Day 67: Measure once, cut twice

After a relaxing Christmas, it was time to get back to work. My little helpers still seem to be on holiday and for some reason, I couldn't interest them in plumbing and tiling. Much less fun than dressing up as princesses and singing Frozen songs.

Today's fun discovery was that although the basin plumbing looked great at first glance, the waste pipe and feed pipes needed adjustment. Given that I fitted these pipes when there was no floor or walls, this could have been expected. Initially I was so proud that I got the waste pipe the exact centre of the basin ... just short of doing a jog ... then I realised that the mechanism for the plug also goes in the centre of the basin. Oops! But that was the reason for not fixing the PVC pipe until everything was measured. I just cut a new hole in the wall and extended the pipes by about 4". 

The hot and cold feed pipes were also just a bit short for the flex sink connectors. This was a much harder fix as I had to shut off the water and put some 90 degree elbows and turned the isolators upwards. Good news was that I turned on the water and not so much as a drip. 

Afterwards, I pulled the toilet - Care gave me exactly 24 hours to get it back in place so I was on the clock. The plan was to finish off the wall tiles around the toilet and basin so that I can put them back in permanently and to finish off the floor grouting. After I finished all of this, Care came home to tell me that it didn't look like much got finished. I have a very tough customer. Good thing I have photo evidence :)

Finally, I got to use the Dremel that Wince and T got me for Christmas - a great gift, thanks guys! I cut some tile, sharpened some chisels and was on the lookout for other potential uses. Dremels are the DIY version of a tablet - something that nobody really needs but you look back and wonder how you ever got on without one. I've also discovered the marketing genius of Dremel - get people into the ecosystem and live off them ordering accessories for the next 5 years. So far I've picked up a tile cutting wheel, the attachment to connect the cutting wheel, a tile filing attachment, a right angle attachment .. and the list is growing.