5 min jobs take hours

Mel has been moaning her brakes in her car (Lovely 2001 Ford Puma) have been squeeking. She is right - they were - but only gently. And at least this time she was right.... (Remembering when "There is a noise from the front CV joint" was actually a rear full flat tyre she just drove 20 miles on!!!). Nothing serious and the brakes were checked recently so it was unlikley to be major. So - simple job: Jack up car, remove rear wheel, remove drum, check, reassemble. Removing the dust cap took 20 mins and brute force (not 1 min as expected) The the hub nut looked like a 27mm nut "locked into position" by a series of folded tabs, After trying to get these off - realised it wasn't. 15m on PumaPeople (http://www.pumapeople.com/) realised it was a series of little nuts in a 30mm cage and this needed to be removed as a whole. Bugger. Round trip to Halfords to buy a 30mm socket. Anyway - everything then came off and there was a little bit of debis in the drum causing the rub. Everything else looked in good nick. So quick reassembly and testing and all okay. So Thanks to PumaPeople for the info on a 30mm nut! And sadly I now have to redo the job with a new nut (limited use self-locking nut apparently) and dust cap. Hey ho. No such thing as a 5 min job.

Its finished!

Hurray! We've finished the bathroom. Now just need to tidy up! A good team - ahead of time; on budget; and as planned. Mel learned some new DIY skills :) Did some plumbing, used the blow torch (without burning anything), as well as tiling. Now she has a bad back! lol! Click below to see album.

0803 Bathroom Refresh

Thats it

Shit - The Weakest Link...

Damn. Its me :( After continuing DIY yesterday skimming a few mm off the bottom of the door, I (like an idiot), kneeling next to it, twisted, and tried to lift it up. Cue sloppy noise; bizzare feelings; an a lot of pain.... After 30m to get indoors, next door brought my tools in, and I spent just under 2 hours unable to move on the floor crying :( Oops. The NHS Direct, and the emergency doctor service were next to ****** useless. No offence, but the advice of Nurafen was as much use as going for a run. On verge of 999 but managed with Mels help to get upstairs and crash for the night. Managed to beat a way into the Doctors this morning, and have a great combo of muscle relaxant and multiple pain killers. Diazepam, Dicloflex, and co-Codamol. Cool! Most of today so far was a nice pain free float/sleep! Really annoying being stuck on the sofa looking at a toliet and sink that needs fitting upstaris. But I think this weekend will be doing nothing (shame there is loads of motorsport on ;) ) - and maybe a beer or two to speed up visit to the clouds. At least drugs and sleeping means I don't have to watch daytime TV! lol!!

DIY Tired

What a weekend. We had Friday off planning a long weekend away, but decided to continue working on the bathroom instead. So out Thursday with some friends for drinks. Then Friday was chore day, Tesco, Focus, Screwfix etc... :) Then out Friday night, starting early Saturday tiling.... Mel having first tiling lessons - she did really well! Then out Saturday night for a big meal.... Starting early Sunday DIYing and managed to finish the tiling and grouting off about 8pm Knackered. Didn't even have time for a run!!! oh no!!! If only we didn't have to work......

Bathroom gutted!

Well - we've started! Screwfix have delivered a load of new toys ;) A new "professional" tile cutter; auto levelling site laser level; towel radiator and loads of odds and sods; and we've also had the new taps delivered (Internet Bargain of the year). Suite due in 2 weeks.... Mels work kindly taking all the deliveries!

Today was busy, and we've been to Reading to drop off the van; via B&Q; then via screwfix, and starting gutting at 10!

Great teamwork managed to get everything out, plumbing sealed, and some more "max flow" service valves fitted (a 10 min job that took an hour). Then tidying up and via Topps Tiles to collect the tiles all by 4pm!

Mels not 100%, so we're calling it a day, going back to Reading, and then going out for a meal and a big bottle of wine!

Our van supplier kindly gave us some VIP tickets to the Outdoor Leisure Show tomorrow - so we may have a day off work and pop up to the NEC....

What a day. No turning back now!!

Bathroom project

Unfortunately the time has come to refresh our bathroom :(

We were hoping it would survive, but sadly it is naff and we can't put up with it any longer! We seldom use it as we have an en-suite for us, but we do have the odd bath!

Sadly we've noticed some of the tiles are coming loose and there are gaps appearing - and its a case of either fix these, or get more damage.

So this sadly means gutting the entire thing and starting from scratch :( Oh well - at least the weather isn't any good! ETA: mid May...... Watch this space for updates....