Tag
Safety
33 articles
ArticleHow to Install a Kitchen Sink in a Countertop: Top-Mount and Undermount, Cutting and Sealing the Opening, Fitting the Waste and Trap, and Leak TestingA new kitchen is almost finished. The cabinets are in, the stone or laminate countertop has arrived, and the client wants to start cooking this weekend. The last plumbing job is th…
ArticlePhone battery replacement: when to replace, the process, safetyA phone battery needs replacing when it drains quickly, when the phone shuts down by itself with 15–30% still showing, when battery health reads below roughly 80%, or when the batt…
ArticleHow to Install a Wall-Mounted Shower Mixer: Checking the Wall Outlets, Setting Eccentric Unions, Mounting the Mixer, Slide Rail or Shower Column, and Leak TestingA client has bought a new chrome shower set and wants it fitted this afternoon. Another is renovating a bathroom and asks you to "leave the pipes ready for the shower" before the t…
ArticleHow to Install an Outdoor Garden Tap (Wall Faucet): Choosing the Tap and Location, Teeing Off the Supply, Fixing the Wall-Plate Elbow, Preventing Hose Backflow and Fixing LeaksA townhouse client wants a tap by the front gate to wash motorbikes and the yard. Another wants one on a balcony for her plants, a third on a rooftop garden beside the water tank.…
ArticleHow to Install a Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) on a Home Water Supply: Measuring Pressure, Choosing and Positioning the Valve, Setting It and Fixing Common FaultsA client on a lower floor of an apartment block says the taps "explode" when opened, the washing machine hose burst last month, and the water heater's safety valve drips every even…
ArticleWhy Are My Drains Gurgling? Causes (Partial Blockage, Blocked Vent, Air Admittance Valve, Trap Siphonage, Sewer or Septic Backup) and Step-by-Step FixesA client calls: "Every time the toilet upstairs flushes, the bathroom basin goes glug-glug ." Another says the floor drain bubbles and gurgles whenever the washing machine empties.…
ArticleWhat tools does a residential plumber need? The basic kit for cutting and joining pipe, tightening threads, clearing blockages and testing, and how to use it safelyNew plumbers working with a team often run into this: they arrive at a client’s home to fix a leaking tap, open the tool bag and only then discover there is no PTFE tape, the adjus…
ArticleBlocked roof gutters, box gutters and rainwater downpipes overflowing in heavy rain: inspection, safe clearing on the roof and preventing re-blockageTen minutes into a heavy downpour, water is already spilling over the edge of the gutter and running in streams down the wall; in some houses it even seeps through the plasterboard…
ArticleBlocked bathroom floor drain and standing water: 7 steps to clear the floor drain and waste pipe of hair and soap scum"After a shower the water sits around the floor drain for ten minutes before it goes down, and some days it smells." This is a call plumbers get very often. The most common cause i…
ArticleInstalling an evacuated-tube solar water heater on a town house: positioning, pipe connections, non-return valve, electric backup heating and commissioning"Can you install an evacuated-tube solar water heater on our roof?" The unit looks simple: a horizontal tank, a row of glass tubes and a frame. But a poor installation has serious…
ArticleInstalling an under-sink RO water purifier: connecting the feed valve, the drain line and a dedicated faucet, and flushing the filters correctly"Could you come and install the RO purifier I just bought, under the kitchen sink?" It sounds simple, but many jobs end in a call-back because a push-fit connector weeps and floods…
ArticleWater heater leaking, safety valve dripping continuously or no hot water: 7 steps for plumbers to check and fix it safely"Our water heater keeps dripping from the valve at the bottom — is it about to break?" "When I showered this morning, water was running down the wall from the bottom of the heater.…