Tuesday 29^th April 2008

I spent last weekend digging the new trench for the electricity supply cable. Turned out that the existing cable was only about 100mm under the surface so they wouldn't have cut it and reconnected it. I had to chase it back across the garden until it was deep enough to be jointed (at least 450mm down). That meant digging a trench almost all the way across the front lawn. Since the lawn slopes in two directions in that area it meant the trench had to be very deep on one side to achieve 450mm on the shallow side. I think I've got it though after moving about two and a half tons of soil.

The problem that I was really concerned about though, getting the cable into the house through the steps, actually turned out to be pretty simple. The steps are in a bad way so I was a bit wary about drilling a hole through them. It turned out that if I made the trench a little deeper, about 550mm, then I was at the base of the foundations for the steps and I could easily just go under them. The other thing that was concerning me was that there appeared to be flags or something under the steps. This turned out to just be soil behind a very thick outer wall. It meant me climbing in under the front steps to dig out some soil for the cable to come in but that was an easy job compared to what I thought I'd have to do. I've still got some work to do on the entry – I need to fit a slow radius bend for the cable under the steps as I doubt they will push the cable through as it is and I want to get that area filled back in as currently the steps are undermined.

Fraggle removed a load of drain pipes from the front of the house and some cable from in the cellar. Yes, the plumber has been introduced to the world of electrics. She has also been researching our new heating system (slowly). She thinks she has now chosen both the boiler and the hot water tank. We've had the survey for getting gas laid on to the property. The existing gas line is dead and they won't reactivate it because it's lead. The new supply is all paid for and ready to go, it should be fitted in a few weeks. Fraggle has also been cleaning up the upstairs rooms. She has almost completely stripped bedroom four. We've talked about what we are going to do in order to create a bathroom on the top floor. I think Fraggle really likes my idea for creating a wet room.

Finally, I've bought a test meter so that I can test my wiring instalation. Assuming that is I ever get on and do something about it.