Limited) have missed every date and broken every
promise. Other than that, and the air of indifference whenever I call, I
cannot recommend them highly enough.

Progress?

posted by Jaitu at 21:11

A few things have happened in recent weeks. No doubt a few more things will happen in the coming weeks. In an effort to, once again, force a dangerously weak crutch under the blog to give only the most superficial appearance of some activity, I'll mention some of them now and maybe (read: never) return to them later.

Work finally began on our conservatory. Long-story-short...
We paid the deposit last August.
Everything that could delay us did delay us.
Building standard/regulations oversights were identified.
Plans were re-drawn and the glazing to brick work ratio was increased.
Construction began in the latter half of April.
We hit an unexpected sewer cover.
There was a trivial boundary dispute which has transformed a formerly ambivalent neighbourly relationship into a slightly uncomfortable acceptance of proximity.
Work stopped.
Plans were re-drawn and the conservatory was reduced in size.
Work has now begun again.

Friends of ours were married a week and a half ago. The awful weather forecast for the big day proved to be inaccurate and the sun stayed resolutely bright and visible until everything had moved inside for the evening. I was asked to take some photos during the day from which I hope the happy couple find something to like. I'm not so pleased with them but it's the first, and probably last, wedding I've taken any photos at. I enjoy taking pictures but the responsibility is not something I relish.

The Groom, no longer able to contain the emotion of the day, unleashes latent super-powers on the dance floor.

My wife and I have just come back from a week in Dubai. It was hot, relaxed and fantastic. We'd both like to return and maybe we will in a few years time. I shot some shaky footage on my point-and-shoot digital still camera while on a Desert Safari and will try to get some of that available on the blog later along with some snaps and more information about the trip.

A photo that completely fails to convey the size of the dunes we were tearing through.

My Mother-In-Law has booked her ticket and will be staying with us for a month over the summer. This will be the first time one of the in-laws has been to England and my Wife is almost uncontrollably excited by the prospect. It does, of course, mean that we really have to get our spare room cleared and made good as a guest bedroom before AussieMum arrives in July.

So, I may return with more on some of these things. I may also not.