Once upon a time

[Thingybob]

Once upon a time about 7 onths ago just as we had moved here i noticed the outside tap had a slight drip so decided to change the tap for a new one , turned the stopcock off in the house and drained the water off at its lowest point then went to the outside tap and low and behold still got full presure water so went to the mains before the meter in the drive way and switched that off water stoped allowing the tap change but had me thinking where is the branch from the mains situated . Now the fun started yesterday wifey was laying some new weed barrier below our palm trees and asked could I cut off the triangle created at the bottom edge and re lay the kerb stones to create an irregular oblong area , And yes you have guessed it i found the feed pipe with the pick axe about 7inches below ground level 1/2 inch copper pipe with no protection and curved round to where the stand pipe is . Luckly i remembered it was connected to the mains in so dived to meter access point and turned off the tap worked to late last evening repairing the pipe but if i had nt changed tap early doors i would of wasted time turning off house stop cock and had a flood in my workshop . So i guess the moral of this tale is never take for granted that past owners of houses used common sence or best practice solutions just another job added to list of male hen ups that need sorting and what a fun bankholiday weekend .

 

[flying haggis]

i hate plumbing! when i was redoing our kitchen a few years ago i needed to rearrange the pipework in the utility and decided that the asiest way was just to turn off the mains at the meter/stopcock, went outside to do it, got chatting to a neighbour, came back indoors and cut throughthe pipe with the pipeslice. Who didnt turn off the water cause he was chatting and distracted???!!!!!!!!!! quickest i have ever run down the garden!!!!!!!!!

 

[1steven]

The joys of plumbing.

 

[Thingybob]

i hate plumbing! when i was redoing our kitchen a few years ago i needed to rearrange the pipework in the utility and decided that the asiest way was just to turn off the mains at the meter/stopcock, went outside to do it, got chatting to a neighbour, came back indoors and cut throughthe pipe with the pipeslice. Who didnt turn off the water cause he was chatting and distracted???!!!!!!!!!! quickest i have ever run down the garden!!!!!!!!!

Except the time you had dodgy prawns in the old terrace house

 

[Lorenzl]

I was helping some friends on a renovation in Cockermouth and we had two problems with services:

1. I was in the houses and the old floor had been removed and covered in hardcore ready for a new slab. My friend was outside on a mini digger and all of a sudden the electricity meter broke off the wall and started off across the floor. The cable had been snagged by the mini digger on the first cut. The cable was very shallow.

2. I was digging a trench beside the curb with a pick and spade and been at it all day due to all the stones/rocks. With about half a meter to go and it getting time to go home my friend said let me finish it off as I was knackered. The first blow with the pick axe there was a softer thud sound. When he pulled the pickaxe out there was the sound of escaping gas. He ran down to the gas shop and a emergency repair crew were called out. It was a bit like the "fire Dave" joke on the Joke thread; four people watching one person digging a hole in the road.

Anyway both services were hardly any depth as presumably the original crews couldn't be bothered to dig deep enough. The gas board came up with some rubbish about there being a maximum depth but not a minimum one and charged then for the repair.
The electricity meter was just re attached to the wall.

These were both within a couple of days of each other as I was only up there for a week.