This Old House

I didn't entirely understand -- just that the water is trying to go into the radiator one way, and the valve is set the wrong way round for that. 

The traditional-style valve which uses a washer compressed over the inlet to reduce or shut-off the flow is like that.  If you connect it up backwards, the pin holding the washer can be forced back down by the flow, resulting in poor performance, knocking, etc.

I'll look for that movie or see if it's available through our Lovefilm membership.

 

Fortunately, we're having PLENTY of help from the in-laws.  Not in DIY terms, but in ££££ terms.

Just wanted to add Mrs Robinson...

What you've described is absolutley..  completely..  and utterly..        normal!

Over the years we've extended, redone, extended more, done other parts, extended again .. and again, slapped on outbuildings in the garden and then did a total refurb on two houses over 2001-2004...

I know exactly how you feel! and it's ultra frustrating when cowboys do the work and disappear..  happens all the time! fortunatley for us, only the plastering was done badly and we got a guy in who was from China, could only say hello and tea and sankyou but flippin heck he could plaster!

In some months and hopefully not years, you REALLY will make some tea, sit down to enjoy that and feel elated at everything having been done nicely..   I can still remember the moment we did that ! it really then feels like it's all been worth it !

However, the drawback is, its not the actual heavy duty work that cuases the most headache, it's all the arguing and bickering and fighting just before that special cuppa tea moment which is 'Decorating & Finishing' ..   that's just the last test! be prepared for allsorts of arguments and hair pulling at that stage!! which colours, which finishes, which handles, taps, tiles, paint, which coving style which architrave style etc etc etc....

   

Good luck and take pics of everything when it's done!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

it's ultra frustrating when cowboys do the work and disappear..  happens all the time!

Too true, unfortunately, and I see this with wiring all the time.  You'll find things like outside  wiring installed with fittings which are suitable only for internal use, so by the time it's been there for a couple of years damp has gotten in, corrosion has started, and things start to go wrong.   You find extra lights and sockets where it's obvious that somebody has just tapped into whichever cable happens to be the nearest for power, regardless of whether it's a suitable circuit for the device in question.   

Kitchen fitters have a horrible reputation for messing up wiring when installing fitted units, and tiling, and it's not at all unusual to find splices hidden behind their cabinets which are just terminal strip with a few turn of tape around them, and similar attrocities.  (They've been known to hide water stopcocks as well.....    )

A lot of the homes around here were completely rewired in the 1950s/1960s, and I often find that the original 40/50-year-old wiring is still fine.  It's all the extensions and alterations which have been done during the 1980s onward as people decided they needed more outlets that have been botched by people who obviously didn't know what they were doing.

I did put my foot in my mouth once when passing judgment on a particularly bad example which was really in a shocking state (both figuratively and literally).    I said something along the lines of "I wonder what fool installed of all this." 

The response:  "My husband!" 

Oops!   

However, the drawback is, its not the actual heavy duty work that cuases the most headache, it's all the arguing and bickering and fighting just before that special cuppa tea moment which is 'Decorating & Finishing' ..   that's just the last test! be prepared for allsorts of arguments and hair pulling at that stage!! which colours, which finishes, which handles, taps, tiles, paint, which coving style which architrave style etc etc etc....

Cheers Dennis!  We're going to be in the thick of the heavy duty work for awhile - after this lot right now, next up is repointing...  Although our first foray into decorating discussion is just what you were talking about & we've not even got past the bathroom!  I want something in pale lavender & Steve wants blue...we are both adamant.  That's just one tiny room!

Kitchen fitters have a horrible reputation...  (They've been known to hide water stopcocks as well.....    ) 

That's the thing!  What do we do?  I said to DH last night - new kitchen!   He's not convinced.  I mean, our kitchen is relatively new!  It looks nice, but...  If I were designing the kitchen, I've have done it a lot differently in a practical sense.

Do we just take a very small hand saw & start carefully carving up the backs of the cupboards?

The plumber has been back & the boiler is working again - for now.  He's ruled out the gas connection & the circuit board -- leaning to a problem with the air supply switch.  He's going to order one & if we keep having trouble, then he will replace that & see how we get on.

The window installers have not instilled me with a lot of confidence in what they are doing.  Maybe my neighbour was right to go with the most expensive local fellow.  However, our work is being done by a major Leeds glass outfit -- grrrrr.  Let's just hope the porch has a roof and windows, plus the windows done upstairs -- by the end of the day!  They told me yesterday they'd have everything done today by 2 pm -- most of the work is still to be done.  They turned up at 8:30, worked for an hour & then disappeared...just started up again.

I used to live on the oldest residential street in America (Benefit Street in Providence, RI). By which they meant, the houses were still residential and, on average, the oldest (as opposed to, say, colonial Williamburg, which is older but commercial)

I love Benefit Street it is nice to walk down in the fall and there is a WholeFoods right nearby.  I took my dh to waterfire when he came to visit.  I enjoyed RI a great deal.  I used to work on the Hill. 

OMG, did our flat have cowboys!!!    I could handle all the big screw ups and corner cutters, but what really annoyed me is that when DH went to replace a few plates for the outlets he found out that they had originally been wired upside down.  Now how difficutl is it to get them the right way around???  That's just lazy!!

On another note, the house was built in 1889-90 and has a small bit on the back that planning (we're trying to get permission to extend) kept saying is an extension.  But if you look down our terrace, each of the six houses has the same size 'extension' and all have exactly the same little terrace on top.  I marched myself down to the library and turned up all sorts of interesting info about the house and our neighborhood.  It was really cool - especially since I was so annoyed that I had to do it in the first place!  I found out that the church next door to our house suffered major bombing damage (which means our house probably did too!) and that the so-called extension is in fact an original part of the house that used to contain the WC and entrance into the back garden.  There was originally another building on site that was knocked down to build our terrace.  What is now a residence a few houses down from us used to be a brewery/beer seller and our wonderful pub down the road was - always a pub! 

I love Benefit Street it is nice to walk down in the fall and there is a WholeFoods right nearby.  I took my dh to waterfire when he came to visit.  I enjoyed RI a great deal.  I used to work on the Hill. 

Do you know, I've never been to waterfire? Or First Night. I just went to Block Island for the first time recently. I haven't been a very good Rhode Islander. Let's hope I'll be a better Brit!

Considering this thread is a year old and I was looking at a totally different house when I first posted on it, I'll update here to say we're just about to exchange contracts on a house at last. Hey, it only took us ten years to find what we were looking for!

After all this time, this one is exactly, perfectly just right. I've never had a lucky break quite like this before. I'm actually afraid to brag about it, for fear something awful will happen.

Anyway, it's certainly old enough: 16th Century. Why, that's even before my ancestors were caught and deported for poaching! 

Do you know, I've never been to waterfire? Or First Night. I just went to Block Island for the first time recently. I haven't been a very good Rhode Islander. Let's hope I'll be a better Brit!

Shocking! You need a Rhode Island vacation ASAP!! 

That's the thing!  What do we do?  I said to DH last night - new kitchen!   He's not convinced.  I mean, our kitchen is relatively new!  It looks nice, but...  If I were designing the kitchen, I've have done it a lot differently in a practical sense.

Do we just take a very small hand saw & start carefully carving up the backs of the cupboards?  

Are the cupboards the type which have a separate kickboard about 3 or 4 inches high running along at the bottom, below the doors?    If so, then you could start by unscrewing those boards and shining a light under.   You might be able to see where the service pipe comes up through the floor (assuming that it does, which is the most likely arrangement).

There is a kickboard as you describe, Paul, but no means by which to unscrew them off -- they're stuck in (glued?) all together with the rest of the cupboards.

After all this time, this one is exactly, perfectly just right. I've never had a lucky break quite like this before. I'm actually afraid to brag about it, for fear something awful will happen.

Ah, just wait 'til you move in...   Good luck!

There is a kickboard as you describe, Paul, but no means by which to unscrew them off -- they're stuck in (glued?) all together with the rest of the cupboards.

They might just be stuck in place.  On many of the newer-style cupboards those boards are about the last thing to go on just to cover up the gap underneath.

The main thing is to find some way to locate where the stopcock might be without having to tear up every cupboard back.   Are there any other pipes visible which might give a hint as to where the supply is located?

They might just be stuck in place.  On many of the newer-style cupboards those boards are about the last thing to go on just to cover up the gap underneath.

Yes, I think that's the case here.  The kitchen was done in the last 5 years.

The main thing is to find some way to locate where the stopcock might be without having to tear up every cupboard back.   Are there any other pipes visible which might give a hint as to where the supply is located?

Yes, it's got to be either under the kitchen sink or the corner cupboard just to the right of that - that's where some of the plumbing for the washing machine (water feeds & waste pipe) run through the back of the cupboard.  So it's a matter of starting to hack away at the back of these cupboards, I guess.  It's not readily apparent on the outside either -- only the drains out show on the outside.  All the plumbing is up that corner of the house (save the radiator system, of course) & the plumber confirmed it is NOT in the cellar.

If we have time this weekend, we'll probably start rummaging around for it.

So it's a matter of starting to hack away at the back of these cupboards, I guess. 

That's about the size of it, if you can't narrow the possible location down any further by other means. 

It's not readily apparent on the outside either

It very seldom is, except for a main shutoff valve in the front yard or outside in street (the latter, as you mentioned earlier, can sometimes shut off more than one house).   The feed pipe is generally laid underground right into the foundations below the house for frost protection, then it will turn and emerge vertically through the floor.  The internal stopcock is usually fitted right on top of that riser pipe, but occasionally you'll find that the pipe makes a turn and the valve is a couple of feet further along.

Do you know, I've never been to waterfire? Or First Night. I just went to Block Island for the first time recently. I haven't been a very good Rhode Islander. Let's hope I'll be a better Brit!

Considering this thread is a year old and I was looking at a totally different house when I first posted on it, I'll update here to say we're just about to exchange contracts on a house at last. Hey, it only took us ten years to find what we were looking for!

I didn't go until I went back to the state on vacation with my dh.  I did enjoy Spike's Junkyard Dogs though.  I made my husband go there.  I coudl have one right now, yummmm.

Ten years isn't too bad I suppose.  At least you found it before you retired.