Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


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

One assumes you are supposed to trace the phone number to find out who left
it?

Whenever somebody says come around, I usually ask if they will be knocking
me out first.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


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

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


Asking for a visit to quote is a bit OTT but I see no problem in asking
for a price in advance.
I'm sure Dave is not the type to take advantage but some would treat it
as a blank cheque.

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".

Just done battle with my monoblock kitchen mixer tap, and can
report success.

I was a little put out to find that quarter turn ceramics were
dripping, after about 7 years, so decided that I had better try
and investigate.

Luckily, it was reasonably easy to work out the dismantling
sequence. Once inside, a little scale in crucial areas was simply
removed, and all is now well.

At least next time I know how straightforward it is.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

In article ,
Bob Minchin writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


Asking for a visit to quote is a bit OTT but I see no problem in asking
for a price in advance.
I'm sure Dave is not the type to take advantage but some would treat it
as a blank cheque.

Dave will have way more experience in this than me, but IME, a dripping
tap is often well shot in other respects - leaking joints, seat pitted
by the leak, etc, and possibly so crudded up you can't actually open it
to get at the washer without wrecking it. I can imagine that quoting
for this range of possibilities, when you've never seen the situation,
could be quite a challenge, but I guess that range of possibilities can
be described over the phone or my email, SMS, etc.

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

On 13/04/15 14:12, Chris J Dixon wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".

Just done battle with my monoblock kitchen mixer tap, and can
report success.

I was a little put out to find that quarter turn ceramics were
dripping, after about 7 years, so decided that I had better try
and investigate.

Luckily, it was reasonably easy to work out the dismantling
sequence. Once inside, a little scale in crucial areas was simply
removed, and all is now well.

At least next time I know how straightforward it is.

Chris


You were lucky.

The elements in my bathtaps were done up by Geoff Capes and my access
panel round the back of the bath (though a wall in a bedroom) has jammed
due to the MDF swelling slightly. Stupid MDF.

Anyway, until I free or destroy the panel so I can get at the back of
the taps, I'm not risking trying to undo the cartridge as sod's law says
the whole tap will turn and loosen the tap connector nut.

But it's good to know my tiny drip might also be down to scale.

Tim Watts wrote:

On 13/04/15 14:12, Chris J Dixon wrote:

Just done battle with my monoblock kitchen mixer tap, and can
report success.

I was a little put out to find that quarter turn ceramics were
dripping, after about 7 years, so decided that I had better try
and investigate.

Luckily, it was reasonably easy to work out the dismantling
sequence. Once inside, a little scale in crucial areas was simply
removed, and all is now well.

At least next time I know how straightforward it is.

You were lucky.

The elements in my bathtaps were done up by Geoff Capes and my access
panel round the back of the bath (though a wall in a bedroom) has jammed
due to the MDF swelling slightly. Stupid MDF.

Anyway, until I free or destroy the panel so I can get at the back of
the taps, I'm not risking trying to undo the cartridge as sod's law says
the whole tap will turn and loosen the tap connector nut.

Isn't that just the job your oscillating multi-tool is waiting
for?

But it's good to know my tiny drip might also be down to scale.

Fingers crossed.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

I find it a bit odd that both taps need new washers at the same time. I find
my cold one wears out faster than the hot one.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


Asking for a visit to quote is a bit OTT but I see no problem in asking
for a price in advance.
I'm sure Dave is not the type to take advantage but some would treat it as
a blank cheque.

Tim Watts posted
The elements in my bathtaps were done up by Geoff Capes and my access
panel round the back of the bath (though a wall in a bedroom) has
jammed due to the MDF swelling slightly. Stupid MDF.

Anyway, until I free or destroy the panel so I can get at the back of
the taps, I'm not risking trying to undo the cartridge as sod's law
says the whole tap will turn and loosen the tap connector nut.

A trick recently shown me by a friendly plumber is to put the end of a
large box spanner over the horizontal part of the tap. Get the wife to
hold it steady while you attack the gland nut with a spanner like the
giant ones you used to see carried by aircraft mechanics in British WW2
movies.

--
Les

On 13/04/15 15:25, Big Les Wade wrote:
Tim Watts posted
The elements in my bathtaps were done up by Geoff Capes and my access
panel round the back of the bath (though a wall in a bedroom) has
jammed due to the MDF swelling slightly. Stupid MDF.

Anyway, until I free or destroy the panel so I can get at the back of
the taps, I'm not risking trying to undo the cartridge as sod's law
says the whole tap will turn and loosen the tap connector nut.

A trick recently shown me by a friendly plumber is to put the end of a
large box spanner over the horizontal part of the tap. Get the wife to
hold it steady while you attack the gland nut with a spanner like the
giant ones you used to see carried by aircraft mechanics in British WW2
movies.


Yes - that is a good suggestion , but only when I can get to the back
for if it goes wrong

TBH I might just switch the taps - these ones have a fault - actually 2
faults.

1) The have zero spout underhang, so water tracks back along them and
pools around the tap and back of the bath which is annoying.

2) The splines are a bit weak - I already had problems with the kids
being too rough with the basin tap (same type) and burring the spines so
the handle became sloppy.

If you know of any good makes of taps, I'd like to pop them on the
favoured list...

En el artículo , Big Les Wade
escribió:

Get the wife to
hold it steady while you attack the gland nut with a spanner like the
giant ones you used to see carried by aircraft mechanics in British WW2
movies.

And then marvel at the huge chunk of ceramic you've managed to snap off
the sink

--
:: je suis Charlie :: yo soy Charlie :: ik ben Charlie ::

On 13/04/15 15:03, Chris J Dixon wrote:

Isn't that just the job your oscillating multi-tool is waiting
for?

It might come to that.

You see, I framed the 2x2ft hole in the wall (and it is lintel'd).

Then I got this really clever idea (not) to make a box rather than a
panel to set in the hole.

It's next to a bed and the recessed box makes a nice place to put things
- few books, cup, stuff like that.

I made a box that was an astoundingly nice fit. Until the ******* MDF
expanded by a couple of mm.

I got it out once - then fixed it by a bit of power sanding and it went
back quite loose.

Guess what...



But it's good to know my tiny drip might also be down to scale.

Fingers crossed.

Chris

On 13/04/15 16:25, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artículo , Big Les Wade
escribió:

Get the wife to
hold it steady while you attack the gland nut with a spanner like the
giant ones you used to see carried by aircraft mechanics in British WW2
movies.

And then marvel at the huge chunk of ceramic you've managed to snap off
the sink


Aye - the sink is not the problem - I could pop those taps straight off
the pipework as it's all nice and open...

Tim Watts wrote:

TBH I might just switch the taps - these ones have a fault - actually 2
faults.

1) The have zero spout underhang, so water tracks back along them and
pools around the tap and back of the bath which is annoying.

2) The splines are a bit weak - I already had problems with the kids
being too rough with the basin tap (same type) and burring the spines so
the handle became sloppy.

My most frustrating tap encounter was a couple of houses (and
about 40 years) ago, but still memorable. I replaced a pair of
pillar taps for the kitchen sink, which were mounted on the
worktop.

When I bought them I was also sold a pair of adaptors.

The initial problem was that the thread on the new taps was too
short to project beyond the worktop. As the pre-formed worktop
turned out to have ply on top of chipboard, I simply (!) chipped
away the chipboard layer to produce a counterbore. This was not
fun, but achieved the objective.

Then all I had to do was manage to get the joints leak free, the
taps pointing in the right direction and firmly secured. This
took quite a few attempts, with much to-ing and fro-ing to the
stop taps.

It was only when I next washed up, with kitchen bowl in place,
that I realised I had never actually considered the projection of
the spout, relative to the mounting hole. The nice tight jet of
water was aimed straight at the edge of the bowl, and I was
drenched.

Pragmatism ruled - I just pared off the rim of the bowl, and all
was well. A similar mod was done to any replacement.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

"Tim Watts" wrote in message
...
On 13/04/15 14:12, Chris J Dixon wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".

Just done battle with my monoblock kitchen mixer tap, and can
report success.

I was a little put out to find that quarter turn ceramics were
dripping, after about 7 years, so decided that I had better try
and investigate.

Luckily, it was reasonably easy to work out the dismantling
sequence. Once inside, a little scale in crucial areas was simply
removed, and all is now well.

At least next time I know how straightforward it is.

Chris


You were lucky.

The elements in my bathtaps were done up by Geoff Capes

showing your age here methinks :-)

(Though I'm struggling to think of a modern day alternative)

tim

In message , The Medway Handyman
writes
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


Surely it would be cheaper if he brought the taps to you? Maybe you
should have suggested this in a return call at 3am the next day. It
must be quite urgent for him to call you on a Sunday, so I expect that
he would appreciate your effort in getting back to him as soon as it was
convenient. :-)

--
Bill
( A different one )

Brian Gaff wrote:

I find it a bit odd that both taps need new washers at the same time. I find
my cold one wears out faster than the hot one.

Lived here 25 years and never had to touch a washer ...

"Bob Minchin" wrote in message
...
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".

Asking for a visit to quote is a bit OTT

Not necessarily if they have just stated it poorly
and its actually a mixer that doesnt have washers
and can be quite expensive to fix when it leaks.

but I see no problem in asking for a price in advance.

Clearly it doesnt make a lot of sense to ask for an estimate
it it really is just a couple of tap washers. It would cost Dave
as much to show up and give an estimate as to change the
washer if they dont like the estimate offered and are asking
for a number of quotes before getting the cheapest to do the
work.

I'm sure Dave is not the type to take advantage but some would treat it as
a blank cheque.

But the customer doesnt necessarily know much about him.

On 13/04/2015 08:59, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".



It's TV programs such as rogue traders that encourage people to always
get 3 estimates - and the plumbing expert will often point out a tap
washer costs ONLY 10p and it takes no more than 10 minutes to change.


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 13/04/2015 23:54, alan_m wrote:
On 13/04/2015 08:59, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".



It's TV programs such as rogue traders that encourage people to always
get 3 estimates - and the plumbing expert will often point out a tap
washer costs ONLY 10p and it takes no more than 10 minutes to change.


Without considering;

(a) The cost of travel.
(b) What more profitable use of time the plumber has.



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

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Bob Minchin writes:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".


Asking for a visit to quote is a bit OTT but I see no problem in asking
for a price in advance.
I'm sure Dave is not the type to take advantage but some would treat it
as a blank cheque.

Dave will have way more experience in this than me, but IME, a dripping
tap is often well shot in other respects - leaking joints, seat pitted
by the leak, etc, and possibly so crudded up you can't actually open it
to get at the washer without wrecking it. I can imagine that quoting
for this range of possibilities, when you've never seen the situation,
could be quite a challenge, but I guess that range of possibilities can
be described over the phone or my email, SMS, etc.

You sound like car mechanic:-)


--
Adam

The Medway Handyman wrote:

It's TV programs such as rogue traders that encourage people to always
get 3 estimates - and the plumbing expert will often point out a tap
washer costs ONLY 10p and it takes no more than 10 minutes to change.


Without considering;

(a) The cost of travel.
(b) What more profitable use of time the plumber has.

I do a lot of work in churches and they're stuffed full of people who
will spend their (unpaid) time wrangling over the price of anything and
everything and wanting everything for nothing. One village hall even
wanted to know the profit from the job as they were a charity and had to
ensure good value.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

On Tuesday, 14 April 2015 17:49:24 UTC+1, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 13/04/2015 23:54, alan_m wrote:
On 13/04/2015 08:59, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".



It's TV programs such as rogue traders that encourage people to always
get 3 estimates - and the plumbing expert will often point out a tap
washer costs ONLY 10p and it takes no more than 10 minutes to change.


Without considering;

(a) The cost of travel.
(b) What more profitable use of time the plumber has.


Why do they need to consider the two items above.
The consumer programs I've seen always assume the jpob takes 30mins or an hour as minimuim charge times for a job.

Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Scott M

I do a lot of work in churches and they're stuffed full of people who
will spend their (unpaid) time wrangling over the price of anything
and everything and wanting everything for nothing. One village hall
even wanted to know the profit from the job as they were a charity and
had to ensure good value.

Speaking as a member of a Village Hall Cttee, that's none of their damn
business.

That's what we said. And when he kept arguing we totted up a load of
costs to show the profit was about £50. From comments dropped by a chap
who dropped in while we were working, getting any money (of which there
wasn't a shortage) spent was an uphill battle.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

"whisky-dave" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, 14 April 2015 17:49:24 UTC+1, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 13/04/2015 23:54, alan_m wrote:
On 13/04/2015 08:59, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".



It's TV programs such as rogue traders that encourage people to always
get 3 estimates - and the plumbing expert will often point out a tap
washer costs ONLY 10p and it takes no more than 10 minutes to change.


Without considering;

(a) The cost of travel.
(b) What more profitable use of time the plumber has.


Why do they need to consider the two items above.

They are the reason it makes no sense to get
3 estimates for changing a tap washer, stupid.

The consumer programs I've seen always assume the jpob
takes 30mins or an hour as minimuim charge times for a job.

Irrelevant to whether it makes any sense to get
3 estimates for changing a tap washer, stupid.

On Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 1:46:11 PM UTC+1, whisky-dave wrote:
On Tuesday, 14 April 2015 17:49:24 UTC+1, The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 13/04/2015 23:54, alan_m wrote:
On 13/04/2015 08:59, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Message left on Sunday morning.

"My kitchen taps need new washers, can you come around and give me an
estimate".



It's TV programs such as rogue traders that encourage people to always
get 3 estimates - and the plumbing expert will often point out a tap
washer costs ONLY 10p and it takes no more than 10 minutes to change.


Without considering;

(a) The cost of travel.
(b) What more profitable use of time the plumber has.


Why do they need to consider the two items above.
The consumer programs I've seen always assume the jpob takes 30mins or an hour as minimuim charge times for a job.

Bugger estimates. Quote your call out charge plus materials. If they're not prepared to pay a call out charge for an estimate then f**kem. Life is too short.

I think I understand my plumbers charging system now. We live in the sticks so he just charges a minimum of half day labour which is fair enough to me as he's unlikely to fit two jobs into one morning.

/Bugger estimates. Quote your call out charge plus materials. If they're not prepared to pay a call out charge for an estimate then f**kem. Life is too short./q

I'd want a quote if I was paying for it..... Bugger estimates indeed....

Jim K