Recent content by mdurkin

Yes - I might just fit it into the 30, ahem, m² limits :) I was just trying to clarify in case it doesn't. I think the fact that the area applies to the internal floor space is good as it means I should be able to get a very usable 5 x 2m shed and a 5 x 4m summer room all in one building. I...

Thanks for the replies. I understand that Planning Permission and building regs are separate. So basically if I go over 30m2, building regs apply, but still no planning permission is required? I think that must be correct. And yes - stand correct on the boundaries - i meant to state greater...

Hi All, I was planning to replace my garden shed with a large garden building, partitioned into a shed and summerhouse. This would sit at the back of my garden and be approx 5m wide x 6m deep. The shed part would be 5m x 2m. This would be approx 1m from the boundaries either side, and so...

just cut a hole through the middle, so I could put a screwdriver blade in. Fail. bleed split in 2. now wondering if there's any way to drill it out with such tight access. Looking awfully like a new rad... I certainly won't be buying one with this kind of bleed valve... :(

Hi All, I have a double rad at home, with the bleeders in recessed holes between the 2 radiator chambers. One of them is completely sheared (all the square edges rounded off) and a normal rad key won't grip it at all any more. The bleeder is just slightly open, but no tool I own will move it at...

There's an overhead 'rain' unit that can't be turned away. I've looked for anything that's compatible with a gravity system and the only units sold are more advanced, expensive and have a built in pump. Our shower upstairs has a pump and frankly it wakes the whole house up and probably next...

Hi All, I'm intending to fit a gravity feed shower - there's about 7/8m head and it's a mira unit designed for gravity - my dad has it and it gives a decent shower with only about 2m head. I would like to have a pull switch outside the shower cubicle that turns on the lights, the fan and the...

lol. It was a good journey for me to go on though, and I'm such a visual person, I needed to see the drawings to understand it properly. I still need to understand a bit more about the anti-boil to drain - I haven't got much space behind the stove and I could do to hide the piping. So my...

Hi All, After a fair bit of research, and a weekend spent tracing out my existing plumbing, I thought I'd post an update. The gravity circuit is near impossible so I can't do it. Basically there's not enough space in the loft around the edges of the room for me to get in and run pipes. Yes I...

yes - I'm going to have to take up some floorboards and find out why those joists are so close together. If I'm lucky one is resting on something solid - like the wall below which might just be supporting. Maybe someone added one to take the weight of a water tank... As regards the loft - the...

Hi Bengasman, That's exactly what I did - I had all the wiring checked out, RCD/MCBs fitted to replace the fusebox, and the earth bonding between water and gas done. I was assuming that because the only point the water, gas and electric earth met was through the boiler, that this could be...

Thanks Jeds. As this is an existing install, and I want to cause minimal disruption, adding extra beams isn't really an option as it really would involve tearing the house apart. Are there any load ratings for beams I could use to accurately calculate the safe load? If the load is too great, I...

and I said I'd be gone for a while... :) My parents have a smokeless coal boiler - about 25 years old now. It feed in coal (anthracite I think) automatically and has an electronic thermostat that controls a fan to regulate temperature. It has a standard 6" (?) flue pipe extending above the...

Thanks for all the posts guys. The gravity circuit makes sense - the challenge will be putting it in. I'll get some of the floorboards up at some point to see if there's a suitable route under the floor in my dining room so this (return) doesn't rise with the flow circuit. I probably won't post...

long overdue response! The replacement was a genuine vaillant part - it's been in nearly a year now with no problems. I'm not sure what size the holes were or the shape of the ball - hopefully I got the updated model. As for fitting - 10 minutes was a bit optimistic! It probably took me an...