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ProDave

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Everything posted by ProDave

  1. ProDave
    I installed a Mk1 Solar Immersion for a friend. I have since repaired it twice as there were serious engineering flaws. Lets hope the latest version (which looks completely different) has fixed all those issues. The issue with a long distance from the hot tank to the taps is the annoyance factor when you turn on a hot tap and have to wait for the hot water to get there. You could install a circulating system but then you do have to super insulate the pipework to save waste.
  2. ProDave
    The worst ones (from a tradesmans point of view) are kitchens with soft vinyl flooring that rips as soon as you try and pull a unit out. That coupled with the socket it plugs into hidden behind the machine so you have to pull it out (thinking PAT testing for rental properties here) Why can't people put the socket somewhere you can reach it with the machine still in.
  3. ProDave
    If that is a marked out parking space allocated to you on the deeds, I would say no. Isn't the issue one of occupying and potentially blocking the public highway? Putting a skip in a marked parking space off a private road does not sound like blocking the highway. The skip company probably know the law better than the council and I would take their advice.
  4. ProDave
    Before you put the new one in, tile the recess, or at least put a sheet of plywood in to bring it up to the same level as the tiles.
  5. ProDave
    Are you saying someone tiled the kickboard?
  6. ProDave
    Standard part. You need a new complete hose, just a standard cold fill hose variously described as washing machine or dishwasher hose. It's done well at 18 years even if it had not broke, I would replace it at that age.
  7. ProDave
    Well spotted. So I will ignore the fact it is described as a "180 degree" hinge then.
  8. ProDave
    While I admire your bending skills I would have done that differently. Ditch the obsession with keeping both right hand pipes at the same level. I would have made the left hand one an inch taller coming out of the ceiling. That left hand pipe could then have crossed over above the right hand one and both taken a straight line to their destination with no crossover. I think you regard it more as an art form than a practical means to get water from A to B. Actually scrub that. If the right hand pipe had turned right as soon as it appeared at the bottom of the photo it could have gone to it's destination all on the same level without any crossovers. I suspect my obsession is keeping pipe runs, particularly HOT pipe runs as short as absolutely possible.
  9. ProDave
    The one I linked to originally hinges 180 degrees as well. The only difference the one you linked to wants to return to centre, which is not necessarily what I want. I will also have to look at that more complicated cut out and run it past the glass manufacturer.
  10. ProDave
    Back to tradesmen. I did the wiring for a major refurb of a derelict bungalow last year. It was a complete gut and replace everything so the owner employed a lot of all sorts of trades directly to achieve the end result. At the end she said something rather interesting to me (bearing in mind my location and she was Scottish). Of all the trades she had on site, she would hapilly employ all the English ones again on another job, but would only employ ONE of the Scottish tradesmen again on another job. Draw your own conclusion. P.S. Please keep the thread clean, this is a respectable forum.
  11. ProDave
    I suspect you are wanting a timber framed house that behaves a bit like ours. Well insulated so heat loss is low. It takes a very long time to heat up or cool down in response to changes in outside temperature, days usually. Some may mistake this for "high thermal mass" but it is all down to the decrement delay of the insulation used, in our case a mixture of earthwool and wood fibre. Not a concrete block to be seen. As has been mentioned, plasterboard has quite a high heat capacity so helps a lot. I am already noticing a difference in how the building responds since we have plasterboarded the big room downstairs.
  12. ProDave
    You are doing a good job od talking me into using 6mm glass instead of 8. Will that still be strong enough for a 1900mm high by 900 wide "door"? I might also reduce the height to the more normal 1800mm to save a bit of weight. I was planning on 3 hinges, one at the bottom, one at the top ant the third perhaps a quarter of the way down so it shares a lot of the outward pull at the top. Yes I have dedicated 4 by 2's for the hinges to screw through into.
  13. ProDave
    Interesting thread, speaking as an electrician. In all the time I have been a sole trader I have never had a falling out with a customer (falling out with another trade yes, that's another story) I think the lesson from this is seek personal recommendations. Almost all my work comes that way, I don't advertise now. And as has been mentioned before people will only recommend you if you are up to their standard. I don't "do" facebook or the like, but aparently I get recommended there a lot. Someone just asks "anyone know a good electrician" and someone pops up with my name. As for electricians and certificates, I always issue them and have never had an issue with building control not accepting them. Perhaps you need to retain the final payment until you have the certificate?
  14. ProDave
    When I was very much younger I had a rectangular piece of toughened glass from a vehicle. SWMBO (I had only just met her) wanted a smaller bit of glass for a cold frame. I tried scoring and snapping it. Yes you know exactly what happened.
  15. ProDave
    Mine is in a wet room. There will be a small gap between the floor and the bottom of the glass but no form of sealing strip. If water gets under, no problem it's a wet room. the screen will be positioned just inside the sloping part of the room. The hinges I have chosen come with rubber pads to protect the glass. There are others available that do not. I am not sure of the logistics yet. I have had a quote from the glass company, I need to talk to them to see if they just want to trust the quoted measurements, or if they would prefer to be given the hinges and they fit them.
  16. ProDave
    I just use an all plastic mdpe tap elbow into which a standard brass tap screws https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-mdpe-plastic-wall-plate-elbow-20mm-x/62324 The split ring on the left of your exploded assembly picture is supposed to have serations on the inside to grip the pipe. If the pipe is blowing off it is either not tight enough, or your serations are worn hence it is not gripping the pipe.
  17. ProDave
    The local glass company (Inverness Glass in this case) will cut the glass to size, drill the holes and toughen it. All I have to do is collect it from them, attach the hinges and hang it. I will be having a 1900mm tall by 900mm panel. The challenge for us was it needs to hinge both ways and be frameless. I only found one off the shelf solution and they would not post it.
  18. ProDave
    I am about to make my own. A set of these hinges https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Di-Vapor-R-180-Degree-Wall-Mounted-Shower-Door-Glass-Hinge-Chrome-Plated-UK/122969345040?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649 And the glass will be coming from the local glass company. They will make it to any size I want, and this custom screen works out no more expensive than off the shelf offerings. (not to mention it's hard getting anyone to post a shower screen to the Highlands)
  19. ProDave
    Another way to get rid of stuff is put it by your gate with a price tag on, say £10 It will probably be gone next morning.
  20. ProDave
    What I found with ADW is there is a certain amount of negotiation room, a figure of 5% was once heard to be spoken. YOU have much more of a vested interest to negotiate the maximum discount you can, your timber frame company will not be so bothered. So you negotiate the best deal you can, then give that quote to the TF company and hat is the price they will pay. This is exactly what we did. There are two advantages to getting the TF company to buy them. the first is they will be doing "supply and fit" so if something does not fit, it is their problem to solve. It also means the TF company can charge you at zero VAT. If you bought them you would have to pay the VAT and wait until the end of the build to claim it back.
  21. ProDave
    Would those fit into the end of a quarter turn isolator? I could do with restricting the basin flow so it does not overflow on full tilt.
  22. ProDave
    Well the easy way is install 4KW and notify them. Let them upgrade the network, then add more and you might forget to notify that. I am not yet convinces of the economics of battery storage. Every time I look at it, the cost of the "free" stored power is not much cheaper than just importing it when you factor in battery life and replacement costs. That has to change for the better and I am sure it will, I just don't think we are there yet. I am pretty sure with HW heating and use of big appliances in the daytime it is not hard to self use most of what you generate.
  23. ProDave
    So install the PV, wait for them to do the free upgrade work, then install any high power loads. Sorted.
  24. ProDave
    So who disconnected the meter? If it was SSE why did they not take it then? It's a bit late now, but for the benefit of others, I would have kept it live, and switched to a zero standing charge tariff. I had that on my site and paid about £5 in nearly 2 years for the tiny amount of usage for a few tools.
  25. ProDave
    Assuming the supply head and meter are going to stay for the time being in the box on the pole, then you just need an electrician to fit a mini consumer unit and run a feed to the hut. Then get the supply re energised and ditch that expensive pre payment meter. The sparky should know about building site earthing, i.e do not use a PME earth.
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