[Jim]

easy one this. not enough flow through it. should be 2 valves on either end of the rad, one a TRV probably set to 3? the other end is a locksheild valve. Take the cap off this and with an adjustable spanner or pliars, turn this valve 1/2 turn anti-clockwise. If its still not done the trick then another half turn. if this doesn't work the TRV is either set too low or isn't seated on the valve and needs unscrewing, setting correctly and rescrewing on. that will be £50 thanks

[Will Hunt]

Brilliant, thanks Jim. Will give that a go and report back.

[Fultonius]

Some DIY advice from a clumsy punter...

When doing the simple,  yet very worthwhile and effective job of insulating the loft of your rented top floor tenement flat, don't trip over -- not once, but twice -- resulting a a big hole and a big crack/loose bit of plaster in the lathe a plaster ceiling.

No, that would be stupid and lead to 3 days of plastering repair work (maybe 4 hours if you know what you're doing)  and a LOT of cleaning.

In the plus side our heating is on around 1/2 the time it was before....

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

[lagerstarfish]

couldn't remember whether I had linked this before

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=141&t=510782&i=0

[Paul B]

My kitchen is an off-shoot to the back of the house (stone construction, no cavity) with a single radiator at the end. It's not freezing in the kitchen during the winter but it's never going to be boiling. There's currently no extractor (the cooker hood simply passes through a charcoal filter and recirculates).  I'd like to fit one but it'll involve coring or stitch drilling through the stone.

I've noticed that where the upper cupboards meet the end wall, there's a void (as the cupboard isn't full depth for some reason) where there's obviously been condensation and there appears to be some mold. If I dry out the area (I'm pretty sure it's not coming in) with a fan heater or similar, apply treatment to the mold, can I then simply fill the void with expanding foam?

Secondly (not quite DIY this one), when chopping wood, what surface are people doing so on? My patio doesn't seem like a wise choice.

[butters]

Secondly (not quite DIY this one), when chopping wood, what surface are people doing so on? My patio doesn't seem like a wise choice.

Another big log is what you need. Can be any sort of big log. When it falls apart get another big log and sacrifice the original big log on the fire.

[Mike Tyson]

Sycamore makes a good chopping block Paul, once seasoned obviously. Tough.

[SamT]

My kitchen is an off-shoot to the back of the house (stone construction, no cavity) with a single radiator at the end. It's not freezing in the kitchen during the winter but it's never going to be boiling. There's currently no extractor (the cooker hood simply passes through a charcoal filter and recirculates).  I'd like to fit one but it'll involve coring or stitch drilling through the stone.

I've noticed that where the upper cupboards meet the end wall, there's a void (as the cupboard isn't full depth for some reason) where there's obviously been condensation and there appears to be some mold. If I dry out the area (I'm pretty sure it's not coming in) with a fan heater or similar, apply treatment to the mold, can I then simply fill the void with expanding foam?

Reckon so.. It's highly likely that since you don't have an actual extractor fan, any water vapour from kettles, boiling pans etc etc will just condense somewhere on a cold surface (in a poorly ventilated spot) like on a wall behind some cupboards. Mold will then grow.

Resolution would be as you suggest, to fit an actual extractor hood that vents to outside (part F building regs says it should be 30l/s extract rate for over hob hoods, or 60l/s if its just a wall extractor in the kitchen) to remove water vapour from the kitchen. Filling it with expanding foam will just stop any air getting to it, though that might not be necessary if you're removing the moisture in the first place.

And as above, big slice of tree trunk is what I use for splitting on.  That said, I borrowed a hydrolic splitter for some particularly tricky knarled wood and it was awesome. Quite tempted if I had somewhere to store it.


 

[Paul B]

It's not a quick thing to get the extractor fitted (the walls a REALLY thick) so removing the place where the water condenses (it really is a trap) was my initial plan?

Peewee says he has a big trunk I can have (what?).

[James Malloch]

We bought a 1 gang socket with USB sockets built in to it today.

The socket that we are replacing is a normal 1 gang socket. I thought it would be an easy switch, like for like, but the new one has an additional earth point. The wiring diagram says to have the normal wires going in and it seems to have additional earth wires labelled "from supply" and "to functional earth". The diagram is on the final page here: http://www.bgelectrical.uk/public/downloads/data-sheets/usb/single-13-amp-socket-with-usb-charger-900-series.pdf

The existing socket is wired like this (though without an additional earth coming out the side, I.e. Just the two earth wires coming in from the ring main): http://www.socketsandswitches.com/images/content-images/13-amp-single-socket-wiring.jpg

Not quite sure if I can easily change them. Does anyone has any thoughts or knowledge on this?

[changement]

We bought a 1 gang socket with USB sockets built in to it today.

The socket that we are replacing is a normal 1 gang socket. I thought it would be an easy switch, like for like, but the new one has an additional earth point. The wiring diagram says to have the normal wires going in and it seems to have additional earth wires labelled "from supply" and "to functional earth". The diagram is on the final page here: http://www.bgelectrical.uk/public/downloads/data-sheets/usb/single-13-amp-socket-with-usb-charger-900-series.pdf

The existing socket is wired like this (though without an additional earth coming out the side, I.e. Just the two earth wires coming in from the ring main): http://www.socketsandswitches.com/images/content-images/13-amp-single-socket-wiring.jpg

Not quite sure if I can easily change them. Does anyone has any thoughts or knowledge on this?

You can just wire like for like, i.e. wire it exactly the same as your original.

The USB socket makes no difference to the wiring, the additional earth connection is to earth your socket to the metal back box it sits in (there should be an earth point in there).

That said, I spoke to a sparky 6 months ago who said the earth to back box wasn't needed anymore..

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Jim]

what changement said. just replace like for like.
some switches will have 2 different earth connectors but are both linked and are also linked to the back box via the screws that connect it to the back box - these are not always metal anyway ie dry lining boxes are plastic as are some pattress boxes

[James Malloch]

Cheers both - it's a plastic backbox so I don't imagine it will have earthing capability anyway? Will get this changed later.

[tommytwotone]

Just a bit of learning from yesterday.


Had a problem with our UPVC back door lock - was getting increasingly tricky to get the key out of the outdoors side after I'd locked it, and then yesterday it was impossible to do so.


Great I thought, another callout fee, more expense...


However, had a quick Google and it's an absolute doddle to sort out. Literally undo one screw, pop the lock out, stick the other one back in and put the screw back. £25 for a new lock and 5 minutes later and it was sorted.

[lagerstarfish]

you put in one of the modern anti bump/snap ones, yeah?

[tommytwotone]

Aye - a Yale one. There were some cheaper "own brand" options on offer, but figured home security is an area you really shouldn't cut corners with!

[joeb]

Might not be in the right place but does anyone know a decent roofer in N.Wales- Bangor area?? Thanks

[James Malloch]

Today my aim was to flush our heating system in the boat so we can fit a new central heating pump. So far I've:

Isolated both radiators and drained them.

Disconnected two pipes which lead to and from the wood burner (which heats the water) and managed to get all water out.

Now the boat is a complete too but it's feeling close to done with only one pipe left to drain.  However the liquid coming out was a real shitty brown colour so I'm thinking it might be worth flushing the system properly somehow...

For the radiators, it's it possible to fill a radiator from the top? Ie take the whole bleed valve part off?

And any tricks to flush a 15 meter, 15mm plastic pipe that's not congested m connected to anything?

Finally, it's there anything I can fit whilst the full system is taken apart that means I won't have to do this shit next time? It's been awful...

[Will Hunt]

We have a leaky ceiling in our kitchen. The problem first manifested as a bulge in the ceiling next to the exterior wall. We punched a little hole in this and drained the water out.

The roof above this section of the kitchen is a tiled bit of roof that runs up to the upstairs dormer. On looking at the roof, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, though there was a crack in the flashing placed between the roof and the dormer. We've had that flashing replaced and for a while (when I suppose the weather was quite dry) we thought the problem was fixed.
Something is definitely still leaking as the holes in the ceiling (which we fortunately haven't got round to redoing yet) are now dripping again. It seems to be rainwater related as opposed to something internal: dripping is linked to rainfall; no pressure loss from the heating system; and I don't think there is any clean water plumbing in the upstairs of that bit of the house (the upstairs bathroom is in the front, kitchen in the back).

Any idea how I might find the source of this leak? It's problematic that what little roof space there is above the kitchen isn't accessible. My wife has mooted the idea of (since it will need replacing anyway) making the little drainage hole in the ceiling into a much bigger hole so that we can poke our heads into the roof space and have a look at what's going on. I'm loathe to do this as I'm not sure whether we'll have to make an enormous hole in the ceiling for it to be any use (there might be beams up there which restrict vision and access), and whilst the little drainage holes that are there at the moment aren't pretty, there at least isn't a massive gaping hole in the kitchen roof. I could get a roofer out to have a proper look at the roof but without being able to do an internal inspection it seems unlikely that they're going to find any leak from the outside unless it's really obvious.

Thoughts?

[Paul B]

Finally, it's there anything I can fit whilst the full system is taken apart that means I won't have to do this shit next time? It's been awful...

A magnetic filter?

Will - what's the roof construction under the tiles? and, has the flashing been done correctly? I ask, as ours (although not causing a problem), actually laps the wrong way.

[Will Hunt]

No idea on either of those questions if I'm honest. The flashing seems alright but I'm not really sure what I should be looking for to judge whether it's a well done job. It looks alright to me.
What should I be looking for to answer the roof construction question. Happy to post photos.

[SamT]

Tracing a leak like that in a roof can be a nightmare,

The issue is water can leak in one spot, run along/down a rafter, then drip in an entirely different spot.

The only real way would be as you say - to bring down some of the ceiling till you can poke your head up into the space and then wait till it rains hard.  Then you might be able to trace the leak.  Sounds like your plaster is a bit shot anyways so perhaps not too much of an issue.  its not too hard to put some plasterboard back in and plaster it back over yourself though clearly a professional plasterer will make a much nicer job of it.

There are 'endoscope' attachments for phones cheaply available from ebay that might be worth a shout. Never used one, so they may be shit.

 

[Oldmanmatt]

Tracing a leak like that in a roof can be a nightmare,

The issue is water can leak in one spot, run along/down a rafter, then drip in an entirely different spot.

The only real way would be as you say - to bring down some of the ceiling till you can poke your head up into the space and then wait till it rains hard.  Then you might be able to trace the leak.  Sounds like your plaster is a bit shot anyways so perhaps not too much of an issue.  its not too hard to put some plasterboard back in and plaster it back over yourself though clearly a professional plasterer will make a much nicer job of it.

There are 'endoscope' attachments for phones cheaply available from ebay that might be worth a shout. Never used one, so they may be shit.

 

This, really.
The nightmare part at least.
I have inspection cameras and endo’s galore. Not much use for leak detecting.
There are methods, but they have major drawbacks.

Pick up some food colouring. Mix it up in water (not too much 2ltr max) and methodically pour onto sections of the roof. If you use two different colours you can shorten the process by doing two at once as long as you are careful not to overlap.

Down side one:
It might take minutes, hours or even days for the water to make it’s way from leak to drip point. So where I’ve had to do this in the past, I’ve used multiple colours, sequentially, until it shows up; so you know which pour is arriving.
Food colouring stains, a good painting will be needed after, but it shows the leak track well.

Down side two:
You might not have a leak at all. I had exactly this issue in the property we let out. It’s a two hundred year old cottage that was renovated in early 2000. The builder built a lean-to annex to house the kitchen and periodically the “new” roof leaked. After two years of chasing, we started monitoring the weather instead of looking for leaks. It turned out, a certain wind direction and force was blowing rain up under the eves and soaking the insulation under the tiles and capillary action was transporting it to a point where an errant screw diverted/coalesced it to drip onto the Gypsum board ceiling; several feet from the entry point and actually uphill.

On that note.
Check your eves, soffits and fascias. Also, gutters. Blocked and overflowing gutters divert water into odd places.

[Paul B]

Will have you got any felt?

The scopes aren't shit at all. A friend at work bought one after he plumbed/tiled his bathroom and then had a leak.
We subsequently used it at work to look down come core barrels we'd taken in an old structure. It was easily as good if not better than the hire alternatives.

[Will Hunt]

I have no felt but could acquire some. What would I be using it for?

It's an interesting point about the wind-blown problem. There was a time recently when I was out with the baby one windy day and I got a call from my wife to tell me that the ceiling had just dripped a few times in very quick succession. We hypothesised that some water could have been blown from the dormer roof and come through a gap in the roof in a hurry. It was a freak event that hasn't been repeated.

This side of the house faces east so is generally in the lee of the prevailing westerlies, though.