Nigel Watts
Member
- Messages
- 1,779
- Location
- London N7
I have a phobia about plumbing which has not been made any better recently by the discovery of a damp stain on my drawing room ceiling. Above it is a shower, installed less than a year ago, with u-bend and pipe run under a floor which has since been expensively covered in birch-faced plywood and marmoleum thereby making it wholly inaccessible save by ripping it all up again. I am hoping this stain was due to a one-off flood rather than a systematic leak or a side effect of my wife's regular treatment of the drain with strong sulphuric acid to unblock it. I suspect the blockages result from insufficient drop on the pipe - another very difficult and expensive problem to fix.
Downstairs I have a slightly more solvable problem - a loo whose flush is unreliable. The cistern is plastic, about 9 years old, and fitted behind a hinged panel to which there is good access. I suspect the diaphragm has failed. I am tempted to have a go at replacing it myself. Is this wise, or should I call in a plumber? There is an isolating valve just upstream of the ball valve so I can easily turn off the water. I thought I might take out the siphon and take it to a plumbers' merchant to make sure i get a new one of the right size and type.
Downstairs I have a slightly more solvable problem - a loo whose flush is unreliable. The cistern is plastic, about 9 years old, and fitted behind a hinged panel to which there is good access. I suspect the diaphragm has failed. I am tempted to have a go at replacing it myself. Is this wise, or should I call in a plumber? There is an isolating valve just upstream of the ball valve so I can easily turn off the water. I thought I might take out the siphon and take it to a plumbers' merchant to make sure i get a new one of the right size and type.