I have always preferred a good strong deluge of a shower as opposed to the gentle luxury of a bath however Mrs Bentley has always preferred a bath.
A deep, comfortable, well supplied with endless hot water, bath, this she assures me turns the washing experience into something more akin to a pampering and relaxation session.
So the scene was set many moons ago in the early stages of design that we would have a bathroom large enough to cope with a big "walk in" shower and one of those double ended slipper bath tubs (in cast iron as neither of us are taken with the acrylic)
The bathroom dimensions have ended up 3.5 meters by 3.5 meters which should be ample for our requirements as it is just a tub a shower a basin and towel cupboard. I cant stand the bog being in the same room as the bath and shower so that is in its own separate room as it should be.
I had searched the net and found the Cast Iron Bath company of the UK made the bath we were looking for but thought it would be easier to buy it in France. We set off in search of the double ended slipper cast iron bath in our region of France but could find none in the limited number of bathroom style showrooms available.
As much as we would like to support the local businesses in the area and do so whenever possible it becomes impossible on some occasions such as this. In one such showroom we were leaving, after having a look around and not finding anything suitable, and the salesman asked if he could help so with the aid of some drawings he consulted his brochures and came up with the exact model we were looking for and had sourced in the UK.
"Excellent news" says I and asked how much.
After a bit of jiggery pokery on the calculator "5,000 euros" (yes that FIVE THOUSAND euros) came the reply.
After I stopped laughing and clutching at my chest for theatrical effect he asked how much I was expecting to pay and I told him I had sourced the exact same model in the UK delivered to France for 1100 pounds (1,300 euros)
"Oh I didn't factor in delivery" he said "that would be an extra 200 euros"
So the bath was bought in the UK and delivered to belle France in mid November arriving in a large wooden crate with a total weight of about 150 kilos.
I knew the dimensions of the bath would fit through the upstairs window at the front after we had removed the balcony but in its crate it was going to be bit tight.
The alternative was for me to employ some muscle and man handle the thing through two doorways up a set of stairs and around three 90 degree bends to get to the bathroom.
Or through the study window and round the corner to the bathroom.
To make matters a bit more difficult we had already started work on the installation of the fosse so it was a bit tricky getting close enough at the front to make it easy for the digger or for me to use the farmers manitu.
Anyway the digger driver was confident and so using a combination of heavy duty ratchet strap and a chain block I rigged up the slings to make them as short as possible to give the digger arm maximum jib height.
Here you can see the rigging arrangement I used
Here you can see that it was indeed a tight fit and that is with the windows off. We had about 3mm each side and the bottom left corner of the crate had been slightly damaged so needed the attention of a large flat screw driver to help it through the gap.
Also the digger bucket as at its absolute height maximum range so myself and the digger driver's son needed to do a bit of the old "heave ho" (of the Norwegian steam variety) to help it tip over the balance fulcrum into the room.
It then just needed a couple of nudges from the digger and it was in.
Hoorah Hoorah Hoorah
Imagine our surprise when opening the crate to find that the bath body and legs were separate and even more of a surprise when I came to lift one of the legs out of the bath they must have weighed twenty kilos each
Once we had fitted the legs as per instruction and direction (each leg had its own set of washers and nuts pre-tried and balanced in the factory before shipping) you can see that Mrs Bentley was keen to get in and try it out for size
She nearly nodded off imagining scented candles, heady bath salts and oils made from the fruits of forbidden trees, warm fluffy towels and central heating, and I had to nudge her from the dreamy reverie and offer to put on a saucepan of water for a shower in YeeHaw shed.
I have been told that I am forbidden form the bathroom with any sort of camera equipment later in the year when the dream becomes a reality and the whole plumbing / heating system is connected and working and hot luxurious baths are no longer the stuff of my true love's dreams.
A deep, comfortable, well supplied with endless hot water, bath, this she assures me turns the washing experience into something more akin to a pampering and relaxation session.
So the scene was set many moons ago in the early stages of design that we would have a bathroom large enough to cope with a big "walk in" shower and one of those double ended slipper bath tubs (in cast iron as neither of us are taken with the acrylic)
The bathroom dimensions have ended up 3.5 meters by 3.5 meters which should be ample for our requirements as it is just a tub a shower a basin and towel cupboard. I cant stand the bog being in the same room as the bath and shower so that is in its own separate room as it should be.
I had searched the net and found the Cast Iron Bath company of the UK made the bath we were looking for but thought it would be easier to buy it in France. We set off in search of the double ended slipper cast iron bath in our region of France but could find none in the limited number of bathroom style showrooms available.
As much as we would like to support the local businesses in the area and do so whenever possible it becomes impossible on some occasions such as this. In one such showroom we were leaving, after having a look around and not finding anything suitable, and the salesman asked if he could help so with the aid of some drawings he consulted his brochures and came up with the exact model we were looking for and had sourced in the UK.
"Excellent news" says I and asked how much.
After a bit of jiggery pokery on the calculator "5,000 euros" (yes that FIVE THOUSAND euros) came the reply.
After I stopped laughing and clutching at my chest for theatrical effect he asked how much I was expecting to pay and I told him I had sourced the exact same model in the UK delivered to France for 1100 pounds (1,300 euros)
"Oh I didn't factor in delivery" he said "that would be an extra 200 euros"
So the bath was bought in the UK and delivered to belle France in mid November arriving in a large wooden crate with a total weight of about 150 kilos.
I knew the dimensions of the bath would fit through the upstairs window at the front after we had removed the balcony but in its crate it was going to be bit tight.
The alternative was for me to employ some muscle and man handle the thing through two doorways up a set of stairs and around three 90 degree bends to get to the bathroom.
Or through the study window and round the corner to the bathroom.
To make matters a bit more difficult we had already started work on the installation of the fosse so it was a bit tricky getting close enough at the front to make it easy for the digger or for me to use the farmers manitu.
Anyway the digger driver was confident and so using a combination of heavy duty ratchet strap and a chain block I rigged up the slings to make them as short as possible to give the digger arm maximum jib height.
Here you can see the rigging arrangement I used
Here you can see that it was indeed a tight fit and that is with the windows off. We had about 3mm each side and the bottom left corner of the crate had been slightly damaged so needed the attention of a large flat screw driver to help it through the gap.
Also the digger bucket as at its absolute height maximum range so myself and the digger driver's son needed to do a bit of the old "heave ho" (of the Norwegian steam variety) to help it tip over the balance fulcrum into the room.
It then just needed a couple of nudges from the digger and it was in.
Hoorah Hoorah Hoorah
Imagine our surprise when opening the crate to find that the bath body and legs were separate and even more of a surprise when I came to lift one of the legs out of the bath they must have weighed twenty kilos each
Once we had fitted the legs as per instruction and direction (each leg had its own set of washers and nuts pre-tried and balanced in the factory before shipping) you can see that Mrs Bentley was keen to get in and try it out for size
She nearly nodded off imagining scented candles, heady bath salts and oils made from the fruits of forbidden trees, warm fluffy towels and central heating, and I had to nudge her from the dreamy reverie and offer to put on a saucepan of water for a shower in YeeHaw shed.
I have been told that I am forbidden form the bathroom with any sort of camera equipment later in the year when the dream becomes a reality and the whole plumbing / heating system is connected and working and hot luxurious baths are no longer the stuff of my true love's dreams.
No comments:
Post a Comment