Del-inquent

Vented bodge job done by someone incapable of basic soldering skills... The pump that died was very old, very odd and very badly (and awkwardly) fitted. These little pumps I could have fitted in 15 minutes in a far better place and bypass the pump circuit (which also leaks), replacing the pump will involve a massive amount of work involving the tank (equally badly fitted) coming out. As it's all going to be ripped out completely in the not too distant future it would just have been nice to go the simpler route.

That's what I had on my last place, and is amazing for sure. Tank here at the moment is vented but as I said to Johnmo, it won't be for *that* long as it's a complete hotchpotch mess. We've actually given up trying to shower now it's just unusable, we've gone to a large bucket and an empty yoghurt pot, so need to do something short term as ladling cups of water over yourself gets very old very quickly 😆

They do a twin pack to do both hot and cold, which is £220, or they do a double-boost for either/both to take it up to 1 bar at £170, so if you've got reasonable cold pressure (we do) then in theory you can get roughly equal to mains on hot. Part of the reason I don't want to spend too much is what we have at the moment is a complete mess of an install of a vented system which will be coming out in 12-18 months time when we extend the place. We're not sure if we're going to go Combi or unvented yet, but if their blurb is believable then these could be transferred onto the new system.

That’s exactly the first thing I thought. They are only 0.5 bar boosters though so not as powerful as many pumps, but I’m not so worried about standing under a jet wash as having any water come out the shower at all, only have 0.4m head so it’s a bit like having a hamster pee on you 😂 The pump that’s failed, which was plenty enough for the job, was an ancient DC one and only ran 150w They seem to get a lot of rave reviews but it’s a fair bit of cash to gamble, hence looking for some real world experience.

Pretty much said it all in the topic title really. Our pump packed up in a big way, came across these tiny Shower Power Booster pumps while looking for a replacement. seem to get excellent reviews but I dunno, it seems so small and simple (but not cheap)

That looks ideal, cheers! Stuck a camera down and had a good look and all damage seems to stop above concrete. By my thinking this only serves the single toilet and the pan connector itself is going to restrict the bore as much as that adapter. id really like to have taken the clay pipe out completely but toilet has to be out and back in again within a (short) day, and the chances of that are zero with the concrete- I dug a test pit outside, the concrete around the pipe is about a foot thick round the clay 😂

Just looking at putting in a slightly more modern (and less leaky) toilet than avocado horror currently in the downstairs WC. The collar on the clay pipe (which goes through concrete sub-floor) has been damaged in the past, about 1/3rd of it is missing and a crack runs down to about 1/2 inch from the top of the concrete. The previous owner / tradesman decide a few tubes of silicone would make it good. What would be the best way to overcome it without taking the entire clay pipe out? Going on a nearby bit of sub-floor I had to remove, I think they had a few dozen spare bags of cement during the build and decided to chuck them in the mix, so if I can avoid having to remove it that would be great. I'm thinking cut the whole top off the clay pipe to about 1/4 inch above the concrete so all damage is removed then an adaptor that goes inside the clay pipe? Any tips on such an adapter?

That should be possible at the weekend when I get my new phone, my old one apparently felt that falling through a gap in the floorboards to the floor below was justification not to function anymore. Such a marvellous week I'm having!

Okay tried the steamer... the paint laughed at me. Only place it worked was because the plaster fell off with the paint attached 😆 The hot air gun went and cried in the corner, I think I might join it...

That would make sense, it does have a nice sheen to it. Any special prep needed for painting over, if it is enamel or coach paint?

Only a dusty back to the paint in those places, so I suspect poor prep when originally painted. Will give the wallpaper steamer a try on the bare paint, cheers. I think I might also give the "throw some easyfill in the paint" suggestion I had before and see if that smooths out the edges a bit.

I've borrowed one, it doesn't seem to want to touch it. It's like putting the sander on a plane of glass! The exposed paster it eats through, of course, so if anything that seemed to make it worse. Unless I'm being inept using it which I'm totally open to learning.

The hall in our place appears to have been painted with a very special paint. Rubbing it with sandpaper you'd think it's painted with tungsten carbide. In places it's come away with the wallpaper, in other places it's stuck solid and won't budge. Other than having the whole lot replastered, what's the best way to approach it so it doesn't end up a scabby mess? I've had a suggestion of throwing easy-fill in the emulsion, putting a couple of coats on and sanding that back instead but the person was rather vague about it, I think it's something they heard rather than have done!

Yes they said DNO have to move their supply points first.

They’re both on one wall in a corner but they are in just the wrong place and prevent the kitchen we want, from fitting. There is slack in the incoming supply cable but to move it it needs disconnecting because of the board it’s on. I don’t touch DNO’s stuff, and they are not allowed to reposition in a kitchen even if only a few inches. If moved at all they have to go “elsewhere” so they said easiest was in a flush box. The gas they could move but said it would involve a new pipe cutting back either way due to its age and type not meeting spec, so it would be more sensible to move it completely (as it would still be less than ideal in the proposed position, just not a make or break). Both are being done by the relevant DNO so no issues as to if they are competent I’d hope 😂 but both said I can do the box installs as they won’t.

I need to move both my electric supply and gas supply. I only need them moved a few inches, but both DNO’s have said they can’t be, both have suggested best solution is flush fit boxes on external wall. they are giving conflicting info on mounting them though, and it is something I’ve never done before so looking for suggestions on best practice. They need to be as close to each other as can be safely and acceptably done. Any tips and rules to stick to appreciated! one particular question I have is regarding fitment. We have 100mm external skin and 60mm cavity. The boxes I’ve looked at require 150mm from outer face so whilst we have that, there is only 10mm to spare. Is that enough? Can the box be spaced off the wall a little to increase that? I know my parents had a flush fit box fitted and they also have 60mm cavity but theirs was done some years ago. basically any info past “chop out bricks, screw in boxes” appreciated 😂

Well that would explain why my trench didn't reveal it then... I believe my pipe is Black Alkathene - house build is around the 50's - 60's and at the internal stopcock it's got black pipe. The main reason I wanted to find the other end is that inside the house where it comes up inside, the pipe is run inside a large conduit and appears to go diagonally from the mid side of the house, toward the front door, underneath the slab. A relative (retired developer) mentioned that he's seen the conduit nearly all the way to the meter in similar properties. This is the main reason I wanted to find the meter end - if it does, I'm wondering if I can replace the black pipe with MDPE simply by pulling it through the conduit. The current position of the stopcock is less than ideal, it could do with being 3m further away and if I could get it through the conduit could simply be run under the floor to the ideal position. I don't really want to have any joins in the pipe under the floor. Currently my trench is full of water ,of course, and it was filling up with ground water even while I was digging it so I'm a bit stuffed now until the weather gives me a break.

Definitely my meter, the stopcock turns off our property anyway 😂 I’ll try and get a photo when it’s not torrential rain, in the meantime, the red line is the road direction, the blue arrow points to the house.

Nobody got any hints, or is it a case of “could be any direction”?

I’m trying to find my mains pipe at the point it exits the stopcock in the road. Closest I can dig a trench is 18 inches away, so I stupidly assumed it would be a 5 minute job… looking at these photos of the stopcock in the pavement, what direction would you expect the mains pipe to run? I’ve dug a 5ft long trench to the depth as the stopcock plus a bit… no joy. Would it be likely to do a 90 deg turn or anything immediately outside the box?!

Our Chalet bungalow has a hell of a lot of cold areas. Notably, the stud wall upstairs and the tops of the walls downstairs. There is currently insulation above the ceiling and in the cavity walls, but the areas with a red border have nothing at all. I've got (limited!) access into the eaves for a short while and am wondering how would be best to approach insulating these areas, particularly the bit between the cavity / soffit and the ceiling. I can just about get my hand down into that area by pulling back the current insulation between the floor joists. Please excuse poor diagram, hopefully you can work out what I mean from it.

I'm not saying we are tight on space, but put it this way; at the moment, the expansion tank fitted by British Gas for the previous owner, is screwed to the bedroom wall... nice touch, I thought.

My house is also from the past... a neighbour (identical property) had a heat pump fitted. Then they had a gas boiler refitted when it proved entirely incapable of keeping the place warm. That is very interesting on the pre-heat cylinder. Nobody has mentioned that. Looking at the photo, I might just be able to squeeze that in somewhere!

Our new place is a bit lacking on spaces to put tanks / cylinders, and our planned extension removes where the storage tank sits, so we can either go for an unventilated tank or a combi. Combi would save a lot of hassle with plumbing and free up the space the tank currently sits for some (much needed) storage space. Every time we've been somewhere with a combi before, it's p****d my wife right off. Turn on a tap, shower goes cold or messes around. New place has family bathroom, ensuite and obviously kitchen tap. I've got some people saying a high flow combi will be fine, others saying a storage combi would be way forward, others saying neither and go unventilated. Thoughts of the esteemed members here? I should point out my wife is Latina, therefore my very life is in danger if she gets blasted with cold water. 😅 If a storage combi is the way forward, any recommendations? There don't seem to be that many out there.

very helpful, thank you!