Tom's Tips

Pushfit plumbing

tomstips — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:22:52 +0000

Over the years I’ve mixed and matched Floplast and JG Speedfit with copper and plastic.
An important thing I have noticed recently though is how crucial a positive, true lock is with these fittings.
Speedfit seems to be a lot more reliable when using with copper pipe; I have just spent the morning fixing a slow leak on copper+Floplast. I deconstructed the joint, expecting to find a busted o-ring (had that happen with Flopast before) but it was all fine. The copper seemed clean and burr-free but I buffed it anyway – still it leaked (under mains pressure 4 bar). The pipe entry was true and unstressed. I eventually lost my rag and just replaced the joint with Speedfit and it’s fine.
Also, the plastic pipe sold at B&Q it a little tight when used with Speedfit pipe inserts, the seal is good (you effectively get a double o-ring seal) but make sure it is fully rammed home – they always go in more than you think.
Finally, it’s surprising how a small angle off-true can cause copper+pushfit to leak. Admittedly I’ve only seen this with Floplast, but I’m sure it can happen with Speedfit as well. Give yourself room for manouvre – try to make sure there’s slack in the pipework.
Of course you purists will say why not all copper and solder joints, but with the price of copper these days and the sheer speed with which you can do an installation in plastic, that swung it for me.

Bed-building

tomstips — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:18:46 +0000

Finished the new oak bed yesterday. Construction was pretty straightforward actually. I was a little worried about the biscuit/glue/hidden screw method, but by the time the thing is all together it’s nice and sturdy. The IKEA Pax under-slung drawers work nicely.
Finishing was single coat hardwax oil, overnight dry, then regular beeswax/carnucuba blend, which gives a cracking smooth finish without too much shine. On other oak around the house up until now I’ve just done double coat of hardwax oil, but they’re subject to traffic and weathering that the bed won’t be (floors, worktops etc.)
Glad to have the mattress off the floor finally, it was killing my back!

Co-ax clips in masonry

tomstips — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:35:31 +0000

Nice tip I got from a friend. If you’ve ever tried to nail cable clips into render and just had them bounce back into your face/bend as usually happens to me, then try drilling a 4mm hole, putting in a yellow wall plug then hammering the clip into that. It seems to work really well.

Haggis burgers anyone?

tomstips — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:20:53 +0000

An experimentation session with leftover haggis and neeps from St. Andrews day led to haggis and swede chilli burgers (in pitta bread with roasted peppers to accompany of course). Interesting Scot-Med fusion dish for you there.

P21s – My new best friend

tomstips — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:15:06 +0000

Having faffed for years with the usual supermarket canon of proprietary glass cleaners/vinegar etc., I’ve finally found something to get the limescaly dried water marks off the shower enclosure and bring it up gleaming.

It’s called P21s and I actually bought it to do the chromework on the car, but it turns out it’s brilliant all-round polishing soap and I’ve used it on chrome, stainless steel stuff in the kitchen, enamel sinks, fibreglass (bathtub). In fact on the tin it says ‘use on anything except painted or anodised surfaces’. I used to use Ecover squirt for these sort of general things but this is way less effort and quicker, and a little bit goes a long way – it looks like I’ll get months out of one tub.

Get some now – seriously recommended (about £7 on Ebay)

http://www.p21s.com/products/bis_ps.html