Nickfromwales

Ok, good news, but is the kitchen tap a mixer tap?

Ok, then this is a non-compliant install methinks; unless there is NO thermostatic shower / bath mixer taps, and any other mixer taps / mono block taps that don't have separate water pathways to the open ends of the spouts, eg so the hot and cold supplies cannot 'meet' and interfere with each other (aka unbalanced). The PRedV (that is an integral part of the control group valve with the 6bar PRV) that the guys have rightly installed at the UVC gives you a balanced cold outlet for cold taps, and a balanced cold output to go to the cold inlet of the UVC. So I don't quickly assume the worst, lets ask some questions. Was the whole hot and cold pipework altered to have ALL the cold outlets in the house fed ONLY from the control group at the UVC? Does your existing stopcock pipework now only run, with zero T's off it, direct to the UVC control group?

I've fitted loads of UVC's to existing 15mm cold supplies and they work fine, retrofit rules applied in every single instance.

No issue with plumbers, I just wanted to clarify if they've done the install strictly to G3? I see loads of failed setups from the fitter not being 100% clued up about retrofitting an UVC into an existing plumbing arrangement. Is there a 22mm non return valve on the hot outlet, immediately outside the cylinder? Is there a new second 3 / 3.5bar PRedV installed at the stopcock?

Welcome aboard. Another member and I drove to Dunbar on a heating and hot water rescue mission. Nice place, but not exactly overflowing with good plumbers...... Choose well!

You'd need a thermostatic mixer valve to connect to the 2 pipes, then this setup pictured receives the output of the valve. This is also only suitable for a concealed arrangement, so a PITA to fit. Here you go... LINK Great make and cheaper than shoplifting.

I think what's happening is the expansion vessel is acting like a cold mains accumulator, and the stored energy inside it is reinforcing the flow until it equalises. Basin taps would be better (less noise / less problematic) as the flow rate is slower / lesser, so that makes sense. When you say just had it fitted, is this a retro-fit? edit: crossed post with @John Carroll’s comment. +1.

Yup. Moves the handle head off like a Parliament hinge moves a door.

I was just sick in my mouth...... "no" to that too. C'mon people, it just needs taking out and doing again, properly, then just move on with life and admire a nice shower install free from 'ugly' or 'compromise'. I've been fitting bathrooms for decades, and this just can't be fixed as is. @tokyotecubate can you get to the valve from behind? If cutting a plastered and painted wall is the only obstacle then that's 100% the way to attack this, and leave the tiles intact. That could be fixed in a day if there's access to the rear?

Nope. The pivot point of the handle, which moves up and down + left to right, simply won't move enough, if at all. The head of that 'tap' moves upwards physically, and from the pic you can see immediately that the possibility of that being operated is "not a chance". You should be able to get more tiles if a new job, so time to just remove the 4 tiles around the valve, move it, and re-tile. The problem will not go away by any other means, sorry!

@Crofter yes?

100%. Folk will prob bid more on the devil they can see and therefore know.

Great feedback, thanks!

Yes, just noted it, no reference to your noise issue. 👍

Make some nice oak slippers for it?

Nope, but on reexamination it looks like the boss for the smaller waste pipe is leaking?

I'd just walk away and auction as is. Likelihood is anyone developing this will do the work anyways, quicker & cheaper, and you may do work that they'd be doing routinely; the money lost / time invested won't boost the sale price much if at all. A developer, for eg, may want / have to convert the roof to a warm roof so the work you first suggest may be one of the first things to go in the skip

I was discussing this exact thing with a client this morning, and I mentioned that I use offcuts of PVC conduit at the start / end of straight runs, flexible conduit at turns if they're pinch points, and to not allow pipes to rest on thin timber such as the OSB webs of I-beams. In most instances where we install all the domestic plumbing for a self build client I make sure the pipes are insulated the whole length with a cheap 9mm wall EPS for all colds, and the same for sporadically used hots, and if there's a hot return then they get done in 19mm or 25mm wall insulation, bigger the better for those, but depends on bottlenecks and actually getting lots of that size insulation to congregate at the manifolds / UVC. Then use all round patent band to hold the insulation not the pipe. If you don't want to (or retrospectively cannot) insulate the whole run, then just use a 100mm section of insulation where you need to mechanically fix (clip) the pipe, and the patent band to replace the regular clip; so as to have the pipe slip freely inside the insulation. Cold pipes actually don't really need to be done as they just go from ambient to cold and back again, just the hot pipes tbh. Insulating the colds is a 'thing' if you fear condensation will be an issue, but that's more prevalent with copper vs plastic push fit pipework so possibly moot. I just tell the guys to insulate it all so I don't have to program them with the information of which pipes to do / not do, for sanity.

The mitres will birds-mouth out then unless that is factored into a compound cut. Sanding the plaster down will be a bigger PITA and less controllable than planing the architrave imho. And dusty / messy as heck. Planing the timber means no filling and sanding, where the sandpaper went astray, as it will for sure!

Yes, but is completely redundant as the rising stack is vented to atmosphere. There was no need for a T and a short stack there, even less an AAV. The whole stack looks as it should function perfectly, so the issue isn't out there Are the WC's gravity fed or cold mains fed?

Anything should have a min 1 year warranty, just ensure that you are the party that is wedded to it, is all I'm saying vs assume anything

Cases vary, just I've spoken to a number of people in the solar industry and clients at various exhibition shows, and gleaned the feedback there. SolarEdge are a very reputable company for eg. Most clients don't know why the system has stopped working, so they need the original installers to come out so that between them they can ascertain what the fault is. Some have been unsuccessful getting certain panel brands replaced, is what I have been told.

Sometimes that is to cut your losses and run, selling quickly for less to a developer who then has to do the hurdle-jumping. Factor in time as well as costs, as none of us are getting any younger, and a complex build project can be an arse. Have you considered getting planning and doing the property conversion yourselves, via a costed and programmed builder, for full retail sale?

Don't buy a cheap one as the cutting edges are crap and then they get hot and burn the wood Ask me how my tight arse knows lol.

It's all good. You can fit the boiler pretty much anywhere, as these are mostly RS (room sealed) appliances which do not require "adventitious airflow" to function. The boiler sucks in fresh air to consume via the outer ring of the coaxial flue, and ejects the products of combustion via the inner one. In attic installs nearly every one has had to go on a made up timber frame, and back in the day you could not mount the boiler on to a combustible surface; we clad the plywood frame with Ellis / cement board. Nowadays iirc there are plenty of boilers which no longer require this to be observed. Rules with flues are, you must be able to see / inspect / 'get to' every mechanical joint. For a flue install where the flue was boxed in and tiled over at the ceiling level in a bathroom, I used a Vaillant boiler and their 4m flue extension, so as to not have any inaccessible joint. I asked the GSR agent to note this in the commissioning log, and to retain pics (same for client) for downstream evidence for future service / repair agents.