Perfect Plumbing Van

[Tim.A]

Yeah, but it's French.

Enough said.

 

[Plouasne]

Yeah, but it's French.

Enough said.

Well what's wrong with France then??, even a c**p French plumber would wipe the floor with a good English plumber or 90% of them, I have worked on both sides of the channel and I know which side I prefer, and that's the side that does not speak English as a mother tong

 

[Puddle]

Well what's wrong with France then??, even a c**p French plumber would wipe the floor with a good English plumber or 90% of them, I have worked on both sides of the channel and I know which side I prefer, and that's the side that does not speak English as a mother tong

What a disappointing, bigoted out burst
I see the French arrogance has rubbed off on you nicely

 

[Plouasne]

What a disappointing, bigoted out burst
I see the French arrogance has rubbed off on you nicely

No I was like that before I went to France, plumbers were the best trade etc, but seeing the arrogance of the Brits has only served to enhance it

Puddle ,
I was an arrogant sod almost from the word go, being a London trained plumber we used to consider ourselves a cut above the rest
I have been lucky in the trade, and done just about all there is, apart from hospital work, right across the board, lab work with poly and glass wastes, and 4" soil stacks,, 4" lead pipe work, cast iron soil stacks, drains, water mains up to 12", 6" copper water and soil, PVC water mains up to 4", 150mm blue Poly water main with electro fusion, 63mm Poly gas main with electro fusion and hand, gas lamp heated saddle tapping tool, also worked on sludge main in a sewerage works, steel tube up to 4" once with a solid head die stock for 4" threading, worked mostly on large developments, but done a fair bit of house bashing as well, also had a time in the office as a junior design engineer, doing pen and ink drafting, with a bit of estimating and taking off from bills of quantities, plus a couple of spells in the Middle East
When I first went to France I thought that I would wipe the floor with these "peasants", but I am not ashamed to say they used me as the floor rag, at first. Example, I was sent to second fix a school, everything was there they said, bench, bottles, a few bends, and half a dozen "bar" of copper, no couplings, no tees, in a few places around the building there were a few stumps of copper tube sticking up out of the slab, ranging from a couple to more than half a dozen, it turned out that I had to make on site the manifolds and join them to the first fix tubing, this is normal in France, how many UK plumbers would know what to do??
In the time I have been in France, I have had to go back over work carried out by UK "trades persons" to rectify the work, a good half of it would not meet the Norms, and when the person is told this, the standard reply is, we have always done it like this in the UK, whilst you might soft solder all copper pipework, its hard solder for water, and silver solder for gas, ring mains are not allowed same as unswitched neutrals in the fuse board, or 13 amp socket outlets but the "English" still insist on them
Supermarkets somebody with two trolleys, no food but just booze, arguing with the girl on the till, in English, that last time he was allowed that amount of booze, or hearing them swear in front of the girl, because he did not get his way
Whilst its not all milk and honey over here, the trade training is better, a tradesman is a respected person in the community, the wages are lower than the UK, but you can live better than in the UK for what you get, there is not the compulsion to work all hours god gave you, "family comes first" I offered to work on a sunday to help get the job out on time, and was told nobody works 7 days a week full stop
I do reserve the right to defend my adopted country, which has given me the opportunity to retire early ( I retired 2 years late at 62 instead of 60 the norm for France), a better pension, no council tax bill because I am retired and don't have enough to pay the council tax, also we are below the income tax limit so no income tax to pay (between us we pick up from the state in the way of pensions the best part of 14000€ a year say £13000) health care
we pay about £60 a month to cover us for the difference between what the state pay and what the medication cost, the state pays normally 70%, life saving drugs are 100% paid for by the state

Edit:: One thing I did forget to mention, is the fact that nobody can just pick up a set of tools and start work as a plumber, electrician, etc, they have to register with the authorities first and that means a week back at school, doing accounts, tax, vat returns, the law in relation to your work, after this is done you have to find an assurance that will accept you, for the mandatory 10 year assurance of your work
How does that grab you all you plumbers in the UK by law you must guarantee your new work for 10 years, repairs and renovations are for 2 years

 

[Barry Sparks]

expert/scudo all good vans just about right size for london 2 litre HDI with 6 speed box really nice but value for money can,t beat SWB Transit 08 van 90,000 miles with history at Dealers Heathrow £3900 compared to 08 expert £6000.

 

[S90GAM]

Vauxhall astravan 1.7 sportive for me, fits everything i need, quick and looks pretty good

 

[PlumbersMate]

Fiat Doblo at the moment. Surprisingly spacious but really miss my berlingo as it had the best shelving in it and everything had a place. Need to get same done in the Doblo but yet to find a decentish price

 

[MP plumb]

i shamefully reversed my old bosses transit into a MASSIVE tree, completly broke the exhaust off, dented the roof ladder, the back door, and no dout more. so, ofcourse, not to blame the accident on myself, i wouldnt suggest a transit as it has very poor blind spots! not my fault at all. the Massive, 300 year old tree just appeared from nowhere!

i am now comfortable in my lil citroen berlingo (no space at all but less accidents!)

 

[E4gas]

ive been looking at getting a citreon dispatch i think these are a decent size

That's what I have in black , if you get one you must get dead locks fitted as they are weak , plus bulk head

 

[Roger Welton]

SWB medium hi-top Transit I don't know how i managed when i had a smaller van. I'm sure even if i had a 7.5 tonner i'd still manage to fill it.

 

[E4gas]

My pal just bought a astra van , looked at the room in the back , said it's big enough for him, got me thinking is it worth carrying stock in my van , he dos not , said if he needs anything he drive to a nearby shop .

 

[Mike Jackson]

You've got to strike a compromise with vans. I had a LWB, high top Renault Master when I was employed and it was great for the amount of stuff you could carry but there were a lot of places that you couldn't get it.

At the moment I'm working out of my Land rover 110. It's a wee bit on the small side but I can manage out of it with a bit of planning and I can always hook my trailer on the back if needed.

Long term I want to get a Land Rover 130 with a workshop back. This will give me all the room I want but retain the go anywhere ability that is so handy with the 110.

 

[MattWeth]

I'm looking out for a van at the moment.

I want something smaller at least at first - my short list at the moment is Berlingo, Transit Connect or Vauxhall Combi.

The Berlingo is good as there's lots about. Hadn't looked at the Connect but had a mooch round a nice LWB at the weekend which had a lot of space and was impressive (although too many miles on the one I looked at). Not that taken with the little Vauxhall but the prices aren't bad.

I'd like one without a bulkhead as I could post long stuff over the roll forward passenger seat - is there any reason that not having a bulkhead is a bad idea?

Any advice much appreciated!

 

[Roger Welton]

I've had a van without a bulkhead as a rental before now and was very paranoid about stuff being thrown forward in the event of a collision, plus tea leaves can easily see whats in the back.

On my previous van I cut a section out of the bulkhead under the passenger seat so pipe would fit in.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

without a bulkhead, contents of rear can be seen from front windows. also front doors may be less thief proof then rear ones, a bulkhead would act as a deterrent.

 

[MattWeth]

I've had a van without a bulkhead as a rental before now and was very paranoid about stuff being thrown forward in the event of a collision, plus tea leaves can easily see whats in the back.

On my previous van I cut a section out of the bulkhead under the passenger seat so pipe would fit in.

without a bulkhead, contents of rear can be seen from front windows. also front doors may be less thief proof then rear ones, a bulkhead would act as a deterrent.

Good point Steve and Roger.

That LWB connect had a wire bulkhead which hinged so the passenger side could be removed. It's a shame - that van had a lot going for it with the LWB and high top - if it'd had 20k less miles I'd be driving round in it now.

 

[jase158]

Camper van. loads of drawers, cooker to have hot lunch and electrics for kettle

 

[MattWeth]

Had one of them years ago - based on a Talbot Express.

Could hardly drag itself around, let alone a load of tools

 

[jase158]

but nobody knows that it is full of expensive tools, they think it is owned by a grumpy old man. and the newer versions must be a lot better

 

[WaterTight]

talking of vans full of expensive tools i was putting some cards out today and noticed a hilti box in the back of a caddy in a driveway. it's a good job i did because i passed it again 10 minutes later and realise i'd taken a wrong turn and was doing the same street twice. i blame an interesting audiobook.

 

[PlumbersMate]

my van hasnt got a bulkhead atm and tbh it gives me sleepless nights

 

[Barry98]

talking of vans full of expensive tools i was putting some cards out today and noticed a hilti box in the back of a caddy in a driveway. it's a good job i did because i passed it again 10 minutes later and realise i'd taken a wrong turn and was doing the same street twice. i blame an interesting audiobook.

thought you was going to say it was your own house lol

 

[MattWeth]

Good points about the security aspect of the bulkhead fellers - I might have to rethink my 'no bulkhead' preference...

 

[cr0ft]

MWB VW Crafter. Pipe fits inside the van no probs and I don't have to run to the merchants because I can keep lots of stock in it.

 

[WaterTight]

i don't have a bulkhead. i hung a pair of black curtain across. that way (i kid myself) a potentia thief will think it's a camper and not bother breaking in.