New Grump of the Day

[Feltwell]

[if I use it all I won't have it any more then if I need some I won't have it. It's hard deciding to use the last of something irreplaceable. As my garage shelves testify.

Not quite the same I know, but for holes for rawlplugs that are too large, these little circular plaster discs are surprisingly effective:-

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Fischer-Wet-'n'-Fix-Pack-10/p/511151

 

[Penners]

... or resort to the traditional method and hammer in a wedge of wood.

 

[Hobden]

Not quite the same I know, but for holes for rawlplugs that are too large, these little circular plaster discs are surprisingly effective:-
http://www.wickes.co.uk/Fischer-Wet-'n'-Fix-Pack-10/p/511151

I can second that - they've saved me a few times.

 

[a twig]

So, I noticed that the gulley for our grey water waste has been flooding a bit. So I decided to have a go at clearing it. As it was old clay pipe with no rod access I decided to do the job properly, dig up the pipework, remove the gulley, rod it all out, and then add a rodding point to avoid this situation in future.

Large trench duly dug, first hitch, had to smash out old clay gully as it was concreted in, started rodding...

Rods got one meter in, and would not go any further. After an hour of banging away (oo-err) still no luck so I decided to dig further down the pipe line and see what was up. After some more digging, and with a mini Grand Canyon now developing in my lawn, I found that the pipe run no longer existed...

The clay pipe had been smashed up, the void backfilled with rubble and soil, and just a 1.5m "stub" of clay pipe had been left attached to the gully. Hence why it was "blocked" - turns out it wasn't actually a drain at all, all the grey water was just running into the garden. If it was meant to be a soak away, it was neither long enough, nor correctly done.

So...

Removed all the clay pipework, installed new plastic, with gravel etc, so that the water from the garden tap that discharges into the gulley will still soak away, then spent a very frustrating afternoon re-plumbing all the white goods (washing machine and two dishwashers) into the grey waste on the opposite side of the room that definitely does attach to a proper drain.

Not only did this job require teeing into the existing waste pipe, it also required a new cold water feed piping across from several meters away, and a re-routing of the electrics to put enough sockets within range of the appliances.

I then had to cap off and tidy up all the old pipework and wiring. In all two days of bloody hard work, just because a PO decided they didn't need a drain anymore...

 

[a twig]

In amidst all this, our new Central Heating was installed - namely a Worcester Bosch high flow combi. It is absolutely brilliant - however the increased water pressure proved to be the nail in the coffin of the shower valve cartridge in the Victoria Plum shower I installed in 2014.

I rang up Victoria Plum - sorry sir we don't do spares, and our 10 year guarantee only came in at the end of 2014, so you aren't covered. But if you take photos and submit them to the shower doctor website they can sort you the spares you need.

Duly did as instructed, 48h later, shower doctor came back and said "Sorry, those parts are from China, and can't be sourced as spares in the UK"

So back to Victoria Plum, ended up having to buy a whole new shower mixer (although they did give me a £30 discount) just to get the valve cartridge out and swap it into the original shower - which I did this morning. Whole process took 5 days and cost £120, during which time I started to smell so bad my wife couldn't bear to sit next to me... :lol:

Note to anyone getting a bathroom - avoid Victoria Plum own brand... :evil: :evil:

 

[Zebra]

Why is it so often plumbing, rather than say plastering or carpentry, that seems to lead to these long and arduous tasks, just to get back to where you thought you were in the first place..?

 

[LadyArowana]

"Sorry, those parts are from China, and can't be sourced as spares in the UK"

As excuses go that sounds like a load of horse manure, almost anything you want can be sent from China, proof exists on any high st anywhere.

 

[a twig]

Why is it so often plumbing, rather than say plastering or carpentry, that seems to lead to these long and arduous tasks, just to get back to where you thought you were in the first place..?

Exactly, on the plus side, since moving in three years ago, my plumbing skills have improved on an almost vertical curve, driven entirely by necessity, so silver lining and all that. Problem is now that my family now call me to fix their problems :lol:

 

[fernicarry]

Note to anyone getting a bathroom - avoid Victoria Plum own brand... :evil: :evil:

Thought I might be in the same boat with a 10 year old Bathstore mixer last summer. Turns out its actually made by CrossWater so spares are readily available, but still not exactly cheap (90 quid for the mixer cartridge on its own!). Armed with that knowledge I managed to get hold of an almost identical model on ebay as dead-stock and robbed it of the bits I needed.

 

[MatthewC]

So, I noticed that the gulley for our grey water waste has been flooding a bit. So I decided to have a go at clearing it...

... the pipe run no longer existed...The clay pipe had been smashed up, the void backfilled with rubble and soil, and just a 1.5m "stub" of clay pipe had been left attached to the gully. Hence why it was "blocked" - turns out it wasn't actually a drain at all...

In all two days of bloody hard work, just because a PO decided they didn't need a drain anymore...

That's the best grump I've seen for a while!

 

[Zebra]

Moving Giraffe in, his chest of drawers won't go up the stairs. Trouble is, he needs a big chest of drawers, with his socks being so bloody long!

 

[Flyfisher]

. . . not to mention his ties :wink:

My GOTD is entirely my own fault but I'll pass on the lesson anyway. When an experienced bee-keeper gives you one of those bee-keeping netted hat thingummies to wear when mowing past his hives, take his advice and wear it. Even though the bees have previously been docile and unfazed by a tractor, there will be one day when they are extremely grumpy and attack the first moving object anywhere near them, in which case you will end up fleeing from the scene with a mass of bees buzzing in your hair and stinging away with glee. Hopefully my headache will have gone by tomorrow morning

 

[Keith Bowman]

Bees can get very upset by humid, thunder-threatening weather.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Omg FF I wouldn't be grumping I'd be howling!!! Are you feeling ok today? A lot of stings can lead to quite a toxic overload.

And don't get stung again anytime soon! The body can react weirdly when that happens. I had a wasp sting, no problem, had another a couple weeks later, had to go to hospital with my ear canals so swollen I could barely hear and my face swelled out like a balloon. Why? Because apparently allergy can work that way. Apparently bee keepers make up a reasonable proportion of those in the U.K. who have adverse reactions to stings. You'd think the body would get immune but it can react by deciding it's going to make a hell of a whack of histamine as it didn't like it last time and the throat and tongue can swell.

I think it's a dangerous hobby! Be careful!

 

[Flyfisher]

It's not really my hobby as such, we just host the hives for a keen beekeeper in the village. I've had a few stings in my time with no particular problems, but have never experienced such a prolonged attack. Fortunately, I didn't have a seriously bad reaction, though I still felt quite unwell this morning with a headache and slight fever. I took some paracetamol and slept through until midday after which I felt a lot better and was able to finish off some fencing work this afternoon - probably the fresh air helped clear my head as I feel ok now and the lumps and bumps are gradually going down.

I've certainly got a lot more respect for the potential dangers of beekeeping now!

 

[Feltwell]

Ouch! Doesn't sound good FF. I've managed to avoid bee stings so far, but it was a bit disconcerting rubbing down the paintwork on the inside of my bay window last night, I could hear my "uninvited guests" (see other thread - bumblebees) buzzing away inside the window frame.

I've got 3 Michelin stars in the "Mosquito's Guide to Fine Dining", I truly am walking caviar to them - plus I react really badly to the bites, we're talking golfball size lumps appearing whereas Mrs F gets a little red mark. I do wonder if the reaction is linked to being so attractive to the little blighters.

Just my luck, the only type of female that finds me irresistible! :wink:

 

[Zebra]

Relimewashing the bedroom. Realise as it dries that I have made it too pale. Shall have to put more pigment in the mix and do it again. :roll:

 

[malcolm]

Filling up the cracks Zebra? I've been instructed to wait a second year before filling mine. It's an annoyance with shrinking lime.

I've got a grump. My honey bees are eating the nests of my solitary bees. The solitary bees have been doing so well and I provided extra accommodation this year. Now only 4 nests are undamaged. I'll try to find breathable tape to put over the holes and try to remember to remove if before next year. I like my solitary bees and the little chimney bumble bees but the honey bees that live in the shed are starting to annoy me.

 

[88v8]

Came home from a week's hol, the tank overflow was dripping. Not the first time. What was new, was that the bathroom light fitting beneath the cold tank had an inch of water in it. So obviously there had been something more than dripping going on. At least the brass ball valve came apart easily, new washer, and looking on the bright side, we weren't flooded and the (oversensitive modern) electrics hadn't tripped and turned the freezers off.

This morning when I got up it sounded as if there was a major overflow in progress. But nothing from the overflow. Into the bathroom, waterfall noises from the airing cupboard, the tank is boiling!
For the last five years the wife has been switching the immersion on for an hour in the morning when she gets up. Because she's now in hosp having a new hip, a couple of weeks ago I fitted an Economy 7 timer. Comes on about 0030h. How long to heat a tank... an hour at most... so it had been boiling for perhaps 5 hours. It vents into the cold tank, so not only was the hot water boiling, but the water coming from the Cold tap was too hot to touch!! Fifty gallons of cold water has been raised almost to boiling.

Stat is only a couple of years old.
Humph.

Ivor

 

[d49xc]

Immersion heat element should have a normal on/off and a safety overtemp cut out.
So something ain't as it should be

That fault/sequence was the cause of a fatality a while back.
the cold tank in the loft indeed also boiled as the water thermo siphoned between them.
It was a plastic tank.
It had been installed directly onto the joists and not onto a board to spread load
The tank split as a result of the heat.
Dumped all XXX gallons of water down into the bedroom below - boiling water
Child in bed in bedroom - terminated.