Finally!

Checking for the sewer location

Digger gets going

We are up at 6:30 in anticipation of the Great Day when the plumbing is done, and yes! this time the plumbers do arrive at 7am.

Yesterday we dug a provisional hole to locate the water main and electrical connection that run down the side of the garden. Today the plumber starts by jackhammering up the concrete in the old outside loo, then gets going with the digger.

When he finally gets through all the roots of the palm tree that grew there once, down to the old earthenware sewer pipe, he cuts it open and makes the interesting discovery that it is full of the foam that they pumped in to stabilise the wall - it's found a crevice and worked its way in. We are relieved when he manages to extract it like a neat plug, and even more relieved when we find he can make the new connection to the old sewer only just inside our boundary - no digging on our side of the fence at all. At the other end he connects up to the sewer line that was laid under the concrete floor last year, then they begin the job of filling the large hole they've excavated back in again.

Really quite a large hole

Working out where to connect

Meanwhile, inside the house, the mate has been progressively fitting the inside taps, sinks etc. By coffee time the bathroom has a toilet, a vanity basin and a shower rail. Next he fits the trough and taps in the laundry. At this point we discover that the washing machine tapset is missing a tap handle, so we head to Bunnings to exchange it for a complete one.

When we return we are dismayed to see that the Council contractors have returned to complete the asphalting of the footpath. But we find that they have arrived about 10 minutes after the builder's son Fraser had finished loading the surplus rubble and spoil into a trailer and driven away. The plumbers had moved their vehicles and the digger out of the way, so no sooner did we have the last truckload of rubbish gone than the footpath was finished off. Amazing timing.

By this time all the outside work is finished, and the team of three works inside to plumb in the kitchen sink and cooktop. Final tests show water coming and going just as it should and they guys are off to the next job.

Cooktop, sink, tap and running water!