Now, call me old fashioned, but when I start tiling I start at the bottom of the wall and then work my way upwards. To do otherwise is illegal: it breaks the law of gravity. However, Thailand being a national of scofflaws, the tilers do things differently: they started part way up.

Wall Tiling Defying Gravity

In Thailand it’s much more common to tile wall walls to the ceiling, as they do with public toilets in England. (That is, “used to do”, the public convenience rapidly becoming a thing of the past in the UK.) However, I only wanted tiling as required: a splashback behind work surfaces, and a black border around the foot of the walls to protect them.

More Tiling

There is, however, one problem: a tap jutting out of the wall.

Problem Tap

The tap can’t be removed without destroying the wall. This is typical of the very short sighted thinking of the builder. It seems more important to them to build cheaply and quickly, rather than to produce a house that can be maintained. For example, the ceiling light fittings have been glued to the ceiling and can’t be changed without destroying the ceiling itself. Similarly, the kitchen cabinets have also been glued to the wall, rather than fixed properly.

Anyway, I really don’t want a pointless, rusty old tap sticking out of the wall of my nice new kitchen. Who would?

[693]