Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
...
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

And you shouldn't do specialist tiling either. What the hell is "specialist
tiling"?

(I think she made a reasonable point about the leccy though, given the
likely audience)

tim

On 24 Sep, 13:17, "tim....." wrote:
(I think she made a reasonable point about the leccy though, given the
likely audience)

And given the person speaking.

Owain

Usenet Nutter wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

Given the number of people working in the BBC on various house renovation
and cowboy builder programs one wonders why a sofa designer was considered
an expert on the topic.

--
Properly read, the Bible is the most potent
force for atheism ever conceived. -- Isaac Asimov

On 24 Sep, 13:29, Nomen Publicus wrote:
Given the number of people working in the BBC on various house renovation
and cowboy builder programs one wonders why a sofa designer was considered
an expert on the topic.

I don't think she actually designs the 'serfas', but I still wouldn't
have one in my 'herm'.

Owain

On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

d-i-y is best

In article ,
Matty F writes:
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

There's one called "Rogue Traders" here.
They filmed a plumber taking **** in a header tank,
and another one taking a **** in the bathroom basin,
even though it was only about 2 feet from a perfectly
working toilet.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Matty F writes:

Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

There's one called "Rogue Traders" here.
They filmed a plumber taking **** in a header tank,
and another one taking a **** in the bathroom basin,
even though it was only about 2 feet from a perfectly
working toilet.


But the BBC film those programmes for entertainment*, and the same
rogues are found still operating (often later on the same programme)
while trading standards and the courts do little to stop them. It kills
public interest in hiring good professionals and things requiring safety
work in the home get left undone, or left for resolution in the hands of
the even more inexperienced.

* - To be honest, Rogue Traders and Watchdog is more daily maul
voyeurism than public information these days. Some of their 'articles'
would make better viewing shown _after_ the process of law has happened
and rogues have been seen to. Not just left as "oh dear, this has
happened, how horrible (what a silly old fool of a customer)" :-(

--
Adrian C

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:37:24 -0700 (PDT), Matty F
wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

That would be "House of Horrors" here in the UK.
Quite good when they spot the cameras & suddenly do a good job.

"CD" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:37:24 -0700 (PDT), Matty F
wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

That would be "House of Horrors" here in the UK.
Quite good when they spot the cameras & suddenly do a good job.

They did one this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrHS50Xkqs

1 min 45 seconds from the start for the justice.

Adam

ARWadsworth
wibbled on Friday 25 September 2009 22:38

They did one this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrHS50Xkqs

1 min 45 seconds from the start for the justice.

Adam

Classic!

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:38:17 GMT, ARWadsworth wrote:

"CD" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:37:24 -0700 (PDT), Matty F
wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

That would be "House of Horrors" here in the UK.
Quite good when they spot the cameras & suddenly do a good job.

They did one this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrHS50Xkqs

1 min 45 seconds from the start for the justice.

Adam

I hope he got done for using the car in that state :-
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

On 26/09/09 09:11, PeterC wrote:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:38:17 GMT, ARWadsworth wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:37:24 -0700 (PDT), Matty F
wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

That would be "House of Horrors" here in the UK.
Quite good when they spot the cameras& suddenly do a good job.

They did one this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrHS50Xkqs

1 min 45 seconds from the start for the justice.

Adam

I hope he got done for using the car in that state :-

An I.T. "expert" with the wrongly-paced numberplate W1N ME should have
been a clue.

"Matty F" wrote in message
...
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job.

Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

And this is actually broadcast on TV? With permission of the workman or not?

Some may have a harmless penchant for this sort of thing and perhaps they
should be confronted privately, but broadcasting it to friends and family
and possible customers seems unbelievably cruel.

Perhaps if a good standard of work is desired, tell the workmen in advance
about the covert cameras connected to national TV, that might work quite
well.

Otherwise one is tempted to think the TV station is just after some
sensational footage, never mind leaving some poor guy's life in tatters, or
worse.

--
Bart

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:59:15 GMT, "bartc" wrote:


"Matty F" wrote in message
...
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job.

Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

And this is actually broadcast on TV? With permission of the workman or not?

Some may have a harmless penchant for this sort of thing

Pinching money ?

and perhaps they
should be confronted privately, but broadcasting it to friends and family
and possible customers seems unbelievably cruel.

Yeah, bring it on.


Perhaps if a good standard of work is desired, tell the workmen in advance
about the covert cameras connected to national TV, that might work quite
well.

What are the circumstances when a good standard of work (That you will
be paying for) is not required and you are happy that the workmen
frisk your drawers looking for your wife's / daughter's panties ?


Otherwise one is tempted to think the TV station is just after some
sensational footage, never mind leaving some poor guy's life in tatters, or
worse.

Are you for real ?

Whatever you're wearing out your keyboard with that one as far as I'm
concerned, some stinking rotten lazy idle theiving ****bag of a
builder pinched my violin.

Derek

On 24 sep, 16:38, Derek Geldard wrote:

Whatever you're wearing out *your keyboard with that one as far as I'm
concerned, some stinking rotten lazy idle theiving ****bag of a
builder pinched my violin.

Ah, so he was on the fiddle then?
Cheers
Jeff

Key is not Pro or DIY, but competent.
For example Linda Barker's wallpaper often has incompetently made
edging making it impossible to hang without gaps.

So not all Pro's or DIYer's are competent.
In the words of Dirty Harry, a (wo)man has got to know their
limitations.


ELEC - Statuatory Instrument (SI) 2006 replaced 2004

That defines notifiable and NON-notifiable work.
- DIY can quite happily a) do non-notifable work AND b) do notifiable
work with inspection.
- DIY must do work to BS7671 (or named standard), whether they notify
or not

Pro's of course can
- 1) not do it to any standard it merely has to be safe in their view
- 2) have a registered company but unqualified, incompetent staff with
just a QA spark who turns up to eyeball & collect the money
- 3) have 5-day trained Domestic Installers rather than proper C&G
2382 and preferably (but not necessarily) 2392

A Pro is no-longer a Pro when he bawls over a neighbour's fence or
wholesaler that the law is SI2004, he becomes a cowboy with spurs -
and needs the fuse removing rapidly.


GAS - Gas work that is remunerated is illegal unless registered

DIY should do no work whatsoever unless competent for the EXTENT of
that work AND that includes right materials, right method, right
inspection and testing (combustion analyser for boilers) AND as much,
knowing what they don't know.

DIY conversely can just go and buy Viper, Tolleys and then a) define
what they know and b) what skills are sufficient. That may limit them
to turning on a gas appliance as a consumer. It might limit them to
capping an appliance off.

Pro should do not work whatsoever unless competent for the EXTENT of
that work - because Gas Safe has specific qualifications for each task
and is specific to the actual individual rather than the company.

Pro's of course can...
- 1) fail to sleeve thro the wall
- 2) fail to ensure any of 11 outside end-feed fittings had a
continuous bead of solder with leaks were detectable from 9 (leaking
for 8yrs by that point)
- 3) push 8mm pipe into a 15mm elbow and "fill-in" with solder
- 4) fail to sleeve thro the wall again
- 5) fail to fit a gas tap to allow appliance isolation
- 6) fail to locate the appliance at a height which permits a gas tap
- 7) deliberately not fit a gas tap so inspection leaks can be blamed
on appliance vs pipe
- 8) locate an appliance contrary to manufacturers instructions
- 9) physically fix the appliance with screws much deeper than the
browning so it is effectively supported by the flu tabs & pipe

This is the old British Gas where "everyone trusted and nobody
looked". Thankfully Transco ACS do in fact look and as he put it
"spends all my day wiping the arse of previous gas fitters who
shouldn't have been let loose with Lego".


Both DIY & Pro can do poor work.
The worst mentality is when a nation hands over responsibility to
essentially self-policing bodies because Pro's very rapidly become
cowboys because they can assume all work and dis-assume responsibility
as Corgi so demonstrated. Ireland has no Corgi/Gas Safe yet has no
statistically significant different in incidents (indeed over a 10yr
period I recall it was less, but that may be due to other factors
rather than DIY being particularly better or Pro's more competent).
Too many gas people ended up with poor practical skills & good
multiple choice skills. Standard of soldering should be job #1 yet is
often really pretty shabby as well as the understand of *why*
something is done like it is, *why* it matters and the *science*
behind it. Same goes for 5-day DI, who simply do not know enough yet
stand bawling at C&G qualified people "they are wrong" only to have a
Hilmor shoved up their ass. Following a manual is not enough, hence
DIY gas work even with the right manuals will always be virtually non-
existent (and is, most common from HSE is "capping a pipe". Most
common error of old BG is "no compression fittings are allowed
inside" (even if accessible), which is useful because it got a meter
moved outside for free in those days.


What surprises is the no-one has mentioned the obvious - the BBC has
no interest in DIY shows, only "Cowboy & DIY-SOS". Much DIY work is of
a far higher standard than Pro, but some is atrocious.

If someone is not competent for the extent of the work, then obviously
get someone in. Now, who wants to consider kitchen fitters and what
they do a) themselves b) to elec & gas after the others have left the
room... because that... truly... can be horrific.

NuLabour recreated the ministry of silly walk men-in-brown-overalls,
one to hold a screwdriver, one to write a HIPS, one to do an
efficiency assessment with moronic software & moronic lack of
understanding, one for window tax making it uneconomic to use
maintainable DIY-built wood windows at the expensive of vast
quantities of DG landfill which will merely increase with future
secondary glazing requirements (gap) and sustainable construction
(wood, acacia, gov't monitoring cameras).

Hopefully the next bunch remove the ball-&-chain with a flag painted
on it so as to prevent it being questioned by peer pressure. BR should
hopefully be reduced to a set of end-results, since the present lot is
merely creating a lot of opportunity for rushed-to-market rubbish
products.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Derek Geldard
saying something like:

Whatever you're wearing out your keyboard with that one as far as I'm
concerned, some stinking rotten lazy idle theiving ****bag of a
builder pinched my violin.

Oh dear; how could he sink cello?

On 24 Sep, 16:38, Derek Geldard wrote:
What are the circumstances when a good standard of work (That you will
be paying for) is not required and you are happy that the workmen
frisk your drawers looking for your wife's / daughter's panties ?

Or you want a discount if you let the chap in the wife's
unmentionables.

Owain

"Derek Geldard" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:59:15 GMT, "bartc" wrote:


"Matty F" wrote in message
...
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job.

Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

And this is actually broadcast on TV? With permission of the workman or
not?

Whatever you're wearing out your keyboard with that one as far as I'm
concerned, some stinking rotten lazy idle theiving ****bag of a
builder pinched my violin.

You of course have never done anything wrong, embarrassing or inappropriate,
but I doubt whether the best course of action when caught out is to be shown
on national TV as 'entertainment' rather than be dealt with privately or
involving the law.

People are capable of moving on but being in TV or youtube archives for
evermore makes that more difficult.

bartc wrote:

You of course have never done anything wrong, embarrassing or
inappropriate, but I doubt whether the best course of action when
caught out is to be shown on national TV as 'entertainment' rather
than be dealt with privately or involving the law.

People are capable of moving on but being in TV or youtube archives
for evermore makes that more difficult.

Tough ****. If you haven't done anything wrong, then there's nowt to worry
about.

We've all done something wrong and embarrassing, but going into someone's
home and doing it is an entirely new league.

The trouble with (most) tradesmen these days is they have no respect. For
the customers home, or for themselves. They'd much rather sit in the van in
a car park and drink tea whilst "getting some parts", or get off home early
and bodge the work. This is the sole reason why I do as much work in my home
as is possible.

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:20:26 GMT, "bartc" wrote:


"Derek Geldard" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:59:15 GMT, "bartc" wrote:


You of course have never done anything wrong, embarrassing or inappropriate,

Some wander around the house & check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

I haven't done that, have you ?

but I doubt whether the best course of action when caught out is to be shown
on national TV as 'entertainment' rather than be dealt with privately or
involving the law.

People are capable of moving on but being in TV or youtube archives for
evermore makes that more difficult.

IMO he should "move on" to a different job where being trustworthy is
not a requirement like shovelling **** from one ****house to another,
thus discouraging other people with similar inclinations.

Since it appears he's probably self employed publicity is the only
protection the public has.

Derek

"Derek Geldard" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:59:15 GMT, "bartc" wrote:


"Matty F" wrote in message
...
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job.

Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

And this is actually broadcast on TV? With permission of the workman or
not?

Some may have a harmless penchant for this sort of thing

Pinching money ?

and perhaps they
should be confronted privately, but broadcasting it to friends and family
and possible customers seems unbelievably cruel.

Yeah, bring it on.


Perhaps if a good standard of work is desired, tell the workmen in advance
about the covert cameras connected to national TV, that might work quite
well.

What are the circumstances when a good standard of work (That you will
be paying for) is not required and you are happy that the workmen
frisk your drawers looking for your wife's / daughter's panties ?

That reminds me of a rewire I did where the owners had a teenage daughter.
Her bedroom had no carpet, just polished floorboards and her bedroom was
above the dining room. When we rewired the dining room light there were two
cut boards above the dining room light (probably made years ago when the
lights were changed from gas lights).

The daughter had been a compete PITA complaining about the noise etc we made
in a morning spoiling her sleep etc so when we removed these two boards and
found her stash of bondage equipment and saucy underwear I thought that it
was my duty to feed the switch wire for the light through her crotchless
panties etc before replacing the floorboards.

Out of decency I did not screw the boards down with anti-tamper screws.

Adam

ARWadsworth
wibbled on Friday 25 September 2009 20:52

The daughter had been a compete PITA complaining about the noise etc we
made in a morning spoiling her sleep etc so when we removed these two
boards and found her stash of bondage equipment and saucy underwear I
thought that it was my duty to feed the switch wire for the light through
her crotchless panties etc before replacing the floorboards.

8-:

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
The daughter had been a compete PITA complaining about the noise etc we
made in a morning spoiling her sleep etc so when we removed these two
boards and found her stash of bondage equipment and saucy underwear I
thought that it was my duty to feed the switch wire for the light
through her crotchless panties etc before replacing the floorboards.

Out of decency I did not screw the boards down with anti-tamper screws.

;-) ;-)

Carry on like this and you'll be a rival to Bill Wright...

--
*A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it uses up a thousand times more memory.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:52:59 GMT, ARWadsworth wrote:

That reminds me of a rewire I did where the owners had a teenage daughter.
Her bedroom had no carpet, just polished floorboards and her bedroom was
above the dining room. When we rewired the dining room light there were two
cut boards above the dining room light (probably made years ago when the
lights were changed from gas lights).

The daughter had been a compete PITA complaining about the noise etc we made
in a morning spoiling her sleep etc so when we removed these two boards and
found her stash of bondage equipment and saucy underwear I thought that it
was my duty to feed the switch wire for the light through her crotchless
panties etc before replacing the floorboards.

She probably enjoyed that!
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

ARWadsworth wrote:
"Derek Geldard" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:59:15 GMT, "bartc" wrote:


"Matty F" wrote in message
news:5e991fa5-b9c2-443f-8d88-
...
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical
work or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts
..Just do not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job.

Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

And this is actually broadcast on TV? With permission of the
workman or not?

Some may have a harmless penchant for this sort of thing

Pinching money ?

and perhaps they
should be confronted privately, but broadcasting it to friends and
family and possible customers seems unbelievably cruel.

Yeah, bring it on.


Perhaps if a good standard of work is desired, tell the workmen in
advance about the covert cameras connected to national TV, that
might work quite well.

What are the circumstances when a good standard of work (That you
will be paying for) is not required and you are happy that the
workmen frisk your drawers looking for your wife's / daughter's
panties ?
That reminds me of a rewire I did where the owners had a teenage
daughter. Her bedroom had no carpet, just polished floorboards and
her bedroom was above the dining room. When we rewired the dining
room light there were two cut boards above the dining room light
(probably made years ago when the lights were changed from gas
lights).
The daughter had been a compete PITA complaining about the noise etc
we made in a morning spoiling her sleep etc so when we removed these
two boards and found her stash of bondage equipment and saucy
underwear I thought that it was my duty to feed the switch wire for
the light through her crotchless panties etc before replacing the
floorboards.
Out of decency I did not screw the boards down with anti-tamper
screws.

lol

On Sep 25, 12:59 am, "bartc" wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message

...

On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job.
Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

And this is actually broadcast on TV? With permission of the workman or not?

When the workman does something too embarrassing they blur out his
face. However the name of the company is shown. Invariably the company
says that "he no longer works there."
It might be sad if he loses his job. But almost always he has also
done a poor job as a tradesman. Perhaps he will improve or stop doing
inappropriate things in future. Or sell panties for a living.
I always assume that I am being videoed. I know I am, around home
(where I have 8 CCTV cameras to catch crooks) or at work.

I do use a professional for significant electrical work, and I won't
have gas in my house. I've called the fire brigade twice for a major
gas leak in the house next door.

"Matty F" wrote in message
...

I won't have gas in my house.

That's a bit harsh surely? If I had the option of mains gas, I'd have it
doing heating/hot water in a shot. I've got propane cylinders doing the hob,
since I like cooking with it.

I've called the fire brigade twice for a major gas leak in the house next
door.

So you make sure the gas bits are all done well. It's not actually that
hard, and you can always check what an installer has done. Yes, it can be
screwed up, and there is potential for a big bang if you really try hard,
but mostly people are competent enough to not get near that.

On Sep 25, 1:50 pm, "Clive George" wrote:
"Matty F" wrote in message

...

I won't have gas in my house.

That's a bit harsh surely? If I had the option of mains gas, I'd have it
doing heating/hot water in a shot. I've got propane cylinders doing the hob,
since I like cooking with it.

I've called the fire brigade twice for a major gas leak in the house next
door.

So you make sure the gas bits are all done well. It's not actually that
hard, and you can always check what an installer has done. Yes, it can be
screwed up, and there is potential for a big bang if you really try hard,
but mostly people are competent enough to not get near that.

Contractors managed to dig through the gas main, twice.
The first time I had told the digger operator where the pipe was. When
he ignored me I phoned the fire brigade and told them to get ready. I
phoned all the gas companies, who refused to take responsibility. An
hour later all the neighbours and I phoned the fire brigade because of
the huge smell of gas and the loud hissing noise.

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:50:16 +0100, "Clive George"
wrote:

"Matty F" wrote in message
...

I won't have gas in my house.

That's a bit harsh surely? If I had the option of mains gas, I'd have it
doing heating/hot water in a shot. I've got propane cylinders doing the hob,
since I like cooking with it.

I've called the fire brigade twice for a major gas leak in the house next
door.

So you make sure the gas bits are all done well. It's not actually that
hard, and you can always check what an installer has done. Yes, it can be
screwed up, and there is potential for a big bang if you really try hard,
but mostly people are competent enough to not get near that.


We smelled gas in our cul - de - sac for about 15 years and reported
every instance.

It wasn't until a neighbour demolished a wall to build an extension he
found a solder ring pipe joint buried in the wall that had never been
soldered when the house was built in 1976, just pushed together.

Gas fitting was originally done by a professional.

Derek

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:37:24 +0100, Matty F wrote:

On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

d-i-y is best

There's actually a show on the BBC at the moment called Cowboy Traders
although I don't know if they feature any panty sniffers on it.

Fred X

"Fred X" wrote in message
news
There's actually a show on the BBC at the moment called Cowboy Traders

I think it's where people buy old photographs of Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger
and so on, and then auction them for charity.

Ian

On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:12:50 +0100, Ian F.
wrote:

"Fred X" wrote in message
news
There's actually a show on the BBC at the moment called Cowboy Traders

I think it's where people buy old photographs of Roy Rogers, The Lone
Ranger and so on, and then auction them for charity.


Yes, it's those people who pretend to be comedians that you really have
to really watch out for.

Fred X

Matty F writes:

On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

We had a programme like that one of the guys peed in the sink; this was
played on in an episode of the I.T. Crowd.

Graham

On Sep 25, 10:47 pm, (G Bell) wrote:
Matty F writes:
On Sep 25, 12:03 am, Usenet Nutter
wrote:
Talking ******** by telling people to stay away from Electrical work
or Plumbing work and get a pro in to do it . No ifs or buts ..Just do
not do it and of course,nobody there to contradict her.
A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

We had a programme like that one of the guys peed in the sink; this was
played on in an episode of the I.T. Crowd.

I think Target has had a big effect on the way tradesmen work in NZ.
They often look around for cameras and sometimes find them.

Another TV channel did a spoof Target on Target programme, where
cameras were put in place before the "real" Target camera installers
arrived.
I have never seen such disgusting things done on TV!

wrote:
On 24 Sep,
Matty F wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

Did any urinate in the header tank? (as on the UK programme)

I happened to stumble across "cowboy builders" the other day on the
TV. Disgusting work by the original "builders" but the remedial work
in one case, although several orders of magnitude better than the
original, would not have been acceptable to my standards.

To put it into perspective you have to look at the percentage of 'cowboys'
compared to acceptable builders who do the job properly, then take into
account the idiot customers who went for the absolute cheapest quote they
could find, on the grounds that 'they have rights' and can always 'get
compensation'.

A TV show about a builder who did the job properly, on time & within budget
isn't going to get ratings. And that's what the completely unscrupulous TV
producers want above all else.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Sep 25, 10:14 am, wrote:
On 24 Sep,
Matty F wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

Did any urinate in the header tank? (as on the UK programme)

We tend not to have header tanks here. I've only ever seen one, and
only because I was fixing it after a tradesman had failed. I don't
understand the need for them, since there are better and cheaper ways
of getting the pressure right.

Yes Target has shown a tradesman (with face blurred out) urinating in
the shower several times, and many panty sniffers.

On Sep 25, 1:35*am, Matty F wrote:
On Sep 25, 10:14 am, wrote:

On 24 Sep,
* * *Matty F wrote:

A "pro" may not do a good job.
In New Zealand we have a TV programme called Target where
professionals are asked to do all kinds of jobs while the owner is
away. There are hidden cameras.
Many professionals do not do a good job. Some wander around the house
& check the panty drawers etc. Some pinch money.

Did any urinate in the header tank? (as on the UK programme)

We tend not to have header tanks here. I've only ever seen one, and
only because I was fixing it after a tradesman had failed. I don't
understand the need for them, since there are better and cheaper ways
of getting the pressure right.

They're not about getting the pressure right.

MBQ

On Sep 25, 7:39 pm, "Man at B&Q" wrote:
On Sep 25, 1:35 am, Matty F wrote:

We tend not to have header tanks here. I've only ever seen one, and
only because I was fixing it after a tradesman had failed. I don't
understand the need for them, since there are better and cheaper ways
of getting the pressure right.

They're not about getting the pressure right.

What are they for? Breeding mosquitoes and cockroaches and rats?
Putting lots of weight on the ceiling so it collapses?