My job today, how long would it take you?

[armyash]

Hi guys,

Had a job today to put a new shower in. Never done one of these before. (it's only the second shower I have ever fitted). Not sure what shower it was that I took out but it was an aqualisa midas 100 that I was fitting.

The one I took out had a round hot/cold unit tap screwed on the wall and the shower head itself came out the wall higher up.

The hot/colds ran down from the loft into the mixer (?) then up the central pipe to come out the head. (all behind a tiled wall).

Removed bath panel to check for shower hot and cold isolation. (nothing visible)

Turns out that the hot and colds came from loft with no means of isolation. (turned off mains and drained tank and cylinder) - overkill maybe but makes me feel safer. No means of isolation on cylinder anyway.

I had to remove 2 tiles , one behind the shower tap and the one to the right of it. (I only had to remove the central one but I didn't know this until I had removed the right one first, I was told I'd probably have to remove all three in that row). These tiles were tiled on top of old tiles and were impossible to remove without breaking. (unless someone can tell me how this is achieved)

Remove old nuts and olives from pipework once I had made it possible by removing some of the plasterboard.

Drilled holes in tile for the new pipework to come out.

Adjust existing pipework - 2 elbows and 2 streets (15mm) plus short piece of pipe to accommodate new shower.

Solder new pipework, put tile with holes in place and fit shower mixer bar (?). replace whole tile to the right that was removed earlier.

Fit riser rail, attach hose and shower head.

Grout tiles, re-silicone bath panel that was removed to check for isolation (before it was discovered the pipes came from loft.)

Attach chrome cap to old shower head that came out higher up.

Turn water back on and test shower.

Please take in to account that I am still gaining experience and must have put the shower together 4/5 times before I figure out a plan of action. I have never had to drill holes in tiles other than for rad brackets. Nothing like this where I had to mark up holes and drill them big enough to get pipes through. I feel as though I spend an hour just looking at the job thinking "now what?" and that's just after I have carried all my gear in.

Thanks for reading just wondering how long you would allow for a job like this. I have tried to add as much detail as I can while keeping it simple. I have probably missed something out but you get the jist.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

you have done really well for a day work Ash ! ! ! Keep up the good work

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

about 3 hours,but everyones different and i have been at this for 19 years,and street elbows are m+f,s get the terminology right nash,IMHO you done well

 

[kirkgas]

Why does draining the tank and cinder make you feel safer? ( you won't have drained the cylinder via the taps) if there isn't a valve on the cold feed beside the cylinder check the outlet at the tank, it's an awful waste of water and energy to drain down a 25/50 litre loft tank

 

[Gray0689]

You did well ash
Invest in a set of rubber bugs saves a lot of time

 

[Leo21]

Why does draining the tank and cinder make you feel safer? ( you won't have drained the cylinder via the taps) if there isn't a valve on the cold feed beside the cylinder check the outlet at the tank, it's an awful waste of water and energy to drain down a 25/50 litre loft tank

As above no need to drain the cylinder, you can encounter problems you don't need. And I know them as street elbows as well. M and f, s are threaded.

 

[Masood]

Hi guys,

Had a job today to put a new shower in. Never done one of these before. (it's only the second shower I have ever fitted). Not sure what shower it was that I took out but it was an aqualisa midas 100 that I was fitting.

The one I took out had a round hot/cold unit tap screwed on the wall and the shower head itself came out the wall higher up.

The hot/colds ran down from the loft into the mixer (?) then up the central pipe to come out the head. (all behind a tiled wall).

Removed bath panel to check for shower hot and cold isolation. (nothing visible)

Turns out that the hot and colds came from loft with no means of isolation. (turned off mains and drained tank and cylinder) - overkill maybe but makes me feel safer. No means of isolation on cylinder anyway.

I had to remove 2 tiles , one behind the shower tap and the one to the right of it. (I only had to remove the central one but I didn't know this until I had removed the right one first, I was told I'd probably have to remove all three in that row). These tiles were tiled on top of old tiles and were impossible to remove without breaking. (unless someone can tell me how this is achieved)

Remove old nuts and olives from pipework once I had made it possible by removing some of the plasterboard.

Drilled holes in tile for the new pipework to come out.

Adjust existing pipework - 2 elbows and 2 streets (15mm) plus short piece of pipe to accommodate new shower.

Solder new pipework, put tile with holes in place and fit shower mixer bar (?). replace whole tile to the right that was removed earlier.

Fit riser rail, attach hose and shower head.

Grout tiles, re-silicone bath panel that was removed to check for isolation (before it was discovered the pipes came from loft.)

Attach chrome cap to old shower head that came out higher up.

Turn water back on and test shower.

Please take in to account that I am still gaining experience and must have put the shower together 4/5 times before I figure out a plan of action. I have never had to drill holes in tiles other than for rad brackets. Nothing like this where I had to mark up holes and drill them big enough to get pipes through. I feel as though I spend an hour just looking at the job thinking "now what?" and that's just after I have carried all my gear in.

Thanks for reading just wondering how long you would allow for a job like this. I have tried to add as much detail as I can while keeping it simple. I have probably missed something out but you get the jist.

First one I did similar to that took me 7 hours. I'd allow half a day maximum now, but I've done quite a few. Don't stress about your pace of work or time to do jobs. Focus on quality and the speed will come...

 

[SafeGasInstall]

about 3 hours,but everyones different and i have been at this for 19 years,and street elbows are m+f,s get the terminology right nash,IMHO you done well

street elbows in London Mark 🙂

that is what every one calls them

 

[SafeGasInstall]

well done Ash , next time post a picture 🙂

 

[Gray0689]

M/f in sunny Northern Ireland

 

[mjt]

Job well done - you will get quicker
nice oe

 

[neily01]

street elbows in London Mark 🙂

that is what every one calls them

Just found Plumb city here does great 15mm ones, tight knuckle bends with about a 2" tail perfect for rad valves and pitting straight into iso's

 

[Leo21]

Yorky ones are about two foot long.

 

[armyash]

Why does draining the tank and cinder make you feel safer? ( you won't have drained the cylinder via the taps) if there isn't a valve on the cold feed beside the cylinder check the outlet at the tank, it's an awful waste of water and energy to drain down a 25/50 litre loft tank

Isolated feed to cylinder.

Tied up ball valve but was still letting by slightly, no gate valve on hw from cylinder.

Being inexperienced it makes me feel safer having less water around me to flood the place. Rightly or wrongly, I don't do this on every job. I do get confused sometimes when I look at the pipework and I feel i'm up against it time wise. Thanks for your reply.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

if you did turn of mains and drain cwst that would have been enough !

Remember when turning mains back ON YOU MUST GO IN THE LOFT AND CHECK CORRECT OPERATION OF FLOAT VALVE AND MAKE SURE OVERFLOW IS OK

 

[TBServices]

Ash, its never a good idea to turn off gate valves. 50% of the time they won't turn on again, so draining tank is a good idea in my book.

 

[armyash]

I started the job at 11.30 as had to go and change some tap glands first, had a bit of a nightmare morning collecting keys to property, getting lost and getting fuel. The time just disappears, tap glands took about 7 minutes haha.

End of the day, next time I do a job like this i will know (or have a good idea) how the shower goes together, will expect tiles on tiles and if they are not there it will be a bonus, could cut the time in half if i had a similar job tomorrow.

 

[armyash]

if you did turn of mains and drain cwst that would have been enough !

Remember when turning mains back ON YOU MUST GO IN THE LOFT AND CHECK CORRECT OPERATION OF FLOAT VALVE AND MAKE SURE OVERFLOW IS OK

That is exactly what I did, checked float valve and overflow. I never leave a property without checking everything. checked twice and that was half hour before I left. all ok. 🙂

 

[armyash]

Ash, its never a good idea to turn off gate valves. 50% of the time they won't turn on again, so draining tank is a good idea in my book.

That is something I have heard quite a lot, I have heard about valve spindles snapping or not re-opening.

 

[dancinplumba]

Just found Plumb city here does great 15mm ones, tight knuckle bends with about a 2" tail perfect for rad valves and pitting straight into iso's

Long tail street elbows

 

[Plum Bob 66]

I started the job at 11.30 as had to go and change some tap glands first, had a bit of a nightmare morning collecting keys to property, getting lost and getting fuel. The time just disappears, tap glands took about 7 minutes haha.

End of the day, next time I do a job like this i will know (or have a good idea) how the shower goes together, will expect tiles on tiles and if they are not there it will be a bonus, could cut the time in half if i had a similar job tomorrow.

No two days are the same in this game and with every one you learn something new. It takes some doing to crack on and work the problems through when you have nobody around to give you guidance, so a big pat on the back and well done. Now crack open another bear and relax!