Week 13, day 3: The day the electrician's apprentice fell through the ceiling...
30th July 2014
Today was another day with just the electrician and his new apprentice, as the builder had a family event to attend. They were making excellent progress, until at lunchtime, the apprentice decided it would be a good idea to walk between the ceiling joists in the floor of the bathroom. The floor had already been taken up, in preparation for the wet room floor to be laid, leaving only the plaster board ceiling under the joists for his feet. Unsurprising to us, but rather surprising to him, he fell through the floor, with both feet. His feet were dangling a few feet above the breakfast bar downstairs, where I was sitting eating my lunch. The plasterboard flew down, hitting my shoulder and landing on the two laptops, iPad, two mobile phones, DSLR camera, and the digital radio. Somewhat miraculously, nothing (including my shoulder) was broken in the incident, except perhaps the lad's pride. The electrician came racing down the stairs to make sure we were ok, as he knew we were sitting underneath it. He felt awful, not least because it was his first job for the builder and he had wanted to make a good impression to help get future work. Apparently, we took it really well (although we weren't sure how else to take it, other than laugh and say these things happen!), and helped clear everything up. The apprentice did not show his face for some time, and when asked later if he was hurt, he pulled up his t-shirt to show us a large graze on his stomach. There was no blood though, nothing serious, but the electrician teased him all afternoon - and I'm not sure he liked that...
Photo 1: The hole in the ceiling.
Photo 2: The destruction caused by the incident.
Photo 3: The bathroom is even less "private" now - along with the 3 inch gap to the left of the door and the empty holes cut for switches, but not used, there is now a large hole in the floor. If you stand on the breakfast bar, your head is in the bathroom now. Useful if the toilet roll runs out perhaps?
The electrician continued to work despite the mishap, and most noticeably, the tangle of cables on the landing have gone and the bathroom wiring seems to be complete now. By the end of the day, the electrician thought he was just about finished and came to do the wiring for the new lights that will go above the breakfast bar. He commented how actually the hole in the ceiling will make that job easier - every cloud has a silver lining I guess! He took one look at the wiring behind the switches in the kitchen and at the cables above the kitchen and utility room and said they all needed replacing - he couldn't sign the electrics off without replacing them. This didn't sound like a quick job, and so he made everything safe and they left for the day, planning to return tomorrow to sort the utility room out and finish the wiring for the breakfast bar.
Photo 4: The landing is now looking good, clear of the wires hanging down at eye level, and also since yesterday, clear of the copper pipes sticking up at waist height!
Photo 5: There are still a lot of wires hanging down in the bathroom - mostly new, but some are old since there isn't a ceiling in the end part that used to be part of the landing.
Photo 1: The hole in the ceiling.
Photo 2: The destruction caused by the incident.
Photo 3: The bathroom is even less "private" now - along with the 3 inch gap to the left of the door and the empty holes cut for switches, but not used, there is now a large hole in the floor. If you stand on the breakfast bar, your head is in the bathroom now. Useful if the toilet roll runs out perhaps?
The electrician continued to work despite the mishap, and most noticeably, the tangle of cables on the landing have gone and the bathroom wiring seems to be complete now. By the end of the day, the electrician thought he was just about finished and came to do the wiring for the new lights that will go above the breakfast bar. He commented how actually the hole in the ceiling will make that job easier - every cloud has a silver lining I guess! He took one look at the wiring behind the switches in the kitchen and at the cables above the kitchen and utility room and said they all needed replacing - he couldn't sign the electrics off without replacing them. This didn't sound like a quick job, and so he made everything safe and they left for the day, planning to return tomorrow to sort the utility room out and finish the wiring for the breakfast bar.
Photo 4: The landing is now looking good, clear of the wires hanging down at eye level, and also since yesterday, clear of the copper pipes sticking up at waist height!
Photo 5: There are still a lot of wires hanging down in the bathroom - mostly new, but some are old since there isn't a ceiling in the end part that used to be part of the landing.