I may have worked it out.....

[cornish_crofter]

I'm coming to the end of that job now.

I've realised that I have of late been taking ridiculous amounts of time to do the simplest of tasks on this job.

What gives? I thought.

Then it dawned on me. I am absolutely drained at the moment. The mere sight of the job was sending me mad.

I must have had a mini brain storm. It is almost as if I had forgotten how to do stuff.

Whenever I came to tile, it was like I was doing it for the first time

Whenever I came to grout, again I was thinking "What do I do now?"

I'm by no means a specialist tiler but it wouldn't have been out of the question for me just to plug on with it. Sure I take longer as I don't do that much tiling. However I was actually thinking hard about every single tile. OK there was quite a bit of cutting, but this was ridiculous.

I refitted the sanitary ware this morning, then connected up and tested the new plumbing to it all. Toilet went in a treat, sink was a bit harder. It's the old stuff going back in, and the basin and pedistal were never a pair I suspect. Silly me for assuming that the waste in the basin wasn't leaking. It is, and most likely always was. Having already been in there of course it was fitted before.

Oh, and tiling. Spending some time levelling out the walls pays dividends.

 

[doug boardley]

glad you're getting to see some light at the end of the tunnel

 

[Ian]

I think you've had a really hard time of it recently mate but you have come out the other side stronger and wiser. Just think if you come up against a job like this again you will be able to price it more accurately and have a better idea of how long it will take to complete. Thus eliminating that horrible sinking feeling! Well done on getting through, a lesser man may have chucked the towel in.

 

[faithhealer]

once this jobs behind you it's your round in the 'Arms'.

 

[kilty55]

time for a well earned break hugo?

 

[BoldreChris]

It's amazing how our state of mind affects how we do the job. I don't suppose any of us gets enough R&R these days but we do have to fnd time to unwind and deliberately think about fun stuff. Good sleep, good food and good company - all adds up to the potential for a good job.

Sorry - dreaming again !

 

[kilty55]

well said that man

 

[cornish_crofter]

Thank you guys

I've warned Steve that I'll be getting in touch with him. I've got a couple of other little jobs to get out of the way first. I don't think for a moment that I'll become a specialist tiler though I do quite like wetrooms - oddly enough!

Hands up who remembers my first wetroom a couple of years ago?

The jobs I do most often seem to be bathrooms, simple tiling, UPVC fascia boards and small plumbing jobs (changing rads etc). I will consider anything but often steer the customer to other people. I am quoting to replace a ceiing at the moment, but I have a plasterer to call on to skim it. I'll be putting the board up. There is no way I can skim 10m sq of ceiling like he can.

 

[cornish_crofter]

....Oh, and I've got a new signature - do you like it?

 

[user123]

Very wise signature, Hugo.. and low times happen for a reason, some people miss the reason, you didn't, I think you should give yourself a pat on the back. Everything will be ok...

 

[DHTiling]

....Oh, and I've got a new signature - do you like it?

I like it..

But what i like more is how the members have good things to say to other members when times get hard etc..

So a big thank you from me for being.... Good friends to Hugo.. No doubt he really needs encouragement like this.. Hugo.. hang in there mate.. these members have your back..

 

[White Room]

....Oh, and I've got a new signature - do you like it?

I think it's brilliant.

 

[aph257]

Good one Hugo, sums it up just about perfect.

 

[Dan]

Really pleased to hear you're on the up.

Take it on the chin and move forward.

 

[cornish_crofter]

I like it..

But what i like more is how the members have good things to say to other members when times get hard etc..

So a big thank you from me for being.... Good friends to Hugo.. No doubt he really needs encouragement like this.. Hugo.. hang in there mate.. these members have your back..

Dave, as usual is spot on

There are too many to thank individually, so a big thank you to everyone here who've given me technical help and moral support along the way.

This shouldn't have been a difficult job but it was for various reasons. I do feel for the customer as well as they bought the place a few years ago after it had been extended and refurbished. In the time they've been there, the boiler packed up, nearly killing their daughter into the bargain, the shower room that had only been in for a few years leaked rotting the floorboards and leached through block walls. The fancy glass roof in their dining room leaks like a seive and the timbers are warping. And now the other bathroom needs to be completely ripped out and floors, walls and ceilings below need redoing, again thanks to the plumbing and sealing of the bath.

That's the stuff I know about.

And all this has taken place in the last 4 years or so.

The workmanship is so bad in this place it's hard to imagine a DIYer with access to a DIY manual making some of the mistakes. Have you ever seen solvent weld fittings without the solvent weld? This place has them in abundance. The customer put insulation tape over the joints just as a stop gap.

Oh, and when I lifted the floorboards of the shower room (which is now the wet room) I found the main soil drain from the toilet to be leaking, badly.