oldkettle

Fair enough. It's just if it's lead I'd rather deal with this ASAP in spite of costs.

It's the mains pressure now - used to be a tank. Get the point about flow restrictors. "Can't wait" to deal with these surprises. Can't see the screws to the wall though - I think ProDave is right and they weren't used. You can see the hole blocked off in the picture. The one with dual flush is interesting. Ours WAS dual flush but there is no screw (or at least I can't see any place where it might go! Yet I do feel that there has to be something forcing the smaller button up and it's not been working for a long time - a bit of plastic broke off. Just found a video explaining how to install a replacement 🙂 https://youtu.be/nMeA_uqtjII

Thank you Nick The pipe itself - is it copper, just old, or is it something else?

I've noticed our basin tap became very noisy after switching from vented to unvented system. Thanks for the tip, will see whether other makers include this information.

While our boiler was replaced I had to turn the water off a couple of times. Had to do this outside of the property at the meter by laying on the ground and trying to reach. Not a very pleasant experience. Which made me search for the stopcock again . Finally found it - hidden in the corner of the kitchen outside the sink unit with terrible access. And of course being unused for at least 9 years it's completely stuck. Tried WD-40 a few times, no luck. What are the options here? Getting a plumber is not a problem (hopefully!) but I am not quite sure what he would be able to do unless we remove the whole damn sink unit which is a non-trivial exercise. The kitchen is quite old but we were not planning on any works any time soon. A related question. Looking at the meter outside I can see a plastic pipe connected on the side of the house. Is this expected that somewhere underground this plastic gets connected to a copper (?) one before entering the house? The pipe next to the water one is gas and I really don't like the difference between the two...

Yes, replacing the whole thing has been the plan, just didn't know how to get t it. And the isolating valve would not be available until the cistern is lifted - and I doubt the source flexy it sits on is long enough to close it off if lifting the cistern first. So cutting through the wall was inevitable it seems. OK, could shut the water to the house - will create a separate thread on this one.

yes, I did try this, the water doesn't stop. Got it. Yes, seems to the the case. A bit scary to lift it but certainly a better idea than trying to unscrew the feed from behind.

Thank you @ProDave @saveasteading I did try to lift the lid of course. You can see the water dripping from both the front and the back of the little thingy to the left where somebody even fixed a bit of polythene - I guess to quieten the dripping a little. The water leaks into the toilet. It doesn't stop when I lift the float. I was able to unscrew the top off the float and there is a diaphrarm washer (?) which most likely needs replacement. But there is also a text on the float saying "above 1.4 bar fit flow restrictor". Not sure whether isolating valve qualifies as one. I did try to find a replacement diaphragm but wasn't able to do so. The design document given to the previous owners when they updated the bathroom doesn't include the name of the valve. @ProDave will try to reach out to find whether there are screws holding the cistern on the other side or likely underneath. It is siliconed/glued to the wall at the top.

Hi, We've had a combi boiler installed with the system upgrade from vented to unvented. As a result a leaky cistern inlet valve has become too annoying and wasteful. It's Ideal Standard Reef Arc back-to-wall pan and cistern installed against a false wall with seemingly no way to get to anything so I had to cut a hole in what turned out to be 2 layers of 9mm plasterboard to see what's behind. Found the beauty in the first pic: not sure whether connecting 2 flexies behind a wall deserves a special medal 😞 OK, I've closed the isolating valve to a minimum but the water is still running once the cistern fills. So 1) Am I supposed to try to reach and disconnect the flexible hose from the inlet valve (not much space either side of the toilet to get there 😞 or should I move the whole toilet forward instead and then deal with this? 2) Should I just get a plumber in to deal with this because leaving these 10+ year old hoses and connections there doesn't feel a particularly good idea? If so, what is the right way of doing this? The feed comes from the bathroom next door - will have to remove the bath panel to get there which is going to be fun as well. 3) Do I need a pressure reducing valve fitted even if I do replace the inlet valve? Unserviceable installations really annoy me. TA.

ICF is specifically in high risk category. Interesting. Annoying. I wonder whether my AT is aware of this, Nudura certainty didn't mention anything. I've asked to price an option with plywood internally which I saw in quite a few US videos and which does allow inspection of the completed wall. Came at twice the price. Can't say it makes much sense to me as 50 sheets of ply are not that expensive.

Adjusted the doors now. Looks better. I think the middle panel could have been longer. But as @ProDave said it is just the design. There is an insert at the top of the door which could have been better - I wonder whether it's worth glueing a bit of insulation to it. Need to buy a replacement anyway as we broke a small bit at the front - not that it is vital.

Thanks Andy My friend is a joiner/carpenter/general builder so he checked many times using a long level before we fixed the frame. It's still straight. The doors themselves are definitely not aligned fully (the right one is hanging slightly lower), but are still level. Will try adjusting for height tomorrow, but I think the whole door can't possibly go up by half an inch.

Yes, the cental bar is attached to the right door. You may well be right... but how do I know? Here are the gaps for the left door which is the better adjusted one. If the frame is too high there is nothing we can do about it now, but my neighbour runs a scaffolding company, has plenty of experience and I doubt he'd have wrongly sized frame for many years.

Hi, My friend and I have finally replaced our old alu front door with the French doors donated by a neighbour. Not a passive house installation, no tapes, just used Soudal all around. The frame is aligned very well, everything is "true and plumb" - but the doors aren't quite. We have adjusted them yet it seems we ran out of leeway. While they close pretty tightly there is an annoying tiny gaps at the top middle - see the picture. Tried to Google it but couldn't find a suggestion specific to this issue. Is there any way to fix it? TA.

Yes, this is the company. I guess you already tried them. https://youtu.be/j20YBAaQ6uk And https://youtu.be/S6qwrMU0dAI

May be too late but I watched Robin Clevett's video yesterday, he recommends a company which does all the cutting. They have plenty of choice although may not have what you need. It's one of the latest videos on his YouTube channel.

Thank you, I was sure there was a solution. For cladding I thought only battens would be required, the question is how to attach them through 167mm of insulation straight into the webs. The AT who is still working on our BRegs (have to chase again!) said cladding was cheaper than rendering. This issue may well mean it's the other way around.

Did you have to jump through any hoops to satisfy new BRegs - AFAIK standard forms don't provide a low enough u-value?

We bought one from Costco (Coventry Kingsize Wallbed) several years ago for exactly the same reason, although we normally used it ourselves and left our own to my parents. Ours is vertical, hydraulic as well, easy to use. We paid £1500. Kingsize is still slightly tight. It is also higher than our bed. If there is any way, try it before you buy, i.e. find one on display.

Don't know whether this affects you but I've been told today by the distributor that for example Plus series (100mm extra on the outside) does not allow even for cladding (unlike the one with inserts). Slightly annoying although understandable.

I am. If I get a plumber around I might ask to drop hot water feed down. The problem is when the previous owners had a very nice bathroom / toilet upgrade the installers boxed the toilet in a completely non-serviceable way. I haven't replaced a dripping valve which drives me crazy for years because I know once I remove this rear panel it's going to be ugly forever.

Exactly the kind our friends have, they are very happy with it.

Yes, for this specific tip. But there are a few I started following because it's easier than actually doing anything.

Not sure. Ducting - usually - is just a sleeve which facilitates feeding a cable or a pipe through. This one also prevents leaks by draining them by design. Anyway, seems to be something they use in Sweden.

No idea. Manufacturing defect, degradation with time due to temperature changes, chemicals in water? BTW, watched further and the guy points out it is also possible to replace the leaking pipe without getting behind the wall. I am sold TBH. I always look at how something is to be serviced once things inevitably go wrong.