Home DIY

No idea sorry. It was in when we bought the place, I just took it off for painting.

Depends what ones it is, some can be swapped easy.

Any decent plumbers merchants will sell those adaptors for the grohe tap.

Not really, that's just a 2 gang 13amp socket with RCD's built in.

@stevo_com covered the process. I'm inclined not to say too much because liability and assumptions but....

The cable you have should be adequately covered by the existing breaker (assumption).

Any 13amp 2 gang outlet attached to that cable would protect the appliance cable with the 13amp fuse in the plug.

It might be difficult to fit the chunky shower cable into the terminals of the 13amp socket.

Maybe someone else can suggest an accessory that would allow you to connect the shower cable to 2.5T&E with a 13 amp fuse to protect the 2.5T&E. Some kind of fused spur or small distribution board might be a possibility.

I'm pretty sure all of this is within the rules regarding sign off but you should really be testing zs to make sure the breaker will operate, insulation resistance and as Stevo pointed out you need to be sure about what you have on that existing shower cable.

It's not something most electricians would do. I guess at worst you would consider it an alteration to a circuit (not a new circuit) and change the breaker to 16amp. Test the zs to ensure the breaker operates, insulation resistance and add a 13amp 2 gang socket. Then it would be safely installed but not notifiable.

A few assumptions in there so bear in mind this is just advice from some rando on the internet, you should have a professional deal with it for all the reasons above etc. etc.

I've done something very similar. In my case it is the feed to the old immersion and there is a 15A fuse wire in the fuse box (I believe the term consumer unit is a lot younger than the fuse box that circuit is on).

I fitted a single gang 13A plug as that was what there was room for. Annoyingly the back box had machine screw threads that don't match the current ones, presumably imperial, so I had to swap that too.

After dismantling the whole thing it turns out the cable was dodgy. Don’t know why I didn’t test that first!

Didn't need to swap it in the end. I punched it and it relented.

It had been stuck open for two days
No wonder the house felt like an oven!

It's the Honeywell type with swappable heads although if it's the valve itself which is sticking that's more of a faff.

Its usually the motors that go 9/10. Punching ive never used that one personally ha.

A pal of mine, just starting out painting and decorating, had a complaint about his work recently - some small (water based) paint marks on a bit of carpet, a bit of paint needing touched up, nothing major.

He has offered to go back and make good.

Client refused and says she wants a discount because she has had to get someone in to fix it. My mate again offered to go and fix (for free), again refused.

Mate offers ten percent off final bill. Client refuses and asks for significantly more.

Legally speaking, does my mate have a change if it ends up in small claims court?

Has anyone done a diy replacement of the fire bricks in the wood burner

Yes, I'd say so, at least in terms of finishing the job. Your mate had a contract to provide a service; if there is an issue and they offer to fix it, that discharges the contract. The customer can't say "no I won't let you perform the contract and I want you to pay me to get someone else to".

If they caused damage elsewhere (you mention carpet?) that is maybe more tricky

Bringing someone in to correct alleged mistake without consent generally voids remedy through the original contract.

Should have allowed your mate to rectify, refusing reduction in bill which if reasonable also closes the door usually. What are they quibbling about... 50 quid?

That's unlucky to run into a client like that early in their career. I think most experienced decorators would be shrugging it off at this point. Unless they don't have enough experience to be fully confident in the rest of the work which does affect the outcome here.

Carpets are tricky, should be properly covered by waterproof covers not just dust cloths. It's easy enough to check carpets before and after but we all make mistakes. If she's going to employ some 'specialist' carpet cleaners and have the whole room done because spot cleaning would show then you need to get into quotes or a discussion and try to limit the damage by employing someone directly. On the other hand why not just walk away, there's no written contract and they are making it too difficult to come to an agreement. You should at least have the opportunity to fix it.

I guess it could get to the point where you've fallen out with the client, pissed each other off and they can't wait to get you out of the house hopefully to never meet again.

I would say I've never had this situation happen but there have been some long jobs where relationships become strained and no one is happy.

I suppose the next step is to say, I come back and try to fix it, you have 10% off or forget it. That doesn't seem unreasonable, unless the client has some reason we don't know that means she doesn't want them back in the house.

Problem is that there is now nothing to fix as the client got it fixed by someone else. Its all about money...

Not a tradesperson but I'd be telling them to get fucked.

Missed that. Well unless you have seen the damage before and after there's no way you're paying. I assume she's sent photos of the damage and fixed work etc.

What a nightmare. I'd try not to lose too much sleep over it, try and get another job and keep earning. I've never heard of anyone being taken to court in this situation.

Might be worth getting commercial insurance though. It's usually pretty cheap for decorators (just don't work with heat guns)

If you want to be a tradesman you'll fit right in :)

Get fucked is like 'good morning' on most building sites

so just to clarify

The remedial work hasn't been done yet (by my mate or by anyone else) - client is withholding payment until this 'issue' is resolved.
My mate hasn't been paid yet (the work was completed weeks ago)

Currently he is thinking that he will offer a final discount of 12.5%. If that is refused then he'll take her to small claims for refusing to pay her bill.

@Airhead has given some great advice.

I have been caught in situations like this in the past; sometimes from fuck-ups on my part (like the time I dropped a door I was hanging on a bedside table that was clad in mirrors), and sometimes because there are genuine cunts out there who get a kick out of putting you through the wringer (I have had clients vandalise my work when I was working as a sub-contractor for a larger firm).

I find that if it's a genuine fuck up getting the client to describe where it is and what it looks like will jog your memory even if you didn't clock it at the time (everyone has bad days and misses stuff). Most clients are willing to overlook a mistake if you take the steps to put it right, even a big mistake like dropping a door on something. Although that obviously isn't the case this time.

As far as protecting yourself from the cunts goes. I have got into the habit of taking before and after shots of my work. I also check out the area I'm working in and look for chipped woodwork, scratches on wallpaper, stains on carpets etc. and photograph this BEFORE I start working. This has got me out of aresholes trying to blame me for existing damage on a couple of occasions.

The remedial work hasn't been done yet (by my mate or by anyone else) - client is withholding payment until this 'issue' is resolved.

Has your mate seen photos of the work that needs touching up?

Or of the stains on the carpet?

Can't go back to make good? They're trying it on. Go round there, much harder to be a cunt face-to-face.

Chances are their breakfast tv lifestyle depends on not getting their credit rating fucked by a CCJ.

She's not really giving him the chance to sort the issue, is there pictures of the issues, why did she jump right in and get someone else. Its sounds like she's at it and id risk it at small claims personally. Sounds like she's got the bill and is trying now to shave money off her end. Cuntish behaviour.

^
This. Every industry suffers these clowns and no discount will ever be enough. If she's not letting him visit to review/make right, don't waste time, get a county court judgement on the go. Notify her first and that should be enough (for the credit rating threat above) and then go ahead with it while searching for the next job. And yes, photos before and after always (I do this any time I visit a location and I don't even work in that industry) and worth investigating insurance.

The building trade must be a nightmare. My builder mate takes loads of pics before and after. He tries to keep his customers happy at all times, and does a bit of marriage counselling as part of that (from my personal experience! Wife wants, I want - he mediates). He is currently working on a site with very restricted access and needs to use the neighbours drive for access. The neighbour is ‘fussy’ and he has to be careful. Careful means bending over backwards to keep this neighbour happy - without her consent he can’t do the work.
His job seems to involve more customer service than actual building!
One job he had involved an oak staircase being quite badly damaged by sparks (who never seem to clear up after themselves) whilst the home owners were away on holidays. He lost a lot of sleep worrying about their reaction when they came home as the damage was going to be very difficult to repair - if at all. The owners came home, he showed them the damage, they laughed and said it didn’t matter as the stairs were being carpeted. Bullet dodged!!
People are cunts, they will always be cunts - it’s how you deal with them.