Recent content by Robin Whitfield

The mark definitely looks like fly excrement but a far more concentrated patch than Ive ever seen before! Firstly I think I'd be looking to get rid of those patches (sugar soap/a white vinegar solution and some elbow grease) and then as it's only in one room I'd be a little concerned about what...

Whilst I would generally agree to this, if it is indeed (as it seems to be in this case) a situation where an assumption has been made without actually talking to the landowner then significantly more compensation is called for than if they'd asked nicely when the plans were drawn up in the...

These days it feels like a lot of the time it's initiative that's required, but is sorely missing

I've faffed trying to find/modify similar sounding parts in the past, generally finding it easier to replace the part that it was meant to be connecting to rather than creating some monster adapter that never wants to seal. You see it regularly with coffee machine connections trying to connect...

From small part time jobs to that money it definitely felt like a lot (until I tried to leave home), but it was still something like 20x less than the average house price at the time!

I will say that not everyone on the training I was doing had quite the same experience - in fact the company I went to work for afterwards had one of my fellow apprentices working for them and he was paid a far more reasonable 75% of the normal pay for the junior role that he was in. I'd also...

I started an apprenticeship a decade ago on approx £7.5k a year although admittedly not in woodworking/metalworking (IT/Networking with an A/V company), and just found that it was just taking the p*ss. There was no hard work and solid training, it was just a case of pay the young guy sod all and...

A bit more to go wrong with ones with check valves in them I presume? I think the ones I tend to install have plastic parts that have to be removed from the threaded back thinking about it.

I suppose if the tap innards fail you can take the tap apart on the wall and replace?

I get the impression that parts for LPG tend to be somewhat less leaky by default than some of the rubbish plumbing parts out there these days, although the rating of up to 0.3mm on some I just looked up does seem like it'd be plenty for water fittings too. I actually started using Jetlube after a...

It's worth also noting that you can get tape in a range of different thicknesses, with the thicker stuff generally being preferable to many many wraps of the thin stuff as it's easier to apply consistently. Then there's stuff like the Loctite 55 sealing cord which some people swear by, but I've...

I use Jetlube sealant as well as tape but have never used the liquid PTFE adhesive. Tape is significantly better for things like outside taps on a pre-fitted backplate where you want that interference fit to enable the tap to not be upside down. I use Jetlube when using plastic fittings (water...

It'll probably take them another month to realise they forgot to report them. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54412581

Never plan anything before getting it approved first!

I presumed they'd just washed it (to go along with the dodgy twinkle effects). I can say from experience that rain can cover a great number of sins on cars. It's hard to spot the issues when everything is covered in droplets and sparkling. I'm sure that wetting a No. 23 does great things to...