Hey! I said that the mojo was back!
It was solid progress today which started with the Chinese Grand Prix and a Hamilton win. I'm not really a McLaren fan but do want a British World Champion. It seems like another lifetime ago when I watched Damon Hill cross the line at Suzuka in 1996 and heard Murray Walker's voice crack with emotion. (I remember staying up all night at a friend’s house with a group of us and we were all so wired on Red Bull, (and Stella Artois and vodka as I nauseously remember!), by the time that the race finished at seven in the morning we all hung on and watched the repeat at eight!) All Hamilton has to do now is finish fifth in two weeks' time in Brazil and my fingers are firmly crossed, especially after last year's disappointment. It would also be pretty cool for Ferrari to get the Constructors' Championship because that's where the real passion in F1 lives.
Enough of that, onto the kitchen. I went to B&Q as they opened to get more supplies - trunking and an external plug socket this time to run and hide the cables that will provide some power to the corner where the dishwasher will go.
I routed the cable and installed the socket fairly easily and tested it with the radio which worked so I now have power where it is needed as well as the water supply. All that's needed now is the waste which I decided to leave until tomorrow to concentrate on building and installing the rest of the base units.
This turned out to be a good strategy and I cracked on with the drawer and cupboard units after finally securing the oven cabinet.
The cabinets all had to have cut-outs made to get around gas pipes, plug sockets, and all of the other necessary stuff that’s on the walls at that level. This meant building the cabinets, moving them into position, clamping them when they were precisely in place, marking out the obstructions, undoing the cabinets, cutting out the gaps, rebuilding them and then placing them in position, re-clamping them and finally securing them. One cabinet took three goes because my measurements were slightly out on the first attempt and then the back panel needed to be cut once the unit was in place. It is pretty tedious and repetitive work but they are going to be permanent fixtures so it worth the time spent to get them right.
Before the final cabinet on the back wall was installed I removed the old waste for the dishwasher and had a look at the new sink. My old waste pipes were 42mm diameter but the maximum size for the new sink will be 40mm so I had to strip out the whole lot and will be back down to B&Q in the morning!
By the end of the day I have got all the back wall cabinets built and secured, and the sink unit is built with all of the cut-outs made except for the dishwasher waste. I am finally happy with my achievements for the day’s work!
Tomorrow after the trip to B&Q I can build the waste, secure the sink cabinet and put the dishwasher and fridge back in place. Then I can concentrate on building all of the wall cabinets before help arrives on Tuesday to secure them to the wall as well as cut and secure the worktops.
This means for the first time in eight days I will have a dishwasher back in the kitchen. It doesn’t sound such a big deal but for me it will mean eating from proper plates, using proper cutlery and having properly clean mugs to drink the enormous amounts of tea that I seem to get through every day. I can’t wait!
It was solid progress today which started with the Chinese Grand Prix and a Hamilton win. I'm not really a McLaren fan but do want a British World Champion. It seems like another lifetime ago when I watched Damon Hill cross the line at Suzuka in 1996 and heard Murray Walker's voice crack with emotion. (I remember staying up all night at a friend’s house with a group of us and we were all so wired on Red Bull, (and Stella Artois and vodka as I nauseously remember!), by the time that the race finished at seven in the morning we all hung on and watched the repeat at eight!) All Hamilton has to do now is finish fifth in two weeks' time in Brazil and my fingers are firmly crossed, especially after last year's disappointment. It would also be pretty cool for Ferrari to get the Constructors' Championship because that's where the real passion in F1 lives.
Enough of that, onto the kitchen. I went to B&Q as they opened to get more supplies - trunking and an external plug socket this time to run and hide the cables that will provide some power to the corner where the dishwasher will go.
I routed the cable and installed the socket fairly easily and tested it with the radio which worked so I now have power where it is needed as well as the water supply. All that's needed now is the waste which I decided to leave until tomorrow to concentrate on building and installing the rest of the base units.
This turned out to be a good strategy and I cracked on with the drawer and cupboard units after finally securing the oven cabinet.
The cabinets all had to have cut-outs made to get around gas pipes, plug sockets, and all of the other necessary stuff that’s on the walls at that level. This meant building the cabinets, moving them into position, clamping them when they were precisely in place, marking out the obstructions, undoing the cabinets, cutting out the gaps, rebuilding them and then placing them in position, re-clamping them and finally securing them. One cabinet took three goes because my measurements were slightly out on the first attempt and then the back panel needed to be cut once the unit was in place. It is pretty tedious and repetitive work but they are going to be permanent fixtures so it worth the time spent to get them right.
Before the final cabinet on the back wall was installed I removed the old waste for the dishwasher and had a look at the new sink. My old waste pipes were 42mm diameter but the maximum size for the new sink will be 40mm so I had to strip out the whole lot and will be back down to B&Q in the morning!
By the end of the day I have got all the back wall cabinets built and secured, and the sink unit is built with all of the cut-outs made except for the dishwasher waste. I am finally happy with my achievements for the day’s work!
Tomorrow after the trip to B&Q I can build the waste, secure the sink cabinet and put the dishwasher and fridge back in place. Then I can concentrate on building all of the wall cabinets before help arrives on Tuesday to secure them to the wall as well as cut and secure the worktops.
This means for the first time in eight days I will have a dishwasher back in the kitchen. It doesn’t sound such a big deal but for me it will mean eating from proper plates, using proper cutlery and having properly clean mugs to drink the enormous amounts of tea that I seem to get through every day. I can’t wait!
