Tim S wrote:

1) No matter how long one can use fine wirewool barehanded, nothing prepares
you for the myriad skin abrasions caused by coarse wirewool. Gloves next
time.

Gloves all the time when plumbing! (box of latex examination gloves are
ideal for plumbing - stops all the metal oxides getting ground into the
skin).

2) Going well prepared is good - enough other stuff will go wrong without
setting yourself up for a fall ;- I have cheap stackable Tesco's toolboxes
(also in Wickes for more money) - 1 Plumbing, 2 Electrical tools, 3
Electrical odd bits (sleeve, earth blocks, random stuff), 4 Screws and
rawlplugs, 5 Screwdriver and power driver set. Means I can grab and stack
the right boxes for the jobs. I'm told buckets also work quite well.

Yup, I concluded it was worth having boxes dedicated to tasks, even if
that meant duplicating some tools. It just gets to complicated if you
start borrowing things from one kit to do another job (says the man who
had to use a mini pipe cutter the other day because he took the big one
out of the plumbing bag to strip some SWA and forgot to put it back!)

3) 1950s paint on pipes is indestructible by both wirewool and flame - see
(1). Next time I'll just scrape it off and solder a cap on.

Flame and pipe brush usually works. (it strikes me there is a market for
a pipe cleaning bush that can be driven from the end of a drill)

4) Subbing out select work is good if the budget permits. More happens at
the beginning when the destruction and partial reconstruction is happening.
Destruction is bad. Seeing stuff go back together is a great mood enhancer.

I don't know, destruction of something that was seriously ugly, or
bodged can be quite therapeutic. ;-)

Also makes you do your jobs quicker, ie disconnect electrics and pipes so
real men with big tools can chop your walls to bits.

You will probably find real mean with big tools left to their own
devices would also "disconnect" electrics and pipes rather quickly. (the
mess may take more cleaning up however)

7) I like JG Speedfit for quick jobs like the lashup to the bog. I can see
its merits and the fittings do feel very positive on both copper and
plastic. I may be converted. Jury's out. I tried it because Screwfix had
30m for 11 quid and bags of 10 fittings for 9-10 quid. Bending the coiled
stuff straight is a bit painful, but being able to run long unbroken
lengths is good.

Speedfit I have used enough to trust now - only ever had problems on
copper when you can't insert it straightly, and you can tell by feel
that it is wrong when it happens. Tried some cuprofit the other day -
that worked well. I also used some "Floplast" but I was not very keen on
- very hard work inserting the pipes, especially with inserts in, and
you never got that feeling that the joint was a good one. Still to be
fair, it has all held and no leaks yet.


--
Cheers,

John.

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