Recent content by JohnBarleycorn

Thanks for all the advice. Having chipped away all the crap joining the pipe to the pan, I now see that as people suspected it wasn't the flushpipe, but the inlet to the pan is cracked, with a couple of pieces glued together. This can't be holding the seal tight, and water must be coming out of...

I have a very old wooden high-level cistern with a copper flushpipe. Unfortunately the pipe is shot at the bend at the bottom (presumably because water sits in there) and it's dripping on every flush. Does anyone have any advice on how to repair the pipe without having to detach it from the...

Thanks for all the advice. It appears to be just a minor crack (very slow drip round the back, which doesn't seem to come from any of the inlet/outlet seals). I'm hoping a bit of Araldite followed by some sealant should see it through to the next bathroom refit.

Can anyone recommend a good product for repairing a cracked cistern? I assume you wouldn't use normal bathroom sealant on such a thing. Thanks, JB

Great, thanks for the tips. A couple more queries if you don't mind - I'm starting to think about how I'll fit the thing after it's painted. What is the recommended tool for cutting cast iron given that it is quite brittle? Also is there an easy to remove the current downpipe from the hopper...

Hi All, One of my cast iron downpipes is shot, so I've picked up a couple of lengths of reclaimed downpipe to replace it (also in cast iron). As usual the reclaimed stuff is slightly rusty down the side that was facing the house. I'm planning on wire-brushing it, then painting it with some...

Blimey, what a great response. Thanks for all the advice. Also that sedbuk.com site is very informative. Having cranked the thermostat down a long way, the house is fairly nippy but we used about 64kWh in one day (heating on 9 hours). A big improvement on the 237kWh average for the beginning...

Hi, We just moved into a new house with a Biasi 24S boiler and our gas bills have gone sky high. Worryingly when the heating is on, the gas meter is rolling round in front of my eyes. Having never watched one before I'm not sure if this is normal. I've calculated we used about 240kWh per day...