joinery.html

sub>I did this course right before the joiner course

Every other time I've been on a course, it's either been to learn so I can eventually pass an exam, or for work; this was the first time I've gone on one just for myself, with no pressure.

Bill's Tool shop in the Barras sells good tools for cheaper than big stores, can get everything for £90.
Plumbers make a lot of money - if a tap washer gets worn on one side, you can just take it off, turn it round, and put it back on - saves you £110

Plumbers use ball-peen hammers, not the ones that joiners ues to pull out nails.
Hack saws:

make sure the arrows point forward so you can cut properly
let saws do the work
use the whole blade, not just a small bit of it

They use grips to hold things, and shifters, not spanners, because shifters adjust

Lead pipes are poisonous, copper is expensive but looks better, so people use cheaper plastic (it's flexible), but it hangs down and doesn't go straight

Use ratchet pipe cutters for plastic pipes
Metal pipe slicers for metal pipes, push the pipe in until it clicks, then turn in the direction of the arrow

Use box-key (just a chunk of metal) to turn nuts in hard to reach sinks, but really you should use a crawfit
Rulers are more accurate than tape measures - they're always 2mm out

A drain valve separates water systems
Clips move copper away from corrosive materials, like brick

turns off water to the whole property
near where the (outside) riser is when the building was made (if it's a flat), could be anywhere, but generally in the kitchen, under the sink cos that's where the water goes first
kitchen water first to get drinkable water, direct from the mains
other water (e.g. bathroom sinks) used to be from cold tanks in the attic, and if a rat dies in it, you won't notice the blood for 4 weeks. why you should drink water from the kitchen sink if you're worried about it
when pressure is > 1 bar, you would use an up-and-over valve to reduce the pressure - water goes into the valve, hits a wall, and has to go up and over it, reducing the pressure. This is to stop contamination by stopping backpressure - when the pressure is too high from the taps, it can flow backwards into the tanks/pipes - this makes water only flow forward, to the taps
in older properties, with lower pressure, gate valves are used, so they don't reduce the pressure when used, aka straight through valve

Thermostatic radiator valves, TRVs
TRV works with combi and system boilers
higher numbers -> increase flow rate -> more heat
cap unscrews and pops off
only costs ~£3
never set them to 0 if you have a frost setting, use it - it senses when the water inside the pipe is 2 degrees, and they turn the valve up to 5 internally, so they actually tell the boiler to send more water -> more heat, stops the pipes freezing

Can be 15 or 22mm wide - bigger pipe means higher flow-rate
15mm used for radiators - it's cheaper, and the circuit is smaller so you don't care about the flow rate as much, and the pressure is already high
22mm used underfloor and in baths cos you want a high flow rate
If water takes too long to get where it's going, it cools down
Higher flow rate -> faster -> hotter water
Dropping water from a bucket 10m up is equivalent to 1 bar of pressure, typical house pressure is 1 to 3 bar, this is why old ones have tanks in the roof, gravity does the work, because they didn't have pumps
Rehau is a new material for pipes, 100 year guarantee it doesn't leak - expands to fit fittings, you don't fit fittings onto the pipe, but it's only used for heating right now, hasn't been approved for drinking water

Can be copper, plastic, or low-carbon steel
Low-carbon steel fittings used when you don't want to use copper (it gets stolen), as it's stronger, so it's used in schools so if kids kick the radiators, it won't break
Solder ring fitting (aka Yorkshire/yorkie) made of copper, expands inside when heated to seal against the pipe - solder melts and runs, permanently attaches pipe and fitting
End feed fittings don't have solder, you have to solder them yourselves
Compression fittings, compress against olives (little copper rings)
Straight-union fittings
Elbow fittings (L-shaped) have locks - to unlock it, unscrew it slightly and push in from end to remove the teeth that push against a plate, releasing it
bends in pipes are used rather than L-shaped fittings cos they're tighter and they increase frictional resistance against the pumps -> bad

People generally have 3m sections of pipe, so you need to join them if you have more than 3m to run
Clean inside and out of the pipes with steel wool first
To use ratchet pipe cutters for plastic pipes

Put flux on the end of the pipes to clean it
always goes on the pipe, not on the fitting
pick one side to heat, mainly. Heat 50% rib, 50% pipe - so the solder runs around, but the pipe conducts heat, so the other side warms up too

hold in right hand
turn the wheel on the back slightly, then click the button on the front, then the one on the top, so you don't need to hold the front button
to turn off, click the front button again
it's a low enough temperature when someone can hear you speak over it - cone at the bottom should connect (I think?)
is done when you can see some solder run out of the pipe
use the middle of the flame, not the top or bottom
make sure the pipe is cool before you lift it, then run water over it to cool it down more (can be hot or cold - use grips to hold it)

if there isn't any solder in the pipes, you need to solder it yourself
make sure there's enough heat, so the solder doesn't stick to the pipe/blowtorch
hold in left hand, solder in right (needs more control)
put flux on the end of the solder first (stops the solder sticking), then heat the pipe, then put the solder in
heat first side for ~10s, then the other for ~3s (pipe conducts heat)
make sure there's no "snotter" - don't use too much solder, put no more solder on the yorky

copper pipes might need insulation, since they lose more heat than plastic, but it looks better than plastic

put one nut on the middle of the pipe, then the olive, then the other end
flip the pipe round so the olive slides under the second end
move the nut down, and screw it on.
hold the middle of the fitting (the lower bit) in your left-hand with the grip, and the nut in your right with the shifter, in opposite directions
move them together until the nut's tight

you have to put plastic fittings on copper pipes, not the other way round - don't put copper fittings on plastic pipes
if you're attaching both copper and plastic fittings, put the copper fitting on first, then heat it, then put the plastic one on, once the pipe is cool - you don't want to melt it

PTFE (poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene) is very useful to make seals when you don't have seals
if the screw you're using has a tapered end, it would break the washer - make sure you use the flush end
hold the tape facing away from you, wrap it round the screw 15 - 20 times (~10 if thick)
then screw on with grips & shifter, make sure it's flush with the pipe and the position makes sense - it points down when you'd want the water to come out near the ground, etc

Flux is corrosive, so if you use use too much, you need to clean some of it off the pipe

When you're measuring how a long a pipe is for when you cut it, the pipes don't go the full way in to the middle of the fittings, they go to the slip (the little lines part ~2/3 of the way in), so it's a bit shorter - you don't just measure from the center of one fitting to the center of another

if the pipe went the full way in, the different pipes in the fittings would hit eachother and block water from flowing properly
it's ok if the pipes are 1mm out from what you measured
in a T-fitting, the slip is where the "legs" are

you can carry a hand bender
bending machines have a former, a guide and a latch
the former is the bit the pipe bends against
the guide distributes the pressure of the bend across the whole pipe; otherwise, the pipe would break. That's you use a machine to bend, not just your knee
the latch holds the pipe in place against the former
there are 3 marks on the machine, one for 30, 45 and 90 degrees
bend smoothly, not with a jerky force
copper streches by 30mm when bending a 15mm pipe at 90 degrees
measure from the tangent where the pipe and former meet
if you want the pipe to be a 200mm square, cut 370mm (since it bends 30mm)
then mark 200mm along, and subtract 70mm from that, and mark 130mm
put the pipe in the machine beside the former. with the 130mm line against the start of the former
it's easier to do stuff on the left-hand side of the bender, in between the two arms
put the guide against the pipe on the outside, and push it through so it's between the pipe and the metal circle thingy
pull the right arm smoothly until the 200mm mark is just touching the mark on the machine for the angle you want - don't overdo the bend, because you can always bend more, but you can't unbend the pipe
the pipe will unbend a bit when you take it off the machine, so you'll probably need to bend it a bit beyond the mark
take the pipe off, and check the angle properly, then bend it until it's at the correct angle

Push pipes the whole way in to plastic fittings
You have to smooth copper pipes with a deburrer if you're puttting pipes into fittings without flux

make sure you're not screwing in to a metal pipe
use wood screws if metal ones don't work

Day 4 - Maintenance#

All the different water systems came from the first one, the indirect cold water system

didn't have pumps, all done by gravity (see day 1)
has a flow-operated valve, which turns off water to the cistern when the level's high enough
mains cold water flows into kitchen sink & storage cistern, from cistern to toilets, wash hand-basics, bath, etc.

same as the indirect, but mains goes directly to the toilet etc

same as direct cold water, but the cistern goes to a hot water storage cylinder
HWSC has an immerser to heat the water in it
hot water rises, cold forces it out, the immerser is 1/3 from the bottom of the cylinder so the hot water can rise, it heats surrounding water

like the direct system of hot water, but has a boiler, used for central heating
cold water comes from the HWSC (the return), goes to the boiler, which heats it, and it flows back to a sealed copper coil inside the HWSC (it's not directly connected to the water inside it), which heats the water in it
also has an immerser inside the HWSC, which you run if you don't want the boiler on (e.g. in the Summer, when you don't need central heating)
the boiler always runs at e.g. 80 degress, and uses a bypass to divert water to hot taps; to heat it, it reduces the flow rate through the boiler, so the water's in contact with it for longer - you don't need to increase the boiler's temperature, it's not any less efficient to have it heat water for both central heating and taps

has 2 heat exchangers/a diverter valve
main function: hot water priority
water comes in, hits the boiler, goes to a heat exchanger, diverted to the central heating circuit
if the hot taps are on, water goes to the taps instead, then back to the central heating when the tap goes off

When burning natural gas (methane etc), hot waste gases (e.g. CO₂) are produced, so 120 - 200 degrees of heat are lost; combi boilers can capture most of this heat instead, and hot water is released through the condi (condensing) pipe, so you lose ~ 50 degrees of hot gas through the flue pipe

no gas boilers from 2025 in new builds
- might use hydrogen instead/more efficient (than I'm used to: no bricks) electic storage systems
- electric boilers are better than gas ones, but they're more expensive, since electricity costs more than gas

you only need a shifter, grips, screw-driver and stanley knife to replace taps
mixers mix in the body of the tap, other only mix at the spout
spindles are rising/non-rising - they can rise or not when the tap turns on
draw boxes on paper, 1 - 12, and put pieces in the boxes in the order you take them out, so you can re-assemble the tap in reverse-order
use the shifter to take out the cartridge
has rubber washer to avoid damaging where you fit the tap against the surface
plastic but secures the tap against the surface
shifter against nut in the cartridge
if removing the cartridge, turn water off if from the mains - turn the valve at the tap if possible
the seating is brass, where the washer sits
rubber washer can be different sizes, and is the only thing that stops water flowing
buy a tap & washer seating kit
tap can have a grub screw behind or under the spout, so you can't see it
if water drips constantly, replace the washer - peel it off
when you turn the tap, the spindle moves down, letting water flow
some taps can't be maintained - buy a maintainable tap, not one that's 1 piece of moulded plastic
you can compare pieces to the ones in the size chart in the kit box
bring washer to merchants so you can compare them and get the right replacement
bath taps are 180mm center - center
if changing taps, disconnect the supply, but open the tap first before disconnecting the supply
unscrew the but
could drip because washer under tap fails (the bottom of the adapter)
if the connection is rigid, the washer is fiber tap adapter
or two small flexible pipes - bolt and washer under the unit

if you can't maintain the valve (in the bad moulded plastic things) you can change where the water level is
in a Portsmouth valve (bestvalve), a float rises with the water level, closing the valve & stopping water flowing
2 plastic outside locking nuts, don't touch them
unscrew the inner metal nut
fiber washer comes out, then orifice, operating arm, float, endcap, piston and valve
the toilets that have 6 / 4 litres coming into the toilet use an aperture
you can flip the washer over rather than buying a new one, it's thick
orifice reduces pipe from 15 to 8mm, reduces flow rate since you don't need much water in a toilet, blue is high pressure orifice, white low
if the water trickles, change the orifice type
washer under constant pressure from the water, why it wears away
when reassembling, make the groove line up
bend the pin apart t ostop it falling out

sinks & toilets are directly connected to the sewer, so they have traps to trap the smells from the sewer
traps keep some water in it, creating an air seal, which stops smells from the pipe coming back in
a bottle trap connects to the grating with a compression fitting
make sure you empty the trap in another sink, not the one you took the trap from
replace the other rubber washer - you can use PTFE tape
when putting the trap back, turn a full circumference back until it pops, so its on the right thread
plastic washer goes against rubber
the overflow pipe can pop off, check if it leaks
there won't be any smells from the sewer if the U is covered in a U-bend
gray water frm sinks & baths can be harvested and reused to flush sinks, but we don't use it much because we use rainwater harvesting instead - it rains a lot
put washers on the pipe rather than the fitting
rubber in the fitting, nut pushes
kitchen & bath waste pipes are 40mm, toilet & sink 32
cut the pipe, put glue on it, turn it, and leave for 12 hours

Plumbing

This page links to:

These pages link to here:

Day 1#

Tools#

Stopcock/valve#

Radiators#

Pipes#

Fittings#

How to attach pipes together#

Copper fittings, heating#

Blowtorch#

No solder in the pipe#

Compression fittings#

PTFE#

Day 2#

Measuring#

Bending#

Day 3 - outside tap#

Day 4 - Maintenance#

Systems#

Indirect cold water system#

Direct cold water#

Direct system of hot water#

Indirect system of hot water#

Combi-boiler#

Taps#

Toilet#

Traps#