The day the renovations started, I went off to swimming as usual. When I came back, the portashower had already been set up, and the bathroom was in the state you see here, except that it had about eight tradesmen in it. Scott, the builder in charge, was wandering around looking a bit worried. He said he needed to talk to me.
Borers had been at the studs. Some of the studs were barely there any more. This wasn't the best news I'd ever heard, and I wondered if it meant my sister had been right - I should have bulldozed the whole house and started again. If so, what happened about the bathroom work I'd undertaken to pay for?
Scott rang a pest extermination service and talked to an expert who said, from the description, that they were "lictus borers" and only interested in green wood. They'd eaten what they wanted and were long gone. So Scott arranged to have the damaged studs shored up, and we proceeded. Nothing like a bit of excitement on the first day!
The portashower was pretty good, apart from a slight downward slope which could lead to falling about when washing one's hair. That fortnight, the weather was also pretty good for showering in the back yard. I had the brilliant thought that the waste water could go on the "lawn" if we just moved the runoff hose - until Scott pointed out that gravity was against us. In fact, the runoff hose had to be as far down the yard as possible, or the portashower started filling up with water.
I was disappointed that I'd missed seeing the portashower lifted into my back yard by a crane on the first day. On the last day, therefore, I was out with the camera, ready to record the moment when the portashower sailed like the Tardis over my back fence. Unfortunately, the camera batteries went flat after the first shot. By the time I replaced them, the portashower was safely ensconced on the truck, so I had to make do with a picture of the gas water heater flying through the air. Not quite the same!
Page created 30 December 2003; last updated 31 December 2003