With much a plumb

It's been a very exciting week. After what feels like an eternity of planning and careful negotiations, we finally break ground with our renovations with some necessary plumbing work.

The previous owners made some pretty dodgy additions to the pipes around the house, resulting in a bunch of outlets that just spilt out onto concrete or bare dirt. That's if the water didn't just overflow from clogged gutters. It's a great feeling to know that these problems will be fixed along with the addition of pipes for the new toilet and outdoor sink.


Monday morning started with a big digger just squeezing by our garage to dig up our backyard, absolutely destroying one of the lilly pillies on the way past. The workers had to do a little archeological exploration to find the sewage line as this was no where near the mark on the council plans. They ended up going through a few layers of building history, eventually digging up the old septic tank, grease trap and terracotta pipe work.


By the end of the first day we had a wrecked backyard and a good start on the pipes laid down. It was all good until we realised that the old pipes from the toilet were broken and left open for all the world to see.


After briefly considering checking into a motel, we decided to test our luck and impose on Kath and Andrew for emergency lodgings (and amenities of course). Our hosts were very hospitable and we got our share of licks during the visit, mostly from their adorable dog Frankie.

Everything was fixed up the day after thankfully and I'm developing an appreciation for what plumbers do. The work is certainly messy but I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg with our renovation.


The inspector came by this morning and gave the work a green light so we're good to go for the next stage. At least we would be if we had our engineering plans which are taking a little longer to get through than we expected. The builder thinks we should have our plans back by next week and then it's just another three days or so to get building approval before work can begin in earnest. In the mean time, we just have the return of the digger tomorrow to look forward to as those big holes need to be covered up before the weekend. Especially this one...


Things are going quick, we'll be pretty busy moving things out of the garage and picking paint colours over the next week. Better buckle up for the ride.