Bah! Plumbing

Rocker

I never liked plumbing.  Even if in my time I plumbed a bathroom in my parents home, installed washing machines & dishwashers, replaced radiators, installed radiators, replaced circulating pumps [several times], unblocked waste pipes etc. etc.  Today I needed to replace the valve insert on our kitchen tap which had started to drip heavily.  After switching off the water, I removed the insert [which is a quarter turn device].  Trip to town to get a replacement which installed perfectly except the splines at the top would not accept the paddle lever.  Back to town, this time with paddle lever, and eventually got one that the paddle lever fitted.  Home again and installed the insert, switched on the water.  No leaks or drips.  Fitted the paddle lever which promptly jammed against the tap housing.  Filed a small nut to fit inside the splines of the paddle lever which when I got it fitted worked a treat.  And it is still working!

Including driving this, what should be a simple job, took me the greater part of half a day.  I don't like Mondays plumbing!

Nitefly

Well that's two of us.  Plumbing is for Plumbers.  

I didn't know it was possible to replace the quarter-turn cartridge thingies, thought I had to replace the whole tap? (bathroom sink tap in my case).

johnnyurq

I leave plumbing to the Poles/Eastern Europeans. 

It sucks balls muchly.

chillidoggy

Sounds exactly like the sort of job I'd have. Despite being an engineer, when it comes to domestic plumbing, I have all the skills of Frank Spencer.

bertie

Nitefly said:

Well that's two of us.  Plumbing is for Plumbers.  

this,  mostly -  I'll tackle small jobs like  taps/waste pips etc.  But proper stuff like water feed pips/heating/rads  etc - thats for the pros

However,  Ive just gone through EXACTLY what you have.  BOTH valves went on our kitchen taps,  I managed to do a temp fix for a month or so with some PTFE tape,  however the time came to replace them.........simple I thought,  of to WWW  screwfix/plumb centre  etc etc  - but OH no.........there's a 101 different types and theyre all mostly different................. a quick conversation with our plumber confirmed we had to get the right ones for our make of tap ..............cost me £30 + VAT for the pair........... but hey ho, they work,  except they're a little loose as as the shafts are a tad smaller than the tap handles.........one day I'll get around to putting some tape on thost to firm them up

Col_Decker

This reminds me, I need to fix a leaking tap in the kitchen, and a leaking sink in the bathroom. Oh joy.

boogieman

My dad was the world's worst bodger, despite being the manager of a tool and diy shop for most of his life and owning virtually every tool known to mankind. His kitchen tap dripped, so he decides to fix it. In undoing the top of the tap the wrench slips and he manages to break a couple of tiles behind the sink. The tiles aren't made any more, so he has to buy a load of new tiles. When he chips the old ones off the wall, he manages somehow to completely destroy one of the wall units (I still haven't figured out how). He ended up buying a complete new kitchen, which my stepmum insisted was professionally fitted in case he demolished the whole house.

Deadman

I'm actually scared of plumbing.

Maxi

Every time I repair something old I end up with drips . Still waiting for the grub screws on my pressure relief valve to lime up . Hard water borked it hard water will fix it .