To start with, he couldn't find the mains stopcock (called a Toby here in New Zealand). He looked everywhere, phoned the previous owner, looked where he said it was - nothing. Eventually the previous owner came over and showed Grant where it was, which was nowhere near where he said it was. It was under a layer of earth and had to be dug to before the little door could be opened.
Once the water was turned off he could try replacing the washing machine tap, which was leaking all over the hardwood floor. It was back and forth to the hardware store in town 15 minutes away, trying to get the right parts. Eventually that was fixed and the washing machine hooked up but then the washing machine hose was leaking! So he had to pick one up in town and replace that too.
The bath taps turned on fine when I ran a bath, but then the hot water tap wouldn't turn off. I eventually got it off with much difficulty. Grant took it apart and went to buy a replacement piece that was faulty, but the taps are so old that they don't even make them anymore! So we ordered new bath taps and basin taps. In the meantime he switched the part with the cold tap so it's the cold water that is difficult to turn off, which is a bit safer.
The bath taps are set far apart so we couldn't buy a mixer, we had to stick to separate taps - annoying.
Grant also spent some time installing a waste disposal as there was none, and the dishwasher, which was finally delivered on Thursday (was meant to come on Tuesday). We have also ordered a new kitchen tap as the one we have is disgusting!
Speaking of disgusting, Grant has also been cleaning while I've been unpacking - this is the kind of thing he had to deal with (this was what he found when he pulled the stove out):
Today I have had a very productive day, including taking and editing some photos of the house. I still have a lot to photograph and share with you, but here are some to start with.
The bathroom leads into the toilet, which leads into the laundry room (where they have installed a shower) which has a doorway to the back passageway. Very random, but houses built in 1961 generally don't have showers installed at the time, so someone added one into the laundry room somewhere along the way. It's good to have a shower, even if it is randomly located. Of course you know I have big plans for this entire area ;)
This was taken standing in the doorway from the bathroom to the toilet:
The view from the loo - door on left is to bathroom, door on right is to laundry room:
This was taken from the door to the back passageway - the door ahead leads into the toilet:
Standing in the toilet doorway:
I'll share more pictures in the next post, coming soon!
