|
BATHROOM
REFURBISHMENT. |
|
|
| As I’ve mentioned
in the Spring Convoy write-up, the
bathroom at Borovliani was being
completely refurbished. You will see
from the photograph, it was in desperate
need of attention. Consisting of one
bath only which had a small rubber hose
running from the tap system, presumably
to act as a shower, crumbling tiles on
the floor and walls and a huge uncovered
window giving no privacy whatsoever.
Infact, the whole room offered no appeal
or incentive to use. |
 |
| |
| It had been our
intention to do the job ourselves with
volunteer plumbers but the quantity of
work required meant that a huge amount
of preparation was needed. All of the
tiles from the walls and floor needed
removing; the floor needed levelling;
the window bricking in and replacing
with something of a more appropriate
size; shower cubicles building;
underground plumbing and drainage
fitting; a suspended ceiling and new
lighting installing, as well as a
ventilation system to combat
condensation; and walls and floor
re-tiling. Our volunteer plumbers had,
unfortunately been forced to drop out at
the last minute and as our trusty
workmen, Sergei and Sasha were already
well into the job, it made sense for
them to carry on. |
Sergei |
Sasha |
|
| It has always
been our belief that if something has
not been donated free of charge, then it
is better to help build the Belarusian
economy by purchasing over there and the
same principle applies to employing
workers. This also has a more practical
advantage for times of repair; it is of
little use paying to transport British
goods which may not be compatible with
anything Belarusian and therefore cannot
be repaired unless we take out the spare
parts. |
| |
 |
Needless to say, our boys
were doing a fantastic job
and I was completely
overawed by the
transformation, even though
it was not finished when we
arrived. Bern had managed to
get an electric shower
donated. This is to be used
during the month in the
summer when all hot water is
switched off in each
individual region for
maintenance repairs. As
always there was total
confusion as to how it
should be installed. Sergei
and Sasha had their ideas
and we in return tried to
explain the usual method
used in our country. |
|
| After seemingly
hours of debating we surrendered to
their better knowledge of their systems.
I am unashamed to admit that the boys
have been proven right and when the hot
water is switched off we can use the
electric shower which heats all of the
hot water taps. |
| |
|
|
| Chris gave a hand
with some tiling, and Peggy and young
Chrissy set to work when they arrived
with glossing all of the paintwork. At
least we felt we’d made some
contribution other than just financial.
The finished result was simply
staggering! None of us could believe
what had been achieved and the most
remarkable thing of all was that when we
calculated the total coatings of the
project, which included the materials
and labour, it came to just |
|
£1,600!!! |
| |
|
More Photos |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
