Cheer of the Day!

[Cubist]

Re-cyling Effort = 10/10
Economy = 10/10
Functionality = 10/10
Innovation = Pending
Aesthetic Appeal = Pending

Looks like a perfect score in the making.

 

[a twig]

Gosh first cheer of 2024 in August! We are a grumpy lot - so time for a celebration!

Finally managed to get the electrician out of the utility and celebrated by doing the plumbing for the two dishwashers, washing machine and tumble dryer that I have insisted on (as it’s me that does the cooking and housework )

Got the pipe bender and laser out to get it all neat and straight and no leaks!

And yes put in a proper isolation valve, can’t be dealing with finding a screwdriver when there is an issue.

 

[aockenden]

Looks like a clean job. How hard is it to learn how to use one of those pipe-benders?

Gosh first cheer of 2024 in August! We are a grumpy lot - so time for a celebration!

Finally managed to get the electrician out of the utility and celebrated by doing the plumbing for the two dishwashers, washing machine and tumble dryer that I have insisted on (as it’s me that does the cooking and housework )

Got the pipe bender and laser out to get it all neat and straight and no leaks!

And yes put in a proper isolation valve, can’t be dealing with finding a screwdriver when there is an issue.

 

[a twig]

Not that hard, but you will definitely cock up the first few you do, main thing is working out where to start the bends from (i.e. allowing for the radius of the curve rather than starting the bend at exactly where you need the direction to change. There will also be a bit of "getting used to" with the pipe, different brands have different wall thicknesses and tensile properties, so will spring back differing amounts when you release the pipe bender.

If you are doing a complex bit with multiple bends in different directions, the hardest thing is keeping everything aligned to the original plane (i.e. making sure the pipe hasn't rotated between bends). I've had mine for years so learned by trial and error, I'm sure there are decent videos etc on YouTube which would make learning a lot easier now.

If you wanted to give it a go, pick up a cheap one, and start keeping hold of some offcuts or old bits of pipe you are ripping out etc to practice on before you start using it in anger. I had to use it on a 600mm run with two bends for plumbing in a shower 8 years ago, and I got through 4m of brand new copper pipe before I got it right Fortunately I was able to salvage a fair amount for other parts of the project but was a bit frustrating.

I suspect there are pipe benders out there now that are cleverer and can help you more this all this stuff, mine was a ~£30 super basic Screwfix special offer - as I've probably used it fewer than 20 times in the near decade I've owned it I couldn't really justify anything else

 

[paulc]

I suspect there are pipe benders out there now that are cleverer and can help you more this all this stuff, mine was a ~£30 super basic Screwfix special offer - as I've probably used it fewer than 20 times in the near decade I've owned it I couldn't really justify anything else

- Bigger versions available (at a price).

 

[a twig]

And now I've instantly gone from not knowing something existed to nerdily and completely unjustifiably really wanting it - thanks @paulc !

 

[LadyArowana]

And now I've instantly gone from not knowing something existed to nerdily and completely unjustifiably really wanting it - thanks @paulc !

Added bonus of a side hustle making candle holders

 

[malcolm]

I've been tuning the pub piano. The keys used to play the note that the key to the left should have played. There's a lot of 'how to' stuff on YouTube, tuning apps on the internet, and Amazon will send a tuning hammer (wrench) next day. It sounds really nice now - a brilliant result for an afternoon of effort hence the cheer.

The piano was made by Duck, Son and Pinker (1848-2011). Every photo of other pianos have 'Bath and Bristol' underneath their name but mine doesn't. Mine is very plain and I don't know if it's an early one or if they started making them elsewhere later on.

 

[a twig]

I’m sure @LadyArowana could pop in and ask! Although I suspect it’s just the signage that remains rather than the original company

Looks a lovely old piano and well done for doing the job! Mine needs tuning and all the tuners round here are extortionate and insist on a full service history being sent in triplicate before they will even consider coming over to take a look, so DIY might be the best solution for me too, had never crossed my mind!

 

[malcolm]

I've asked the internet on my blog - someone is bound to get in touch in a few years with an exact date for my piano. I used the 'pano tuner' app on my phone. The thing I did differently from the 'how to tune a piano' stuff on YouTube was remove the hammers and tune by plucking the strings like a guitar rather than using the piano keys as most of the keys have three strings and I didn't have enough access to damp out the strings I didn't want to listen to with the £10 Amazon piano tuning kit. Also worked a lot faster that way. Pianos come apart very easily - there will be a couple of wooden clamps to turn then you can lift huge sections out.

 

[LadyArowana]

Well done Malcolm, what a great result. Quite a nice piece here about the maker http://bath-heritage.co.uk/duck_william.html

 

[Lacan07]

Looks like a clean job. How hard is it to learn how to use one of those pipe-benders?

Not hard but creating offsets are difficult, you can buy them anyway for tuppence.

 

[Lacan07]

Gosh first cheer of 2024 in August! We are a grumpy lot - so time for a celebration!

Finally managed to get the electrician out of the utility and celebrated by doing the plumbing for the two dishwashers, washing machine and tumble dryer that I have insisted on (as it’s me that does the cooking and housework )

Got the pipe bender and laser out to get it all neat and straight and no leaks!

And yes put in a proper isolation valve, can’t be dealing with finding a screwdriver when there is an issue.

View attachment 13903

Lovely stuff, I'm so glad I learnt to solder and went with solid copper on my renovation. I really enjoy running pipework. I hate compression fittings but sometimes they're unavoidable like on shower valves that get boxed in. Its madness imho.

Not so keen on running drainage though, a right pain in the arse.

 

[Stevers]

Have just found this taken by my lady wife earlier this summer of our north facing garden. I really like the dappled sunlight on the lawn from the shade of the trees across the busy road. The dark green splodge on the end wall might be an apricot (I planted it, but no apricots), and the light green splodge is another one of those layered Wisterias from the now ex-family home.
Maybe, just maybe, all those delays to home improvement (an old grump of the day) has been worth it!

 

[LadyArowana]

Beautiful garden, we only have a postage stamp sized rear courtyard garden and a front lightwell. I have ambitions to create a ‘fernery’ in the lightwell… pretentious moi?

 

[Stevers]

a) Wide angle lens, b) You can't hear the road, c) Colour graded herbaceous border at or near peak loveliness - it's starting to look tatty now, and is a wasteland in the winter!

It's an easy walk into town, but we still have a garden - best of both worlds, with a few compromises.

 

[Cubist]

As I've reported before, I am not permitted to make any decisions about the gardens here and my sole contribution is to provide the Grunt input. This comes in two flavours - the sweaty and hernia inducing variety and the nature of my grudging ascent to anything Im asked/required to do.

Consequent to the latter; I am in no way accountable for any of the garden ornamentation and in particular: -

• The porcelain Frog that resides under bushes in the front garden.
• The concrete Viking that glowers at me through the kitchen window while making cuppas.
• The glazed plaster Gargoyle conveniently placed to grin at me through another window when I sit to take some evening comfort.

 

[a twig]

In my ongoing 3 year kitchen extension saga the end is finally coming into sight. Lots of wins to cheer about this week.

Kitchen units were finally delivered this week - win 1 - so have been busy fitting them.

Turned out the builders had installed the window 70mm to the left of where it should have been but managed to swap a couple of units round to still make it work (in fact the layout now works better) and the 2 wall units that no longer had a home fitted perfectly in my utility and hide the hideous CU and switch panel - win number 2.

Got all the wall units hung this afternoon and managed to only drop one on my head so that’s win 3.

Managed to punch the tap hole into the Belfast sink without destroying it (the most terrifying 45 minutes of my life) - win 4.

And finally - win number 5 - got the sink plumbed first time with no leaks!

So just need to install the range cooker, finish off the island, install about a hundred handles, and do last bits of decorating over the weekend.

Wife has chosen pretentious non-DIYable worktops so fitters coming to template on Monday and in theory fit them by end of next week.

Then we will finally have a kitchen for the first time since May 1st and I can put the despised air fryer back in the cupboard where it belongs and get back to proper cooking!

 

[housewinnie]

Did a bodge gutter at the base of a retaining wall with stone and a bit of copper. This wall had a slight breach a couple of weeks ago in the torrential rain. Had similar rain the other day and my bodge may have worked as no water was coming in the old kitchen.

 

[WetWales]

In my ongoing 3 year kitchen extension saga the end is finally coming into sight. Lots of wins to cheer about this week.

Kitchen units were finally delivered this week - win 1 - so have been busy fitting them.

Turned out the builders had installed the window 70mm to the left of where it should have been but managed to swap a couple of units round to still make it work (in fact the layout now works better) and the 2 wall units that no longer had a home fitted perfectly in my utility and hide the hideous CU and switch panel - win number 2.

Got all the wall units hung this afternoon and managed to only drop one on my head so that’s win 3.

Managed to punch the tap hole into the Belfast sink without destroying it (the most terrifying 45 minutes of my life) - win 4.

And finally - win number 5 - got the sink plumbed first time with no leaks!

So just need to install the range cooker, finish off the island, install about a hundred handles, and do last bits of decorating over the weekend.

Wife has chosen pretentious non-DIYable worktops so fitters coming to template on Monday and in theory fit them by end of next week.

Then we will finally have a kitchen for the first time since May 1st and I can put the despised air fryer back in the cupboard where it belongs and get back to proper cooking!

I saw a quote online “every 5 minutes a renovation couple overestimate how much they can get done in 1 weekend “

Thought it applicable to every weekend of mine! And yours by the sounds!