Date: Jun 2010

Description: We started planning this bathroom for our client two years ago. By removing the old system boiler andd hot water cylinder from the airing cupboard in the bathroom and relocating the boiler from the kitchen to the loft we were able to expand the bathroom  giving us enough room to install a seperate shower area. The owner also decided that she wanted a wet room instead of a shower stall so that’s what we built for her.

The original bathroom was installed in the late fifties and well past it’s sell by date. The separate loo, bathroom and airing cupboard sliced up the usable space into tiny little rooms. Our first job was to remove all of the appliances, extra walls, ceiling, wiring and pipe work. We also removed all electrical junction boxes which were feeding other location and all plumbing joints so that there would be nothing left under the soon to be tiled floor that would leak or otherwise require maintenance. You really don’t want to pull up a wet room tile floor with underfloor heating because a pipe leaks or a light switch stops working.

With all of the demoltion and utilities sorted we replaced the old flooring with plywood which was glued and screwed to the joists using three inch screws. The walls and ceiling were damaged from earlier flooding of the loft F&E tank and required replacing. We also had to remove the old bathroom door leaving only one door for access. The entire room was re-lined and skimmed. Once the floor was down we started to build up the shower deck, the cement board,  tanking, underfloor heating wire and finally the tiles. It sounds easier than it was with our clients using the bathroom everyday but we muddled through. Once the tile was down on the floor we grouted and started on the walls.

With the walls tiles and grouted we finished up with the shower screen and then the fianl dressing and caulk. Voila! A nice well lit wet room created from a dark and dingy set of small rooms.

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1. Bathroom Re-Design And Refurbishment
2. Bathroom Swap (Bathroom and Bedroom)
3. Complete Bathroom Refurbishment

Date: Jan 2010

Description: The new home owner wanted the electrical system replaced in this double garage as the old electrics were corroded, improperly run through a metal pipe buried underground and as it turned out were unearthed.

The old wiring though connected properly withing the garage were not safe as the earthing cable was broken at the old consumer unit. The old cables were tightly zip tied to the metal roof framework which could have created a live roof were the PVC to have been broken! We removed all of the old fittings and added a new weather sealed garage consumer unit and wired that back to the property using armoured cable. As the house was built on a concrete pad we ran our armoured cable underground and then up through a purpose built sleeve to the loft. We then connected up to the new RCD protected consumer unit and confirmed all cables.

The sockets and lights were added through conduit unlike the previous cable which had been zip tied to the metal frame work of the roof trusses. Once installed the accessories were also tested and then connected up to the garage unit. Lights and sockets now safe to use.

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1. Full House Rewire And Modernise
2. Bathroom Swap (Bathroom and Bedroom)
3. Kitchen And Bedroom Swap

Date: Dec 2009

Description: Bathroom makeover with some redesign work to improve the layout of the room. The renovation also uncovered several safety issues and some lesser issues which would have caused damage to the property if  not sorted out.

We were asked to replace all of the appliances with new but to also remove a large dry lined structure that was supposedly being used as a wet riser through this building. As it turns out the riser was only hiding two pipes; a cold water pipe which fed an old out of use F&E tank that was still live and a waste stack which we removed converted to an air admittance valve. The box structure was removed and after laying new dry lining we skimmed the ceiling and walls in preparation for the finish work.

The light fixture was replaced, all walls were tiled from floor to ceiling. The electric shower was installed in a more useful position than it was to start and we added a shower screen instead of the old curtain to give the small room a larger feel.

We have been invited back in the New Year to replace the airing cupboard doors and add a tall towel rail.

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Date: Nov 2009

Description: This kitchen was being made over by the homeowner and his son, a qualified joiner. They started the kitchen with good intentions but ran into issues straight away with the gas. A punctured gas pipe was sorted by National Grid but they sought extra help after that. We came in and after a look decided on the course of action. Gut the kitchen and start again!

The wiring was below standards and for the most part unsafe. The floor joists were rotted almost completely through in places and the floor was not level. The boiler pipe work (gas and plumbing) were poor and all pipes were in the wrong spot for the new layout they had designed.

Once the old room was stripped out we removed the kitchen from the house ring main and made the old ring safe. The new kitchen ring and cooker circuit were added and then we moved on to the plumbing. The old boiler pipe work was solid but ran around in circles above and below the floor. As the floor was removed to replace the timber we re-ran the plumbing and gas pipe work so it more easily hidden in the new layout. We also installed a plinth heater hooked to the boiler as they had no room for a radiator in the new layout.

Once the room was skimmed we  installed and tested all of the electrical circuits and then came back a week later to complete the plumbing which included the fitting the basin, washer hookups and all the waste pipe work. The electric oven and hob were the final touches for us. We left the homeowner to finish the joinery but were always there to support and give guidance to make sure that the kitchen looked great when complete.

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1. Kitchen And Bedroom Swap
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Date: Oct 2009

Description: Our client wanted to replace an old combi boiler which had died a long and painful death. The old boiler was located under a stairway and not a good location for ongoing maintenance. The home owners wanted it relocated further down the wall towards the kitchen. The boiler was also set at a height that would be easy to hide in a cupboard when the kitchen gets remodeled next year.

As the walls were covered in real wood we had to remove a large section in order to hang the new boiler. While sorting out the boiler, pipe work and electrics we were also asked to brick up a small window both inside and out. The chosen boiler was a Viessmann 100-W 26kW which will ensure heat and hot water for years to come.

Once we had removed the old system we flushed out the old pipe work and radiators and then started reconnecting the old pipe work to the new boiler.

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1. System Boiler To Combi + Relocation
2. Heating System Upgrade
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Date: Sept 2009

Description: We visited this flat when the previous tenants (original article here) flooded the property by installing their own dishwasher improperly. Unfortunately the landlord did not take up the floor at the time as suggested. The moisture stayed in the floor trapped between the foam underlay and the 3/4 inch wood flooring causing mold issues between the floors and a really bad smell.

when we received the call to sort out the floor we arrived on the first day with the intention of pulling up the old flooring to let it dry out. The wood was still physically wet and required about a week to dry out. We also sprayed an anti mold agent to avoid later issues.

When we went back a week later the floors were dry and we treated the surface for mold again. Once we removed the door from the kitchen we started to lay out the new flooring which was thinner than the old. We had to add a plywood filler to bring the height of the new floor to the same height as the old flooring which was still being used throughout the flat. We fastened the plywood to the sub floor with ring nails placed every six inches so the floor would not lift of squeak when walked on. Once the plywood was down we lay out the foam sub-floor and then started to install the new interlocking kitchen flooring. We worked our way across the kitchen removing and replacing the cabinet legs and appliances as we moved across the floor. When the flooring was complete we adjusted the plinths and finally trimmed the kitchen door to the correct height.

The flooring looks great and adds a richness to the room. The property owner has asked us to come back and replace the work surfaces and doors to give the room an fresh look.

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2. Bathroom Makeover (DIY and Us)
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Date: Aug 2009

Description: We were asked to undertake a mechanical pre-purchase inspection on this semi-detached bungalow. The heating central system was a mix of old and new, the plumbing was in poor shape and the electrics were well past their ‘best before date.’ We recommended a full re-wire and although the boiler was not very old we suggested a power flush and the old radiators replaced.

After a few months we heard from the new homeowner and were asked to come in and undertake the work that we had recommended. We removed the entire electrical system from sockets through to the consumer unit. The alrms system and central heating controls were also removed. We completed the first fix for all electrics and then disappeared while other work was being completed. A few rooms were being re-designed to make the original kitchen much larger and the bathroom a bit bigger. The side entrance door to the kitchen was also removed and all doors and windows were replaced. Once the building works wee completed the entire house was re-skimmed from top-to-bottom and end-yo-end.

When we came back to undertake the second fix electrics we also had to relocate some radiators due to room size changes. The central heating pipe work had also been removed for re-skimming so we had to hang radiators as well as re-pipe the entire system.  Despite our recommendations the home owner has kept two of the old radiators (original installation date was 1978). Once all of the pipe work in the loft was adjusted to match the new radiator locations the entire system was filled, tested and the boiler was re-commissioned. We left again to await the decorator who papered and painted the entire house.

We returned to undertake the last few job which were the installation of the new security system, put up the smoke and fire alarm heads and wire up the garage via the underground SWA cable we buried during the first fix. The house is now warm, comfortable and safe.

Related posts:

1. System Boiler To Combi + Relocation
2. System Boiler to Condensing Combi
3. Kitchen And Bedroom Swap

Date: July-Aug 2009

Description: We were originally asked if we could replace just the appliances in this bathroom and we said ‘of course we would.’ When we arrived to view the job it turned out that the home owner had already removed the bathtub and flooring and another builder had added some velux windows. The job was to relocate the tub from the left side of the room to the right side so that a mixer shower could be added. We would also add a shower screen, new basin, toilet, radiator and add a towel warmer, extractor, new lights and a razor point. With that in mind we went away while the home owner purchased the bits they liked.

When the new bathroom arrived we scheduled some time and got stuck in. The addition of the shower was easy but we found problems with the existing waste pipe work which had been plumbed ‘uphill’ and had been leaking for some time and leaking into the kitchen extractor electrics too! We also uncovered a long tie leak from the central heating pipe work which had to be sorted out. The electrics were in a bad way with the previous ‘electrican’ having installed a new consumer unit without adding the upstairs bathroom, downstairs bathroom/utility room or kitchen to an RCD protected spur. We also took care of those safety issues before starting into our own work.

Once the first fix was completed we went away an awaited a callback from the homeowner who wanted to use his own builder to make repairs to the walls and skim the room. We received a callback that the builder couldn’t do the job so we had our team look after it. Once completed it was finally time to get onto the tiling, hanging the towel warmer and new radiator, dressing of the shower unit and then finally grouting, sealing and hanging the shower door. The homeowners provided the decorating skills themselves and as can be seen the room turned out looking fantastic even though there were many other issues to sort out during the refurbishment.

Related posts:

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3. Complete Bathroom Refurbishment

Date: July 2009

Description: The owner of this home had already decided that he wanted a combi boiler installed before we arrived. They currently had a system boiler and showed us the one he wanted from a manufacturers brochure. We discussed several other options and the fact that the least expensive boiler wouldn’t necessarily produce the expected results. In the end we decided on a different manufacturer with a warranty that was four years longer than the one he had picked and a boiler which produced more litres per minute as required for his needs. Due to lack of storage space we found another location to install the boiler so that when we removed the tanks from the airing cupboard the entire space would now be usable.

The old system boiler was removed along with associated immersion and F&E tanks from the loft and airing cupboard. We also had to re-route some pipe work. The previous central heating engineer had also left us some extra work that he was too lazy to do himself. He had screwed in a wet copper heating element into the hole usually used by an electric immersion element and left the primary coil hooked up to the old lead pipe work which probably ran to an old back boiler arrangement. We planned ahead just in case the pipe work was full of water and fortunately for us we did. The old lead pipes were still VERY full of stagnate water after twenty years. Thanks!

Once everything was removed we installed the new Viessmann 100-W 30kW combi boiler into a utility room at the rear of the property and started re-routing the gas and the flow and return pipe work. The hot and cold where already in place for the cloths washer. Once the flue was in we spliced in a spur to the house ring main.  We had one more job to do which was a radiator swap in one of the bedrooms upstairs. We had already flushed the entire system so put in the new radiator and were ready to fill the system and start commissioning. The entire system was completed in only a few days and the home owner is saving money due to an efficient and properly sized boiler.

As we are authorised Viessmann installers we added an additional two years to their standard three year warranty so the home owner is now enjoying the luxury a FIVE year parts and labour warranty on the boiler and a ten year warranty on the heat exchanger.
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Related posts:

1. Heating System Upgrade
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Date: June 2009

Description: The complaint was that the hot water ran at full pressure for about thirty seconds and then would slow down to nothing. Over a period of months the slow down had become worse until only a few seconds worth of water would flow before there was nothing more than a drip. We arrived to view the problem and after checking out the gravity hot water and the pumped central heating made our decision.

The central heating system worked fine and the gravity hot water was also reaching the cylinder as the cylinder was up to temperature and the associated pipe work was also hot. The conclusion was that there was a blockage somewhere in either the domestic hot water pipe work or the cylinder itself. As the cylinder was badly corroded near the cold water entry point near the very bottom of the cylinder and the immersion heater was also not working and could not be removed we decided to replace the cylinder at the same time.

When we arrived back the next morning we drained the F&E tank that fed the cylinder and then added a missing isolation valve to the exit point of the F&E tank. As there was no drain cock installed in the cylinder we drained the cylinder by loosening the hot water flow connection on the top of the cylinder and syphoned out the water. Once empty we removed the primary coil connections and then cut the cold water fill pipe work at approximately the same height as the cylinder. The reason for that is that any remaining water (usually VERY black sludge) at the bottom of the tank won’t dribble out in the loft, down the loft ladder, the hallway carpets, the stairs, etc. When the tank was removed we could see that the blockage was being caused by the sludge in the tank. We ran some clean water through the hot water pipe work. It flowed well so we started to install the new tank. With some slight modifications to the pipe work the job was completed in quick time. We also took the opportunity to replace a frozen isolator tap while the system was empty. With everything filled and tested we cleaned up and were off to the next job.

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