Measure twice and cut once...that's the DIYers mantra. Simple enough you'd think? Problem is you have to get the places where you take your measurements from right, otherwise no matter how many times you measure it will be wrong!
Sadly I discovered this not too long ago.
I'm a doer, we've established that. I'm also fairly impatient, and sometimes a bit crap at taking advice. Generally I'm fairly logical too, but sometimes this all goes out of the window!
In the room of doom we still haven't finished installing the flue pipes for the little French burner. I'd bought all of the parts by now to convert the flue from a 90 degree 4 inch, way up to a 6 inch and Clive had dropped the liner in. So I figured it couldn't be too hard to just slot it all together, cement it up and hey presto, c'mon babey light my fire! How wrong I was!
Firstly the fits were ok, except for one piece which was a little tight. Dave sorted that one. The rest slotted in nicely, but were very heavy so wouldn't cement adequately (I have ordered some adjustable stove wall brackets and more cement for this now). I also had to cut the liner to get the adaptor on at the right, as measured, height. Or what I thought was the right height....
After much ado and having to remove a cosmetic lintel, I had only gone and angle ground it nearly 2 whole inches out!! The liner wouldn't reach even with the adaptor, noooooooooooooo! To say I was annoyed with myself would be a massive understatement. I'd not allowed for the depth of the liner collar when I cut. School boy error to say the least.
Anyway, I had two choices, hope I could find a smaller adaptor, or build up the hearth. Thankfully after a little trawling the internet I found a 75 mm x 5 inch collar adaptor and ordered that. I'm hoping that will give me more than enough length. As soon as the wall brackets arrive I will psyche myself up to have another go and most importantly, learn from my mistakes!!
"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." Oscar Wilde.
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