Friday meeting/Day 44/Day 45/Meeting with M. Torelli

Friday Meeting:

We had a meeting on Friday - basically, we're still waiting for plumbing action!

Messrs Mekki & Luparello were confident that the non-plaquiste work could be finished this week; the plaquiste is being held up by the absence of a plumber.

M. Waeber talked us through the "tapis" idea for the tiling, and really didn't seem happy with the number of cuts there would be if we went with the original idea. He proposed coming and showing us a variety of layouts (as he'd done for the kitchen), which he did yesterday.

The Friday meeting ended with us not really knowing when the work will finish because of pipework issues.

Day 44:

M. Waeber showed us diagonal (his preferred choice) tiling in the bedroom, and basket-weave as well as how we'd got the kitchen tiles; we've ended up choosing the same as the kitchen, hoping the cut edges will not be too noticeable!

M. Hamid came and did the sealing around the top of the room: he's filled the spaces between the lambourdes with lime mortar and small pieces of stone, to keep the rodents out.

He started work on the cour anglaise, too.

Day 45:

M. Hamid finished the cour anglaise, and re-did the rejingot for the front window, which had cracked.

I nabbed him whilst he had a board full of lime mortar and had him make good a missing piece of pointing in the back hall, and fill in the joints under the front door; looks so much better already, and once it's dried I think it will be perfect.

He's fairly sure he will be finished tomorrow; I'm quite sad, I will miss chatting to him.

Meeting with M. Torelli:

I think we've got it agreed that the upstairs wastes will go out through the [planned all along] piping in the laundry, thus minimising the noise heard in our bedroom, and removing the need for the extra sticky-out-bit to hide the soil pipe.

The proposed vent sounds ideal, but I've yet to see the technical sheet, so only have the haziest idea of how it will work. M. Torelli says he's had one for seven years, and has had no problems (or, more importantly, odour!) with it.

He suggested having another one at the top of the stack in the roof space - will be worth a go, as we sometimes get "continental plumbing" smells as my lovely uncle called them.

Thanks, Trev, I knew exactly what you meant!

Obviously M. Torelli can't come and finish the work before we leave for England...