Home DIY

We have one of those. They make for a wonderful shower - for the first person to get there in the morning before the tank is empty...

Ours was like that after we had all the internal piping replaced. I think it's just the flux used on the solder joints slowly dissolving. The flux should be WRAS approved so should be safe enough, but if you don't like it bottled water is cheap enough. Took about 2 weeks for the taste to clear for us.

5.12 seconds, UR shitting me...

to summarise:

appx 5 sec any hot outlet, 3 to 4 sec cold, with the exception of the kitchen cold side.

probably look at servicing/replacing the cold mixer, or looking to see if there's any restriction to flow in the pipework.

no drop off over time indicates that pressure is constant, so unlikely there's serious fouling in the boiler heat exchanger.

if you turn the combi off, so running cold water straight through, what are the timed sets then? do both hot and cold sides again

..and don't worry about two decimal places...

Damn ball gags...

ftfy

So the washing machine has been leaking. Its not directly next to the sink as there's a corner cupboard between. It's leaking from this joint. I think the problem is that the darker flexi hose is too long and so there's a large kink before the hose then goes up into the top part of the waste and then back down (make sense?). I'm imagining one hose from the washing machine all the way to the waste would be the best option?

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So the black sleeve pops over it and then a clip either end?

Just whack a jubilee clip over the dark rubber bit to clamp it onto the lighter hose. Don't over tighten.

Tighten until it cracks then back off half a turn, right?

Cheers for all the replies, i'll test again this eve!

We'd quite like a kitchen tap with a pull out hose, so that rather rules out bathroom taps, annoyingly. A Deck mixer might cover the holes, I guess. Ideal world, we'd be able to swap the spout out for something and keep the taps. That'd save money, maybe - but I can't for the life of me find a lone spout that would do the job.
I guess I could accept a FM Mattsson of Grohe single hole tap/spout thing, and cover the other two holes. I wonder if there's any useful thing I could use those holes for?

All this hot/cold water pressure combi boiler stuff.
In my old flat the hot water flow rate was a fraction of the cold. Reducing the heat to increase the flow was counter-productive because you needed less cold water mixed into the shower. Increasing the heat to 'rather too hot' reduced hot flow rate even more, but you needed more cold to bring it down to acceptable temperature which meant that the shower pressure was better. It was also the only way you could fill a bath at a decent speed, cos you mostly used the cold tap.

Separate filtered water and/or boiling water supply.

My old flat had the shower on the top (second) floor. If anyone used the downstairs loo or the middle floor kitchen tap, the shower would just dribble pathetically at you.
Shittest setup ever. Flat sold for £480k in 2012.

Loldon.

Oooh, I do like the idea of a filter tap.

Other hole could have a permanent flower arrangement in it, like some show home disaster.

@chrisbmx116 hi chris

grove road splits at the j/o roman road, are you north or south of roman road? If you can speak to your neighbours and let me know, so we can rule out if its an external issue or internal issue.

I suspect if external, your supply pipe (the service pipe from TW) may be too small as you are most likely being fed on a shared supply between the x amount of flats

This weekends work.

We've also now finished the painting of all of the walls and doors in the house - something like 60-70l of emulsion. I never want to mist coat again and I have a shoulder injury from painting all the fucking ceilings.

Flooring and skirting is going down this weekend.

Radiator is likely to be replaced at some point but we got really cold when we moved in, so needed something at short notice

Does anybody know a decent paint stripper for wood? ta JT

The absolute best way to strip paint from wood is with an infra red heat gun. Nothing else comes close.

If you want to do it another way (god knows why) use a carbide scraper blade to remove as much as possible by hand then use a chemical paint stripper (Tensid is probably my favourite). Just don't do that though, buy an infra red heat gun you will not regret it. I have stripped paint using every method known to man over 30 years and I wish I'd had one 30 years ago.

Hmmm, except the cheapest one I can find is like £200.
and annoyingly cant find any for rental..

Though I would tend to agree with you on getting the thing that does the job best in advance of future jobs, I'm unconvinced I will strip that much paint in my lifetime...

thanks for the tip, perhaps i'll bite the bullet ;)

Forum infrared paint stripper? I could do with one as well but can't face paying out when I'll use it for a few weekends and hopefully never again...

Edit: new page, crap...

You could buy one and sell it on when you're done, I think there's a ready market for them on this thread alone.

The chemicals are a bitch, you end up with burnt arms/face and shoes covered in sticky paint. I got used to stripping stuff with a carbide scraper and chisels and after a few years experience I could strip a window frame bare in a couple of hours. The only problem is you catch the wood here and there, you always have to work with the grain and then you've got a lot of filling to do, plus the air is full of ancient paint chips and it's pretty physical. The IR gun is just magical by comparison, barely needs sanding after and almost never damages the wood.

I also have a paint stripper that's basically 2 carbide blades spinning on a disc, it's terrifying and you can destroy the wood in seconds, the razor sharp paint shards get flung everywhere at massive velocity and the machine eats it's own safety guards. You can strip the flats of a door in minutes but you still have to do the mouldings another way.

There were a few IR guns on eBay for £100 and there are a few make your own wiki's, it's only an IR bulb with a handle and safety guard but the difference will be the quality of the bulb and the output.

Haha - I had the exact same thought the other day - I've got a bannister I'd liek to strip but not sure about spending that kind of wedge...@Airhead are there cheaper versions?

That's very good value.