The Home Improvements Thread (2)

[Tabac]

That part I need to replace - apparently a 3/4 round something - sorry I was in bed freezing my ass off when I wrote that post.

Lucky bastid. I was already at work freezing my ass off.

 

[rodga]

Good thinking Batman!

Yah, I think I will empty it just to be safe -heheh

You will just be wasting water

 

[WAslayer]

Could use some input here:

I have hot water draining from the geyser at an astonishing rate through the pipe second from top, which you can just barely see wrapping around the geyser on the right, making its way outside to drain off..

I have no idea how long it's been draining like that, went outside this morning and heard it and it's been about an hour and half since with it draining until I now went into the roof and shut off the inlet..

Is my geyser finally giving up the ghost..? No other signs of water in the drip tray at all.. single source of water is from this hot water overflow..

 

[Tabac]

Could use some input here:

I have hot water draining from the geyser at an astonishing rate through the pipe second from top, which you can just barely see wrapping around the geyser on the right, making its way outside to drain off..

I have no idea how long it's been draining like that, went outside this morning and heard it and it's been about an hour and half since with it draining until I now went into the roof and shut off the inlet..

Is my geyser finally giving up the ghost..? No other signs of water in the drip tray at all.. single source of water is from this hot water overflow..

Overflowing Geyser Causes & Fixes

Is your geyser overflowing? Discover the common causes—from faulty valves to thermostats—and contact Alpha Plumbing for fast, expert repairs today.

alpha-plumbing.co.za

 

[The_Mowgs]

Could use some input here:

I have hot water draining from the geyser at an astonishing rate through the pipe second from top, which you can just barely see wrapping around the geyser on the right, making its way outside to drain off..

I have no idea how long it's been draining like that, went outside this morning and heard it and it's been about an hour and half since with it draining until I now went into the roof and shut off the inlet..

Is my geyser finally giving up the ghost..? No other signs of water in the drip tray at all.. single source of water is from this hot water overflow..

At the previous house I got home one day and had the same symptoms, geyser had to be replaced.

 

[AxField]

Happened to me two weeks ago. Hot water pissing out from overflow. New geyser thank you very much.

 

[Tabac]

Happened to me two weeks ago. Hot water pissing out from overflow. New geyser thank you very much.

A month ago at my house. Geyser burst, luckily it sprayed into the tray and from there through the outlet pipe.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Ta guys, let me get in touch with them... Did have a look at their sites but nothing jumped out at me as being suitable.

*Gulp*
Got a quote back from LEDZ, just shy of R5k... eina.. but in all honesty not entirely unexpected.

This must be the expensive priorities you were talking about for delaying solar...

 

[ToxicBunny]

This must be the expensive priorities you were talking about for delaying solar...

Nah, this was a "dream" idea since Insurance paid out to put in a new pool... but the dream has been shelved because its would be a expensive non-priority that would impact the path to Solar

 

[TedLasso]

You will just be wasting water

Well, it is already empty because someone used the toilet when I told them not to, so they used the last flush.

Planning on replacing this weekend!!

 

[TedLasso]

Nah, this was a "dream" idea since Insurance paid out to put in a new pool... but the dream has been shelved because its would be a expensive non-priority that would impact the path to Solar

I want to know what circumstances leads to insurance paying for a new pool.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I want to know what circumstances leads to insurance paying for a new pool.

350+mm of rain in 24 hours that fscks a city up

 

[Tabac]

Could use some input here:

I have hot water draining from the geyser at an astonishing rate through the pipe second from top, which you can just barely see wrapping around the geyser on the right, making its way outside to drain off..

I have no idea how long it's been draining like that, went outside this morning and heard it and it's been about an hour and half since with it draining until I now went into the roof and shut off the inlet..

Is my geyser finally giving up the ghost..? No other signs of water in the drip tray at all.. single source of water is from this hot water overflow..

Another thing the installer of my new geyser told me:
According to some SANS regulation you must have type R lagging around your pipes. Just a FYI.

 

[Fcon_Vpro]

I want to know what circumstances leads to insurance paying for a new pool.

A municipal sewer line spilled over into my property and into my pool.
It went from crystal clear to green in the space of a few hours.
The harder bits of sewage like newspaper and toiletpaper stained the marbelite that wouldnt come off after scrubbing with a nylon brush.(Didnt have a steel brush but I scrubbed hard)
While I was trying to get hold of the municipality to claim from them, I spoke to my insurance and they said they would assist if I didn't come right with municipality.

After waiting a month with no luck, and having issues with mosquitos breeding rampantly and attacking my at the time 3month old baby, I ended up just pumping all the excess crap back into the sewer, threw in A LOT of chlorine and acid over a period of a month, backwashed constantly, refilled, repeat. Cleared sand.

The pool is now crystal clear again and no weird smells. The pool acid I threw in actually removed the sewage stains and in the end I managed to fix the pool for less than the excess from my insurance would have been.
It was about 5hours of solid effort over that month period, of which I spent more time on hold with municipality, calling guys for quotes, etc.

After this, whenever I see someone with a green pool, I have no sympathy because its fairly easy to get it back to a good state if you look after it properly.

So to answer your question, insurance would have had to pay for remarbelliting which would basically be like a new pool.

 

[The_Mowgs]

A municipal sewer line spilled over into my property and into my pool.
It went from crystal clear to green in the space of a few hours.
The harder bits of sewage like newspaper and toiletpaper stained the marbelite that wouldnt come off after scrubbing with a nylon brush.(Didnt have a steel brush but I scrubbed hard)
While I was trying to get hold of the municipality to claim from them, I spoke to my insurance and they said they would assist if I didn't come right with municipality.

After waiting a month with no luck, and having issues with mosquitos breeding rampantly and attacking my at the time 3month old baby, I ended up just pumping all the excess crap back into the sewer, threw in A LOT of chlorine and acid over a period of a month, backwashed constantly, refilled, repeat. Cleared sand.

The pool is now crystal clear again and no weird smells. The pool acid I threw in actually removed the sewage stains and in the end I managed to fix the pool for less than the excess from my insurance would have been.
It was about 5hours of solid effort over that month period, of which I spent more time on hold with municipality, calling guys for quotes, etc.

After this, whenever I see someone with a green pool, I have no sympathy because its fairly easy to get it back to a good state if you look after it properly.

So to answer your question, insurance would have had to pay for remarbelliting which would basically be like a new pool.

Rather not use a steel brush. The bristles break off and leave rust marks in the pool. Orange nylon brush is enough.

 

[TedLasso]

A municipal sewer line spilled over into my property and into my pool.
It went from crystal clear to green in the space of a few hours.
The harder bits of sewage like newspaper and toiletpaper stained the marbelite that wouldnt come off after scrubbing with a nylon brush.(Didnt have a steel brush but I scrubbed hard)
While I was trying to get hold of the municipality to claim from them, I spoke to my insurance and they said they would assist if I didn't come right with municipality.

After waiting a month with no luck, and having issues with mosquitos breeding rampantly and attacking my at the time 3month old baby, I ended up just pumping all the excess crap back into the sewer, threw in A LOT of chlorine and acid over a period of a month, backwashed constantly, refilled, repeat. Cleared sand.

The pool is now crystal clear again and no weird smells. The pool acid I threw in actually removed the sewage stains and in the end I managed to fix the pool for less than the excess from my insurance would have been.
It was about 5hours of solid effort over that month period, of which I spent more time on hold with municipality, calling guys for quotes, etc.

After this, whenever I see someone with a green pool, I have no sympathy because its fairly easy to get it back to a good state if you look after it properly.

So to answer your question, insurance would have had to pay for remarbelliting which would basically be like a new pool.

Yikes! Good job in the end! And I guess the municipality also then charged you for all the fresh water you used to fill the pool

 

[Freakboy]

Anybody in Centurion have a idea where I can find some of these shower door fittings. New house new shower door didn't work so well with the kids so door is no usable atm

 

[storms1]

Anybody in Centurion have a idea where I can find some of these shower door fittings. New house new shower door didn't work so well with the kids so door is no usable atm

try gelmar

 

[TedLasso]

So, this water pipe for one of my toilets started leaking. If I close , leak stops. It's appears the doodah has failed.

I was going to call a plumber to fix then saw the replacement at a Mica. Was surprised to see it gets screwed in. There were multiple brands and all were the same. I bought the one in second pic as it was the most expensive and has '5 year guarantee'

I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's screwed in as I had thought it could have been welded in or a tile would have to be broken.

Now hoping to save me some rondelas, as I have inverter, and other big costs this month:- I am thinking I could just do it myself. So need an opinion from some experts.

Is the method I want to use correct:-
Turn off water supply at municipal side
Run cold water taps to drain water.
Ensure toilet cistern is empty
Bucket under fitting
Unscrew hose
Unscrew fitting from wall (hope very little water comes out)
On new fitting, put plumbers tape on both sides of fitting
Screw in both sides
Turn on municipal feed
Hope there no leaks (worst fear: leak starts inside wall)

I have replaced toilet valves and o ring between cistern and bowl and taps etc but that appears to be easy compared to a connection to the main plumbing.

Also if I called a plumber to do this, what should be the expected cost?

View attachment 1340344View attachment 1340346

So to finally provide an update on this.

1. The 3/4 was not the faulty thing . It was the hose itself. The washer had started to disintegrate. Only realised it after the 3/4 thing was replaced and leak continued.

To be fair to myself, I was trying to work out cause of leak before and it felt like it was the coming from the 3/4 itself.

2. If you are replacing the 3/4 , replace the water hose along with it. Good practice!

All in all, was rather easy.

PS. Towels helped and emptying cistern in mandatory.

 

[Düber]

Anybody in Centurion have a idea where I can find some of these shower door fittings. New house new shower door didn't work so well with the kids so door is no usable atm

There is a place close to Builders opposite the nursery, I think it is called "Tap and Tile" or something similar, they helped me with wheels that not Gelmar, CTM, Bathroom Bizarre or the rest of the usual suspects could.
Its only when you start looking for wheels that you realise how many shapes and sizes there are, so you may have to shop around.