Home DIY

Have the buyers brought it up, or was it their surveyor?

IKEA kitchen cabinets as desk units. Has anyone done this on here?

If you have an RCD any electrical fault that might lead to electrocution and death will usually trip the power without harm. I wouldn't want to live somewhere that didn't have one covering all circuits. This especially applies if you're prone to DIY or electrical tinkering.

One RCD for the whole flat is just as effective as RCBOs. It just depends what there's space to retrofit.

The surveyor (I assume)

I would assume so as well but it's an odd one as you can't ask someone to comply with regs retrospectively. Once something has been signed off by the DS (or whoever certified compliance) you can replace like with like unless you are carrying out work that is also notifiable.

That’s what I thought - maybe it wasn’t signed off in the first place? But wasn’t brought up in our survey when we bought the place and we just rejoined the pipes as we found them.

the buyers of our house have brought this up

Drainage and waste disposal: Approved Document H

If they are that fussed, they can buy insurance to indemnify themselves against any issues caused by possible non-compliance.

Waste pipe work is fairly easy though - route it, cut it, dry fit it, then solvent weld it.

So the worry is; if you have the kitchen sink, bath, dishwasher and washing machine all draining simultaneously it will cause issues. Does the pipe go to a soil stack?

They both run into the same drain - which I assume is for rainwater and not waste water? But that has been like it since we moved here.

Depends.

What pipes from the bathroom (bath/shower basin toilet) go in to which kitchen pipe (sink, dishwasher, washing machine) Or is it that the go in to one pipe?

Best to see what the surveyor has said, as they might have added a caveat of not being sure. What type of survey did they get and did you get?

Depends if the rainwater drain goes in to a soakway or the mains drains.

The electrics in this flat are shocking, the work was done by someone who claims to have qualifications and worked for national grid people. The plastic light switches were replaced with stainless steel faced one, and one was a little buzzy when you touched it. Took two days of searching to find that a chocolate block connector had been used and had melted.

Currently there is nothing modern, not even earth loop protection. Want to do it but, will the flat need a complete rewire, the whole system will have to be checked and I think it is dodgy. There is a LED lamp in ceiling light fitting that has a dim light when it has been switched off. Afraid to look in to that one.

How would you find that out?

Our setup is the same as this video where the plumber is fitting the waste into this drain: https://youtu.be/xN9WTJywZDc
so I’m a bit confused

My response would be something along the lines of this is how it was when we purchased it, and if you like the house, this is how it's gonna be when you buy it too.

Have they started to ask you for certificates for the windows and other trivial stuff like that too ?

Yeah this was what I was going to go back with. They were talking about getting quotes for stuff which the surveyor must’ve brought up but it all seems pretty minor/cosmetic 🤷‍♂️

Talking about getting quotes for stuff is code for we are going to try and chip you.

I'd be nipping it in the bud from the start. Of course if anything major comes up, that's fair game. Worrying about the washing machine pipework on a house that's over 100 years old, deffo isn't.

My response would be something along the lines of listen you asshole this is how it fucking was when we purchased it, and if you like the house, this is how it's gonna fucking be when you buy it too end of story.

fixed that for you

Sorry I didn't realise that you meant this. Tell them to fucking do one. Yes, this is possibly not allowed now (I'm a chippy not a plumber) but 30 years ago was so common that you could buy plastic covers to prevent leaf build up from affecting how your washing machine drained.

If it's only grey water it won't even matter if it goes into a soak away.

@princeperch is bang on, also I'd be tempted to ask your solicitor to find out if they know the surveyor because that is a really petty thing to pick up on.

Deffo sounds like they’re just after ammo to barter with, rather than it being a genuine concern.

Could find the nearest manhole cover that leads to the drain.

Why not ask to see a copy of the report? The surveyor will caveat everything that he has not seen with his eyes and plumber has made written report on so that the plumber is legally to blame and not the surveyor. Surveyors can be sued for stuff even after they are no longer in employment and have to have liability cover till they die, not from when they stop practicing. Don't believe me contact the Royal Institute of chartered Surveyors (RICS) and also insurance companies do love not paying out, if they can.

@princeperch Think you are right. Might be best to say that feel free to get someone to check and confirm for you as you don't know.

On the RCBO vs RCD topic. It's thought of as a better option to have all rcbo than just one or 2 rcd, the reason the regulators give is they worry that someone looking for the box to switch the power back on could fall down the stairs if the whole house is dark. Also some people can't figure out how to isolate the circuit that's causing the problem and get the rest running so they're stuck until a responsible adult arrives!

The regulations are moving in the direction of all RCBO cu's, they are recommended at the moment.

LED lamps glowing because of a tiny "ghost" currentare very common, often caused by proximity to other cables. Ghost current occurs very frequently, electricians meters often have a method of ignoring it. It's only one because it's using all of the tiny amperage available.

Am just chatting. I liked split load board so the lights are on one circuit and everything else on another. At least the lights stay or the plugged in lamps.

With the electrical regs, it is not worth me touching the fuseboard. If I have to pay someone to certify it will be the same as if I paid some one to do the work. So might as well get a tame sparky to do the work when he slack so at least my money goes to a mate. But then my sparky mates are always busy.

The LED ghost current needs further investigation, the light fitting is three spot light arrangement but the one of the three positions has this problem, just annoying that it is a bedroom light.

The cost does depend on your local council. I could probably justify it on my own place because the labour would be more than the certificate. If you have the qualifications it's tempting to forgo the bullshit and easier to ask for forgiveness.

That's what I meant about only one light being on, its the one using all of the tiny amount of current that is in the lighting wires because they run next to some other wires which have current running through them at some point in the circuit. Case solved :)