Just Another Hole In The Wall
It seemed the path of least resistance in the end.
Dismantle the staircase or break through a wall? In the absence of even a sofa to sleep on right now taking out part of the staircase might prove a tad inconvenient. The emergency plumber traced the flow of water back to the rising main, to somewhere along its passage through the two-and-a-half foot thick exterior wall. Not the most straightforward of jobs by any measure but as it turned out it could have been much worse. The water main comes into the house through the boxed in void underneath the stairs but fortuitously right alongside a stud partition between the stairs and the downstairs loo, enabling us to take down a part of that wall to gain access to the pipe. Sounds so easy when you write it down.
Lucky we haven’t decorated in here now isn’t it. The tiles came off intact so they can go back in due course, until such time as the downstairs loo reaches the top of the queue and earns the dubious privilege of its own full-on renovation experience. It’s pipe central in here. It’ll be the third time that Mike has pulled off this trick. He’s getting quite the expert.
The rising main, as it passes through the house wall, has been replaced with new pipe.
A couple of weeks ago I had a run in with the builders. Not a serious one. And they don’t happen very often these days. Given the extended nature of projects chez duck we’ve all got to know each other very well. But I did have a bit of a moment after the taking of a hose into the sitting room to wash down the walls. Especially since the sitting room floor has barely dried out from the previous water leak back in May. An olive branch followed swiftly with the appearance of a couple of dehumidifiers. Maybe even that was an opportune event..
One of the units has been temporarily requisitioned for the greater good. The floor, in both the hall and the downstairs loo, was sodden.
Lucky we hadn’t decorated in here either.
With the plumber done and departed we stood surveying the scene in the hall. After which I left to go upstairs.
Mike had obviously watched me go: “That bottom step bends without the support of the riser. Can we try to keep our weight to the outside edge?”
I confirmed that I would try to remember. It was just before bedtime He Himself descended the staircase. CRRAAAACK!!! Smartly followed by an expletive.
“Mike, could we try and keep our weight to the outside edge of the step?”
A further expletive.
So glad it wasn’t me..
So glad it wasn’t worse and that you found the source of the leak quickly. I hate to think what an emergency plumber cost you though. And as much as I am enjoying (is that allowed?) the saga of your renovations I am so glad that it is you and not me. It will undoubtedly be the most beautiful house once finished. Then we can return to the garden and the new greenhouse…
I am certainly looking forward to returning to the garden. In the sunshine today it was glorious and I’m afraid everything else had to wait while I pottered and planted some bulbs. More on the greenhouse next post, assuming there are no more emergencies in the meantime!
It was very kind of you not to add a photo of the cracked step.
It doesn’t show, otherwise I would have! I’m reliably informed that it didn’t actually crack but the sound I heard was wood straining against a nail. I’m still giving it a wide berth though..
Oh dear, I’m sorry to say that the ending to your tale had me laughing out loud. I’m glad the source of the damage was found and repaired without bringing down the house. Here’s to smooth sailing ahead.
It would be about time wouldn’t it. Things do seem to be coming together a little better this week. Always a dangerous moment, just when you start to relax a bit. And of course it’s still only Tuesday!
Being on the petite side, like me, I can imagine you could have quite a go at the builders and with absolute justification!
Now the stairs, oh dear, please watch yourselves, no more injuries, there is gardening to be done as well.
There is gardening to be done. I have started a bit today (gently). Bulbs, seeds and a couple of the Imperata.
I wonder if there is a blog award for perseverance. You certainly deserve one
If there was a life award for perseverance it would come in the form of an extended period when one has nothing to do (or worry about) except sitting with his or her feet up. I can only conclude there is no such award.
Oops! I’m glad it wasn’t you either. Both my husband and I are getting increasingly testy and we haven’t faced a fraction of the trials and tribulations you two have. Our drywall is going up today – at last!
Even when you’ve done a fair few of these big projects you still tend to forget the level of stress involved. And all the decisions required, usually under pressure. Mike and I are very different both in our approach to things and our tastes. Multiply the scope for testiness ten fold.
Hurrah for the drywall! These milestones are really important.
Thank you for the ear worm! Could this be the end of the incidents? Oh fingers crossed! Good job with the tiling in one piece and minimal damage – and a breath of relief that neither have been decorated yet – reeeesult!!
I was singing it too. Until I looked it up.. it’s actually another brick in the wall!
I’d love to think it was the end of incidents, there have been quite enough of those lately. And that’s without the ones that never made it into a blog post, like a nasty accident involving a berberis and a winch. Almost three weeks of gardening lost. On the bright side either the weather or other pressures would probably have kept me away from it anyway.
Lol! Oh dear! Epic fail with the lyrics! Pink Floyd was never one of my favourites – although I did ride a strawberry roan mare called Pink Floyd years ago at a riding school!
Not my favourite generally either. I did like the brick in the wall song though. 🙂
I did laugh. I’m sorry but the end of your story seemed a light moment in a sorry tale. So glad it wasn’t you either! And thankful that you didn’t need to take down a whole wall or the staircase.
We were just so lucky that the leaky pipe was where it was. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to put the main water pipe in such a hidden away space, perhaps positioning it next to the partition wall was the best option at the time.
Yikes. Is it possible to put a few blocks of wood or a few bricks under that bottom step to hold up/absorb some weight on it until it is fixed? I would never remember to skip the bottom step. Poor Mike. Lucky you. Sort of.
We’ve tried to keep the space as open as possible while the floor dries out. But Mike has replaced the riser now (with a new one, the middle of the night crowbar work destroyed the previous) so hopefully all will be well. I’d got so used to avoiding the middle portion of the step I’m now having to relearn walking normally down the stairs!
Oh nooo…. I’m glad it wasn’t you, too. What a bummer – both about the leak and the step. But, like you said – it could have been a lot worse!
The trials and tribulations of an old house. As we gradually sort out the plumbing and electrics we should be less prone to legacy issues. In theory..!
It’s getting so I am nervous to see your posts. Glad it was not you on that step, but frustrating to have one more thing to deal with.
It could well be that this pipe has been leaking for a while. Now that we know it’s there it could explain a corresponding damp patch that appeared above the staircase a few months ago. So if it was a problem waiting to happen then much better now than after we had decorated.. we probably wouldn’t have had any reason to go underneath the staircase even when renovating the room.
Hopefully better news next post. Oh wait.. tomorrow is Friday 13th..
Oh that is funny about the stair cracking, Not funny when it is your house, but perfect comedic timing, anyway, and oh yes best it wasn’t you. Glad the necessary repair wasn’t extremely complicated.
Being on the righteous side doesn’t happen very often. When it does I milk it to the full!
One step at a time😀
One step forward, two back 😉
Goodness, you are going through it all, aren’t you?! I’d say you are being very patient!
There comes a point when nothing is a surprise any more. And if most of your house is a building site what’s another bit of wall? If we’d got to the end and the house was pristine I’d have been mortified!
Glad you have found the source, hope it is fixable, totally fixable and no more leaks. What are you going to do for entertainment when you have finished?
In the short term winter is coming. Assuming we have a sitting room to sit in, I shall recline on a recovered sofa in front of a new woodburner with a pile of good books, a case or two of Pinot Gris and not move again until March.
The “so glad that it wasn’t me” would have been my reaction too.
Always better when it isn’t your fault!
All par for the course – the course your renovation has been running on anyway!
It’s not been exactly straightforward has it. 🙁
I’m sorry, but I laughed a bit as well.
Glad to hear that yet another problem has been resolved. I have my fingers crossed that in another month you’ll be enjoying a much larger percentage of your home, and that it will no longer seem ok to just use a hose inside the house.
Hear hear on the hosepipe!
It may be a bit longer than a month, the plaster takes a long time to dry, but progress does seem to be in the right direction now. Which is something. Thanks Frank.
I laughed at that, oh how good it is when we are ‘instructed’ to do something only for our other half to be the one who forgets! You will know this house inside and out by the time you are finished! x
Yes indeed. We have opened up another chimney today, another dark and eerie place I’d rather not have explored!
What kind of a moron uses a hose in a house? An old fashioned squeegee mop and bucket would have done the same job in no time. At least you did not have wet carpets, the smell of rotting wool is awful and nothing to do but throw them out. When I worked as a labourer we had to strip the carpets out of a lovely MOD library in Shrivenham due to a pipe bursting in the attic. Not a pretty sight.
Still painting windows…but at least I can have a coffee when I wish and the inside of the house is nice and tidy. Surely each crisis should earn you Pinot Grigio points that you can then cash in as required?
The builders had done the ‘scratch coat’ in the plaster, leaving lots of horizontal furrows to act as a key for the next coat. Then along came the sand blaster, creating so much dust that the furrows all filled up and had to be cleaned out for the next coat of plaster to stick. They’d already tried hoovering it out but it didn’t work. As Mike would say, omelettes and eggs. But in this case perhaps rather too many eggs were broken. Along with the client’s increasingly fragile ability to hold it all together. Yet another truly awful day today. I will be cashing in those points.
Take a trip to Rosemoor, spend the night in a nice pub and enjoy the summer weather while you still can. Failing that my other more practical calm down trick is to go for a long walk.
Mind you even I would not have thought that sand from the sand blasting would fill up the furrows in plaster….I suppose the old fashioned dustpan and brush were not sufficiently macho. Still painting. When I get bored I switch to sanding down the next bit, it’s exciting work. At least it’s outside but I keep looking at the garden and thinking what I would be rather doing.
Well the idea was to have a day off today, there being no builders on site. A long walk on the beach would have been nice. Even better with a long lunch and Pinot injection. But it has all been kiboshed by the urgent need to find the right tone of gravel. And the even more immediate need to rescue the wall builder’s gazebo which literally took off in the wind, cleared the low hedge and ended up on the river bank, perilously close to a dunking.
I’m in full admiration of your persistence with the painting, not a favourite job round here either. Keep going. For next week it
maywill be raining.D > We have a similar story to post about. These things can trigger an episode of plumbing paranoia ; but one positive thing comes out of them : next time we’re building/renovating a house, all plumbing will be accessible – without massive deconstruction work. No showers against outside walls!!!
Hi Denise, oh gosh I do know what you mean about plumbing paranoia. Every dripping sound thereafter sets you on edge.
I dread to think what hurdles you’ve had to leap to get at the shower pipework. I look forward to reading the post.. I think!