Removing a bidet - stop ends etc

[kmuser]

I have no experience of plumbing jobs but want to remove a bidet.

It has both hot and cold water pipes and a plastic waste. Can I just cut the copper water pipes with a hacksaw, push a plastic stop-end on the end of both pipes, then just cut the waste pipe, unscrew the bidet from the floor and thats it?

As the cut pipes will be under the floor just shoving a plastic end on them makes me nervous, but I assume this is what they are for.

The hot/cold pipes also have earth wires attached - should I just leave them attached to the pipes after I cut them?

Thanks

 

[ChrisR]

"dead legs" of pipe can cause various problems (like legionella, and banging) so you should cut the right back to the last T piece. Push fittings rely on a rubber O ring so you need to smoothe hacksaw cut ends VERY well.

You'll be open to the drain when you cut the waste so it will niff. So you need to see where it goes. and cap off the right place. You can get "compression" waste fittings which will fit any type of pipe, as long as you get the size (approx 32mm or 40mm) correct

TYou can leave the earthing cableson the uncut bits of pipe. Things are often daisy-chained so don't disconnect any other bits .

 

[totty]

I'm not certain but I think to use the plastic push fittings you need a better edge than you'll get with a hack saw so buy a pipe cutter. You should also be able to get some kind of blank cap for the waste.

I've used Hep2O plastic pipe and fittings a few times in the last 3 months with no problems.

I think the earth is supposed to be a continuous wire linking everything conductive in the room. As long as it one continuos piece of wire connecting all your pipes, any metal sinks etc and I think any appliances like showers heaters etc then its ok.

I'm a bit of a newbe to plumbing so wait of someone else confirming what I've said before attempting anything.

Allan

 

[AdamW]

Definitely use a pipe cutter. They only cost £5-10 and make the job a lot easier. As any failure of the end cap will cause you problems that will be difficult to fix (downstairs ceiling?) then I think buying a pipe cutter is a cheap insurance!

For the end caps you can use pushfit ones. They work very well, when I bought my flat I found some short dead legs had been capped off with them and they never leaked.

 

[ChrisR]

No need to buy a pipe cutter if you have a file and/or some emery paper. A bit fiddly but the job only takes minutes. A bit of grease- vaseline will do - helps to get the caps on.

 

[kmuser]

For anyone who is interested, Bidet removal was eventually successfull.

Had a few problems because of my inexperience. Expected to find valves at the tank in the loft which I could turn off and isolate the water supply.
It didnt have any so had to drain the tank. Although I turned off the feed to the hot water tank I couldn't get the hot water to stop completely -
there was still a trickle.
Purchased the stop ends (plastic, push fit) and also got a blanking cap (compression) for comparison.
So for the hot, I cut the pipe with a proper pipe cutter to near the T-piece and although the water was still trickling out I shoved a plastic stop end on it. No problem.

For the cold I thought I would just remove the pipe from the T-piece and try the blanking cap. It was in an awkward place so access was restricted and I spent ages trying to get PTFE tape on and tightening it up but found that it just leaked everytime.

Eventually gave up and called a mate who said he had done some plumbing. He came over and slackened the other T-piece bolts and rotated the T-piece to get better access (didnt know you could do that!) then applied some liquid sealant to the threads then tightened it up really tight. Problem fixed.

Thinking about replacing taps on bath and basin but have visions of leaking compression joints whenever I think about it.