Screed, carpets and more helping hands

Thanks to my Father, who came down last night and helped out some more today. My parents have given us a carpet to go in one of the rooms.

With the kitchen floor now bare, there is a lot of dust and it's not at all level. There's still remnants of the old adhesive, and there are quite a lot of different levels to the floor. So last night we bought some screed/leveling compound to put on the floor. It's kinda like very liquid concrete. It's a non-newtonian liquid though so it's liquid until you put pressure on it, which makes spreading it more difficult but it will still flow into the nooks and crannies. I didn't buy enough though so my Father and Melody will have to add some more today. I wasn't sure how much to buy and at £7ish per bag, it's rather expensive. The second bag does mean we'll be able to finish the floor, and apply some more in one corner in particular. Hopefully by tomorrow we can lay the floor tiles. When it says on the bag to lay a small amount it really means it. I put far too much down and had trouble reaching to the back of the patch I was applying. And it was rather hard work on the wrist, as it is a non-newtonian liquid it becomes stiffer when you apply pressure on it. Hopefully we'll have some photos showing the finished product. Should look good and the finished product will make it easier to lay the tiles because it should be flatter!

My Father also laid the carpet in one of the bedrooms. We've already had to move boxes from one room to another. I think I'm going got have to finish the bedroom off just so we can move house. Lucky all I really need to do is plane/sand the floor and put three coats of varnish on it.

Today, my Father and Melody took delivery of the kitchen. The bathroom turned up seperately. I got a phone call around 7.45 this morning from a delivery man from Wickes. Turns out it was the bathroom, but as we've not moved in yet we weren't there to sign for it! At the time of writing, Melody has only unwrapped the sink as it's ceramic and easily damaged in transit. The rest of the units are awaiting unpacking and putting in place. With the carpet now fitted in the small bedroom, that leaves it available to put things in to clear the way for the new bathroom. That's going to be a major undertaking in of itself. I don't have any idea how to fit a bathroom. I've got some basic plumbing skills, but I've never even soldered a pipe joint before - limiting myself to the easy to fit and use, but expensive compression joints.

Compression joints are great! You measure up the pipe and get it in position. Put the nut over the pipe, followed by a 'olive' - a brass ring with a slight bulge. Then fit the rest of the threaded joint on and tighten the nut up. Water tight in minutes! This was very useful when I was taking the sink off the wall in the kitchen. I was able to usefully put a tap in under the sink - meaning I can turn off the water to the sink without having to drain the whole system.

(Oops - forgot to publish this. Should have gone out on the 13/11/08!)