alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I'm out here in France trying to sort out the plumbing in a bathroom we have made.

To start with, there was nothing. (it was part of a barn, we've done everything, from hardwood flooring upwards). Now there's a shower, toilet, freestanding bath, sink unit and a bidet, (and no comments here, thankyou!).

I decided to use PER tubing as it's cheap: €9 for 25m, red or blue.
BUT: they get you with the fittings, the cheapest of which is €3.80 for a tap connector, and €9.95 for an equal T.......oh, and there's no such thing as an UN-equal T, you have to MAKE one from other fittings and that adds 100% to the original T price

Then onto washers and such. I found some nitrile rubber ones, nice and thick, suitable for water up to boiling, so installed them. Good? Nope! When tightening the fittings, they deform and leak like a b@stard!.

I've had to remove all the ones I've used, about ten, and replace with fibre ones and plenty of PTFE tape. In place, of course, not nice and easy sitting at a table as they were originally put together

Then we come on to the toilet, bought over a year ago, paid quite a lot for it, as French toilets go.
BUT: the little tap for isolating it's water supply WOULD NOT seal, the inlet valve WOULD NOT seal to the loo base, and NOW I discover it's cracked along it's length inside the loo, so I can't get it to stop running

Back to the local DIY shed for ANOTHER inlet valve........

As I said, I HATE plumbing. I thought I'd finished the day before yesterday evening, but have now spent a day and a half chasing and rectifying leaks.

OH well, she flies out on Saturday and we both go home a week later, so it can't last MUCH longer....can it?

dpb

You have to turn it off at the street presumably

Are they built to take higher water pressure?

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

I think that is where it went wrong, because it was cheap....

Leslie

My dad used to be a plumber after he got back from the POW camp in Poland.

He got fed up of it too and became a chauffeur instead!

Les

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Lol your lucky, i paid a couple of local numptys £2k to do my first roung of plumbing, needless to say they left me with leaks behind tiled walls and a ceramic shower base that now has a crack in it due to not being bedded properly, and because of the leaks i've had to buy a compressor so i can re-pressurise the system every month or so.

I now do it all myself.

Leslie

I think you are wise to do that.

Les

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

First thing I installed AFTER barncing from the main feed, was a couple of isolating valves. Once I got those sealed, it was just contantly running up and down the stairs to turn it on, then off when I found ANOTHER leak

It runs at around 5bar, and all the fittings are supposed to be good for 10bar

No, it wasn't a mistake to use cheap PER, it doesn't split if it freezes, is easy enough to work with, and cheap, it's just the cost of the fittings...and some are unnecessarily complicated.

I have some 12mm connectors to go onto a female tap connector such as is found on the end of most flexible tap tails.

The connectors are as follows:
A free nut, through which passes the pipe work.
An olive with steel band around it's centre to slip over the pipe.
A fitting with a hex hole in one end, though which the water passes, and is used to SCREW this fitting into the end of the tubing, with the olive alrerady on the tubing.
Halfway down it's screw thread is a neoprene O-ring, with another in it's falt/hex head end to do the actual sealing against the tap tail.

They take a lot of working out, but do work well when in use: none of THOSE has leaked, nor have any of the ordinary T and 90 degreee joints.

Anyway, I've done it, I THINK, everything crossed for luck, there don't seem to be any more leaks. I'm tired, cold, wet and fed up, but I THINK it's ready for use.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

What ever happened to a bucket in the garden? I'm sure if your out in the sticks you could happily lay some cable in the middle of a field!

Ant

You thinks that's bad jeff I had to eat roast beef monster munch today

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

LOL at laying cable in the garden.

When we were looking for a property, I went to various estate agents and told them we wanted a property to renovate, but it had to be liveable, with basic amenities: water, electricity and a toilet were mentioned.

Amongst those we went to look at with NO roof, were others with no internal floors, etc etc.

One had no toilet. I mentioned this to the agent on my return, only to have her say, "Mais monsieur, vous auriez un jardin........."*

* "But sir, you will have a garden....."

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

My Dad was a plumber, tricky old job really. Easy to destroy someone's house! Said he had many a sleepless night wondering whether there would be leaks in multi million pound houses. I went to a few nice places with him. Did some work at one of the Tetra pack family houses, fair pad.

I've done a fair bit in my time on my houses and it can be a nightmare. So annoying when you get it all soldered up and refill heating system then it starts leaking on a joint and you have to drain it back down.

jef

iTrader: (13)

quite like the idea of self plumbing - if parts are up to the job it should be not too much hassles?
sounds like the parts were not in your case?

which results in complications and extra work ect. we had bathroom done while back, bath all sealed in ect but few days later noticed a damp smell - yip seal from pipe to taps was leaking, luckily just needed a quarter turn to tighten and seal, but as taps on the wall side of bath, nightmare to get access.

speedking

I always preferred electrics. You turn it on, if it doesn't work then you turn it off and try again. You don't spill loads of electricity on the floor and ruin your furnishings!

However, a mate of mine pointed out that you can't kill yourself with faulty plumbing, fair point. I guess it depends which you're most comfortable with.

Busterbulldog

iTrader: (1)

im intrigued about the repressurising with a compressor ,can you give more detail?

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I'm out in the sticks in istria croatia and i have a 60,000 litre concrete water tank under ground that collects rain water off the roof.

Then there is a pump that pulls it into the house which goes into a 150 litre cylinder called a hydrafore over here that is then pressurised, but because i have a leak in a place i can't get to without ripping out the shower pipes from behind the tiles, i have to drain the system and connect to a pressure valve on the pipe work and basicly pump it up like a car tyre as its filling to 4.5 bar to create enough pressure to push it around the system, otherwise the pump keeps running all the time as you run the taps which is not ideal.

It's a clever system and is the norm over here as many don't have mains water, but hopefully i'll have it next year as the are currently installing about a mile away and are slowly making there way to me, just in time to fill my pool for the tourist season.

dpb

Aha
another rich expat alert !!

Carlh

Just get a good 'ol English bog from B&Q. A cr@p is a cr@p, no what country you're in.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I agree, but I can't always get stuff like that in the car, there isn't the space.

ScoobyJawa

Ah plumbing!

Had a smell of damp from dishwasher feeds/drain, and outside tap not working. Got Dynorod in (via BG Homecare) and the numpty was clueless. In the end I went and got all the bits myself and set them the bill requesting a refund of monthly payments as they were obviously not worth it. Suffice to say don't bother with any of that kind of cover now.

Tap just needed a new outside piece and the dishwasher was draining into the wall cavity (the previous owners put a note by the taps to say it was all plumbed up ready for a dw. It was doing that for a year! 2.5 years later its still drying out

Oh and changing the cystern mech because it was constantly running, that was a nightmare of leaks, no room to work with etc.

I too, like you, hate plumbing! But at least you can be sure of the end result if you don't let idiots do it for you! (or only have yourself to blame!! )

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Pipe down peasant, us landed gentry that have to do our own plumbing because surfs like you are busy on the crest of a wave.

love to chat, but must dash my champers is getting warm, don't you know.

dpb

Throw us a few coppers for a pint.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Bugger off, some of us had to work to earn our multi million copper fortunes.

On a lighter note, i'm currently collecting a load of scrap metal, just spent the morning stripping an engine block and gear box off an old yougoslav zastava for the ally, the car is now loaded on the back of my transporter in two halves.

I noticed a scrap metal merchant the other day next to the place i'm going to buy the metal to make my garage door, so thought it was a good way to pay for it, cutting up an old car thats been a bit of an eyesore since i bought this place, and getting rid of all the scrap thats kicking about the place, the locals think i'm mad.

Just doing my bit for the environment and all that.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Update:

Spent nearly two whole days trying to stop the toilet leaking. Every time I flush it, it's standing in a ring of water around it's base.

I've had the inlet valve off, and replaced it, also used a sealant to seat it.
It's had a new isolating valve, fibre washer and plenty of PTFE tape.
The cistern has been separated from the pan, re-sealed.

But every flush: water.

I've used a non-setting mastic around the soil pipe connector, no change.

Tomorrow the whole thing is going to have to come out and be inspected for cracks, porous parts, etc, plus leaks from the soil pipe and it's connector.......except that it NEVER FEELS DAMP after flushing, and a paper towel shows no moisture, only on the floor.

If it's not sorted by lunchtime, I'm afraid it's going to meet Mr 12 lb hammer.........

addi monster

iTrader: (6)

Pan to cistern donut not sat right ?

Busterbulldog

iTrader: (1)

Spray talc or any light powder all around base of the pan before you flush and follow the water.If its only on flush that rules out the inlet I would suggest

dpb

Sounds like its Donald ducked

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Got it demounted completely.

The pan is sat on blocks of wood, full of water. I'm leaving if an hour, then checking, but I RECKON the pan is porous

dpb

Sorry to hear that, I think id still throw it at supplier even if it's too late for refund

Could you paint on some kind of sealant inside temporarily for coming week

Busterbulldog

iTrader: (1)

In 30 years of plumbing I have had just 1 porous pan that I can recall,do the talc thing,water can track unseen so easily on china wear.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Update:

Well, the pan WAS leaking. I left it an hour, came back and there was a small pool of water under the front. THIS time, it being up on blocks, it was easy to see where it had come from, not like before when it just ran right round the base.

So: I turned it over, and there is a sort of spigot thing at the front, I've NO idea what it does, or what it's for, but you could see it was wet, and there were small holes at it's base and up the side. It looked carelessly made

I've dried it thoroughly, then gunked it solid about 20mm thick with Carafax non-setting mastic.

Obviously, it will bear watching, but after a further 90 minutes there is no sign of a leak.

NOT a brilliant solution, but my chances of getting a replacement under guarantee, over a year later, in France, are worse than zero, where customer care is GOOD if you don't get sworn at

I'll see how it goes, and if I'm NOT satisfied, it will have to be replaced, unfortunately at MY expense.

If it does, it'll be replaced with a decent British one, Ideal, Armitage Shanks etc. I'm not having this again!