New bathroom sink project - Yep Amazing [Frank Spencer] trade attempted it

OK I have never done any real plumbing in my life before, but all my mates warned me of this project, but me being me I believe you only get confident doing DIY projects if you actually do more complex stuff than changing a light switch.

So I have spent much of the day doing this, I still need to sort out the drainage but that is for tomorrow (the existing plumbing dosn't fit as the new sink is much larger) any some pics taken on my Panasonic FZ7 bridge camera. Sorry about the blury one, forgot to use the flash!

Some pictures of the project (I forgot to use the flash on a couple so apologies).

This is the old sink



The old plumbing



The new sink in place



The new plumbing in place



I don't think I have done badly since the only plumbing I have done in the past is connect a washing machine and replace the cold water tank inlet valve.

The floorboard paint is only temporary until we replace it, the entire bathroom is in pieces atm!

I will replace the cistern handle but I will have to leave the bath taps alone, I am even going to attempt that! The cistern was actually the same colour as the old sink but my mum has done a good job of painting it with tile paint.

There has been lots of leaks during the day, but hopefully they are all sorted now.

 

There has been lots of leaks during the day, but hopefully they are all sorted now.

LOL!

 

Woke up this morning and not a single drip insight .

 

Looks like a good job then.

 

Nicely done AT! Did you get the drainage sorted?

 

Yeah done this afternoon, it was a bit tricky as it was all in the wrong place, but a 32mm bottle trap height adjuster sorted it .

It is one of these jobs which could be done in a quarter of the time next time.

 

Nicely done, one thing I wont touch is plumbing as I find the prospect of leaks pretty scary!

From what I've seen the trick to stopping leaks and making a good seal (by people who've fixed my cock ups!) is to use plenty of PTFE tape, when that's been done it should be solid.

 

Yep it is really quick tricky trying to get the olives to form a water night seal. The push fit connectors are also a little bit difficult as they snap the pipe in straight away, regardless if the pipe is funny inserted, so you have to be really quick and force the pipe in as you push the connector to it.

I ended up using puh fit connectors all round, as I didn't trust my olives. One problem is when you cut the pipes they have to be completly straight or the push fit connectors won't seal it water tight.

The drainage was quite difficult as all inthe wrong place and I had to work behind the pedestal but spending a bit of time on B&Q's website to look at the various connectors made that job much easier.

If I can do this job then anybody can .

This is the picture of the sink funnily in place and with sealent round the back to stop any water falling behind it.



Edit I it was pretty scary when the water was leaking all over the place as my first olive joint exploded , but it was all apart from the fun and experience. At the end of the day all I had to is run down stairs to turn of the stop cock. If you make a mistake with electrics (the bit of DIY I am most experienced in) you could be dead.

There are many things I won't touch though, gas and anything structurial on the house including windows.

 

it would be illegal for you to 'touch' anything to do with gas.

 

and electricity.

 

It is still legal to do stuff with electricity. Part P allows you to add a new spur into a ring main (providing its not in the bathroom or kitchen) and change sockets/light fittings like for like but thats about it.

I know its ilegal to touch gas but people still do .

 

PTFE should not be needed.

 

Seems to be doing a good job on my seals (which leaked before application), what's it for then? Has to be said my hose pipes screw tighteners don't seem to drip without it....but it's definately been the difference between a drip and no drip on my cistern etc

 

If all joints are new and clean, assembled correctly, PTFE is not needed. If AT needed it i would imagine the joint are not aligned correctly.

 

Probably me being a total plumbing incompetent That's why I let other people do it for me now, the PTFE tape they used was most likely just to further improve a seal that wouldn't have leaked in the first place!

 

No tape was needed in the end as I replaced that connector with a push fit one.

 

Erm, you might want to read part p again AT, I have had very recent experience of this.

Adding spurs is defo part of Part P. And if its taking place in a high risk area the local authority has to be informed.