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Here you can see how I have rearranged the spare room slightly, yet again, once learning we would not be able to bring the wardrobe around to add to the dressing table. Now, back to that bathroom...

On the third day of work, the Monday, a hole was made in the lower hallway wall - the bathroom was actually looking worse than before they began, although I have confidence it will EVENTUALLY be palatial and snazzy - and I can once again have a shower, even better than before. But for now...I am wondering if it might not resemble a fatality of the recent Alaskan quake!

I can see that the light is going to work again soon, the air vent has been removed, and that the company use Henrys...

By the close of the fourth day, things were on the up. After the initial 3 days had made the grotty grimy bathroom into an empty shell with holes, dangling leads, and brickery, by the close of the fourth one could find a few beginnings of the new look room. Above you will note the old floor boards are now covered in an underflooring wooden mat, while below you can see the first of the wall panels have been installed.

Here we are after the 5th day of work - which was slowed down by rain, apparently. Thankfully I am not in a rush - Liz said I could pop round to have a shower if the work is not finished by Friday and although my son came home an hour early from work - assumedly due to having had very little sleep for the past 3 days - we are coping well after the initial 2 days of getting used to the change from an empty quiet house to bangs, drillings, and crashings.

Here comes the shower and flooring...

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VIDEO 

In fact, this video shows the old bathroom better. The workmen came on the final Thursday of November and by the close of day the room looked terrible - which is not surprising as a lot of work is going to be done, but first they had to get rid of all the old yukky stuff...

The second day arrived. This time, the electrician arrived and stayed for a bit then left - the workman from the previous day came for half a day then vanished, another one came for most of the day - and there might have been a fourth come and go at some point.... The main tasks completed were lowering the ceiling and plastering it over.

This is the room at the close of the second day's work.

The weekend then arrived along with December, and during the two day break the room stunk, assumedly from the drying plaster.

One of the finds the workmen made was this ancient cigarette package - empty and mouse-munched - that assumedly the original builders had dropped inside the house when building it back in 1953!!!!

So, the room looked worse before it looked better.....

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This is our bathroom pipework AFTER I brushed it and vacced it - with a Henry! You will no doubt be happy to hear this pipework will also be made to look NICE by the bathroom guys, who will be coming out in around a week's time from my photography/writing.

Those cheap plastic green self adhesive tiles will be gone - phew! They did not go with the bathroom colors as was, let alone as will be. The bathboard will be gone - and the flooring....

You may recall when I laid the lino in both toilet and bathroom, around 6-7 years ago, while my father still owned the house and lived in it. As his FT carer, I rec'd a weekly allowance form him to cover his groceries, and whatever was left over went on buying things to make the house better - such as lino in the loo instead of carpet which I consider gross - I mean, think about what happens in a toilet and the accidents, and what goes onto that carpet.

Its not that dirty - but....I dislike bathmats. It is around 6-7 years old - and mostly only used by myself - though my son uses it once a week. It is too thick to easily wash and dry, though - and so having lovely new flooring that can be mopped/towel-dried on the horizon it can see out this next week before retiring to the garbage bag.

One of the least mucky yukky items still in situ as I speak, is our shower curtain - I think this is the fourth in 5 years...It is less than a year old, but already looks gross.

We would be due to get another one in around 4-6 months time, but our new bathroom will have no bath to keep the water into - instead we have GLASS! Luxury and ease lies ahead - and the then-new butterfly shower drape that was salvaged from a friend's house after her death will retire to become a paint-sheet.

I shall now count down the days....7 left as of today's writing spree, it's all due to begin very soon! That leads me into 1-2 weeks of chaos, mess, noise, lacking water, airing space, and proper cleaning facilities....to be followed by a brand new spotless easy-clean modern, neat n tidy, new bathroom - AKA bliss! I will not be the one doing the renovations, but will take a photo daily as matters progress and share the improvements as they happen!

I have however just begun redoing the spare room... Liz is redecorating her bedroom and I had the idea of trading her old furniture to the spare room and taking mine to the tip, instead of her taking hers there. So far, the dressing table has arrived - but the wardrobe will have to wait til a third pair of hands and dry day coincide. (It turned out that we could not get the wardrobe here after all, but the dressing table is spacious and makes the room look like a bedroom/spare room.)

Let me just remind you what the bathroom looked like before the work begins tommorrow (as of writing - as of posting it's almost finished)...

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This old wooden towel rail is fine - IF you like living with and using antiques! I prefer to give them to people who appreciate them, or dump them in the tip - and use something NICE and modern. I have a lovely silver colored 2-bar wall mountable towel rail awaiting the new bathroom! Plenty of room for one big and one small towel - no wobbly feet to kick into place every few days - no lumpy bits to collect dust - and not needing a repaint every few years.

You can also see the turquoise decor of the bathroom as lived with in my childhood - 40+ years ago...

The cabinet I like - it was a Christmas gift from Liz 2-3 years ago when the same guys who are going to give me a posh new bathroom did hers into a wet room. The heater however, I don't like, want, use, or need. Dad did not like his old heater as it didn't heat him up enough - so when the young chaps put in the 3 overnight electricity storage heaters, they put in a new heater - chipping half the plaster as they did so, I might add.

Dad used it just a few times - it blew a fuse if used at the same time as the immersion heater was on and dad found it too hot. Soon afterwards he was stuck downstairs with me taking him a bowl of water to wash with instead. It has not bene used since and will soon be removed.

Our ugly ceiling will be lowered and painted. I will soon not need to see stains that I cannot even reach, let alone clean off. The walls will be covered in fancy panelling with a 15 year guarantee - no more yukky flaking paint - ahhhhhhhhhhh, lovely.

Can you blame us for wanting a fancy new bathroom when we see THIS each time we take a bath/shower? The brown gunk doesn't come clean, the tap only shines in parts and only for a few minutes, the wall tiles - SHUDDER!

The inside of the basin as is is - horrible! Some of the orangey bits come off and some don't - the taps don't clean well, although bits of them shine directly after a clean until someone uses them again...

I really don't like using our bathroom - but..... sigh, one week to go (as I am writing) before there is no bathroom at all until its renovated! Maybe I will appreciate this messy mucky room during those 1-2 weeks of no shower and kitchen sink teeth cleaning!