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• #7077
Thanks!
And yeah, I want everything broken down, time and money wise, which I'm sure some would be shy of but I have no interest in someone putting their finger in the air and coming up with a random figure based on how much they want the job/how much they think I can afford. -
• #7078
This. We had our floor restorer quote 2k for sanding and finishing our open plan staircase (all sides and angles). The whole property cost 1500.. :)
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• #7079
Hey, Anybody actually punched a hole in a granite sink?
I'd like to know what you used and how hard did you actually hit it?I dont have a pin punch and was thinking about improvising with a...
Any experience on here?
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• #7081
Lols... you can when it's part drilled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhM6GQBJfas
It's those germans you see they know what they're doing... unfortunately I dont.
Yeh North... you know... its not South.
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• #7082
That's not granite.
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• #7083
Quotations, very tricky business. I usually close my deals in the room or I'm onto the next opening. Most trades are second guessing the price based on lots of signals, some of that is completely legitimate, some of it not so much.
If you have itemised costs of all the fixtures and fittings including tiles, adhesive, grout, lighting then you're going to get a more straightforward quote. If you can show them a 3d cad of the bathroom you want with materials detailed then you'll be getting even more accurate. All the same any 4 week job is swings and roundabouts, you price one part which takes less time then you hit a snag on something else.
If you start out with say £6k budget, a lot of tradesmen will say yes knowing that a bath can be £69 - £60k, a tap £40 - £4000. If you know what your materials cost then factor £1k a week for labour, say 3 weeks then you'll have a fairly good idea what your budget should be. There will always be a few plumbing fittings etc. that can add to the cost, say £250 to be safe.
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• #7084
That's more wise advice from you! I wish you were able to do mine, ha. I'm going to source all my own bits as I am very very fussy about aesthetics, I'm currently stressing my new record player purchase as the lid isn't quite the right shape for my liking. 1k a week is reasonable, 3k a week wasn't... Lad who popped round stuck me as a decent chap though, funnily enough came across as a dick on emails, but was sound in real life. Said he wanted to do it but hasn't sent a quote yet...
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• #7085
Was that the bloke I put you onto?
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• #7086
No, he's busy until September, need to send him some photos first...
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• #7087
Lead pipes now replaced; thanks for the advice offered here (I think mainly from Airhead). Flow rate has now more than doubled too, which is nice.
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• #7088
Flow rate increased by pipe change? Care to elaborate. My water pressure is kinda low, was planning on getting a pump installed, am I talking about the same thing?
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• #7089
Yes, we had some hideous bodged pipework where it went from lead -> iron -> copper, followed by looping around a room before it even got near the kitchen. Flow rate gets affected by the length of pipework and the number of elbows and t-pieces that the water has to flow past.
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• #7090
We replaced our lead mains feed and internal piping (mixture of lead, steel and copper) and pressure and flow rate improved substantially.
The lead pipe's internal cross-section was about a 1cm diameter (probably half an inch?). The new plastic mains feed is 38mm I think, which steps down to 22mm copper in the house.
I think we were supposed to go through Thames water to get the feed connected but I suspect our plumber had a mate who knew a mate who could do it. No doubt it'll all be slowly leaking and a giant sinkhole will open up in a few years :/
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• #7091
I've also got Thames water to measure the lead levels to see if they think they need to replace their supply section between the main and my garden. Also, there's no stop cock outside which is a bit annoying.
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• #7092
I have a couple of flexible hoses under my bath connecting the water to the taps. There are two each for hot and cold water with a coupler in the middle.
The coupler was originally a length of copper pipe with an olive and nut at either end. This started leaking so I took it off and replaced with a simpler option of one of these for both hoses to screw directly into The bloody thing is still leaking though. Used half a dozen wraps or so of teflon tape but there still seems to be a dribble coming through.
Any suggestions? Shall I go back to another length of copper pipe and compression fitting? More tape?
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• #7093
You sure it was the coupler and not a failure of the seals or connectors on the flexible hoses?
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• #7094
No.
One of the seals possibly looked damaged so I replaced that hose but then I opted for a different connector anyway which I think may have been a blunder.
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• #7095
Teflon tape only works properly on plastic fittings by design, by luck it sometimes gets bodgers out of jail on compression fittings. What you need is a product called lsx, a little dab smeared around any type of joint, no too much, and you will be transformed into a plumbing god. A god with slightly sticky fingers but a god nevertheless.
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• #7096
Give TW a call and ask them to install an OSV for you. 30 day turnaround i believe
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• #7097
Good to know about lsx.
Most amateurs massively overtighten compression fixings. As a complete amateur I did exactly this when doing the same thing and joining two hoses using a short bit of copper pipe.
Luckily I had just enough copper pipe left to try again. I tightened up each side the bare minimum I thought I could get away with, turned the water back on and then tightened it very slightly (1/16th of a turn at a time) until the leak stopped.
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• #7098
Annnnd the quotes in. Wants £500 a day, and that's his discounted rate! Expects it to take 8 days so 4K for a week and a day. He must of mistook my shitty little flat for a good palace encrusted with diamonds and the Bmx in the corner for some sort of high end sports car. Easy mistake...
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• #7099
That seems expensive. I've got a plasterer in at the moment at £200/day, he knows his stuff and is a nice chap so I am happy at that price. More and it'd be challenging.
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• #7100
I have a few friends who work in "the trades" and none charge anywhere near that much. Most are below £200 (but they are in Sussex not London). £200 a day is a decent wage in my eyes, more if they are really good. The socialist/scrooge in me thinks no one needs to be making 100k + a year and not keen in helping facilitate that. I have friends and family who earn in that region and above, I don't begrudge them in any way, but they are "high up" in large companies or doing dangerous job.
Also, he came round and checked the place out after a day of work, at 3pm. A day of work does not end at 3pm, especially if your rate is £500!
And now my fridge is broke. I might as well just set fire to my whole damn savings.
Thank you