DIY Nightmare!

Hi All,

After weeks of researching and saving, I've finally bought myself some nice curtains for the living room.

One of the first thing I did after moving into the flat was to remove the things used to cover the windows in the room. I can't bring myself to call them curtains as I cannot explain enough how monstrous they were. Not only were they ugly and dirty, but a horrible stench emanated from them.

I truly doubt that these things had ever been watched.

The things: Moving day 

Source: Zoopla.com

Anyway, I bought my brand new cute and sassy curtains from West Elm and a nice satin nickel curtain pole from Homebase.

I couldn't wait to put them up. I had spent nine weeks with no curtains in the front room and I wasn't going to wait a minute longer.
Originally my intention was to use the holes already drilled in by the landlord and simply use the new screws that came with the pole.

However, after three attempts I had to accept that these holes were too big for my new brackets.
I was worried that I would damage the wall by putting pressure on them as I could see that they were already caving into it.

So, like the good DIYer I believed I was, I took my drill and nails out and began to drill a hole into the wall next to the exiting ones.

Within a second or two of drilling, a never-heard before sound and hot water came rushing through the hole!

Yes, dear you got it. I drilled straight through a water pipe!

I can't explain to you enough what went through my head at that moment.
I was flooding the carpet. That I could see. But gosh, I was probably flooding my neighbor's flats too!

How much was this going to cost me? Was I going to jail for this?

I got on the phone to Thames Water as quickly as my phone and their numerous automated options would allow me to and hysterically begged them to send me someone.
I also called about three plumbers before oneaccepted to come over.
By then, I was sobbing uncontrollably.
My poor 5-year-old kept saying: 'Mummy, mummy, there's water coming into the living room! How did that happen?'

About 40 minutes later, the Thames Water engineer came and turned off my water supply.

By then the water had stopped coming through the hole but we could still hear it running behind the wall.

Andy, the magnificent plumber arrives shortly after and I have to say: he was a Godsend.
I was still crying, but he managed to calm me down.

He reassured me that I hadn't been a silly woman because he could not understand why somebody would put a water pipe so close to window, right were anybody would drill holes to put up a curtain.
He even said that if I had paid an handyman, he would have very likely done the same thing.
I was just unlucky to be the one to have done it (and to have to pay for the repair costs).

He also told me that the neighbor's flats were fine and that the only person who was impacted by this was me.

However, imagines my horror when Andy told me that he had to knock down the wall to see the pipe.
My knees buckled.
Again, Andy talked through it and promised to minimize the impact.
By then it was nearly 8 pm. I was so worried about the neighbors but we had no choice.

Andy started knocking down the wall while I kept on crying.
Bless him, he had to come back this morning to finish the job and again, he was kind and comforting.

So now, instead of enjoying my first evening with a bit more privacy in my living room and lovely new curtains to admire, I am writing this post looking at the hole in my wall.

The damaged pipe and the hole after Andy left yesterday evening

The landlord's original holes which were already caving into the wall

Full view of the window

The new pipe and the hole now

Andy will be coming back later on this week to plaster it and bless him, to put up my curtain pole for me.

I guess now, the new tool I need to get before even attempting to drill anything is a pipe and cable detector.

xoxo