So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.

On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Who are you and what are you doing in my Dad's house?

Cheers
--
Clive

On Monday, 6 November 2017 19:42:08 UTC, wrote:
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor.

Likewise, but to a storage heater, in flex.

Owain

In article ,
wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling
off). Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur. Fortunately there
haven't been any structural "improvements". Please people, if you don't
know what you're doing then don't do it!

You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by those
being paid to do it.

--
*Am I ambivalent? Well, yes and no.

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

"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling
off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.

I havent ever done any of that and designed and built the
entire house on a bare block of land, mostly single handed.

The only really stupid thing I did was when pointing the block
work at night using par38 floods. Those arent real keen on
being moved around when on and the bulb failure rate due
to that is significant when they are on the planks on 4 gal
drums used when block laying. When the light went out yet
again, I assumed it was just another bulb failure and ran
my hand down the lead to get to the bulb holder in the dark.

Turned out that this time the cord had pulled out of the bulb
holder and I ended up with the bare wires in the palm of the
hand that I had run down the cord. No harm done, but I
kicked myself for having done it like that.

On 06/11/17 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box,

That's quite good. Normally they are twisted together outside of a round JB.

dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Oh dear...

However nobody has yet died.

I think my favourite in this house was wall lights built at home using bits
of old fresnel screens and hardboard, wired with ordinary mains two core
flex down the wall just under the wallpaper in rough grooves in the wall and
filled with plastic wood to make it almost flat. OK till you start too
really scrape the wallpaper off and short out the flex, bang.
Just finding where it was wired in was a bit of a job, seems to have been
in a two pin plug and socket under the loose floorboard in the doorway held
in by duct tape.

The ring main to the sockets had simply been cut and joined by a chock block
for the earth and the two pin plug for the other two.


I guess back in the 60s nobody bothered too much about this sort of thing,
plugging the electric iron into the ceiling lamp socket with an adaptor
bought from Woolies.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
wrote in message
...
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough channel
in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't checked yet
but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

I suspect though that many people these days do not actually learn as they
move out after doing their deeds. I have to say though that over many years
lots of things we used to all do are now not allowed.
Most of the wiring in this house though good and still sound is done with
the older pvc red black and bare earth sleeved green wire. Its sound and
works and will probably continue to work but I'd not want to try to find
where some of it runs particularly between the main meter under the stairs
to get to upstairs.

Brian

--
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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling
off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.

Of course even in the workplace back in the 60s you often found some very
heath Robinson gear made to test pcbs. With valve equipment everywhere you
always were getting shocks. It was isolated mains powered but still it
certainly woke you up in the morning to get several hundred volts across the
hand, and the ladies who worked on setting up tvs seemed almost immune to
eht after a few weeks!
Brian

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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"newshound" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling
off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse
;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.

I havent ever done any of that and designed and built the
entire house on a bare block of land, mostly single handed.

The only really stupid thing I did was when pointing the block
work at night using par38 floods. Those arent real keen on
being moved around when on and the bulb failure rate due
to that is significant when they are on the planks on 4 gal
drums used when block laying. When the light went out yet
again, I assumed it was just another bulb failure and ran
my hand down the lead to get to the bulb holder in the dark.

Turned out that this time the cord had pulled out of the bulb
holder and I ended up with the bare wires in the palm of the
hand that I had run down the cord. No harm done, but I
kicked myself for having done it like that.

Underfloor heating that is called.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
wrote in message
...
On Monday, 6 November 2017 19:42:08 UTC, wrote:
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor.

Likewise, but to a storage heater, in flex.

Owain

wrote:

So far, in this house I've found:
[]
a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!),

Seriously curious, how would that be done?

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling
off). Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur. Fortunately there
haven't been any structural "improvements". Please people, if you don't
know what you're doing then don't do it!

You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by those
being paid to do it.
In our village hall, I had to work on the new extractor fan - couldn't find
the isolator - so killed the RCD , The asked where the isolator was "Oh, it
pluuged into an extension strip underneath the kicking board for the
nearest cupboard."

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On 06-Nov-17 9:26 PM, newshound wrote:
On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired
brown-to-black and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2"
screws (barely in the plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi
screws that have the plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws
everywhere, a kitchen extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a
concealed shower mixer fitted without thought of how to service it
(there's a leak!), a 13A socket connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run
on catenary wires to sheds (signed off a year ago but the insulation
had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.

I hope that is a satirical comment.

--
--

Colin Bignell

In message , Chris J Dixon
writes
wrote:

So far, in this house I've found:
[]
a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!),

Seriously curious, how would that be done?

Something similar here. Aqualisa shower mixer with the supply and outlet
connections behind tiled plasterboard. Pumped supply and only leaked
when daughters showered.....
Luckily the stud wall was accessible through a cupboard in the next
room. It turned out the plumber had taken literally the instruction to
*hand tighten only* the rubber washer sealed connections.

There was I blaming them for shaving their legs when the problem
occurred because they ran the shower at a higher outlet pressu-)

--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
charles wrote:
You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by
those being paid to do it.
In our village hall, I had to work on the new extractor fan - couldn't
find the isolator - so killed the RCD , The asked where the isolator was
"Oh, it pluuged into an extension strip underneath the kicking board for
the nearest cupboard."

My brother has countless stories like this about his church. And all the
work has been done by accredited tradesmen.

--
*If you ate pasta and anti-pasta, would you still be hungry?

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

wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen

I'm just wondering what's wrong with BZP posi screws? Is there
something fundamentally wrong with them? It's what I tend to pick
because they don't rust over the years.

In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:
Something similar here. Aqualisa shower mixer with the supply and outlet
connections behind tiled plasterboard.

How else would you do it? Don't think many would want surface mount pipes
running round a shower.

Pumped supply and only leaked
when daughters showered.....
Luckily the stud wall was accessible through a cupboard in the next
room. It turned out the plumber had taken literally the instruction to
*hand tighten only* the rubber washer sealed connections.

Mine is in the wall between the bathroom and a separate toilet. So I
mounted a mirror over the basin in that toilet so if I ever needed access
to the connections to the shower I could cut a hole behind it.

--
*Gaffer tape - The Force, light and dark sides - holds the universe together*

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

On 06/11/17 23:42, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen
extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!), a 13A socket
connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run on catenary wires to sheds (signed
off a year ago but the insulation had degraded so far it was falling
off). Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur. Fortunately there
haven't been any structural "improvements". Please people, if you don't
know what you're doing then don't do it!

You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by those
being paid to do it.

Sometimes I find when you go to diy, it's good to start by turning off
your worrying brain, tell yourself that it will all be fine no matter
how slapdash, and that if builders do it it is easy and almost certainly
foolproof. Then sleep soundly.

TW

In article ,
TimW wrote:
Sometimes I find when you go to diy, it's good to start by turning off
your worrying brain, tell yourself that it will all be fine no matter
how slapdash, and that if builders do it it is easy and almost certainly
foolproof. Then sleep soundly.

I suppose if you bodge something yourself it's not going to be a surprise
if it causes problems. ;-)

--
*If PROGRESS is for advancement, what does that make CONGRESS mean?

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" Wrote in message:
In article ,
charles wrote:
You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by
those being paid to do it.
In our village hall, I had to work on the new extractor fan - couldn't
find the isolator - so killed the RCD , The asked where the isolator was
"Oh, it pluuged into an extension strip underneath the kicking board for
the nearest cupboard."

My brother has countless stories like this about his church. And all the
work has been done by accredited tradesmen.


For no reward & no invoice ?
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

In article ,
jim k wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" Wrote in message:
In article ,
charles wrote:
You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by
those being paid to do it.
In our village hall, I had to work on the new extractor fan -
couldn't find the isolator - so killed the RCD , The asked where the
isolator was "Oh, it pluuged into an extension strip underneath the
kicking board for the nearest cupboard."

My brother has countless stories like this about his church. And all
the work has been done by accredited tradesmen.


For no reward & no invoice

If only. Some seem to think a church an easy touch.

--
*Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't*

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

I'm sure I could come up with a way. The first thing which is mandatory is
to toss the safety and other instructions away with the packaging. Then make
it flush by building out the side of the shower with glued on boards of
some kind and a lot of sealant, you have to use that and then you probably
need to pump some expanding foam in for good measure too.
grin.
Brian

--
----- -
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Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
wrote:

So far, in this house I've found:
[]
a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!),

Seriously curious, how would that be done?

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

I can empathise with the OP as our last house was left in a similar state. The previous owner was a painter and decorator who did a lot of contract work and when he needed anything doing would get people he met in the course of his work to do foreigners. Every time we did any sort of improvements it usually involved putting right some botch up first and it never ceased to amaze me how these so called professionals could pass off the work they did as professional. In some cases doing the job right in the first place was easier than some of the botch ups! Its as if some of them could not help themselves but include some sort of botch up.

I lost count of the number of "reinstatements" we did but some of the notable ones were;

Plumbing:

1. Having so many pipes crossing joists close to each other the T&G flooring could not be secured down.
2. Locating the CH pump under the floor so it was inaccessible.
3. Using drop feeds to radiators with no means of draining them thus causing airlocks every time the system was re-filled.

Electrical:

1. Retaining the old rubber sheathed cable with the separate earth wire as the core wiring of the electrical system.
2. Replacing sockets and simply connecting the earths to the separate earth wire by twisting the conductor round the earth conductor instead of using crimps
3. Cotton covered rubber flex buried in the plaster to connect wall lights.
4. Sockets mounted on poorly fixed skirting resulting in the skirting moving every time a plug was pulled out leaving the connecting wire rubbing so much the insulation was wearing away.

Building:

1. Removing a wall and supporting the upper wall on a RSJ but not replacing the brickwork between the joists thus leaving bricks in the air and when skirting was replaced these bricks would simply fall into the void resulting in a lot of loose skirting.
2. Creating a new doorway through a load bearing wall with no lintel.
3. Plastering up to 2" thick on plasterboard.

You know how you see on comedy films like the Money Pit things like water coming out of electrical sockets etc. We had something similar with gas coming out of a socket A back box was placed up tight against a buried gas pipe in the plaster, further along was a Tee-joint buried which corroded so the gas leaked passed back along the buried pipe run before emerging from the socket. If I had the foresight I should have noted down all the other botches and written a book about how not to DIY. One potential botch up we never sorted was the previous owner removed a chimney breast in the lounge and to this day we never found out how the one in the bedroom above was supported it was a case of it showed no movement or cracking and was a case of leave well alone.

Richard

On 07/11/2017 09:27, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Chris J Dixon
writes
wrote:

So far, in this house I've found:
[]
a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!),

Seriously curious, how would that be done?

Something similar here. Aqualisa shower mixer with the supply and outlet
connections behind tiled plasterboard. Pumped supply and only leaked
when daughters showered.....
Luckily the stud wall was accessible through a cupboard in the next
room. It turned out the plumber had taken literally the instruction to
*hand tighten only* the rubber washer sealed connections.

There was I blaming them for shaving their legs when the problem
occurred because they ran the shower at a higher outlet pressu-)


Same problem, same shower. We've just changed from gravity DHW to mains
pressure. It seems there always was a slight leak (nut not tight) so now
it's aggravated. The tiling was as tight to the centre mixer as it could
be, but there's no need to do that because the faceplate (or whatever
it's called) is quite large and the perimeter can be sealed to the
tiles. I've had to hack away (another win for the multitool) the tiles,
plasterboard and some stud to get to the connections. I also spotted
that the nut securing the top blanking plug had been overtightened and
damaged - not fixable so a raplacement is in the post.

On 07/11/2017 10:52, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
charles wrote:
You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by
those being paid to do it.
In our village hall, I had to work on the new extractor fan - couldn't
find the isolator - so killed the RCD , The asked where the isolator was
"Oh, it pluuged into an extension strip underneath the kicking board for
the nearest cupboard."

My brother has countless stories like this about his church. And all the
work has been done by accredited tradesmen.

A spark has been fitting a new consumer unit for my semi-detached
neighbour this morning. The noise was horrendous, sounded like
he was demolishing a wall.

Got to talk to him later and he gave the usual bull**** about
Wylex rewireable fuse boards being 'dangerous' and 'illegal'
but he soon backed down when I corrected him.

She works for the council so he will be a 'council-approved'
tradesman.

From what he was saying, it sounds like he has knocked a block
or two out of the party wall (cavity wall with a 1 inch cavity)
and inset the metal box (I'll check later) into it above the
original wylex metal box which holds the company fuse, meter
and the 8 rewirable fuses above it. This too is built into the
party wall, back to back with mine, but what was acceptable in 1976
is no longeer the case. Surely insetting electrical stuff into
a party wall is no longer allowed ?.

Mine in on the other side of the wall and there is a pad of
heavy duty rockwool stuff separating them for soundproof
purposes.

However, you can only re-plaster or chase out a party wall
without contravening the party wall act, and he either
doesn't know (fairly youngish chap) or didn't care.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:
Something similar here. Aqualisa shower mixer with the supply and outlet
connections behind tiled plasterboard.

How else would you do it? Don't think many would want surface mount pipes
running round a shower.

I wasn't hugely criticising the plumber. Knurled fastener, rubber washer
seals is inviting trouble if inaccessible. There is now an access hatch
in the cupboard.

New house will have bar mixers with accessible pipe connections as per
Wiki:-)

Pumped supply and only leaked
when daughters showered.....
Luckily the stud wall was accessible through a cupboard in the next
room. It turned out the plumber had taken literally the instruction to
*hand tighten only* the rubber washer sealed connections.

Mine is in the wall between the bathroom and a separate toilet. So I
mounted a mirror over the basin in that toilet so if I ever needed access
to the connections to the shower I could cut a hole behind it.

Hopefully Aqualisa will have changed the design over the intervening 24
years.


--
Tim Lamb

On 07/11/2017 10:57, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired brown-to-black
and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2" screws (barely in the
plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi screws that have the
plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws everywhere, a kitchen

I'm just wondering what's wrong with BZP posi screws?Â* Is there
something fundamentally wrong with them?Â* It's what I tend to pick
because they don't rust over the years.

They are OK in hidden places but look crap on handles, hinges, etc.

On 06/11/2017 21:26, newshound wrote:
On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired
brown-to-black and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2"
screws (barely in the plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP pozi
screws that have the plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi screws
everywhere, a kitchen extractor blowing into a capped chimney, a
concealed shower mixer fitted without thought of how to service it
(there's a leak!), a 13A socket connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run
on catenary wires to sheds (signed off a year ago but the insulation
had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse ;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.
I hope that's humour

On 07/11/2017 07:51, Tim Watts wrote:
On 06/11/17 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of wood
screws securing a plastic pattress box,

That's quite good. Normally they are twisted together outside of a round
JB.

.... snipped
I failed to say that one CPC was under one wood screw and the other was
under a second. The screws were into wood and the pattress was plastic.
There was a perfectly serviceable (but unused) earth terminal on the switch.

On 07/11/2017 08:51, Chris J Dixon wrote:
wrote:

So far, in this house I've found:
[]
a concealed shower mixer fitted
without thought of how to service it (there's a leak!),

Seriously curious, how would that be done?

Chris

Leave an opening large enough to access the connections - the cover
plate is large enough to cover the opening and seal onto surrounding tiles.

On 07/11/2017 23:01, wrote:
On 07/11/2017 10:57, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
wrote:

[snip]

I'm just wondering what's wrong with BZP posi screws?Â* Is there
something fundamentally wrong with them?Â* It's what I tend to pick
because they don't rust over the years.

They are OK in hidden places but look crap on handles, hinges, etc.

Depends on the colour of the handle or hinge.

--
Mike Clarke

On Wed, 8 Nov 2017 09:27:15 +0000
Mike Clarke wrote:

On 07/11/2017 23:01, wrote:
On 07/11/2017 10:57, Dan S. MacAbre wrote:
[...]

[snip]

I'm just wondering what's wrong with BZP posi screws?Â* Is there
something fundamentally wrong with them?Â* It's what I tend to pick
because they don't rust over the years.

They are OK in hidden places but look crap on handles, hinges,
etc.

Depends on the colour of the handle or hinge.

No it's just that BZP pozi heads look tacky compared to a "proper"
slotted screw head (or a square or hex socket head, or just about
anything really). Not so bad if you give them a dab of black (or
other appropriate colour) enamel.

On 07/11/2017 09:01, Nightjar wrote:
On 06-Nov-17 9:26 PM, newshound wrote:
On 06/11/2017 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of
wood screws securing a plastic pattress box, dishwasher wired
brown-to-black and blue-to-red, shelving supports fixed with 1/2"
screws (barely in the plaster), door hinges secured with long BZP
pozi screws that have the plain shank in the door frame, BZP posi
screws everywhere, a kitchen extractor blowing into a capped chimney,
a concealed shower mixer fitted without thought of how to service it
(there's a leak!), a 13A socket connected to a ceiling rose, T&E run
on catenary wires to sheds (signed off a year ago but the insulation
had degraded so far it was falling off).
Today I found that the spur to a double 13A socket runs in a rough
channel in the concrete underneath a parquet floor. Sigh! I haven't
checked yet but it's probably a spur from a spur.
Fortunately there haven't been any structural "improvements".
Please people, if you don't know what you're doing then don't do it!

I feel much better for that vent. I'm ready for my medicine now nurse
;-)

Which of us has not learned the error of our ways the hard way, having
done at least one of the above.

I hope that is a satirical comment.

Semi satirical. I've certainly boxed in stuff without thinking properly
about how it might be maintained. I am a lot wiser now.

On 07/11/2017 10:52, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
charles wrote:
You certain this was all DIY? I've seen the same and worse done by
those being paid to do it.
In our village hall, I had to work on the new extractor fan - couldn't
find the isolator - so killed the RCD , The asked where the isolator was
"Oh, it pluuged into an extension strip underneath the kicking board for
the nearest cupboard."

My brother has countless stories like this about his church. And all the
work has been done by accredited tradesmen.

Trusting in the Lord, of course.

On 07/11/2017 23:10, wrote:
On 07/11/2017 07:51, Tim Watts wrote:
On 06/11/17 19:42, wrote:
So far, in this house I've found: CPCs wrapped under the heads of
wood screws securing a plastic pattress box,

That's quite good. Normally they are twisted together outside of a
round JB.

... snipped
I failed to say that one CPC was under one wood screw and the other was
under a second. The screws were into wood and the pattress was plastic.
There was a perfectly serviceable (but unused) earth terminal on the
switch.
The fire alarm company I worked for about 25 years ago installed alarms
and did electrical work in all the BT buildings.

They regularly encountered electrical stuff, including with mains
potential, inside nice dovetailed mahogany boxes with lots of brass
and bakelite bits and pieces.