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There are five junction boxes (5A & 30A) under my bathroom floor, installed when the consumer unit was relocated in 1991. The floor is currently up for the first time since then and I wonder if should I change the screwed terminal JBs for maintenance free ones or do nothing on the basis of "if...

I was looking for other solutions to this problem when I stumbled on so-called frost proof faucets (aka frost proof sill cocks). The principle is simple: the body of the tap is a 3/4” tube that passes through the wall. The mechanism is protected from freezing by being at the indoor end of the...

In this case, the wall is a south facing cavity wall with 2” insulation and normal room temperature inside. There would be no exposed pipework and no compression joints. How cold would it have to be to burst the pipe within the wall? My reluctance to install an isolating valve is simply that...

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant attaching the shower hose onto the bib tap outlet where of course it is not under pressure most of the time. Inside the house I would use rigid copper to connect to the piped wall plate.

The piped wall plate/bib tap combination leading onto a shower hose seems perfect. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm very grateful. Just for the record, there are experts who advise against cold showers for dogs in winter. Showering an uncooperative dog in cold water is not particularly pleasant...

I want to install some way to shower dogs outside when they come back from a walk, particularly in winter, and to be able to do so using tepid water. I do not want to go inside to turn the water on. What I would like to do is reuse an old thermostatic mixer valve I have by installing it inside...

I will be installing an electric open/close vent into the roof of a conservatory. The vent motor is rated at 75W / 0.32A. The vent will be connected to an electronic controller which will be wired through a spur fused at 3A. The easiest installation would be to spur off a lighting circuit. Would...

Just to tidy this thread up in case anyone stumbles across it in the future with a similar problem. I replaced the check valve with a rubber seated one, mounted vertically as advised. It is much quieter - there's still the occasional noise but now it's an isolated dull thud that's in no way...

No, this isn't the reason for the problem. I have tried 3 diaphragm type check valves - one double and two singles, all of different makes, all new and all buzzed. Why did they buzz? Well, I have a theory for what it's worth (not much probably). The output of the water softener goes...

You win your bet! The plate swings and clonks to and fro 2 or 3 times whenever the kitchen tap is turned off. Vertical mounting (upward flow) is possible but tricky to do. I can see that vertical mounting would be silent in a low pressure system such as a CH circuit but from experience, is...

I've replaced a diaphragm type check valve on the inlet side of my water softener with a swing type check valve. I did so because of the continuous buzzing noise made by the old valve. The new check valve is silent except when the kitchen tap is turned off and then it clonks. Arghhh! I've...

I want to stick down a single spare vinyl tile onto a latexed concrete floor. It will be under a worktop so no one will walk on it. I have no vinyl tile adhesive and would rather not shell out on a tub of the stuff just to chuck out 95% afterwards though if I have to, I will. Is there some...

Correction: that's 90 degrees and 135 degrees, not 90 degrees and 45 degrees.

I've installed some bedroom furniture and now I want to add MFC plinths. The run has both internal and external corners, the internal corners being at 90 degrees and at 45 degrees (for a corner unit). How are these joints usually made (butt or mitre)? If mitred should they be glued...

I need to replace a radiator air vent and see that several sizes are available for example 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2". I'm not sure exactly what the measurement refers to which makes it difficult to know what I need. Can anyone help? Thanks.

The noise is there even if no water is being drawn at a tap etc. but the loft tank takes forever to stop filling. But if I close the bypass valve to block all flow to the tank, the noise stops.

I'm installing a water softener and have modified the rising main but haven't yet connected the softener. Unfortunately the modified pipes now hum/buzz. The new pipework consists of a double check valve followed by a washing machine tee (softener inlet) followed by a full bore lever...

I've used the fittings as they come. These are ordinary CP fittings intended for CP pipes - elbows, tees etc. but they came with copper olives. What is also true is I had no trouble with the stop ends I fitted for the first fix. On checking, it turns out that these had brass olives so it...

Sorry, my mistake. I'm using Water Hawk. Would it possible to relpace the olive by pulling the old one off and putting a brass one in its place, all without cutting the pipe? I don't want to shorten the pipe.

I'm using chrome plated pipe and compression fittings inside a kitchen cabinet and am finding it very difficult getting rid of leaks. It's 15mm pipework and I'm turning 4-5 flats, which has worked fine for me in the past on ordinary copper. Where there's a leak I will undo it, put plenty of...