On 01/02/2019 11:42, GB wrote:
On 31/01/2019 21:13, wrote:
I rarely get beaten by DIY jobs, but it's looking like this one may
get the better of me.
I'm trying to get the crosshead top off a tap, the sort with a screw
in the side of the head. The screw came out easily but I can't budge
the tap head. I've tried making wedges and tapping them between the
head and the body, and I've tried hot water over the head, but no
success. Annoyingly I can't even budge the nut securing the tap to the
basin, so I can't take the tap to the workbench.
Any ideas?

There's a slight crack in the Twyfords Ceramant basin (which I think
was fitted when the house was built in the 1930s) so maybe it's time
to look for a replacement :-(

Turn the handle with water pump pliers and undo the gland. Throw the
whole lot away and replace with
https://www.screwfix.com/p/swirl-bat...iver-kit/12204


So far, that's worked every time.
That's not a bad plan if the "slide hammer" idea doesn't work.
I'm currently re-laying a large number of parquet flooring blocks -
identifying loose ones, scraping bitumen off blocks and concrete,
applying liquid DPM, blinding DPM with fine sand, and then re-laying
blocks with a modern (bitumen-compatible) SIKA adhesive. I'll go back to
the tap when I'm bored with the floor.