Some Plumbers of yesteryear were wonderful

[gardener1214388]

I'm currently ripping out three bathrooms to convert to shower rooms and replacing most of existing piping, hot, cold, waste, soil, all tiles etc.

I finally discovered where some of the stop taps and gate valves were situated; wonderful old time plumbers; first take carpet up, then underlay, then boards up in upstairs landing and discover seven assorted hot and cold valves feeding bedrooms and en-suites; we call them bathrooms.

What those good old plumbers had done was to extend the house sometime ago and instead of cutting out all of these valves and making good, they simply laid sheets of 18mm plywood and hid them under the floor hoping they would not leak in the future I guess.

They used to say the good old days didn't they ?

 

[oldbuffer]

What makes you think plumbers did it? Could well have been the builders not prepared to pay a plumber to remove existing valves.

 

[ree]

As above.

I'll tell you something about the very old time plumbers - they could ladle molten lead to wipe a 4" thin wall lead soil pipe on to a closet spigot and thimble, all the work done from two sides of the pan with restricted vision. The pre-blacked joints were perfection.

Wiped joints behind a pedestal or under a bath with a stick of lead and a petrol blow torch - same magic result.

To a plumber they had all time served 6 or so. Just like most trades people back in the day.

I honour them, i'm sure that many others do too.

 

[OwainDIYer]

I finally discovered where some of the stop taps and gate valves were situated; wonderful old time plumbers; first take carpet up, then underlay, then boards up in upstairs landing and discover seven assorted hot and cold valves feeding bedrooms and en-suites; we call them bathrooms.

I found my circulating pump under the middle of the lounge floor.

Lifting the carpet was more interesting as the built-in furniture had been built over the carpet.

 

[Jackrae]

"un-moved" the chances of the valves leaking were probably nil. What's the difference between a hemp packed gland on a valve spindle that isn't being "exercised" and any other mechanical joint.

 

[longdogs]

I am also of the opinion that they were probably builders rather than plumbers. Old time plumbers were craftsmen and their job was a lot more skilful than my job is today. And of course they didn't just do pipework, they also did roofing lead work, bashing, moulding and welding sheet lead into gullies and flashings. Not an easy job, I know because I have tried it. Most of this stuff is just bought off the shelf now.

It's a bit like the old time car mechanics. I can remember a bloke tuning my car up in the seventies using nothing but his ear and a screwdriver. These days everything is connected up to a computer.

I'm not saying that things haven't improved because they have and our lives and jobs are much easier.

 

[gardener1214388]

Thanks to all of you, yes most probably those good old time builders probably did the job.

 

[cjard]

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It's a bit like the old time car mechanics. I can remember a bloke tuning my car up in the seventies using nothing but his ear and a screwdriver. These days everything is connected up to a computer.

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That's because the technology employed in making the engine go back then was similarly primitive. Nowadays if you do have the fortune to be bumper to bumper with a decrepit Cortina in traffic you know about it, and your wife probably knows about it when you get in stinking of unburnt gasoline

The fuel map and logic your car's ecu uses to balance throttle position, rpm, exhaust gas oxygen content, crankshaft position, preinition sensor feedback, input air temperature and mass flow is not something that can be tuned by ear or banging it with a screwdriver I'm afraid, so those jobs aren't done by time served old buffers these days not because the buffers don't exist, but because it's impossible..

 

[FiremanT]

.

It's a bit like the old time car mechanics. I can remember a bloke tuning my car up in the seventies using nothing but his ear and a screwdriver. These days everything is connected up to a computer.

.

That's because the technology employed in making the engine go back then was similarly primitive. Nowadays if you do have the fortune to be bumper to bumper with a decrepit Cortina in traffic you know about it, and your wife probably knows about it when you get in stinking of unburnt gasoline

The fuel map and logic your car's ecu uses to balance throttle position, rpm, exhaust gas oxygen content, crankshaft position, preinition sensor feedback, input air temperature and mass flow is not something that can be tuned by ear or banging it with a screwdriver I'm afraid, so those jobs aren't done by time served old buffers these days not because the buffers don't exist, but because it's impossible..

Which is really impressive but, like modern "efficient" boilers, any cost benefit os wiped out by the extortionate cost of parts and repairs. IMO