The infrared story still continues (and how)

Well! The story, that should have ended in August, is still ongoing. The last thing I blogged was that the initial appointment for finishing it, in mid December, had been postponed to January. But then I got another phone call. Could they move it back to December? There had been a cancellation. That was fine with me. And I hoped that would be it then. I made sure the electrician would have full access to the cupboard with my consumer unit in.

He showed up very punctually, and set to work. I was working upstairs. And without further issues, he wired it all in. Success!

The wiring in progress

The next thing on the agenda was installing the thermostats. That’s easy; they link in no time, and then you only have to screw them into the wall. Job done. You would think. 

The first thing that happened was that the electrician realised that several of the panels were a different model to what he expected. The thermostats he had with him were not compatible with them. Oh dear. More bad preparation. But at least he could sort out thermostats for three of the rooms. 

I so far have my thermostats by my light switches, so I suggested we continue that way. The electrician was happy with that. So he drilled a hole for a screw. And then we heard a funny sound. And then water started gushing out of the wall. He had hit a water pipe! 

We stampeded downstairs to close the stopcock. I was so happy now I had spent considerable time back in the days making it more accessible! And oiling it, as it was rather seized up. We could close it. And I was glad I had some water in a flask. I could still have a coffee! The electrician got on the phone to his employer to request a plumber. One was going to get to us in about half an hour. 

We started mopping up the water by the drill hole. And I checked the kitchen. Water was coming through the ceiling. It wasn’t good. 

Dripping kitchen ceiling

While we were waiting for the plumber I continued the mopping, while the electrician did some testing. I also asked him why he wasn’t using a pipe detection device. He wasn’t sure. He started googling how expensive they were. Not very! I said he could make a good case to his employer they should buy him one. 

Soon the plumber arrived, and he set to work. He needed to replace the piece of pipe, and in order to do that, he needed to expose it. Cue a big hole in the wall! But it had to be done. And the electrician finished off his stuff and left us to it. No need for him to hang around. 

The culprit 

The plumber, who turned out to be a former Cybi Strider, put a new piece of pipe in place. Then he had to solder the junctions. Doing so immediately set off the fire alarms. I hate these! I was glad he was tall enough to switch them off standing on the ground. With all windows open he finished the job. And then he left.

I had to do a bit more mopping. It was supposed to be finished now, but instead I still had three rooms without a thermostat, and a big hole in the wall. Oh well! Bring on January. Surely it would get finished then?