thanks to all for your help... im paranoid about leaks too which is why ive
not yet covered up anything ive done so i can check all the joints i made-
and a few days later theyre all sound, so im sure none of them are leaking
or weaping. the hissing soundin the mains pipe seems to have stopped now!
(the checks and pointers i got from you all was very educational and useful
for future referreence). oh, and its a terraced house.

The wrench was BnQ's own brand universal basin and bath wrench, so i guess u
pays ure monies and takes your choice lol... ive got the right tools now
anyhow- brace yourselves for many more dumb plumbing questions in the near
future when i redo the bathroom, have to trace and remove old pipes, resite
rads, and remove the rising mains from the middle of the wall in the landing
and resite it (and probably the tank in the attic too) to somewhere less
intrusive and visible so the first thing u see when u go up our stairs is a
lovely old waterpipe lol.
just one more quick question before my recess from plumbing -
* we have central heating and hot water through a combination boiler (a
vaillant), BUT we only seem to have one tank in the attic. I thought there
was supposed to be a seperate expansion tank (or some such) for the central
heating? maybe not, but given the state of the rest of the plumbing in this
house it wouldnt surprise me if there was suppose to be one and isnt lol.
the heating and hot waters always worked fine tho. Just wondering?....

Firstly Tom. If the hissing sound was loud you'd have a leak within 50
yards of the point you're listening to. If it is a very quiet hissing,
then
it is probably someone miles away having a shower.

Now the basin wrench. Does your wrench have two jaws which can be
interchanged ? Some of these wrenches have a large jaw and a small jaw.
The spare jaw is usually clipped or screwed the wrench somewhere to keep
it
handy.