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I've moved sockets, I've installed spurs and outdoor sockets and I've changed light fittings, I've fitted bathroom fans and done other fairly minor bits and pieces. But putting my hands anywhere near the CU does feel like a step up. I'll stick with the socket idea, but thanks.

Must admit, the neutral wire is pretty hefty, though the live and earth less so. But I'll give the double socket plan a shot, if only for reasons of cost.

Final post now that the job is done. I opened up the floor and found that there's only a short length of soil pipe beneath the boards, perhaps six inches or so, before the pipe disappears into the mountain of concrete. So no chance of moving the outlet closer to the wall using bends etc and as...

Yes, having originally dismissed that solution then literally within the last few minutes having thought about it again, I’m now more rather drawn towards the idea. Is it legal to mount a socket on timber, or would it need to be installed on the brick wall of the gable end?

Thanks for the replies. I fully understand the argument that although there may be no legislative impediment to DIY circuit removal, common sense and considerations of personal safety weigh heavily in favour of calling in a professional. So on further reflection, that’s what I’ll do, though how...

Evening all Back in March I posted a question about removing an electric shower circuit during a bathroom refurb. I had the usual helpful replies but although the refurb is done, the shower circuit survives, with the cable currently terminated in a block in the loft. Today I read a...

I had a similar thing recently, replacing a pan connector that was sealed inside the floor-level soil pipe with what looked like putty. When I took the old connector away and fitted a modern flexi, the pipes fitted together perfectly without any sealant, so the putty may have been merely cosmetic.

You can. I had similar problems in my previous house: not with smells but with flooding above ground caused by collapsed and broken drains underground. I'd never done any underground drainage work in my life, but I read lots of stuff online, asked questions here and then tackled the job with, I...

Slightly off piste, but if you are thinking of cleaning the old cistern and decide to use bleach, do it before you install the gubbins and flush well afterwards. I found out to my cost a few years ago that bleach destroys the rubber seals in cistern components and can even damage some plastic.

Thank you. After further consideration I’ve decided to site the new WC in the same position as the old. I don't have the time or resources to properly explore other options, and in any case the close proximity of the sink unit would make the WC sitting position unnecessarily cramped if the unit...

Ah.. not sure about the joist, will have to check. Another complication (albeit a minor one) is that the main stopcock is up against the wall in that location and will have to be accommodated by cutting away part of the unit that the cistern will sit in.Shouldn’t be visible, though.

@Madrab, I’ve just had a look under the floor with my endoscope and although it’s hard to work out scale on the tiny screen, I reckon there’s about 12 inches of soil pipe between the top of the concrete mound and the underside of the floorboard. Do you think that would be enough to move the soil...

A flexible connector was my first thought, but I would still need to relocate the connection with the soil pipe in order to gain enough advantage

Good point, but again I'll probably only know for sure after I lift the floorboards. Will update as soon as I can, even sooner if I can get a look at the situation in the meantime with my endoscope.

Only speaking from my own experience, but are the walls of your gulley sound? I had an issue a couple of years back with a smell outside the kitchen door: flummoxed me at first till after some investigation I noticed that a gap had opened up inside the gulley, above the water level, and waste...

I can't be 100 per cent sure what's going on down there till I take up the boards. As I mentioned the other day, I had a look underneath an adjacent floorboard and there's a ruddy great mountain of concrete under the floor with the soil pipe sticking out of it. I'm sure I could break into that...

Pics below ( with some repetition, unfortunately) and thanks in advance. Its a dreadfully messy area, but I'll be throwing the WC out early next week so cleaning seems pointless. The distance from the last visible part of the WC spigot to the back wall is roughly 35cm. The white plastic pipe on...

Thanks again, I'll buy a swan neck. I think it would also be wise to buy some spare 110mm soil pipe and connectors, because whilst cleaning up the site I have to remove the last of the ceramic floor tiles that the old WC currently sits on. Previous experience of just how firmly these are...

I plan to remove the old WC and raise the floorboards on Monday, so I’ll post a photo when all is revealed. It literally looks like someone has tipped a wheelbarrow full of concrete under the floor to make a protective hillock around a soil pipe. There’s also a giant (but dead) wasps’ nest under...

Thanks for the heads up. The purchase has already been made and the bits are in the garage ready to fit. I've replaced a couple of siphon units in close coupled toilets, the type where the cistern has to come off the wall. If BTW maintenance is any worse than that, then there's definitely fun...