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Adam4868
Guru
I cut the end of a spanner and welded it at 90 degrees.....still a barsteward
Plumbing !
- Thread starter Adam4868
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OP
OP
Adam4868
Guru
You been in my house ?
I knocked the toilet and bathroom into one when we moved in.The bath was tight so I boarded and tiled after...forgot how much crap I'd shoved under the bath aswell.So to get to the far tap of the bath is tight...that's a understatement.Plumber a mate who sadly no longer with us was old school,no flexy for him everything is soldered copper pipe.Like a maze under there lol.
But I don't like plumbing at the best of times,I've little patience for it and I'm ham fisted with it so to speak,no patience and a overwhelming need to overtighten everything to the point of "it's gonna blow"
Give me any other trade and I'm fine but there's a reason for me not to mess with water...😁
T4tomo
Legendary Member
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OP
Adam4868
Guru
Should of painted that new plaster first....how many times do I have to tell you 😁
Fastpedaller
Über Member
Individual taps are particularly prone to loosening if they have flexible connectors - rigid copper pipes give some extra resistance - tell your visitors not to wrench taps shut! - Gives me lots of work though, as that last 1/4 'tight turn' damages the valves (compression valves with washers, not ceramic valve taps). I don't understand why folk turning off taps aren't gently with them, it's something in their brain which expects the water to stop instantly, which it will never do because the spout needs to drain out. Rant over.
Fastpedaller
Über Member
As we're on plumbing........ a little quiz for you all.
A customer asked me to go to see his bath, which had a remote action pop-up plug/overflow combo like this
https://www.toolstation.com/bath-pop-up-waste/p12608
He said "I think the bath will have to come out as I've tried to reach underneath it but it's impossible"
When I got there I saw the problem - the control/overflow part was on the long edge of the bath against the wall, and had broken beyond repair. Both short ends of the bath also had a wall against them. The other problem was the beautiful tiling which of course had been done after the bath was installed - so removing the bath would have meant a retile as well.
I went back a couple of days later with a new pop-up waste linked above, and had it fixed in about 40 minutes........ so how did I do it?
A customer asked me to go to see his bath, which had a remote action pop-up plug/overflow combo like this
https://www.toolstation.com/bath-pop-up-waste/p12608
He said "I think the bath will have to come out as I've tried to reach underneath it but it's impossible"
When I got there I saw the problem - the control/overflow part was on the long edge of the bath against the wall, and had broken beyond repair. Both short ends of the bath also had a wall against them. The other problem was the beautiful tiling which of course had been done after the bath was installed - so removing the bath would have meant a retile as well.
I went back a couple of days later with a new pop-up waste linked above, and had it fixed in about 40 minutes........ so how did I do it?
presta
Guru
I always install stuff in such a way that it's maintainable: the tap end of my bath is moved away from the wall to give more access for the taps. One of my kitchen cabinets would have hindered plumbers access to the boiler, so I made some heavy duty brackets with keyhole slots that hook on rawlbolts with washers under the head, so that the whole cabinet just lifts off the wall. Floor boards lifted to install cables are refitted with screws, not nails. Cable ends are trimmed as long as possible so that there's enough spare to remake the ends if necessary instead of pulling the cable out of the wall to renew it. Etc etc.
I have a bath tap wrench with the head already set at right angles, but it needs a Mole grip clamped on the other end to get enough leverage.
Fastpedaller
Über Member
One of my biggest gripes is the bath panels that can't be removed - a plywood panel held on with 6 screws and then tiled over!
Why do people not think about access? I know a few screw covers are an 'eyesore' to some, but lots of broken tiles look a lot worse.
last year I had to remove a cistern from a customer's toilet (to replace the syphon), whoever had fitted the cistern originally had stuck it to the tiled wall with no-nails
It took 90 minutes using a hacksaw blade held between my fingers to saw between the tiles and the cistern. The really annoying thing it they hadn't just put a blob at each end - NO,NO they'd stuck it on for good, with a 2 inch band all along!
Why do people not think about access? I know a few screw covers are an 'eyesore' to some, but lots of broken tiles look a lot worse.
last year I had to remove a cistern from a customer's toilet (to replace the syphon), whoever had fitted the cistern originally had stuck it to the tiled wall with no-nails
It took 90 minutes using a hacksaw blade held between my fingers to saw between the tiles and the cistern. The really annoying thing it they hadn't just put a blob at each end - NO,NO they'd stuck it on for good, with a 2 inch band all along!
OP
OP
Adam4868
Guru
Through the overflow hole....as in thread it through ?
Fastpedaller
Über Member
The rear part of the overflow is a larger diameter than the hole and has to be in place on the outside of the bath. It is secured by a part that fits inside the bath and is subsequently covered by the round handle which operates the remote cable to lift the plug.
Fastpedaller
Über Member
Adam - your reply was the only one, and when I started reading I thought you'd got it - so a near miss. Anyway...... the reveal:-
A piece of string threaded through the overflow hole is fed under the bath. The string is looped around the centre spindle of the overflow and knotted. Feeding the complete mechanism under the bath, the string is also pulled through the overflow hole and into the bath - once the overflow is pulled into position by pulling the string as tight as one dares!, the end of the string is fed through one of the holes in the overflow retaining ring - this is almost a 3-hand job, but just do-able. With the string still held tight, the retaining ring is screwed onto the overflow by one turn or more, and the string is pulled more to break the string - a pair of long, thin scissors can be used to cut it if that's possible/easier. Now we have the overflow on the outside of the bath (between bath and wall) and the retaining ring on the inside of the bath - just tighten the retaining ring whilst checking alignment of the overflow, and (if necessary) insert a small finger through to align it to the centre. Fit the waste part to the bottom of the bath adding silicone if required to get it watertight. A few weeks on the customer is delighted as it saved him a lot of money not to mention the mess/aggro ! Maybe I need to put this in the 'most satisfying mechanical repair' thread?
OP
OP
Adam4868
Guru
That's what I meant 🙄
Bet your good at internal cables on bikes aswell aren't you !
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