Whilst we’ve been waiting for the builder to start work (he’s coming tomorrow all being well) we’ve been stripping, wallpaper that is.

Given that the re-wiring will involve chasing out the walls, to minimise damage to the beautiful wooden floors, it seemed like time well spent.

We bought one of those steam wallpaper strippers, which we’ve never used before, and I have to say it has been worth the expense. Don’t get me wrong, it was never going to be an easy job, indeed it was hard work, but it did help immensely.

However no job is ever straightforward, but the problem here came from an unexpected source.

We knew the water supply had been turned off, indeed we were glad it had, as we didn’t want a repeat performance of February 2012 when we had a burst pipe. A particular worry given that the new house would be unoccupied through the winter months.

We had already located the position of all 4 stop-cocks (yes 4) and on our first ‘stripping’ day turned them on and waited for the water to flow.

Not a sausage, nor a drop of water either. We tried various combinations of stop-cocks and cold taps, but to no avail. However we did get a small amount out of the hot water tap.

I didn’t find this odd, as I assumed it was simply emptying water from the cistern that had been sitting there for months. Peter on the other hand found it surprising, something technical to do with water pressure.

Anyway, realising we probably had a finite supply, I collected it in a bowl and we were able to ‘strip’ to our hearts content for a good few hours.

On our next trip we went armed with bottles of water and a watering can!

We guess there will be a ‘main’ stop-cock somewhere in the garden, but rather than meddle with something we are unfamiliar with, it seems sensible to leave such things to the builder and plumber.