Pictures

I've just received a complimentary copy of this new edition which once again features some pictures of my lead roof work. The pictures were seen by the publishers on this blog a few years back and were originally used in the previous edition. I have many pictures of  my trade and am always happy to assist if a certain image is needed.

Aylesbury Float Valve

Two 1500 litre cold water storage tanks in the basement of a commercial building were previously controlled by old part 1, 1 1/2" type ball valves {on left}. These have now been replaced with Aylesbury delayed action float valves {on right}.

Here is the first one fitted. It won't open to refill until the level has dropped to a preset point. This prevents constant refilling every time a draw off is made and lessens refill noise.

Here it is in action. It is designed to cause turbulence in the tank which prevents any stagnation.

And it has quickly reached level and closed off again.

Pipe Freezing on Commercial Heating System

Freezer kit all set up and ready to go. This system
is too big to drain down and it would cause too
much disruption.

Pipe froze and replacement TRV fitted. This is a Danfoss
RAS C2. It's a very good product which can be adjusted
internally to suit flow direction. 

More Lead Work

Horizontal abutment flashing in Code 4 lead. 

Raked abutment flashing on same roof. 

          Practicing the skills I first learnt as an apprentice 38 years ago.       

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Recently Completed En Suite Bathroom

Another Luxury Bathroom Fit out.

The original bathroom housed a bath basin & WC. We upgraded it to a 4 piece suite by redesigning the layout so a shower cubicle could fit in too.

Ideal Standard wash basin & wall hung vanity unit.

The base unit has two spacious drawers.

800 x 800mm quadrant shower tray

Fixed head outlet

Mira 'Adept' built in shower valve.

We fitted waterproof wall boards in the enclosure rather than tiles. The tray and cubicle are also by Ideal Standard.

Close Coupled WC with push button flush.

Double ended Ideal Standard bath with mixer tap and shower outlet.

Stelrad ladder style towel rail in chrome.

All pipes are concealed.

What is the Best Boiler?

We've been fitting boilers since 1984 so there isn't much we haven't seen or don't know. Indeed we can tell plenty of shocking tales about certain makes and models! 

From an engineers point of view, the latest boiler brand survey in the respected consumer magazine 'Which' is spot on. Worcester Bosch rightly come out on top. They make by far the best boilers. We fit them all the time, I have one in my own house and they are the boiler we recommend with confidence, to our customers. Most of the ones we fit now come with a ten year manufacturer's warranty too. 

 We also fit the occasional Vaillant boiler mainly for one of our housing trust customers as they specify them. We actually fitted two for them today {see bottom two pictures}. They too are rated highly and quite rightly come second from top. Interestingly these two brands which come 1st and 2nd cost a little bit more than the brands which fare less well in the report. Through our own extensive experience in the field we have learnt that the overall life time cost of these better brands is considerably less than the lifetime cost of the cheaper brands.The mid range boilers and the cheap boilers incur regular breakdown costs from an early age. The parts for the cheap boilers tend to be expensive and poor quality. Read the report below and if you have any questions regarding boiler brands or require practical advice from someone who actually fits them and maintains them please feel free to call us. 

Checking the combustion on the 1st of two Vaillants boilers we fitted today. 

One of our engineers fitting the case on the second after completing all the commissioning tests.

Another Luxury Bathroom Fit Out

Here's a few pictures from a very nice bathroom we completed last week. The towel rail is by Myson. The floor and wall covering which looks like wood is actually ceramic tiles laid in a random floorboard style.

Wall hung basin unit, basin & tap all by Ideal Standard

The bath and shower screen are also by Ideal Standard as is the thermostatic bath shower mixer.

The walls have been lined with waterproof board with a high gloss veneered finish rather than tiles. The joints are a locking tongue & groove and are barely visible once clicked home.

Airing Cupboard Re-modelling Job

The wall had to be carefully cut to size before being made good to.

 This was a former airing cupboard within a bathroom. Our customer wanted a shower in her bathroom but didn't think it possible. It was.
We removed the door, door casing & architrave. The cupboard was then split in half with some timber studding. The other unseen half houses a central heating boiler and is now accessed by a door in the room behind.
A Mira 'Flight' shower tray with upstands was fitted and the walls boarded with 'Hardibacker' tile board. We had to be very careful not to damage the existing tiles as there were no spares.

Mira 'Discovery' built in shower with variable rail kit.

The natural stone tiles have been laid in a brick bond style on waterproof adhesive and sealed with waterproof grout. 

The dimensions of the tray are 800mm x 1000mm

The tiles go over the up-stand of the tray making it water tight before it is even sealed in.

Here's the finished job with the Mira 'Leap' pivot door in place and a new piece of matching skirting board across the front.

 The last picture is looking upwards at the ceiling. This was lowered and finished with a 12mm 'Fermacel' board. This can be painted directly onto without the need for wet plastering. Our electrician fitted an extractor fan ducted to outside and an LED light. The other fitting in the top of the picture is a sensor which eliminates the need for a light switch. As anyone steps into the shower the light comes on. When they step out it goes off. The extractor then carries on running for a couple of minutes to ensure all steam is removed.

If you'd like to discuss any such projects please do give us a call. We do all of the work ourselves with the exception of the electrics. We manage / programme the electrics but our NICEIC approved contractor carries it out.

The Importance of Annual Boiler Servicing

The picture shows a flue turret off a high efficiency boiler which is only about eight years old. The red arrow indicates a hole in the metal alloy inner duct just above where it connects to the boiler.This is the duct which conveys the products of combustion to outside whilst the outer duct conveys fresh air into the boiler for combustion.
We had been engaged to carry out annual servicing on this boiler and eight others the same as it,

in a block of flats for a commercial client. Prior to taking the case off this boiler we took a 'before' reading with our flue gas analyser and immediately picked up high levels of CO, at over 7000PPM {parts per million}. Luckily this deadly gas was being conveyed to outside atmosphere but had a case seal failed on the boiler the consequences could have been deadly.
The boiler was producing this CO because the flue gases from the burner were mixing with the fresh air being drawn through the air duct for combustion via the hole in the inner duct. The hole has been caused by the corrosive nature of condensate present in the flue gas.
Our client who we have an excellent and long standing working relationship with, demands the highest levels of gas safety in their properties. As such we went straight ahead and replaced this flue and got the boiler working safely again. As a result of this incident the flues on all of the other boilers in these flats have been renewed as a matter of precautionary / preventive maintenance.
These boilers have been meticulously maintained and serviced every year. I know this because it is us who have done it. The moral of the story is always keep up with your servicing. On many occasions everything may be working safely and efficiently and there is little to do. Many homeowners and landlords could almost be excused for thinking "Why am I paying for this?" Well it's incidents like this, on well maintained boilers, that prove how invaluable annual servicing is. It also shows the importance of using flue gas analysers. If you have any questions or require advice on servicing matters please don't hesitate to contact me.

Cloakroom Make Over

We gave this cloakroom W.C. a full make over. It had previously been quite basic as many of these rooms are. It was only part tiled with plain white tiles, a tiny wash hand basin on brackets and a close coupled toilet. It was functional but unattractive.

 We stripped all the old fitments out and made good to the walls and floor. All pipes were then concealed before tiling. The new oak furniture was chosen as it creates storage space for towels and cleaning products. The skirting boards, architrave, door casing and door are all hardwood oak to match the furniture. The basin is long and trough styled making it big enough to use yet still space saving.

 The toilet is a back to wall style pan with the cistern concealed within the furniture and operated by a push button. A toilet roll holder and storage unit have been incorporated to fill the available space.

 If your cloakroom W.C. is lacking something or you'd maybe  like to convert a cupboard into one then we can help you. Feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss any such projects.

Commercial Building Water Main Manifold

This is the incoming water supply in the basement of a commercial premises in Liverpool city centre. It is 108mm copper pipe. There was a further 1 metre section of 108mm copper connected to the outlet of the gate valve which we disconnected. The cost to join onto this large bore copper tube with copper or brass fittings was prohibitive so we had to come up with an alternative solution.

 The building is getting divided up into office units on the upper floor and a restaurant on the ground floor. Each unit will need its own metered water supply. This manifold kit by Plasson proved the perfect solution.

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If you have any queries regarding commercial water supplies please don't hesitate to contact us.

We've recently routed the outgoing pipework from this manifold to the five units within the building

It's been done in continuous lengths using 22mm Tectite metal pipe with just some copper by the meters.