mattnewton.co.uk

When we moved in, there was a BT Master socket in the living room, an extension in the hallway and from there, along with a badly wired electrical cable, it went into the wall, outside under the porch, hidden behind a baton of wood and then drilled into my “office” at just above floor level. Trouble is, I think the old geezer had used pretty cheap extension cable and he hadn’e left enough slack.

Normally this wouldn’t fuss me too much, but as I’m now on ADSL and not NTL’s broadband service, I want to make sure that my cables are in top condition. So, I spent all of last Sunday rewiring all of the extensions and pulling out the mess that had been trailling up the outside wall.

It’s fun lifting the floorboards. I could tell that they had never been lifted since they were laid initially, as the one near the radiator must’ve been put in as the pipes were laid, as the pipe came up through a little hole in the floor board. A sharp knife and a series of different shaped screwdrivers soon sorted that and it was lifted in no time.

Once I’d lifted the floor, it was clear to see that once upon a time, there had been an issue with thr radiator, or at least a leaky pipe. Mental note: Go easy around the pipework.

As I’m not a fan of having cables on show, I was wondering what else I could hide under the floor (I mean cables). I decided against putting any other cables under the floor (for now) and I’d just stick with the phone cable.

So, after a series of knocking on the ceiling and listening under the floorboards, I determined that where I wanted it to go, there were no inhibitors (pipes, cables, etc) - although at one point, I did think I may have hit the soil pipe - a run of taps, a quick measure out and a small waiting game confirmed that I was nowhere near it. So, I went downstairs and drilled a small hole in the very corner of the hallway ceiling and pushed the phone cable up.

You’ll see how I tidily drilled a neat hole with one of those odd-shaped sharp drill bit thingies that makes nice holes and then passed the cable through and up to the skirting board, where I’ve taken it underneath the skirting board until it comes out near my desk.

Anyway, it’s a nice tidy job and I have plenty of slack should I decide I want to have my socket elsewhere.

Today’s job (19/09/04) was to put an aerial in the loft for my Freeview box and sort out the satellite cables. I spent most of the evening in the loft - the cables are all done and the aerial is up and is spot on. I, however, am covered in nasty loft insulation which itches and prickles like I don’t know what. Trouble is that you can’t see the damn stuff and you go and put your arm down and of it goes.

I always say that I should wear something with long sleeves and get a mask for when I go in the loft. Trouble is, I never remeber.

Most of the electrician’s work is now done, which means that after Vic’s parents have visited us again the week after next, I can start decorating. Now, which room should I do first…?