Project Replace Downstairs Pipework.

Finally got round to starting some of the downstairs plumbing. I had the afternoon off today so I got a reasonable chunk done.

Don't expect any nice swept bends - I've lost the former's for the pipe bender.

Existing Under Hall Pipework

Firstly, this has to change. The pipe supplying the house (the one that goes through the wall) goes along a wall that'll be knocked out during the extension.

Here is the wall where the incoming water goes to the stopcock. In the far right hand corner at the back, the mains comes in - 22mm. Closer to the center is the 22mm pipe coming back down after the stopcock. Then the 15mm pipe closest to the camera with the lighter grey insulation is a rad leg.


Altered Under Hall Pipework

First was to run some 15mm for the hot tap in the toilet - it still isn't connected yet.
I used a copper push fit coupler here, from our hosts. I avoided soldering for the simple reason it's a rats nest of cables and I wanted to leave the pipe insulation on.

Then was to run a new 22mm pipe to supply the house. I have left the end of this disconnected - the rest of the pipework hasn't been finished yet.



Push fit piece: Just for you Kiab!



Existing Under Kitchen Pipework

That lowest pipe is the pipe that comes through the wall at the back (the one shown at the top of this thread). Where it 'tees' off it feeds upstairs. All this needs moving to the opposite wall.



This is the wall it needs moving too:



The 'riser' corner - right next the gas meter.




Altered Under Kitchen Pipework


Now we're getting somewhere!

The lowest pipe (the black one) is gas - I won't be touching that!

The bottom copper pipe is the cold mains. It comes to the first lever valve, which will also be full house isolation - except the downstairs toilet cold feed. The second one (that comes off the tee) is the isolation for upstairs. The rightmost one will feed the kitchen sink and appliances, for now I need to create a temporary feed back to the kitchen - hence the flexi on 15mm pipe.

The pipe on top is the hot feed from the tank. There's one full isolation valve, and two 'screw head' valves to isolate the toilet tap on the left, and the kitchen tap on the right. I used a full bore on the kitchen as I'm not sure what tap we'll get and if we will have any additional HW feeds.

And another just for you Kiab! Here's where the hot feed pipe comes down, and joins onto the new piece that feeds the HW valve. I didn't fancy soldering here - both the bent pipe and the iron pipe are gas.



I'm sure I'm too close to the meter here, but too bad!




What's left?


Lots of insulation and pipe!

I still have to replace the heating F&R, as well as finish off the cold pipework. The hot pipe is now up and running with no leaks.

That insulation is the stuff from our hosts, they sell 45 packs of them, which is incredibly handy. There's another 45 pack of 15mm insulation in the garage.

I'll be carrying on Saturday afternoon, I've only got two dish installs booked on sat - shouldn't take too long.

 

I forgot one!

Here's where the pipework runs further down that wall:.


And you can see the second reason I want to replace the downstairs heating pipework, look at that mess! It's spaghetti junction under a rad!

 

I normally use a label printer on the valve handles - the yellow is mostly covered then.

There's two fluorescents in the deeper parts of the cellar, and I normally use a halogen if I am working on something I need to see. The door is on the outside wall of the kitchen, so it isn't too bad during the day. Those 100w bulbs don't make a dent compared to the fluorescents.

Biggest issue is the heat, with the halogen and torch being used it gets hot quickly.

 

Didn't get any plumbing done today, I took out the back half of the garage instead. Cut the roof out, then took the single skin wall down to DPC level, the kitchen back door steps out and the second layer of render. Now you can see the cellar door, nice large one too.

Before:




And After:




That grey soil pipe is the toilet vent and the pipe is the basin outlet.

This part of the property is incredibly run down. Door rotten away, a poorly laid screed as paving and the garage door had missing panes when we moved in. Happy to destroy it further.

 

Regards lighting, I have the 10W rechargeable LED light from our hosts, which is unbelievably useful. The downside to it is it only lasts about three hours.

I have a bunch of halogen site lights, and until they break, I don't want to bother replacing them. The bulbs are cheap as chips and they are solid little lights.

Perhaps the end of this year I'll throw all the halogens and go fully LED.

 

The neighbour on the side of the adjoining garage has been here over 30 years - he's told me about most of the 'modifications' that have been made. The original cellar door would have been opened into the back of a kitchen cupboard, and there was a tiled roof originally. The previous owners took the kitchen walls up to a felt roof. I've worked in some of the houses on our road with the original kitchens, they are very small.

Where the timber side door is there was also a window that was covered by the garage wall that steps out. Seems like an afterthought, but that's also been 'removed' at some point.

Where the window used to be is where the RSJ will sit. I think I will have to rebuild that part of the wall.

 

I'll be building a large wardrobe style cabinet in what was the garage for most of my tools. It serves two purposes, its more secure and the wife can't complain theres tools everywhere. I empty the van daily anyway, so there's always been boxes spread across the hallway.

Ta for the work light reccomendation - I've found great smaller LED lights, but not ones that flood a room yet.