Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble, that's
why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with gritted teeth
I found a few tools (and washers). Various grips, stilsons, screwdrivers,
basin wrenches etc etc. I dunno if it's me, but the mention of plumbing
spells trouble. Visions of the main stop-cock screwing up/****ing
everywhere, then hunting for the 3 foot street key then finding that also
****es out and calling the local water board etc. Wifey says, that pipe is
green, I say, what colour do you think it is inside FFS. Remember, we're
talking a few pence washer here. I prize off the tap cap and behold, a
philips screw is uncovered which actually unscrews. Off comes the tap knob,
blimey. Now to the nitty gritty, the brass stuff, no problem. A couple of
wrenches and...... zilch, this was obviously tightened by Donk from Croc
Dundee. Would it budge? Would it ********. Best bet is to take the tap to
the vice in the shed. Grips on the brass, grips on the tap, a few turns,
zilch. Eventually it undid and into the shed we go. Brass bit into the vice,
a piece of pipe onto the tap, no sir. So, with a controlled ****er via a
Brummagem screwdriver it finally came loose. Remember, we're talking a few
pence washer here. Finally, reassembled, we have a working tap which can be
turned off easily and doesn't leak. What does leak is the friggin
copper/brass pipes up to it. Yet another job.

Last time I did a tap was when I could see, this sounds all too familiar.
Add a dose of limescale of course and in the end I screwed the pipe up with
Eurothane bond in the joint and its not leaked since. I bet the next person
to want to take it off will curse me though.....

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"bm" wrote in message
b.com...
Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble,
that's why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with
gritted teeth I found a few tools (and washers). Various grips, stilsons,
screwdrivers, basin wrenches etc etc. I dunno if it's me, but the mention
of plumbing spells trouble. Visions of the main stop-cock screwing
up/****ing everywhere, then hunting for the 3 foot street key then finding
that also ****es out and calling the local water board etc. Wifey says,
that pipe is green, I say, what colour do you think it is inside FFS.
Remember, we're talking a few pence washer here. I prize off the tap cap
and behold, a philips screw is uncovered which actually unscrews. Off
comes the tap knob, blimey. Now to the nitty gritty, the brass stuff, no
problem. A couple of wrenches and...... zilch, this was obviously
tightened by Donk from Croc Dundee. Would it budge? Would it ********.
Best bet is to take the tap to the vice in the shed. Grips on the brass,
grips on the tap, a few turns, zilch. Eventually it undid and into the
shed we go. Brass bit into the vice, a piece of pipe onto the tap, no sir.
So, with a controlled ****er via a Brummagem screwdriver it finally came
loose. Remember, we're talking a few pence washer here. Finally,
reassembled, we have a working tap which can be turned off easily and
doesn't leak. What does leak is the friggin copper/brass pipes up to it.
Yet another job.

On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 10:00:42 AM UTC+1, Tim Streater wrote:
In article m,

"bm" wrote:



Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble, that's

why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with gritted teeth

I found a few tools (and washers). Various grips, stilsons, screwdrivers,

basin wrenches etc etc. I dunno if it's me, but the mention of plumbing

spells trouble. Visions of the main stop-cock screwing up/****ing

everywhere, then hunting for the 3 foot street key then finding that also

****es out and calling the local water board etc. Wifey says, that pipe is

green, I say, what colour do you think it is inside FFS. Remember, we're

talking a few pence washer here. I prize off the tap cap and behold, a

philips screw is uncovered which actually unscrews. Off comes the tap knob,

blimey. Now to the nitty gritty, the brass stuff, no problem. A couple of

wrenches and...... zilch, this was obviously tightened by Donk from Croc

Dundee. Would it budge? Would it ********. Best bet is to take the tap to

the vice in the shed. Grips on the brass, grips on the tap, a few turns,

zilch. Eventually it undid and into the shed we go. Brass bit into the vice,

a piece of pipe onto the tap, no sir. So, with a controlled ****er via a

Brummagem screwdriver it finally came loose. Remember, we're talking a few

pence washer here. Finally, reassembled, we have a working tap which can be

turned off easily and doesn't leak. What does leak is the friggin

copper/brass pipes up to it. Yet another job.



Well I might have read this, but it was one sodding great paragraph, so

I gave up.



--

Tim



"That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed,

nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" -- Bill of Rights 1689

Prefer Daily Mirror style ? Paragraph per sentence ? :-)

fred wrote:
On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 10:00:42 AM UTC+1, Tim Streater wrote:
In article m,

"bm" wrote:



Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble, that's

why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with gritted teeth

I found a few tools (and washers). Various grips, stilsons, screwdrivers,

basin wrenches etc etc. I dunno if it's me, but the mention of plumbing

spells trouble. Visions of the main stop-cock screwing up/****ing

everywhere, then hunting for the 3 foot street key then finding that also

****es out and calling the local water board etc. Wifey says, that pipe is

green, I say, what colour do you think it is inside FFS. Remember, we're

talking a few pence washer here. I prize off the tap cap and behold, a

philips screw is uncovered which actually unscrews. Off comes the tap knob,

blimey. Now to the nitty gritty, the brass stuff, no problem. A couple of

wrenches and...... zilch, this was obviously tightened by Donk from Croc

Dundee. Would it budge? Would it ********. Best bet is to take the tap to

the vice in the shed. Grips on the brass, grips on the tap, a few turns,

zilch. Eventually it undid and into the shed we go. Brass bit into the vice,

a piece of pipe onto the tap, no sir. So, with a controlled ****er via a

Brummagem screwdriver it finally came loose. Remember, we're talking a few

pence washer here. Finally, reassembled, we have a working tap which can be

turned off easily and doesn't leak. What does leak is the friggin

copper/brass pipes up to it. Yet another job.



Well I might have read this, but it was one sodding great paragraph, so

I gave up.



--

Tim



"That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed,

nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" -- Bill of Rights 1689

Prefer Daily Mirror style ? Paragraph per sentence ? :-)

For Usenet? There's a lot to be said for it. Certainly some use of
paragraphs is way preferable in terms of legibility to no paragraphs.
That's just lazy and impolite.

Tim

On 30/04/2013 12:15, Tim+ wrote:
That's just lazy and impolite.

So is failing to snip...

Better than top posting though!

Andy

TOP POSTING. WHATS THAT????? BAZ
"Andy Champ" wrote in message
. uk...
On 30/04/2013 12:15, Tim+ wrote:
That's just lazy and impolite.

So is failing to snip...

Better than top posting though!

Andy

Andy Champ wrote:
On 30/04/2013 12:15, Tim+ wrote:
That's just lazy and impolite.

So is failing to snip...

Better than top posting though!

Andy

Point taken but in my defence, cutting blocks of text on an iPhone is a bit
of a pain. ;-)

Tim

On Tuesday, 30 April 2013 01:18:54 UTC+1, bm wrote:
Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble, that's

why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with gritted teeth

I found a few tools (and washers). Various grips, stilsons, screwdrivers,

basin wrenches etc etc. I dunno if it's me, but the mention of plumbing

spells trouble. Visions of the main stop-cock screwing up/****ing

everywhere, then hunting for the 3 foot street key then finding that also

****es out and calling the local water board etc. Wifey says, that pipe is

green, I say, what colour do you think it is inside FFS. Remember, we're

talking a few pence washer here. I prize off the tap cap and behold, a

philips screw is uncovered which actually unscrews. Off comes the tap knob,

blimey. Now to the nitty gritty, the brass stuff, no problem. A couple of

wrenches and...... zilch, this was obviously tightened by Donk from Croc

Dundee. Would it budge? Would it ********. Best bet is to take the tap to

the vice in the shed. Grips on the brass, grips on the tap, a few turns,

zilch. Eventually it undid and into the shed we go. Brass bit into the vice,

a piece of pipe onto the tap, no sir. So, with a controlled ****er via a

Brummagem screwdriver it finally came loose. Remember, we're talking a few

pence washer here. Finally, reassembled, we have a working tap which can be

turned off easily and doesn't leak. What does leak is the friggin

copper/brass pipes up to it. Yet another job.

Glad its not just me that has an aversity (?) to anything involvig DIY and water. It's never as straightforward as you think...

Matt

In article
nal-september.org, Tim+ writes

That's just lazy and impolite.

So is not bothering to snip your quotes. Is your delete key broken or
something?

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

I was merely trying to crack a smile or two.

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article
nal-september.org, Tim+ writes

That's just lazy and impolite.

So is not bothering to snip your quotes. Is your delete key broken or
something?

Answered in a previous reply (if you'd bothered to read).

Tim

"bm" wrote in message
b.com...
Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble,
that's why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with
gritted teeth

My 4 year old garden tap is dripping and I can't be arsed.
Are you anywhere near Lancashire?

On 30/04/2013 20:12, Mr Pounder wrote:
"bm" wrote in message
b.com...
Now, I know, from old, that ANY plumbing work is asking for trouble,
that's why I'd made excuses for weeks. The pressure was on, so, with
gritted teeth

My 4 year old garden tap is dripping and I can't be arsed.
Are you anywhere near Lancashire?



collect the drips and send them back to the water co.
You don't want to waste them do you.

In article
rnal-september.org, Tim+ writes

Answered in a previous reply (if you'd bothered to read).

I saw it, but I pity you if you can't work out how to delete a block of
text on an iPhone.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
In article
rnal-september.org, Tim+ writes

Answered in a previous reply (if you'd bothered to read).

I saw it, but I pity you if you can't work out how to delete a block of
text on an iPhone.


Small blocks are easy, when you have to scroll the screen as well, it gets
tricky. Also easy to not appreciate the full length of a message when you
can't view it in its entirety.

A mistake on my part for sure, but I'm happy to hold my hand up. Better
than being a Johnny-come-lately point scorer.

Tim

In article ,
larkim writes:

Glad its not just me that has an aversity (?) to anything involvig DIY and water. It's never as straightforward as you think...

I think it's just a matter of confidence and experience.
I did have the benefit of watching my dad doing plumbing, and there was
a box of plumbing fittings in the loft which I played with (a bit like
meccano) as a child, left over from when he installed their central
heating (before I was born).

When I got my first house, I did little bits of plumbing initially,
right through eventually to designing and installing central heating.
More recently, I put in a new water main for a friend, which involved
joining MDPE (blue plastic) to 7lb lead, and I did put off the moment
for finally sawing through the lead pipe for as long as possible,
fearing it might crumble to pieces or I wouldn't be able to join it,
but it actually all worked fine. I bought two different types of MDPE
to lead couplers, again in case one didn't work, but I didn't need the
second one.

On the whole, things rarely go disasterously wrong with plumbing. A
little leak which needs tightening up maybe, and you quickly learn
some important lessons, like using good quality spanners on compression
fittings so you don't slip the spanner and turn the nut into an oval
which will never seal. Personally, I prefer soldered joints because
I've known how to do electrical soldering properly since before I was
a teenager, and that skill transfers well, but there are lots of other
types of fitting if you don't know how to solder. I can only recall
having one gusher - and that was when plumbing in a water heater, and
I had forgotten to tighten one side of a compression coupler. It
started leaking when I turned on the water, and I thought to myself
I'll just nip that up another 1/4 turn. As I touched it, it came apart
and the jet of water hit the ceiling like a firehose, but I had it
turned off in seconds, and then had a good laugh...

One thing that did frighten me significantly more was doing some
plumbing in a friend's second-floor flat. Any leaks there have the
potential to write off several other peoples' flats, but I didn't
have any leaks.

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