15.12.2024 Right turn!

 ~o~

  Sunday 15th 36F/2C. Broken cloud as unstable weather reaches Denmark.

 Up at 7.50 after a disturbed night. After dinner coffee and an apple for pudding had the fire bucket close to overflowing! 

 The kitchen has yet to be tidied. Just removing the trolley is a huge step forward. It was a magnet for every bit of flotsam and detritus. 

 I am still struggling with the choice of washing machine positioning and orientation. Facing down the length of the room gives it plenty of space but it will totally dominate the kitchen. Giving it prominence well beyond its lowly station in my life. Like some monstrous oversized sculpture of some tin pot dictator. The machine. Not myself.

 If I place it with its back to the southern, window wall it will almost disappear. Then access becomes far more difficult. The machine's, left side door hinge will make or break its functionality. Yes, I know this can be changed. Memory and a few online sales images confirm the door is hinged on the left. A complete non-starter for a left corner position in the room. 

 Or, it could be sited in the right side alcove. Where it loses much of its cosmetic dominance. The machine door now opens sensibly into the room. Power sockets aplenty. Plumbing through the wall to the bathroom for its water supply. I placed a manifold there to feed the existing washing machine. On the other side of the wall from the alcove. Safely hidden behind the bathroom door. Easy?

 However, the new machine's discharge hose would probably need excavation to the great outdoors. Down to one of the bathroom's two 110mm PVC drainpipes. Going under the lawn to the manhole. All of which I dug and installed myself probably 20 years ago. While I had both the bathroom, hall and kitchen floors dug up. Duly approved by an authorized drainage engineer. 

 The drainage from the new machine would probably involve a whole new, through-the-wall pipe in the kitchen. Probably best not to go there? Not even if it makes most sense both visually and functionally?

 But what if? It only has to be done once. Why limit myself to an inferior set-up? I need to know the rules for a washing machine drainage system. Does it have to be in 110mm PVC? Or can a smaller pipe [or a stiff hose] run down to the underground system? Is frost a potential problem? The law says I am not supposed to do this work myself. A 50mm PVC pipe at floor level would be invisible. Out through a hole in the wall without disturbing the floor. With a trap and careful attention to height and fall. Then what? There is nothing outside to which to connect. Nor flow into an open drain cover.

 I have decided to seek bids from local plumbers. For installing an approved drain[pipe or system] for the new machine. I know I would soon hate the alternative situations I have considered within the room. The alcove is 50cm deep. So perfect for hiding the 60cm deep machine. From a casual glance as one enters from the living room. 

 This frees up the entire end wall for furnishing. Or even the installation of a west facing window. I have often considered a modest dining table with a view out over the garden. There was a built in cupboard hiding the alcove until my wife died. It was one of the first things to go! Along with the contents which hadn't seen the light of day for 25 years! Including three [recycled] VAX, wet and dry, vacuum cleaners!

 Now I really do have to clear the kitchen. No more unwanted storage! Nor do I see the ugly pine dresser in the context of my new kitchen layout. I could even have a run of wall mounted cabinets above the washing machine in the alcove. With glazed doors and lighting. Perhaps to house my wife's china veg and fruit collection. 

 I just had a phone call [on a Sunday] from the website. Which offers three free bids from local companies to carry out such work. Fingers crossed. I had very little interest in installing a heat pump. One distant dealer just wanted to sell me a heat pump. 

 Another chap, much nearer, couldn't supply many of the most popular systems. Presumably he goes to a big shed DIY outlet and buys their cheapest system at retail. Then installs it at the same price as a system from the big names.

 What a hideous sight! Kitchen tidying progress: The white, metal table, on the right, is a stand for the new washing machine. The white door, with beveled glass panes, is just leaning against the alcove wall. Bought [recycled] decades ago but never used. I was supposed to build a glazed porch but that never happened either.

 16.30 I have sorted everything at the far end of the kitchen. The builder's materials and paint are now pushed to the back. Against the wall. I shoved the now empty dresser base under the vacated working surface. Then placed what few tubs I had inside. 

 The dresser shelves [at right] can be lost in the fabric of the building. Along with the glazed door. I need more clear storage tubs but they are all those clumsy, ugly types with black, rocker, locking handles. Despite being only 63F/17C in the kitchen I am now dripping with sweat. Time for a cup of tea!

 Dinner was fried chicken, mushrooms and an egg. My phone battery was flat so no picture today.

 

 ~o~