In praise of plumbers: a final draught
by Simon Handby in At home on 13.08.08
Experience tells me that it’s not wise to sing a tradesman’s praises until they’ve started - let alone finished - the work you’ve hired them to do, but I’m childishly excited about some plumbing work I’m having done over the next couple of days. That’s not normal, is it?
In my defence, I’m new to this home-owning game, having bought a top-floor flat in a Victorian building almost a couple of years ago. You remember: back when property was worth something.
A lot can happen in two years, and not least to house prices. Since moving in I’ve discovered that sea-facing (ish) sash windows can become surprisingly rotten without actually falling 60 feet to the street below, that 140-year-old roofs can leak, and that a coastal gale can play havoc with the central heating.
It’s that last discovery that I’m hoping my plumber can do something about. The flat lies roughly east-west, presenting said sash window almost exactly flat-on to the prevailing wind, which has been known to prevail at almost motorway speeds. Although it’s a new, non-rotten window, there’s still quite a draught when the wind’s up.
In the winter, the draught blows warm air out of the lounge and through the flat to the bedrooms which, with radiators of their own, soon get unreasonably hot - even though I normally keep the hall thermostat to a low-ish 18 degrees.
I’m hoping that some thermostatic radiator valves will solve the problem. It should keep the gas bill down, too, whatever way the wind blows.
IMAGE by Flickr user oNico®
So, did your great expectations go down the pan?
19.08.2008 at 10:36 am