Plumbing is officially on my hate list... Some other poor bugger can do my CH.
I put it in the same class as plastering - I can do it, and it's handy for odd things, but if I have a lot, sub it out!
I wonder if electrical work hits as many snags? Probably at the outset - but you are unlikely to get so many joint problems like this, and if you do it's either a wire broke off or a screw is loose - both easily fixable.
Merging this thread back to the other one where:
People 'lack confidence to tackle DIY jobs'
(Subject: Good News :)
It's actually a problem in cases like this. When I was young, everyone did DIY - you usually had people in your circle who could nip round and lend a hand at pretty much anything.
I have pretty much noone - two mates are practical[1], but they do not touch plumbing or electrics as a rule.
You guys are great - but it's hard to show a problem over the Internet...
[1] Guy next door is a genius builder - just did a loft conversion single handed bar electrics and plumbing which he refuses to touch.
IKWYM. I'm happy to tackle electrical jobs, sound in the knowledge that, even if difficulties arise, I can at least leave the system safe and the whole house will not be without supply.
Plumbing, OTOH, if you don't have just the right widget, double jointed elbows, and the appropriate incantation to mutter...
Chris
I think you are begining to see why push fit is better.
Yep. Although the same can apply to a degree. When I remembered it might be a good idea to bond the new pipework and keep the plumbing at the same potential, at least in a temporary fashion, it was a good job I has some spare green/yellow and an earth clamp in my "stores" :)
Anyway - doing that right is easy for a weekend - the main bonding cable was kept long enough to reach the ceiling area where the main water pipe comes through. A slight deviation of the regs regarding clamp location - but taking the cable down visibly through the kitchen just to put the clamp next to the stopcock on a solid soldered copper pipe that goes straight back up again with no other branches is stupid. I will however get a small brass sign made and screw that next to the c*ck to avoid anyone else getting confused.
It's *easier(.
I will give you that! But Tell me it's better if all the fittings are still perfect after 40 years :)
The one thing with metal plumbing is whilst it's a bitch to get some bits right, it does last if done right.
The other problem is that you cannot get all fittings in pushfit.
Oh - and the other thing:
I'm still wary of pushfit blowing off. My weeping fitting at least will never ever fall off - it's a physical impossibility.
So I think it's still worth the pain.
Besides, a mate was helping someone out with a tiling job in their shower room. he found some damp so went under the floor the other side to investigate. Found a push fit joint that was dripping very slowly but persistently onto some wood that went into the shower room floor.
Suspected the pipe was scratched when pulled through some years ago and noone noticed. So even pushfit is not bombproof.
You will have to wait another8 years before mine are that old.
But with plastic pipe you don't need as many fitting types.
There are things like the lever ball valves which aren't available in pushfit.
I like pushfit. I used Speedfit for some of the bathroom plumbing, along with copper and soldered and compression fittings. Actually what I dislike the most is doing plastic pipe into compression fitting. It's harder to judge when it's right, and I have had a couple of those just come apart after a few weeks, after seeming fine.
Speed fit do them in chrome with smaller levers.
I've had one like that, but it was only finger tight as I forgot to do it up.
I had a shower pump that came with push-fit flexi connections, after about 5 years one of them 'blew' off from the 15mm copper and took down a chunk of the dining room ceiling ... only place I use push-fit now is for temporary end-stops.
Fair enough, though I don't use unbranded stuff. Probably not full bore either. But the point stil stands that not all fittings are available
Both of these were done up properly and weren't leaking
Not full bore though...
Nor do they have flow restriction valves that I'm quite keen on :)
Well, mr plumber popped by this morning. He agreed I was not being a paranoid fool as it was going to end up behind a cupboard.
He seemed happy with everything I'd done to date, including dissembling the joint and giving it a smear of Hawk. He implied I was wise not to over do it as it's a common apprentice problem - knackering compression joints until they are irreparable.
So out came a bigger and better set of spanners than mine and he gave it another 1/6 of a turn.
It is now at 11/12th of a turn past finger tight for any other person reading this in the future...
He said that was as far as he wanted to go - to check it today and if it still leaked he'd come back and take it apart. But so far so good.
£20 very well spent I think :) Not so much a case of "15 mins tightening the nut" as a case of "years of experience of knowing how much to tighten a nut"...
:-)
Not to mention having a big set of spanners!
Or maybe a set of big spanners?
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