Half the height, twice the difficulty

April 2015 and we're getting on with the bathroom.

You know when you do a job and then you forget to photo-document it?

Here's the photo of our lovely loo before starting the remaining shower walls:

And here it is with the half-walls built, semi-clad and the floor tiles nearly completed!

It's a bit of a time-lapse, I grant you. Here's the order of jobs:

• The end and side half-walls for the shower enclosure have been built. If you look at the previous post, they couldn't be built until the shower tray had been installed. They were really wobbly when I first built them but the application of lots nails and screws sorted that out. They have to be really rigid because I'm tiling them. Flexible adhesive & grout is really only designed for very minor movement. Anything major and it'll crack right off.
• The wall behind the WC has been studded out (not sure that's the right term...) as the down waste is too far from the external wall. No-one, and I repeat, NO-ONE wants to move the WC waste. It's at times like this that we really miss Paul's dad in a very practical way. As a general builder he would have shown up the day after we'd told him about it and sorted it out. Ah well, padding out the wall will give us a nice deep window board.
• The shower walls have been clad in ply. Exterior grade on the inside and standard (cheaper) on the outside.
• Most of the floor tiles have been laid. I chose to lay them with a join at the corner of the shower enclosure. It's always worth working out how to have the minimum corner cuts. Floor tiles are made of porcelain to maximize their strength. This makes anything other than straight cuts a real challenge.

You might have noticed that the WC is at a strange angle? This is a handy feature of having it's waste going down - it was easy to rotate it to lay the floor tiles underneath, waiting for one lot to set before rotating back to finish. The cistern is not operational, of course, but a bucket of water suffices as a flush when necessary!It's a bit basic having to use a bucket to flush the WC but it's worth remembering that we still don't have the luxury of a door on the bathroom at this point so...not many friends wanted to visit us at this point!

More about tiling in the next blog

Hiring a Portaloo

It's June 2014

It's my first time as a hirer of a portaloo!

There are several portaloo hire companies out there and most of them are set up for commercial use, either at festivals or for builders. You can get ones without a wash basin, just a cleanser dispenser but the asbestos removers need the water. Thankfully they don't want a full shower which would have been a reasonable request. I'm hoping to only need it for a couple of weeks but most hire companies have a minimum fee or time.

Working out the overall costs, most were similar but the lady on the phone at Space Mobiles was the most understanding and helpful so they got the business. The deliver, service & pick-up on Tuesdays in our area - you have to pay extra to get a different day which makes sense.

It turned up on the back of a truck with just one guy and I start thinking that I really don't want to be helping haul a loo around but it soon becomes apparent that it's really light! If you look in the photo, there are wooden runners on the bottom to protect it and make it easier to manoeuvre around a building site. The flush/basin water tank is filled from a reservoir on the truck after it's in situ and then it's good to go. Space Mobiles return each week to "service" it and I just ring when it's no longer needed.

There's no lock on the outside! I'm thinking anyone could use it! And then I remember, it's a portaloo. Who would want to go in it unless they were desperate and then I'd rather they used it and not the garden! There is, of course, a lock on the inside.

Daylight comes through the overhead white plastic and I realise that night-time use would be interesting but hopefully, not necessary.



Nick the plumber comes and removes the WC, basin & bath, the radiators on the asbestos walls plus the ones in the bathroom as they need relocating anyway. The supply pipes are capped off.

This photo shows the lovely plasticised tile-effect wallpaper. It's not what I'd use, but you can still buy stuff like this!






The WC is gone, leaving the waste pipe in the floor. Most modern connections are through a wall so the floor waste will limit our options when we get a new WC but it's still possible. Neither the builder nor the plumber really want to move the waste pipe. This is one of those times that we miss P's dad. He'd have turned up at 8am the next Saturday (while we were still in bed) and sorted it out.

The boiler is disconnected. The heating won't be an issue as it's June. The kettle will have to provide any hot water, mainly needed for washing up mugs.



I have to use the portaloo before I leave.

I am strangely shy about any of the neighbours seeing me go in which is ridiculous! Everyone uses a loo and I wouldn't have one there if there was one inside. Clearly I will be using it. Still, I make sure no-one is around before I go in and use the facillities. It is not a pleasant experience but better than I anticipated.

Everything is ready for the asbestos removers the next week.

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