Pecanfan wrote:
I've got one more plumbing question that I'm sure I'll get an instant answer
to on here :-) - I've look through the archives and can't really find much
on the subject.

In the process of installing a new bathroom, from scratch, I need to take a
feed for the hot and cold water from some existing pipes under the floor
(which used to lead to the old kitchen taps). The trouble is I'm in an
upstairs flat so can't afford to risk water spillage when I cut into these
pipes.

I could attach a hose to the lowest tap in the house, stick it out the
window and attempt to siphon the water out the system, but I really can't
see this working. I haven't heard great things about pipe freezing kits,
and even then I still need an area of dry pipe to solder the new connections
onto.

Any tips for a task like this?

If you have (or can beg steal or borrow) a wet & dry vacuum cleaner
that's excellent for getting water out of pipes - as long as there isn't
more water in the pipweork than the vac can take otherwise it'll cut off
when it gets full leaving you with water still p'ing out of the pipework!

Also consider replacing copper pipe runs under the floors with
continuous lengths of plastic so you can keep your joints somewhere
accessible i.e. above floors that are going to be tiled etc