Plumbing !

[Adam4868]

Had a small leak and bathroom taps are past their best.So I said I'd change them Monday morning.Sink was tolerable
but bath turned into a 2 and half day job and half the skin missing of my hands !
To make it worse I'm still not positive I've cured a small leak under the bath.Possible it could be where I've re siliconed around bath but it's driving me insane.Cold water pipe is cold aswell so could be a bit of condensation just to throw me off the scent.Im pretty competent at a bit of DIY but really do hate plumbing.
Anyway need the boiler servicing so I'll get a mate who's a plumber to check it over...and obviously listen to him tell me "should of got the professionals in" 🙄
Rant over aswell as fecking about with pipes.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Had a small leak and bathroom taps are past their best.So I said I'd change them Monday morning.Sink was tolerable
but bath turned into a 2 and half day job and half the skin missing of my hands !
To make it worse I'm still not positive I've cured a small leak under the bath.Possible it could be where I've re siliconed around bath but it's driving me insane.Cold water pipe is cold aswell so could be a bit of condensation just to throw me off the scent.Im pretty competent at a bit of DIY but really do hate plumbing.
Anyway need the boiler servicing so I'll get a mate who's a plumber to check it over...and obviously listen to him tell me "should of got the professionals in" 🙄
Rant over aswell as fecking about with pipes.

Makes a change to having problems with noisey discs. 😅

 

[Adam4868]

Makes a change to having problems with noisey discs. 😅

LoL ...silence is bliss.
Except it was now a dripping tap that threw me over the edge 😁

 

[fossyant]

You aren't the only one that hates plumbing.

 

[presta]

I don't mind most jobs, but the ones I really hate are the inaccessible ones where it's an exhausting contortion to reach them, and you can't use the tools effectively. I once took the front ~15mm off the kitchen windowsill because it was rotten, then had to spend hours knelt on the drive twisting upside down, trying to wield a chisel and mallet effectively enough to cut a new drip channel on the underside. I'm generally willing to go to quite a lot of trouble dismantling stuff first if it will enable me to get a more comfortable position to work on it, I always remove the openers from windows to paint them. I always make sure that the tools I'm planning to use (and some of the ones I'm not) will fit into the space available before I start work, or become comitted.

A guy at work was soldering some pipes in between the downstairs ceiling and the upstairs floor when he dropped the blowlamp, and it rolled out of reach under the floorboards.

 

[Adam4868]

It wasn't the job itself...it was the access.Lucky to get a eigth of a inch turn on bath nuts,been on for at least 15 years. My knuckles make me look hard..like I've been in a scrap ! Anyway got them off and back tightened and there was a weep.Forvot to put new washers on,back off again and lots of swearing done them up and success...so I though.Theres definitely a small drip somewhere.

 

[gbb]

It may be worth considering removing the bath to get to the taps. Mine would be remove the front panel and the bath is on adjustable feet, adjusted up to meet the splash seal. Wouldnt be that difficult, disconnect the plumbing and slide the whole bath out, certainly easier than trying to get my hands and wrenches 2 ft up into a 3 inch gap to the tap nuts.
When I did my bathroom, I deliberately chose a mixer tap, mounted at two points for security, it will never come loose. The former setup, two separate taps were forever coming loose, absolutely did my head In.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

It wasn't the job itself...it was the access.Lucky to get a eigth of a inch turn on bath nuts,been on for at least 15 years. My knuckles make me look hard..like I've been in a scrap ! Anyway got them off and back tightened and there was a weep.Forvot to put new washers on,back off again and lots of swearing done them up and success...so I though.Theres definitely a small drip somewhere.

These are blooming handy - used by me to fit a Belfast sink and fittings into our kitchen. Virtually impossible to do without them.

https://www.toolstation.com/minotaur-box-spanner/p96418

Maybe too small for what you needed?

 

[CXRAndy]

Buy or borrow the correct tool to remove or tighten nuts. I bought one of those bath/sink angled wrenches, does make the near impossible, possible

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Buy or borrow the correct tool to remove or tighten nuts. I bought one of those bath/sink angled wrenches, does make the near impossible, possible

Ha, I was just looking for a link to add to my post above yours and you beat me to it!

They are almost worth their weight in gold (maybe silver).

 

[fossyant]

You realise, when the 'boss' want's new kitchen taps, the original installers fit them to the sink before it goes in the cabinet. Changing taps when 'in place' is a flippin nightmare. Or when you refurbish the bathroom, you don't seal in the tiled front panel for a couple of months, just in case. Then once sealed, the flipping plastic 'top hats' crack and the tap comes loose, so the tiled side of the bath then needs to come off, and new brass top hats fitted whilst you try and get access. It's a young mans job.

 

[Sharky]

I have a variation of these
https://www.bathroommountain.co.uk/...elr03vTjfbIBQsPy_2hID8cP7r9RRBUxoCN8EQAvD_BwE

If you look closely, you'll see that the mixer section can be separated from the riser bits. (whatever they are called).

So when the taps need changing, all the work can be done from the top, without getting under the bath. Limits you a bit on designs. But I've had a couple of traditional style mixers on. Just keep the old risers and it's a doddle.

 

[Adam4868]

These are blooming handy - used by me to fit a Belfast sink and fittings into our kitchen. Virtually impossible to do without them.

https://www.toolstation.com/minotaur-box-spanner/p96418

Maybe too small for what you needed?

Yea good for the sink,I have some.No good for a bath.
Feck removing the bath...if she saw me do that she'd want a new one.

 

[slowmotion]

It may be worth considering removing the bath to get to the taps.

That's often not an option because the ends of the bath are often sitting embedded in plaster/brickwork/tiles at each end.
One of my plumbing epics nearly involved dismantling the entire kitchen to get my tools on the offending fittings.
BTW, if you find a screwdriver-operated isolation valve with the screwdriver slot facing 1cm from a wall, you'll know it's been installed by a "professional".

 

[CXRAndy]

This the tool I bought
https://www.screwfix.com/p/adjustab...vUv5TTyDE7Y6NwLyNABoCawsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds