External lighting opinions wanted

[malcolm]

Well positioned - the light looks like it has always been there (apart from the house looks like it might have been built a little before electric lighting was in common use). It looks like it has been there for a long time. I like the idea of having multiple PIRs turning on multiple lights - I guess feeds to both PIRs powering a single lighting circuit. Much inspiration there.

 

[Feltwell]

I like the idea of having multiple PIRs turning on multiple lights - I guess feeds to both PIRs powering a single lighting circuit.

Yes - you connect the switched live from both PIR's to both lights. One or both PIRs can be activated, makes no odds, you could even use more than 2 PIRs or lights but you'd have to start being careful about the maximum load a single PIR can feed, depending on the lights you're using. With LED's though, I can't see you'd ever have a problem.

You can even do this on some lights with built-in PIR's - I did this on a previous house with an external open porch, a bulkhead with built-in PIR both outside and inside the porch, interlinked as both had the necessary switched live and load connections.

 

[Flyfisher]

I still think it looks dreadful and you should have sold it to me instead :wink:

Seriously though, it blends in very well (dammit!) and I love the planning timescale and eventual timing - it's exactly the sort of thing I seem to do :lol:

As you rightly say, LED lighting has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years and it's good you could find a compatible 'bulb'.

I must start some serious searching for outside light fittings!

 

[mims&pip]

That looks extremely good, Feltwell - suits your handsome house perfectly

 

[Zebra]

Woohoo, speedy Gonzalo! Careful Feltwell, before you know it you'll have the house all finished, and then what will you do?

 

[Feltwell]

Woohoo, speedy Gonzalo! Careful Feltwell, before you know it you'll have the house all finished, and then what will you do?

Sssshhhhh!!! Don't say that too loud, Mrs F will hear, I'll have to pay her some attention if the house is finished.............

 

[LadyArowana]

Looks really good, beautifully restored. I was worried that doing things in such a rush the quality might have suffered, but all seems fine.

 

[Longdogs]

I prefer the straight version but to throw in another option, I would prefer it to be a bit shorter so that it is closer to the house (just a personal opinion).

 

[Feltwell]

Yes, I've got to be careful with all this rushing - not good for you I'm told, mustn't overdo it, after all when would all the planning get done? :lol:

I do sometimes envy those for whom 90% right is OK. I just can't do quick makeovers or fixes, unless really forced to in an emergency. The quick fix then bugs the hell out of me until I go back and do it properly. It means that what's done is always done to the best of my abilities, but it also means that a lot of things don't get done for a very long time!

In the 9 years we've been here, the kid's bedrooms are the only ones to have been redecorated - as decoration is always the last job and I can't stand covering over the cracked plaster, not chasing in the horrible electric sockets that are on pattresses, not hiding that cable, not sorting out the fireplace, etc etc etc..........

"Do it once and do it right" is not always the best policy when an intervening quick fix could make your house more pleasant to live in during the meantime. On the other hand, do you ever get around to going back and doing it properly?

 

[malcolm]

That's quite reasonable. If every job is completed to a high standard it shouldn't need doing again and you might finish one day rather than have to go through the half done stuff. (I've not tested the might finish theory.)

I've been putting in some temporary plumbing so I can have a kitchen sink in a corridor for a while. Plastic pipe would have been quick but I've never soldered pipe before so am taking the opportunity to learn before doing something less temporary. It will look magnificent!

 

[Longdogs]

That's quite reasonable. If every job is completed to a high standard it shouldn't need doing again and you might finish one day rather than have to go through the half done stuff. (I've not tested the might finish theory.)

I've been putting in some temporary plumbing so I can have a kitchen sink in a corridor for a while. Plastic pipe would have been quick but I've never soldered pipe before so am taking the opportunity to learn before doing something less temporary. It will look magnificent!

Soldering is a mixture of technique, cleanliness and confidence. When I first started soldering, I would solder as much as possible away from the site to prevent scorching and then connect on site at the last minute. Yorkshire fittings are handy but if soldering a few fittings within a small area, the solder can run out by the time you get to it so I normally use end feed instead. A small budgie mirror is good for viewing behind a fitting. A great feeling though when you test it and there are no leaks.

 

[Flyfisher]

Hear hear (especially that last sentence ).

As for scorching, heat resistant mats are available that can be placed behind pipework close to walls etc.

E.g. http://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-plumber-s-soldering-mat/54910

 

[malcolm]

I fitted the pipework yesterday afternoon. It took longer to drain the tank in the roof and then dismantle the airing cupboard to swap a gate valve for a ball valve so I hopefully won't need to drain the tank in the roof again.

I used the end feed connectors, cleaning thoroughly, but started off with too little heat which made the pipe too hot. After some advice the joints are now mostly shiny and the solder seemed to go in OK. I wasn't brave enough to solder anything in position. No leaks so far, but I've yet to connect everything up.

It's a good skill to have learned. The pipework here has been modified over the years and the hot water feed from the tank to the kitchen directly below has a run of about 15m. I'll plan to sort some of that out.

 

[Longdogs]

I fitted the pipework yesterday afternoon. It took longer to drain the tank in the roof and then dismantle the airing cupboard to swap a gate valve for a ball valve so I hopefully won't need to drain the tank in the roof again.

I used the end feed connectors, cleaning thoroughly, but started off with too little heat which made the pipe too hot. After some advice the joints are now mostly shiny and the solder seemed to go in OK. I wasn't brave enough to solder anything in position. No leaks so far, but I've yet to connect everything up.

It's a good skill to have learned. The pipework here has been modified over the years and the hot water feed from the tank to the kitchen directly below has a run of about 15m. I'll plan to sort some of that out.

if you need to isolate the tank in the future, you can use a rubber bung kit available from plumbers merchants which means you don't have to drain it all down. This will also work on your heating header tank if you need to replace radiator valves.

hope all goes well.

 

[Feltwell]

if you need to isolate the tank in the future, you can use a rubber bung kit available from plumbers merchants which means you don't have to drain it all down. This will also work on your heating header tank if you need to replace radiator valves.

hope all goes well.

I tried one of those this week, it didn't work too well for me - there was still a slow dribble of water coming through. Would have been OK for changing a valve, but no good for soldering, which was what I needed to do. Mind you, this is a very tall house, with the header tank at the very apex of the roof - the instructions did say that over 30' vertically between header tank and point of pipework being disconnected could be a problem. I ended up draining the system down, then all the aggro of refilling and bleeding, plus having to buy more inhibitor.

Really annoying - I replaced a radiator a while ago, my new joints were all fine, but I realised that a nearby joint must have got disturbed enough during the work to start leaking. It was a soldered joint so can't have been that strong to begin with. I stuck a tray underneath it and overnight it leaked about half a cupful of water, it's been doing that for about 9 months I reckon, hidden behind my sofa - the water disappearing down the gap under the skirting board. Fortunately no lasting damage seems to have been done.

 

[88v8]

I ended up draining the system down, then all the aggro of refilling and bleeding, plus having to buy more inhibitor.

If one closes all the hand and lockshield valves on the rads, much of the existing heatant can be saved. Older valves do tend to dribble though, so depending where one is soldering one may need to drain one or more rads.

So as not to lose the balance, I made a written record of the turns on each lockshield.

Ivor

 

[Zebra]

overnight it leaked about half a cupful of water, it's been doing that for about 9 months I reckon, hidden behind my sofa

Yet another example of your lighting fast rate of work, Feltwell. :wink:
May I recommend, lightheartedly of course...... http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html

 

[Feltwell]

Yet another example of your lighting fast rate of work, Feltwell. :wink:

Oy! I fixed this one the day after I noticed it, I'll have you know - I'm guessing the leak had gone undetected for some time, as it was about 9 months after I'd changed the radiator, the doing of which I think must have disturbed this nearby pipe joint.

Bloomin' cheek! :wink: :lol:

I've got a friend of mine who's an even better procrastinator than me, plus he's forgetful as well. His car had a gearbox oil leak, which he kept meaning to fix, then it just stopped and he forgot all about it - until about 500 miles later when the gearbox seized solid of course......

 

[Zebra]

Oh I see!! I thought you meant you'd left it like that for 9 months after you discovered it, because you don't really notice it, down behind the sofa......

 

[Feltwell]

I'll forgive you :wink: .