Plumbing
First up
Watering System Storage Tank
We had just moved back to Kambia and we thought we would need a watering system if we were to develop the garden area to our liking. Also there was an olive grove with nine trees to the west side of the house.
I did an initial sketch and contacted my good friend Bill Matheson, who was a comedian, ex soldier and also a welder. He
made the 40 SHS ( square hollow section ) framing and fixed it to the wall and floor. I had bought a 1000 litre round tank and I fixed the tap and the ballcock valve. We then manhandled the new tank with the help of my neighbour onto the platform with some timber bearers. Just had to wait for the watering system pipework to be fitted in place, fill the tank, fit a timer and we were away !
Unfortunately it wasn't as easy as that. I had become more disabled and it took me ages to fit the pipes for the watering system. I couldn't get anyone to help me. Everyone shied away from the work. Eventually I had managed to complete the pipes and drippers to the front garden area for the roses.
Then the next problem. I had designed the watering system to be gravity fed. Hence the lifted round tank. Unfortunately all the timers were the types to be used with a pump. Now, pumps in Crete are not only expensive they have a habit of failing after five years. One of my plumbing jobs is to relieve the work on my cold water pump with a pressurised system. More on that later. It was only in 2025 that I found a battery timer that worked with a gravity feed. I must explain that I had been in and out of hospital for the last three years and we had the Covid epidemic when we moved in. So I hadn't been looking for a timer the whole time.
I still have to finish the system. Maybe after I get my new knee.
Next up
New Shower Room and Refurbished Kitchen.
I've put these together as they happened fairly quickly to each other. My only contribution was the designs and the purchase of all the ceramic tiling to the kitchen and new shower room.
The kitchen works which were repainted doors and cabinets, new worktop, sink and tap and wall tiling between units were carried out in a very professional manner and is a superb finish.
The new shower room, unfortunately did not go so well. The plumber was inexperienced and a few things have not been
carried out very well. I've had to get other workmen in to put his work right. I had to buy another shower system because he'd fitted the first one badly and it didn't survive. The stainless steel bolts for the chair appear to have been lost as the bright zinc ones have rusted. The tiler, who I had been assured was the best, turned out to be bloody awful. He worked in the most appalling fashion. There was mess everywhere, he laid the floor incorrectly for the falls and didn't follow my drawing for the walls. He left a couple of broken tiles and a terrible mess on our balcony. Between the plumber, the labourer and the tiler the waste had insufficient falls and is still a problem. The tiler tiled over the existing tiles which I didn't want and the subsequent ledge just short of the ceiling has not been finished at all. I've had a lighting strip fitted along the ledge to make it look like it was designed that way. They even broke my nice marble threshold and patched it up rather than replacing it.
And their governor thought that it was a very good job !!
Refurbished Drinking Water System
Fairly quickly I had to put in a drinking water filtration system, as nothing was in place when we moved in. All I did was copy
the system that I had put in, under advisement from a friend, to my first house on the island. I have since looked into potable water systems and have come to realise, after buying three in 15 years, that pumps can be very expensive, both in buying but also electricity and very noisy.
I have realised that the correct way forward is to pressurize the system, so the pump only comes on periodically and not every time a tap is opened. I've studied these systems at great length.
I've decided against reverse osmosis, but I could always 
introduce it under the sink later. Worryingly the local stores appear to have poor supplies of filters and I will need four at a time. Annoyingly I will have to resort to online supplies, which are poor for scheduling their deliveries correctly. Even our local post offices have disappeared.
I will try to use as much of the existing pipework as I can. I decided against soldered copper as it doesn't allow quick readjustment. It will be good to reorganise the pipework around the tanks as well. It looks a bit Heath Robinson from the previous owner. I will try to get some different stop cocks as the types I have used before can get very stiff. Something to investigate.
I had hoped to carry out the work when my wife was in England or America on a visit to family. Unfortunately with my injury she won't leave me. I may have to use a new piece of background plywood with all new pipes and fittings as my new knee looks at least a year off and I want to get on with this.