Final fix for electrics & plumbing

It's September 2014 and we reach the end of this stage of work.

The electric sockets and light fittings are put in.

I wanted an interesting central light fitting with several smaller bulbs. A lot of the ones I'd seen looked too much like aliens or robots from the Matrix. I also wanted to stick with the stainless steel finish.

Lounge ceiling light fitting from B&Q

I was pleased to find this fitting from B&Q called Klute

lounge wall light fitting from B&Q

The wall lights are also from B&Q but from a range called Venus as the Klute range doesn't have a wall light.

In the bedroom, I wanted wall lights not lamps on a bedside table as they always fall over and need dusting. This decision is part of my overall aim to make the bungalow easy to keep clean & tidy.

bedroom wall lights

These wall lights are from the Arsted range from Ikea. They come with a plug but I got Chris the electrician to connect them to the main lighting circuit. He initially connected them to a double light switch with the ceiling light but I wanted them purely controlled by the little pull-chains.

You can see on the left-hand side of the bed where the electric socket had to be moved to be in line with the other one.

lounge socket

Here in the lounge also, you can see where the socket had to be adjusted.

The reality is that the plasterer often gets so focused on their work that other considerations get pushed aside. It's not a major problem, just something that needs to be watched as a customer or project manager, otherwise the overall finish with have alsorts of niggles.

hall radiator

lounge radiator & socket

These 2 radiator are representative of the 6 that were put in. I forgot to take photos of them at the time but these recent ones still look the same as when first installed.

Radiators in the bedroom and spare room were installed back-to-back on the same original internal wall along with a double socket. A double socket has also been put on each side of the original wall between the bedroom and hall. These hardboard walls will be replaced at some point and it would have been much easier to do so before putting in the plumbing & electrics. Simon did try to persuade me to do that but, at the time, I'd had enough of waiting for the trades to do their thing and was concerned about cash flow.

The hall radiator is back-to-back with one of the lounge radiators. This internal wall is randomly the only internal wall made with one panel of asbestos. It was totally missed in the survey because it's in an unlikely position. Maybe it's structural. Maybe they just happened to have one left over from elsewhere. Either way, it will have to come out, probably when we do the extension.

This photo shows the sort of holes you get in a hardboard wall when you tell the electrician that you're going to be replacing it. Yes, it looks a mess and yes, maybe the walls should have been replaced all at the same time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!