Onoff

Tbh I'm trying to avoid an electric towel rail. I suppose though while I can I might as well run a bit of conduit round there to give me the option. The towel rail will be pretty close to the wet room corner i.e. right on the boundary and as we're going to try it without any form of screen etc..... I really want to do it off the manifold as a seperate"circuit".

Ta. Her "concerns" are twofold; firstly that a towel rail "gets too hot" (seriously) and then that "they don't dry towels....again SERIOUSLY! I can sort of agree with the first one. In the upstairs an suite we have an old oil filled electric towel rail that came with the place. The surface temperature is beyond hot! We never have it on stemming from safety concerns when the kids were little. A while back it got switched on accidentally and I staggered against it in the dark one night burning my forearm. Upstairs there's probably a 1m wide alcove with the loo in. As you face the loo the oil towel rail is on your left. Sitting down it's on your right. In the wrong place for towels really, very unhygenic for reasons of "splashing" Thus we put the towels on the small rad up there instead. Similar space issues downstairs. Basin in front of you, towel rail to the left, end of the bath to your right. (The whole upstairs ensuite needs a revamp tbh but I don't dare start that!) As for the not drying towels bit....lost for words! What's the normal surface temperature these towel rails run at? I just think a traditional rad in the new bathroom will look dated and an eyesore. If then I treat the towel rail as a separate circuit off the UFH manifold I assume I can set a safe maximum temperature? Cheers

Just looked elsewhere and we were recommended Jewson ones: http://www.jewson.co.uk/electricals-plumbing-heating/electricals/meter-boxes/products/EGM06004/surface-mounted-meter-box/

Seem to remember you said you got a couple that were a bit flimsy?

If you don't mind digging it's not hard. I've only done the one room as a "test bed" in a 1930s built place with the rest to follow. About 50:50 concrete / suspended timber floors here. I'll pm you the Flickr link.

Where did October go FFS? Weekend working and uni visits, that's where! As you'll see from the video (stole the liitle 'un's tablet) the bathroom's coming along..... Before I put the bath in and board the walls I've got to run a couple of pipes from under the window, round the wall, out the doorway and ready to go under the floor of the stairs room to a manifold on the wall opposite the bathroom doorway that's under the stairs. What's best, just a couple of the same pipes as I used for the UFH? Not sure on the min bend radius? This is for the radiator / towel rail under the window (she wants a rad but I want a towel rail). At the end of the video I roughly place the demister pad box where the "rad" is going. Any thoughts? I presume I want to insulate the pipes if they go in the wall? Cheers

Had this lot's catalogue through the other day, what they don't do in "plastic"..... http://fascias.com/Meter-Boxes

I only said gas grease as a nod to Nick! This is the stuff I have, Jet Blue Plus; according to the bumpf for potable water and good for polyethylene which is I believe what MDPE is? http://www.plumbcenter.co.uk/product/center-center-jet-blue-plus-500-g/

Ta. Might be nothing, I'll check again when home. I did wonder if a smear of "gasgrease" would work?

I'll probably lift the panels and take the (rotten) bit off the bottom then fit 300mm gravel boards anyway.

What's the deal with the (light blue) fittings that attach either side of the stop cock? Are they done up hand tight, should you assemble with a bit of "paste"? The above photo is the original set up. I've just put my new, blue 25mm MDPE in reusing the fittings. Might have a weep on one! I did though tweak them up with the 5 holes.....

Is that current regulated? The one I built worked but I kept snapping the wire. I used quite fine Kanthal wire from memory. I also killed a randomly selected plug in wall wart from the "that'll come in useful box".

If you ask my wife, after this long without one (well at least one that's plumbed in) she would I'm sure say a bath is an absolute must! Tbh there are times I find a shower just doesn't cut it when you want to soak the aches and pains away.

Where's the fun in that? It's "Can I?" not "Should I?" I want it to look like bricks or possibly large blocks with mortar lines. Thinking I'll have a crack making a test former from some moisture resistant T&G chipboard flooring offcuts using vegetable oil as the release agent. That should naturally degrade so I can apply a water seal later on. I can build in pockets for lights, conduits, proximity sensors etc. Thinking to bolt the inner and forms together with stainless studding that would double up as rebar. Some drain tubes too done the same way.

And the weekend just went! (To think I was going to finish the bathroom too..... ) That original 10' bit of iron between the stop cock inside the fence and the roadside meter was a tad rusty... I dug out the bank by hand and laid a new bit of 25mm MDPE in, in 63mm duct. Deeper and steeper than it looks that trench! I even squared off the rough sawn end of the tube where the meter sits And found a paving slab to sit the stop cock inside the fence (YES, I know the bottom of the fence is knackered! Madam didn't want gravel boards in case in impeded the wildlife!)

I've had a look at those YouTube videos where they make concrete counter tops, looks like fun. I think they use a special mix? Mainly American ones I've watched. From memory a guy used silicon in the moulds internal corners to end up with a neat rounded edge. I was considering similar for the pillar's vertical edges but not sure how it would interface with any beading for mock mortar joints. This in lieu of rounded corner bricks which are mega money. Bit concerned about longevity if I cast a pillar and colour fade if I dye the mix. Maybe a coat of Thompson's Water Seal after?

My pillar design needs to be Gothic so I guess it's off to Google "gothic pillar". If I'm casting the pillar then the mix is I guess critical. To get definition on any pseudo bricks/blocks I'm thinking 20mm ballast will be too "coarse" but sharp sand too weak? What mix did you use for your house pillars? Is this poker any good, just for a couple of pillars: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00R4PH5DE/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1477852870&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=concrete+poker&dpPl=1&dpID=41xbXQwSyhL&ref=plSrch

My pillar design needs to be Gothic so I guess it's off to Google "gothic pillar". If I'm casting the pillar then the mix is I guess critical. To get definition on any pseudo bricks/blocks I'm thinking 20mm ballast will be too "coarse" but sharp sand too weak? What mix did you use for your house pillars?

Maybe it's the whole Haloween thing but I'm back to thinking about my as yet unbuilt gate pillars. This was the original idea: Well, the I eventually made the gate. Finished in satin black Bedec barn paint. But the pillars.....we can't decide on bricks. We want for definite, inset flint panels and both like Gothic styles. Think gargoyles on top! I'm thinking that it would be perfectly feasible to cast in situ, semi hollow pillars or even solid concrete ones using the 100x100 steel boxes that currently act as the gate posts as guides/formers. I've experimented with a few bricks blocks: I'm favouring the hollow idea - fab a wooden inner column then an outer one to give say a 100mm thick "wall". Or do I make a small, true slip form say 3 courses high and do a bit at a time ? But do I incorporate a mesh or rebar cage? Do I tack on false brick joints to the outer former? I could too, incorporate hanging brakets for the flint panels or slots to slide them down. What mix , concrete or a sharp sand mix for finer definition? In one hit? Do I use a poker? Just mulling it all over but I reckon it's a goer. I could incorporate ducts for all the sensors and lights too. Then paint it or just colour the mock mortar lines? Maybe a test section is good idea?

Built a straight set then a spiral set for the tree house: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjZwzDZQ

I'm thinking you would want to sleeve (flexible conduit) any pipes under walls even if you weren't insulating them. If nowt else it might help protect the wall itself if it sprung a leak there. Makes threading them through a doddle too with nothing to catch it / snag.

I'm planning to have no UFH pipes in our "stairs" room. It's central to the house, the manifold will be under the stairs with circuits running to adjacent rooms. In the bathroom the UFH doesn't (eventually won't ) heat the large cupboard area or under where the bath is. Tbh the layout does go a bit "serpentine" where it exits the room.....but NICK says it's alright!

I can't see an issue with pipes sitting in direct contact & between the EPS. Read loads where it gets stapled direct. Under a wall then you could just insulate that bit as said above. Loop over serpentine is my understanding as it's more even. Don't forget to make a decoiler!

Well..... I must have been bad in a previous life! Plan this morning was to form some sort of an access chamber around the stop cock inside the fence, this being the OLD meter position. Lucky I looked as WE HAVE ANOTHER LEAK! This is I'm guessing on the old remaining section of iron between this stop cock and the meter. Will be calling the water board shortly. Going way back they came out and changed the elbow to the iron in the picture: It was the actual black plastic elbow that was at fault back then, on the side, not even on one of the joints. This is way back: Can't see this time that it's anything else other than the old bit of iron.

That Rectorseal site makes for interesting reading. All all sorts of soft set, fast dry, extra strong pipe joint compounds.