Solo DIY plumbing

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EdwardianMonster

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Kids away, wife out, what better time to re plumb a bathroom?

All done, just needing to test when the phone rings to pick her up.
Just time to earn max brownie points by turning the water on before her return......Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo don't do it!

Turn on gently, no problems, turn full on, hear that fateful hiss.
Find the loose compression joint, spanner going on to tighten it up, and POP the joint blows off completely with a 5' fountain shooting up the wall. Jam the thumb over it hard to stop the flood but absolutely nothing in reach to replace my thumb.

Stopcock downstairs, me in a puddle soaking wet upstairs.
Her standing in the High St waiting to be picked up.

What was that plumbers number she gave me again?
 
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Been there, but with the wife downstairs, trying to understand my shouted instructions to find and turn off the main stopcock, which of course is insider a kitchen cupboard with a lot of contortions needed.

Luckily was speedfit not copper. Had sliced through the wrong pipe. Was just wondering why air was rushing out of the cut pipe...
 
Great url @ban-all-sheds. The animation was supposed to be fun, but the man reminds me so much of my gramps, you're evil :cry:
 
Done the same before when i started plumbing. Using the skill saw to cut floorboards and went through the mains cold water feeding the combi boiler. Usually have push fit stop end 15mm in my pocket but on this occasion had nothing. Thumb over the top and frantically looking around and then it dawned on me. I could used the apple out of my lunchbox! Worked a treat while i raced downstairs to turn the stop tap off :p
 
So back in the days of BG out on the district exchanging / installing cookers.
Knock on door, OAP appears " new cooker madam"

Don't want it husband died two days ago, "I don't feel in the mood"

(So I need this job to keep bonus going.)

"Did you pick the cooker with your husband?" "Yes"

"If we install the cooker.... it will remind you of your husband when you look at it"

"I don't want any mess"

"there wont be any I promise"

"Go on then"

right...... old cooker out .......drill wall for backplate....water everywhere.....

SOD IT..... old back to back house with cellar .....water now spraying across kitchen ....hitting cellar door........open door.. water now spraying down steps.

Down the steps I go, water now hitting me on my ankles move further down steps.. water moves up my back and over my head. Turn off water.

Back to kitchen knock out plaster gain access to 15mm pipe, fit new fittings and pipe to repair leak. re plaster wall to make good.

Fit cooker ....tidy all up and MOP UP.

Show new cooker to customer, explain small amount of water is what I spilt

so time taken 2 hours .....never told her ...don't think she ever realised

one job to have walked away from!
 
Many years ago in the days when gas was from coal I fitted a new gas fire for a friend, all compression fittings and all was fine, no smell of gas and a pressure test was perfect.
(It was legal to DIY gas back in the 50s or 60s)
I let my friend refit the floorboards, what is that smell? Lifted the boards and found two holes in the pipe where he had driven a nail right through it. Now picture the situation, we were young, he was getting the flat ready for his wife, (his wedding was the next weekend) we had bought exactly the correct number of fittings).
He ended up sitting with his thumb over the pipe with the gas turned on so I could solder up the holes in the pipe using his gas cooker as the only source of heat we had.
We must have been mad to do it but he lived in that flat for about 15 years with no problems, and I know the next owner lived there for as long again with no problems from my soldering. Happy days.
I am sure I'd not risk that trick again
 
I was once re-routing a pipe across a bathroom floor and needed to notch a bit out of a joist. I was in a bit of a rush so instead of doing the sensible thing and using a hand saw, I decided it would be quicker to use my circular saw. The inevitable happened, blade caught on the joist, jolted back and straight through a heating pipe. Luckily it was a combi system so the pressure dropped fairly quickly and I managed to wrap a towel around it until it stopped.

Then had to take a peek downstairs to find out where all that lovely water had gone. It turns out that it had all drained through the ceiling spot light and straight into the sink.

I repaired the cut pipe, dried and re-fitted the spot light and topped up the system and no one was any the wiser. In fact, I informed the customer that I had found a slight leak under the floor boards and that I had fixed it for them.

:oops:
 
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