Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Get cone shaped rubber bungs. Very handy if the house is off of storage and you don't want to be messing about with old gatevalves.

Just stick them in the storage tank at the draw offs, also saves you draining and refilling the tank if a valve jams shut.

Best advice I got on this forum was to use a parsnip as a bung! Plus it counts as one of your five fruit and veggies!

 

[darren-]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

R they really good ?

Yeah they have saved me alot of hassle in the past.

Had to go to a job about 2 months ago, the guy had fitted his own bathroom suite and had shut off the 2 gatevales in the loft. He managed to snap them both shut and the tank didn't have a standing waste/drain. I was in and out in 20mins because of those bungs.

They only cost about £2-£3 when i got them about 3 years ago from B&Q.

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

To clean a trap like new, put it on a quick cycle in the dish washer!

I print sheets of permanent adhesive mini laser labels with a large red H for Hot and a large Blue W for cold. Looks impressive and great on long pipe runs or where passing through a wall as it stops pipes getting crossed. Also good in elderly customer's homes as they can tell which valve to turn off for a burst.

 

[Dannypipe]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

To clean a trap like new, put it on a quick cycle in the dish washer!

I print sheets of permanent adhesive mini laser labels with a large red H for Hot and a large Blue W for cold. Looks impressive and great on long pipe runs or where passing through a wall as it stops pipes getting crossed. Also good in elderly customer's homes as they can tell which valve to turn off for a burst.

Nice idea, but I just use a roll of red/blue insulating tape. Same idea, but cheaper. Plus I have a roll of yellow for gas pipes. Some people think that all gas pipe should be painted yellow, but they're wrong and often it's useful to identify it all, even if it's just for self help!

 

[gasmarc]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

i use a permanent marker called SHARPIES i think, they are great and will write on anything which is handy for marking pipes,wires etc

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I used insulating tape for a long time, but found that it can come off when going through a tight hole in a wall while the labels stay fixed. Don't do gas only bathrooms so you'd be more creative than me Dan for a gas label.

 

[gasmarc]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

you only need to mark or tape one pipe lol

 

[SafeGasInstall]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I used insulating tape for a long time, but found that it can come off when going through a tight hole in a wall while the labels stay fixed. Don't do gas only bathrooms so you'd be more creative than me Dan for a gas label.

u make sure u sleave ur pipe work .....

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Best advice I got on this forum was to use a parsnip as a bung! Plus it counts as one of your five fruit and veggies!

We called this the old carrot and tatie trick - A carrot in the hole and shove a potato onto the bottom of the swan neck of the vent.

Another tip - use the stub of an old candle to rub plenty of wax onto the formers of your pipe bender - easier to use and to remove the pipe.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

if pipe ripple when you use your pipe bender -pre heat pipe for a bit and happy days

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

When fitting pipe insulation, the most useful tools are a bread knife and apple corer (the corer is to make the holes for tee joints)

 

[SafeGasInstall]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

junior for me and lots of cable tights

 

[gasmarc]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

just got back in from A & E after burning my hand on pipe LOL only joking , I have had this before also benders that never rippled and now got another one that does ripple now and again ?. tip for getting rid of airlocks etc get a foot of 22mm pipe insulation and tap the end over , works great on mono block taps

 

[plumbitp]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

re: benders rippling pipe, are the rollers screwed in to the frame properly or a bit loose? this has given me ripples in the past as it rolls uneven when loose as its off centre by a even a fraction.

 

[dontknowitall]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I've been told that old pipe causes ripples too but the roller is the first to check.

 

[WHPES]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

If your pipe freezing machine stops freezing, take it to a local refrigeration eningeer rather than back to the manufacturers as its a fraction of the cost to get it regassed and serviced.

 

[REDSAW]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

a bird in the hand, is worth 2 in the mush.

 

[TerryH]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Break off a length of old hacksaw blade, about an inch or so long. Use a round file to form a half round or segment in the blade. It fits really nicely behind those awkward painted pipes and will clear away most of the paint...... don't go at it too hard 'cause you don't want to damage the pipe.
TerryH

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Get a good deal with a carpet cleaning company as I've done and when doing bathroom refurbs or any other messy jobs, offer this as one of your services on your advertising. I list this as hall and carpets professionally cleaned on completion. It's got me a few jobs where many others have quoted. Of course I always put dust sheets down too and clean up after myself, but many like the idea of their carpet getting a good old shampoo after their bathroom refurb! The carpet guys win too as they get work in these quiet times.

 

[GQuigley67]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

Break off a length of old hacksaw blade, about an inch or so long. Use a round file to form a half round or segment in the blade. It fits really nicely behind those awkward painted pipes and will clear away most of the paint...... don't go at it too hard 'cause you don't want to damage the pipe.
TerryH

http://www.sc r e w f i x.com/p/rot...KHy19ZFT0zBh2ygW!1019115575?_requestid=594662

these things do the trick

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I have my own carpet shampooer - why give someone else the job?

While you're busy shampooing the carpet on that job, I'm starting my next one. Why would I want to do it, if it's been paid for in the price? Don't think carpet shampooing machines are a bog standard piece of anyones plumbing kit and I doubt if very few have it either.

You completely missed the point that I was making. It is a good impressive selling point to tell your customer that a professional cleaning company will shampoo and clean their carpets like new once the job is finished.

 

[Guest123]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I get top hall (if job/bathroom refurb is upstairs) hall, stairs and landing professionally cleaned for £40. Doesn't cost me, because I have included this in the price. A good selling point and the carpet guys get business too.
Plenty of carpet guys in your neck of the woods in Glasgow.

 

[Hobo128]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

If your soldering a piece of pipe and theres a little bit of water in it that you cant seem to drain out, stick a piece of bread down the end of the pipe. It soaks up the water allowing you to solder the joint AND dissolves inside the pipe when your done.

 

[WaterTight]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

I might get some of that Just For Copper glue stuff. It is actually WRAS approved. Might be useful for places difficult to solder, or where there's water in pipe or where you want the pipework to look ultra-neat.

 

[Mwthorn]

re: Hints, tips & secrets of plumbing - No Banter please!

if your first fixing for a number of different size radiators and do not know the pipe centres use the 76mm rule. i mostly use myson stats and pro rad valves but works on others.. eg. if the length of the rad is 1200 first fix it at 1276 centres, if the length is 800 centres will be 876. saves a bit of time i find.