The satisfaction of plumbing.

[Globalti]

Yes... plumbing! No cycling today as it's been legging it down outside so I decided to get started on re-plumbing the family bathroom, so as to remove the old bidet, move the WC and basin and re-plumb the rad into the heating circuit insted of the hot water circuit.

The floor is up, the pipework exposed and there's nothing more satisfying than removing the old bits and setting it all up new, planning, measuring, cutting, soldering, glueing the waste pipes together and getting everything laid out just perfect then standing back with a cup of tea and admiring the result. I'd never survive as a professional because I take too long over everything. But at least I know it's been done properly - for example the basin and shower waste now runs downhill into the soil stack rather than UPHILL, which was how the bloke who built the house did it. Consequently we had a 6' length of waste pipe, which was half blocked with hairs and scum.... yuk! It stank.

What's your secret little pleasure on a rainy day?

 

[Mr Pig]

I'd never survive as a professional because I take too long. But at least I know it's been done properly

Exactly. That's why I gave up using so called professionals years ago. I remember years ago getting a plumber who lived next door and worked for a big company to fit the new suite in our flat. Everything he did was crap!

He chipped the lid of the cistern, the sink was as straight as a dog's back leg, everything leaked and worst of all...

The waste from the toilet ran into a large pipe hidden inside the wall that ran down from the flats above. He just shoved a soil pipe into the main waste pipe with no effort to seal it in or anything. Also, because the pipe was too long, when the people upstairs flushed their toilet it hit our nice new waste pipe and ran along it into our bathroom!

I ended up taking everything out and fixing it myself and I've never employed a plumber since. It's really not complicated. After all, if required a great deal of skill your average plumber would never be able to do it! ;0)

I've now done so much DIY I hate it all! ;0)

 

[Crackle]

Same satisfaction but mine was derived from stripping wallpaper, a lot of it. Blew up the B&D steamer. I turned around to see it glowing red. Still had the trusty Bosch though.

 

[mickle]

In the short time I was a plumber I reckoned that about 90% of the 'installations' I encountered had been bodged. Friends of mine who recently paid several K for the kitchen of their dreams have discovered that the worktop wasn't sealed and is already swelling up from water ingress. It's sheer bloody laziness.

 

[gbb]

Satisfying, yes. Rewarding, yes. Do i like doing it....no
I seem to have developed an aversion to DIY over the years. I've installed my own bathroom suite, installed radiators upstairs(albeit with the help of my son, the gas fitter) , installed a shower blah blah blah...but i always get stressed doing it. Not because i can't do it, but i'd rather not do it.

I need to relax more doing DIY. It can be rewarding and theraputic if you relax and enjoy it.....i just don't seem to be able to do that

 

[beanzontoast]

I wish I was brave enough to call myself a diy plumber. It's one thing I know absolutely nothing about - even changing a tap washer is a mystery. We have a great plumber who has done all our water and gas appliances for 20-odd years, but I do sometimes feel a bit inadequate that I never learned how to do simple plumbing tasks myself.

My dad bought me a huge diy book about 20 years ago, and I have looked at the instructions for changing taps etc but never felt confident enough to have a go. My brother in law is a total whizz at this kind of stuff and his self-designed-and-fitted bathroom is like something out of Star Trek. Ours feels like a broom cupboard by comparison!

[Spent the whole day painting my son's bedroom - he's away working, so it's a surprise for when he comes home. Also started on our bedroom too, but Mrs B has changed her mind about the colour of the paint now she's seen it, so looks like a job for another day/week/month! ]

 

[Dave5N]

I am pretty confident with it all. As posted above, I struggle a bit with the pace, but I have never had a bad installation.

 

[Maz]

Modern plumbing doesn't even need any soldering what with all the plastic push-fit stuff. Still enjoy messing with flux and soldering, though, tbh.

 

[John the Monkey]

Ha - spent my weekend fixing the bodge of an outside tap left by the previous occupants of our house.

1) Tap is plumbed in ahead of all stopcocks in house, so had to turn off the water at the stoptap outside.

2) Tap was a gate valeve type fitting, 22mm, bodged (using some cement like stuff) down to 15mm, then 12? for a direct connection to a hosepipe.

Ok, thinks I, gate valve off, take top nut off, and work on it like that. But the top nut cannot be budged (prob because of the cement type stuff).

Fair enough. Water off, 22mm pushfit to 15mm on, new 15mm pipe, new tap.

Leaks down at the connection at 22mm end no matter how I do it up.

Figure the pipe coming in mustn't actually be 22mm - so toddle off to B&Q for bits (thinking it's 3/4" at this point, as 3/4" olive fits on it snugly). Chap in B&Q plumbing bit tells me it's more likely that the incoming pipe is 20mm, often used to replace old lead piping. However, after much searching, the branch doesn't have the fittings.

Off to plumb centre on the bank holiday- closed. Focus DIY - no 20mm to 15mm fittings. B&Q warehouse in Crewe does have them though, so back home, cut my fingers to shreds taking the other pushfit off the pipes, and then on with the proper stuff.

Result, one non-leaking tap, which is quite satisfying, although as Mrs. Monkey pointed out (at length) a turnaround of 3 days is not terrific.

I do wonder sometimes whether working for someone who seems perpetually exasperated with me, doing jobs I don't really know how to do might be all that different to marriage.

 

[snakehips]

..... the basin and shower waste now runs downhill into the soil stack rather than UPHILL, which was how the bloke who built the house did it. Consequently we had a 6' length of waste pipe, which was half blocked with hairs and scum.... yuk! It stank.

Ah the uphill waste pipe . I had one of those . The bloke who owned the house before me , a 'builder' , did it. I had to disconnect a bit of pipe on the outside of the house and shove a hose pipe up it to flush it out repeatedly. Then dodge the smelly muck that flying came out.

 

[GilesM]

I recently converted my car port into a garage, I definately spent too long doing it, but there was a lot of time drinking tea and thinking how good it looked.
After four different plumbers over the last few years who have been completely useless, I just have to do everything myself now, the last straw was the clown who couldn't fix our real flame gas fire and told us it needed a new burner that would be £550, it needed a new battery for the controller, said battery was £40 online, fitted by me and worked fine all winter, I am not sure whether he was a conman or complete muppet, but given that he replaced a thermacouple and connected the signal and ground cable to the same terminal on the fire controller, muppet maybe the explanation.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Glad someone finds it satisfying. I usually find it hours of agonising frustration. There never seems to be enough room to get a proper grip. Leaks refuse to seal up. The blockage is always in some part of the pipe you can't get to. Living four floors up doesn't help much neither.

 

[tyred]

I really enjoy DIY. Having seen the way some trades people work, I try to do everything myself. The only thing that causes me problems is that I don't like heights.

 

[Flyingfox]

I think there has been some sort of collusion by plumbers to make out that it is beyond the 'normal' persons ability to even attempt simple plumbing. I'm a girlie and did all the plumbing when I put in a new kitchen - it's not rocket science, and I agree it is very satisfying when it all works and there are no leaks.

 

[Globalti]

Simple plumbing is indeed easy and the bits can be fitted with little need for skill. It's when you get into gas and controls and regulations that you need some training. Also I'm sure that many disputes begin when customers fail to see the amount of preparation and parts buying, which goes into a big job.