After the fairly plain sailing during the tile removal last week, this week has been much less of a breeze.
It has been quite frustrating in fact, with unexpected occurrences at every turn.
The week was planned for marking out and cutting channels for the new electric circuits and renewing the existing wiring that I had not already done.
With a core bit, I can drill the holes for the electrical back boxes and then join the dots to chase out the channels - sounds easy enough.
First hole, first problem, though it turned out to be not quite the problem I thought.
Found the buried cable, with 100% accuracy. Fortunately, this is just the TV aerial coax that is not used and I can just cut it off and ignore it.
Working on the other wall I drilled out for another back box.
In the first hole (the lower one), I encountered the old supply cables for the bathroom lighting. Again, fortunately, I had previously replaced and re-routed that supply when working on the other side of that wall. No real damage was done and the cables could be removed as redundant. However, because I had found this cable and was not 100% certain it was unused, I decided to simply put another hole above. Sadly, this time, I found the cable run to the light at the top of the stairs, this was of course a live circuit that actually runs back from the main bathroom junction box. Even more fortunately, I needed to replace that cable because it was already damaged and there was no earth cable in that run. Perfect, because if there was a problem with passing the draw-line through the tubing then I had access to the tube and would be able to get the new cable installed. A simple repair to the tube before filling the hole again makes that a success. Now all of the lighting circuits have new cables and a proper earth.
Now back to the lower of the two holes. I can use the empty tube to pass a dedicated circuit for the water heater in the bathroom, making it compliant.
With the electric modifications almost done, things are looking up.
Now it was time to tackle the plumbing, traditionally my nemesis in DIY work.
When installing the new bathroom downstairs I had to install pipework to provide a water supply. Knowing that we would eventually remodel the main bathroom I just clipped these pies to the wall as a temporary solution but now I need to hide the pipes in the wall and spur off a couple of short pipes to connect the water heater in its new location.
Easy enough, chase out some channels, fit 'tees' to the pipes, and re-route them as appropriate.
Working away carefully, feeling confident that there were no electric circuits in the corner where I was working, all was going well.
Then, the worst happened, a jet of water fired out from the groove where the angle grinder was cutting. Obviously, I had hit the plumbing. As the realisation came over me, the panic kicked in. First, I'm kneeling in a shower with a live electric tool in my hand. I had already released the trigger but the blade was still spinning, the room was filled with brick and cement dust and visibility was very limited. I spun around, looked for the place to put down the angle grinder, and did just that - right onto the extension cable. A quick flash as the still spinning disc cut into the cable and the power was off having tripped the circuit breaker. At least now I'm not going to be electrocuted. Next, I had to race downstairs and turn off the main water supply to stop the leak. All of this probably took less than 30 seconds but seemed like 10 minutes.
I opened a cold water tap in the kitchen to allow the water circuit to drain and went back to the bathroom, I had to open the window wide and direct a fan out of the window to try and clear the air but eventually, I could see enough to work. I had to open the wall to locate the damaged pipe and work out if, and how, it could be repaired. The urgency was paramount because spending the Easter weekend with no water in the house was unthinkable.
Fifteen or twenty minutes of frantic chiselling had a section of the pipe exposed and I could see that it was not actually cut through completely. Not as bad as it might have been and I'm sure it can be repaired fairly easily, though I have never worked with this PPR type plumbing before. I do know that the joints are made by melting the plastic with a special tool and then connecting them while still molten, I don't have that tool, and even if I did there is no way to get at the tube to use the tool. I have cut away the redundant blue electric conduit behind to get better access. In some ways, it is lucky that the water pipe was so close to the surface
If there was any other luck in this episode it would be that I had time to clean up and catch the afternoon train to Fundão so I could look for a solution in the DIY store or the plumber's merchant. The next day was Good Friday and all the plumbers and specialist shops would be closed, I had to sort it out quickly. Thinking things over and over, there were some choices, possibly a patch kit would be available, or I could use epoxy resin or hot glue, or maybe a small wedge of plastic could be welded in with the heat from a soldering iron.
I could not find a patch kit or any form of fitting to cover the hole.
Eventually, along with a couple of other items that I needed for the other work, I left the store with a couple of ¾"-1" jubilee clips.
To repair the cut pipe I roughened the surface to provide a good key and applied some dabs of hot glue to the gap, then a layer of hot glue across the surface, Once that was almost cured I fitted a jubilee clip over the patch and tightened it solid. Allowing 30 minutes for the glue to cure I turned on the water supply and all was good, no leaks at all.
Once it is all re-filled with cement no one will ever know, except me, and all of you who read this.
Now, having a long weekend off from work.
Next week, finish chasing out the channels and get the electric tubes and plumbing fitted into place. Desperately hoping for no further hiccups.