steveoelliott

Thanks Folks. I will keep an eye to see if it gets wet again i.e. is the leak still present and when I touch up use the Zinsser product referenced.

Hi, Later this year I am going away for a 2 week holiday and as the weather will be warm there is no need for the heating to be on and arguably no need for me to needlessly heat hot water. My intention was to turn the boiler off along with the mains water when going away. Now, I have heard that Megaflo's should be kept at 60 degrees plus to prevent bacteria growth etc. Will turning the cylinder off for two weeks full of cold water when we return likely be a problem? Thanks...

Thanks but it's more a question about whether it is common for these stains to bleed through stain block after years have passed.

Hi, Previously we had a leak from a flat roof which was resolved ~3 years ago. It was treated with a stain block followed by a couple of coats of matt emulsion. Today I noticed that there are some brown marks / ring in the same location as previously. The ceiling area isn't damp and interestingly the ring isn't complete and looks faint which makes me wonder if this is the old stain bleeding through the block. Of course this could be the old leak returned but if it were new, would it penetrate the block or make it flake off? Thanks in advance...

Dry as a bone..

Hi Folks, I am probably being unduly paranoid here but I noticed under our kitchen sink that there is some corrosion evident on a small section of copper pipe between compression fittings on the hot water feed. There are take offs for an outside hot and cold tap together with isolation valves and further up flexi hoses for the kitchen taps. I have a suspicion about what might be the cause... Given the humidity in the kitchen especially when running condensing tumble dryers etc, condensation might be forming on the fittings and dripping down / collecting on the small section of (now green) copper pipe. Although the corrosion is on the hot feed, the water runs cold for quite some time before getting hot as the pipes are buried within the floor. Of course, this may also be an old leak that has sealed itself. It's not causing an issue now but perhaps something I should get my plumber to inspect. My view in any event is that I'd prefer a soldered joint / take off for the hot (ignore the blue handle) as opposed to a compression fitting that somebody has fitted.

To be honest, anything involving mains pressure water, I get a plumber in for. It looks and for the most part should be easier enough for a competent DIYer but I like the comfort in using a plumber I trust. Plus the fact if it does go wrong, I have somebody to blame (shout at metaphorically) and put right! With water so much damage can be caused by a simple novice mistake.

That gives me a further degree of reassurance. Thank you.

The ones we do have elsewhere I've looked at and their condition seems fine and they aren't under any visible stress etc.

Hi, As I need to purchase two new taps for our en suite, I've noticed that almost all taps now come with flexi tails as standard. I've read some horror stories about these bursting / leaking so would prefer rigid fixings like the existing ones they are replacing. I'm looking to purchase this tap: Blitz Basin Mixer Chrome | Bathroom Taps | Bristan - https://www.bristan.com/products/bathroom-taps?code=btz%20bas%20c Am I correct in assuming, I can just buy these m10 copper tails as a solution: https://www.wolseley.co.uk/product/bristan-m10x-copper-tails-265mm-pd77157-44/ I contacted Bristan and asked the same question and their response was to use the supplied flexi, they have a 10 year guarantee and fitting copper tails would void warranty etc. The thing is whilst they might have a 10 year guarantee, they aren't going to deal with the damage caused if one of those flexi's bursts! It's irritating because almost all taps now come with flexi hoses as standard and I understand flexi hose is the standard for toilet cisterns now too. I'd just rather have rigid. Thanks in advance...

Appreciate this is a very old thread but now I am in the market to replace two old Bristan basin taps, it seems that the ones I have looked at from both Grohe and Bristan have flexi tails fitted. It also seems there is no way to remove them, they are factory fitted. Given the comments on here regarding their failure, it seems to me that I would be best steering away from them. That said, one would assume that the quality from Grohe and Bristan should be sufficient to outlast the stated 10 year guarantee.

Hi Folks, Over the weekend, my wife insisted that I cleared out a junk cupboard in our utility room, in doing so I discovered a stopcock (that we have never used) had a load of crust around it. It looks to me that at some stage it probably leaked and sealed itself. I've never used it as it's not the main stopcock but rather appears to be an isolator for the extenstion built ~14 years ago. We moved in over 4 years ago and have never touched it and probably won't have a reason to. However, given it's state, I presume that it would be worthwhile getting a plumber to swap it out. Thanks in advance...

Yes, and I have learnt a lesson for next time... Everything, cutting, sanding planing is all done outside. It might take a little bit more time and be more irritating but I see it that it can be factored into the price or of course they don't take the job on.

Hi, I am just looking to canvas opinion here... The result of which will be that I either need to realign my expectations or be more assertive moving forward. I had a carpenter come out yesterday to fit some oak veneered MDF shelves and box in some pipework in a cupboard off our hallway. First things first, he's made a nice job it. However, I was a little disgruntled by him planing the MDF in our hallway and using a jigsaw for scribing, all of which generated a fair amount of MDF dust. Whilst the planer did have a bag on, apparently this came adrift at some point. I did highlight before he took on the job that I wanted the cutting done outside on the drive and not internally. MDF dust is awful stuff and after he left it took sometime to clean down everything in the hallway, requiring clearing my vacuum filters twice. I have a large hallway with a hard floor and even though he did put dust sheets down, it went all over the place. Am I being unreasonable? I just figure it wouldn't have taken much effort to take a few steps outside to plain / scribe rather than doing it in my hallway. Thanks in advance and if I am being unreasonable, I've got broad shoulders

Here is the knocking noise @markc VIDEO-2024-01-18-17-22-49.mp4

Thank you... It's dry as a bone thus far, no evidence of leakage. I also checked for a weep. I also noticed the plastic cistern leans forward slightly also but it's again clearly been like it for so long I'm going to leave it alone; don't fancy opening a can of worms. Ideally I am sure these should be square / in line. I'm no plumber so will ask my guy to take a look when he is on another job.

I have a pneumatic concealed cistern behind a removable vanity panel. I pulled the panel off to investigate a dull knocking noise when the cistern is coming to nearly full, I haven't ascertained what this might be as yet, I wondered if it was the cold water pipes knocking (as in water hammer) but this wasn't the case. However, this is the first time I've had this vanity front off since living here for four years and I noticed the hose between the toilet and the pan is slightly on the wonk / angle and the connection to the pan looks like the attached photo. This has been fine for over four years we've been here and it's been in place for ~13 years so I am not minded to mess with it but just wondered if this looks normal.

I found out another in the loft is actually shot. So that’s 3 elbows I now know about. The install is 13 years old; is this normal? Thinking I am best to replace the entire run but that will involve cutting out sections of a stud wall.

Hi, Last night I encountered a leak in a roof above our store room which has transpired to be from the boiler condensate pipe. It was cracked at an elbow so the plumber we use has replaced this and hopefully all will be well with that joint. However, as he was leaving, we noticed another elbow with a hair line crack as it goes through a wall into a soil pipe. He has put some sealant over this as a temporary solution and will return in the new year to replace that. I did ask him to do it now but with it being a bit more involved, he opted to leave it until the new year. The challenge is though, with two elbows in this state, it stand to reason that others may also be the same! The ones from the boiler in the loft look OK but there are one or two hidden behind a stud wall. In the new year the plumber said he can use an endoscope to try to inspect these but I'm thinking it may just be worth replacing the run rather than waiting for the others to inevitably fail. The only difference with the others might be that they are less exposed to cold conditions. I'd be interested to know folks thoughts on this. Thanks...

Hi Folks, I have some TLC LVT tiles in our kitchen / utility which I believe were laid around 10 years ago by the previous owner. I believe these to be budget / lower quality tiles as they mark /scratch very easily. I am intending to do a strip, clean and revive using one of the many LVT products / packs on the market but ultimately as some stage I plan to change it. I've had a couple of folks quote for this whilst doing other flooring (carpets) in the house. One of them reckoned you could go right over the top of the existing tiles by laying a new layer of latex down. I wasn't keen on this idea as I'd like to strip back and start again. I was also told by one of them that we'd have to get the fridge freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer etc out of the kitchen as the floor has to be screeded all in one go, whereas the other said he can work around it, does the areas where appliances go separately. I'd just be keen to know from others experience, how they've gone about this... Thanks in advance.

I trust you mean wall anchors and not the standard Fischer Duopower plugs? Not that they aren't good.

Didn't even think of the washer and nut idea. That would be very easy to do actually but make removal of the bracket more difficult later if a new / different one is needed.

Hi Folks, Not got a specific design in mind yet but possibly going to build a TV panel out of ply of MDF (ply would be better to fix to). If the perimeter and center of this panel had 2x4 timbers fixed securely to a brick / block wall with the ply screwed to these, what fixings should I use for the TV bracket onto the ply? The ply may be 18-22mm thick so any decent length screw is going to go out the rear of the ply. Is this likely to pose a problem? Of course it might be possible to add more 2x4 timbers so as the fixing is through the ply and the 2x4 but is this necessary? Thanks in advance...

Hi, I come here with this question mostly out of curiosity. I've used several decorators over the years and all have their own process they follow when decorating a room. However, none have followed the process which I think is the most logical and prevents debris ending up in paint etc. 1) Do all prep work first, walls, ceilings and wood work. 2) Hoover the area, clean down the walls with sugar soap etc. to get rid of debris / residue that may interfere with paint. 3) Dust down surfaces. 4) Paint ceiling 5) Paint walls 6) Paint woodwork. The key step I think most I've used seem to miss is step 2. Essentially, they are working in a room with dust / debris on the wall which inevitably ends up airborne. Thanks in advance.

On reflection, I might invest in a cheap thermal imager from Amazon. Might come in hand for other things too.