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What we have noticed in the last year is that cowboys or just plain unqualified builders have been coming into the market place in droves. Why you might ask? Folks with no job who are good at DIY think it’s easy money to get into the maintenance market. Do a few jobs here and there and their problems are solved. It doesn’t always go that way however and many bite off more than they can chew. They start a job and discover that they don’t have the skills and then disappear. Or worse they do the complete job and the problems are hidden behind the floors and walls. We fix many of these leftover disasters all the time. We’re working on one such disaster next week as a matter of fact. An improperly installed boiler to heat an indoor swimming pool. In fact the entire plumbing in the same house is incorrect! That property will be our first Cowboy of the Week award for 2012.

So come back and visit this weekend to see just how bad ‘bad’ plumbing can be.

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A client has asked us to plumb in and repair a damaged hose on a GRL207TUJA.
Can we obtain a valid installation manual and a parts list for the door?
Thanks.

The response we received from LG UK:

Dear A H Maintenance,

In regards to your email we are sorry but we can’t send out the requested manual and for a parts list i can provide you with a number for if you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us again or call our Customer Services on the number below.

Best regards,
LG Electronics UK Helpdesk

Our response back to LG UK:

You win!

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Date: Nov 2010

Description: This bathroom renovation was part of a larger refurb…we practically rebuilt the entire house! Our client had purchased the property and had always planned on having all the work completed before she moved in. Although we’re only showing the bathroom here we also installed a new boiler, radiators and relocated the boiler from the kitchen to the upstairs airing cupboard, we completely gutted the kitchen and installed a new kitchen including all electrical work, we cleaned up the rest of the properties electrics and fit a new updated consumer unit, many walls and ceiling were repaired and re-plastered, the outside gutters and facia were repalced and the entire house was decorated and carpeted when complete.

The original bathroom showed signs of previous flooding. The structural particle board flooring was swollen and damaged in many sections and had to be replaced right through to one of the bedrooms! The tiling was past it’s best and the modern design our client wanted could not be achieved without some behind the scenes work. As we were gutting the kitchen too we decided to move all exposed plumbing behind the walls instead of boxing it back in like it was. The result was a nice clean finish that looks like something from a showroom.

Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead and you can achive the same clean results.

Related posts:

1. Separate Bathroom and Toilet To Wetroom
2. Bathroom Replacement with Whirlpool Bath
3. Bathroom Swap (Bathroom and Bedroom)

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad ‘Plumbing’

Regulations broken: BS7671:2008

We were at this property a month or so ago to repair some dangerous electrical work left over by a central heating engineer. He left some live and uninsulated wires in a wall and told the homeowners it was safe to cut them out. It wasn’t safe and fortunately they urned the power off first. We came back this time to look at running an outside cable to their new shed. They moved the washing machine aside so we could see the wall behind. Ooops! Band plumbing.

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So it would seem that with a large space in which to place the hot and cold water feed the obvious choice to this idiot was directly above the existing electrical socket! This type of crappy workmanship is wearing thin with me. With all of the self certified workers running around and no formal inspections EVER taking place on small jobs it seems to be getting worse.

It all boils down to this. If your plumber or electrical doesn’t have any common sense lend them some of yours. In the end it’s your house and not theirs. And in the end it’s your electrics that are going to short out and get damaged when the washer hose leaks not theirs. As well, tell contractors what you want. You don’t have to be snotty to get them to do what you want. If it’s a reasonable request such as ‘please could you move the cold water feed away from the socket’ it’s reasonable to think that they’ll do it.

A small tip to get this type of small job done correctly is one I use when working in your homes. I ask the home owners to mark the spot where they want to place sockets, light switches, lights, etc. I then take pictures of those spots and file them away. Every now and then I use them for reference purposes such as the homeowner that says ‘I’m sure I asked for the living room light to be placed over there!’ I can show them that they actually asked, and marked the spot, over here. My point is that it works for you too. Mark the spot where you want the pipe, socket, switch, etc. Providing it’s safe to do so (building regulations override personal taste) then you’ll get what you want. Just remember to mark it, show the contractor, take pictures as you discuss the location and keep a copy of those pictures until the job is completed.

In this case we’ll be moving the socket while on site to sort out the shed electrics in a couple of weeks. Incidentally the socket was already damp enough that the screws could not be removed and we’ll have to break the fixture to get it off of .the wall

Related posts:

1. This Wardrobe Hides More Than Just Cloths
2. Cooker Gas Fitting Incorrect…Like Most!

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad ‘Plumbing and Decorating’

Regulations broken: BS7671:2008

We received a call to look at ‘some’ water around the bottom of a tub. When we arrived we removed the tub panel and found a leaking flexi connector which had been previously packed with a cheap DIY leak repair epoxy. It didn’t work and the joint kept leaking. The leak had been there for some time as the floorboards were well soaked. When the landlord went to the empty downstairs flat to see if anything had leaked through the fun began.

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The landlord came running back upstairs and urgently asked us to go downstairs. The entire kitchen was soaked in water with some kind of mushrooms growing from the ceiling. We decided that we had better put some holes through the ceiling to let the water to leak out. When we climbed up and started peeling back the wallpaper we found that the decorator had used duck tape to seal the plasterboard joints before he papered. I mean really…duck tape!!

So bad plumbing caused damage to the hob, oven, worksurfaces, flooring on both floors and the ceiling. For the sake of a three quid flexable connector.

Related posts:

1. Poor Plumbing Produces Wood Warp Wonder
2. No Matter How You Scru-it
3. Poor Plumbing Prompts Mending

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad ‘Business Owners’

Regulations broken: BS7671:2008

It’s the time of year when boilers get switched on after a long break. It’s good practice to get your boiler serviced sometime before it needs to be switched on to make sure it’s safe. What is safe? Safe can mean a few things more than just the boiler itself. It relates to the room the boiler lives in, the air vents if required that allow the boiler to burn and dispose of the products of combustion properly and many other factors that you the end user may not fully understand. Here’s a good example of what could happen when you don’t service or inspect your boiler regularly.

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To put these pictures into context, these photos where taken at a daycare centre where lots of staff, children and parents enter and leave everyday with no knowledge that the boiler is in a dangerous state. And just to make the point that even though the boiler was working correctly on the day we visited it might only take an exceptionally cold day to stop the flue from pulling properly thus allowing the products of combustion (carbon monoxide and other deadly nasties) to come back down the flue and enter the room. That’s a situation that will end in tears.

So you could say that people and carbon dioxide don’t mix but that’s not actually true and that’s the main problem. People and carbon monoxide DO mix and your body likes carbon monoxide much more that it does oxygen and will absorb as much CO as it can get. Well, as much as it can get until you turn blue from lack of oxygen and die that is.

So the boiler pictured above has been plugged up with the daily assortment of dust from the building and extra lint from the dryer, The dryer was pushed up tight against the front or the boiler when we arrived and was also plugging the lower air vent to the room. That was the least of the problems however as the other side of the same air vent was blocked off with a trampoline, various toy boxes and toys stacked up against it and the outside wall. The top of the boiler was stacked with ‘things to dry’ and when we removed the cover plates from he boiler we found all kinds of flammable material which had fallen inside and touching the top and sides of the heat exchanger.

To make matters worse the front vent of the boiler was completely plugged with lint (see the photo with the light shining through brighter on one side than the other), the back end of the boiler where the products of combustion exit and are sucked up the flue were heavily plugged up with debris and lint. The more fluff, lint and debris that collect on the sides of the flue the more difficult it is for the fumes to escape up the flue and make it outside.

After we removed the rubbish from around the boiler we stacked it up and took the last picture in the series. That’s a serious pile of debris and a record breaker! We hoovered out all of the air vents inside and outside of the building and re-assembled the boiler for the remainder of our safety checks. So the lesson here should be to check on your boiler yourself regularly for obvious issues such as debris piled on top or the fresh air vents plugged up with dust, debris, climbing plants or trampolines!. YOU DON’T NEED A GAS ENGINEER FOR THESE COMMON SENSE CHECKS. Once a year or as required get your boiler checked out by a Gas Safe Registered engineer who can test all the bits that you can’t. An extra 50 quid a year might just save someones life and keep you out of jail for corporate manslaughter. Fifty quid!!

Don’t be like this business which was really on the verge of causing some serious health issues with their staff and clients. And don’t be like the many customers I meet on a daily basis who actually BRAG about not having their boiler serviced for 10 or 15 years! Unbelievable!

Related posts:

1. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Engineer
2. Danger of the Week Award – Uneducated Public
3. Experienced Electricians Don’t Do Work Like This – Part 2

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad ‘Electricians’

Regulations broken: BS7671:2008

You may have never heard of a Marrette or Marr connector and I was surprised as anyone to see one in a job to remove a fluorescent light fixture. As an ex-Canadian I’ve used hundreds and have seen thousands of Marrettes over the years…but never in the UK.

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During a small renovation we had to remove two separate lights from a kitchen that was having the ceiling lowered a few inches. During the removal I found the usual mess or wiring and blobs of tape. When I peeled the tape off what looked like a Marrette I was surprised to see said Marrette!

So a Marrette or as it known here in the UK a scru-it or wire nut is used for connecting two or more cables together or for terminating a cable. The idea is that once the insulation is stripped back  the wires are then twisted together. You can see the twisted cable in the photo after we removed the Marrette. Once the wire is twisted together the wire nut is screwed on to the exposed ends just like screwing a lid on a jar.

The problem is that these devices though used in their millions in the Americas and not used over here anymore. In all of the years I’ve been working I’ve never come across one in a residence until now. The one we found was ceramic and about the size of a sewing thimble. They were in use in the fifties but disappeared for reasons I have not been able to uncover as yet. Watch this space. As for this property it was rewired in the last ten years so these wire nuts were no longer in use then and the electrician probably had one in his bag which was easier to use than it was to go get a proper connector.

We removed all of the tape, the scru-it and the terminal blocks which were screwed down so tight the copper was flattened to the point of breaking. We mechanically crimped our connections and fit a choc-box. Job done. Correctly!

Related posts:

1. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Electrics
2. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Electrics
3. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Electrician

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad ‘DIY Property Maintenance ‘

It’s getting on to the end of the year. No Really! If you don’t believe me take a walk through your town centre. Christmas sales and decorate remind us that the cold weather is coming. My interest in the seasonal change however is safety. The big burning ball of mostly hydrogen called the sun is around in shorter supply every day. Especially here in Oldham. Your heating systems and fires are starting to get turned onto supplement.  If you haven’t had your fire or boiler serviced recently here’s at least one good reason why you should.

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The first picture shows the fresh air supply vent for this homes back boiler.  The screen behind the vent is not allowed for the very reason shown here. It’s clogged up with paint, dust and debris. The second photo is what the vent should and now looks like.

I’ve not met many people who take the fresh air vent seriously. I had one client boast a few years ago that she plugged the vent in her property and then hung a radiator over it. She was not amused when I gave her a choice of re-establishing the vent or having her gas turned off. Incidentally she has not used us since. Better to bitter and alive then happy and dead though. I’ve been to many more homes the fresh air vent has been plugged up and plastered over during a renovation! Now this may not seem like a big deal. The vents do cause a nasty draft at times and it’s near impossible to be comfortable in a room where the vent points straight to outside especially in the minus 20 degree weather we had last year. Problem is this. If that vent is missing then your flue may not function properly and you may indeed die from carbon monoxide poisoning and them’s the facts, Jack!

The science of flues is simple. In order for a flue to work it must be able to remove the products of combustion which are the fumes from the fire. The fumes go up and out of the terminal at the top of the chimney. Simple enough. Hot air rises so in the most simplistic way this works without a fire too. Warm air from a room heated with nothing more than the sun will drag air up the flue and deposit it outside.  Problem is this. If there a vacuum in the room and I don’t mean a Hoover! If there is no way for fresh air to replace the air that’s going out through the flue then a couple of things are going to happen. Firstly the fire is going to light with the oxygen that’s already in the room. The fire is going to burn with the oxygen already in the room. As not enough fresh air (oxygen) can get in then the flow of air and the products of combustion will stall and start to back up down the flue and spill back into the room. Depending on how cold the air is outside this can happen even on a flue in good condition as well. Most gas fires and back boilers have safety devices to stop them from working if there is a lack of oxygen however it doesn’t stop you from breathing in the carbon monoxide in the meantime and if the devices aren’t sensitive enough you could die before the fire goes out.

So back to our fresh air vent. It’s there for a reason. Fresh air means fresh oxygen. In today’s homes the vents are even more important as older houses had drafty floor boards and windows as well as air bricks peppered around the perimeter. There was no shortage of fresh air (a.k.a. adiabatic air flow). As homes improved over the years things like laminate flooring and underlay can plug up all the air flow that used to come through the drafty floor. Double glazing now stops all air flow around the windows and sealed outside doors stop the flow there. Even conservatories can dramatically change the way a house breathes. With all of that air flow dampened down you create a sealed environment. Poison gas can’t escape and no fresh air gets in. It’s only a matter of time before that room is inhabitable.

So before the heating season really kicks off get your gas fire (back boiler, coal and wood fires follow the same rules!) serviced. Make sure that service includes a flue flow test (a smoke bomb up the flue to check for leaks throughout the property) and that the ventilation is good (no shrubs, bugs, paint or other substances) with nothing is blocking the fresh air vent. A Gas Safe Registered engineer will know what to look for in every circumstance so always trust them. DO NOT TRUST ANYONE ELSE!!!!

If your current service engineer can’t show you a valid ID card then he/she/it isn’t Gas Safe Registered. You might as well hire a BABOON! You’ll have about the same chance of getting it done safely and correctly. Here’s a short video on what the ID card MUST look like.

More question?  Gas Safe Register Website – Click Here or ring them on 0800 408 5500

Related posts:

1. Gas Fire Refurbishment
2. Ballyhoo Flue Poo
3. Over-The-Top Gas Fire Installation

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Plumbers

The delivery driver who was also going to hook up the new washer and take away the old had to abandon his idea. He was unable to locate the washing machine valves in order to turn off the water.  It was the old hidden hose trick!

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So we were called in and tasked with carefully removing sections of the carcass backing until we located the hose connections. We did get the water turned off and the old hoses removed. Once the old washer was out of the way the new one was installed quickly, tested and we departed.

Related posts:

1. Poor Plumbing Produces Wood Warp Wonder
2. Don’t Use Duck Tape To Repair Leaks
3. Cooker Gas Fitting Incorrect…Like Most!