Clothes Rails

We did a little research into how to kit out our walk-in-wardrobe but didn't really like any of the purpose built bedroom cupboards and shelving. Unless you spend a fortune, you don't get anything except veneered chipboard and formica, and it doesn't seem worth spending a fortune on something that will be rarely seen.

In the end we opted for some simple clothes rails and shelving. After all, there doesn't seem much point in having cupboards within a cupboard ! We could, of course, have a philosophical debate about when does a walk-in-cupboard become a room, but them I would overrun my allotted blog time and risk missing France, Holland, Italy and Romania on day 2 of Euro 2008 !

To build the clothes rails I bought some chrome tubing and junction fittings from an online shop-fitting warehouse. The fittings are great - you can get 3, 4 and 5 way connectors which all close onto the tubing with an allen bolt. Here is an example of a 4-way (one tube through the hole and straight out the other side, and a tube in each of the ends) :

The angle of the two end tubes can be varied from 90 degrees left all the way through to 90 degrees right, so it is very versatile.

In effect it is just like a giant meccano set. Here is what I built :


So, there is 7' 2" of low level rail for the Lady of the house, 7' 2" high level for the Man of the house, and a couple of feet extra for full-length stuff, of which I have none......

As you can see, apart from the nearest side where the hanging rails reach the wall, all the clothing weight will be transferred vertically down to the floor, thus relieving the wall fixings of too much strain. This is probably just as well as the tube housings only had holes big enough for number-6 screws, which are much smaller than I would have chosen (but presumably designed to be adequate for use in a shop, so I guess I am just a little over-the-top with these things !)

The 5 way junction is still quite neat, despite having to join so many tubes :

On the whole I was very pleased with the way this all went together.

Other news :

1) The central Heating boiler is still dripping from the condenser bulb. The fitter has referred me to the manufacturer and they are going to make a service call to change some O-rings. A known problem, apparently. Funny how the "known problems" are "unknown" until it has been purchased and installed !

2) The builder is coming tomorrow morning to make a hearth for the bedroom fireplace. This will be his first return since last August, and I am sure he will be shocked to see how little everything has changed since he left !

3) While he is here I will ask him about a water ingress problem that I noticed after some heavy rain a week or so ago. I think the mortar joints at the top of a couple of the mullions are more porous than the others, for some reason :



4) I have tentatively made a date with the plasterer for the next installment at the end of June. I am not yet sure what it is going to comprise, but Jan is hopeful we can get the rest of it all done. That would be great, but I am not so sure. I foresee some busy evenings and weekends ahead !