Plasterer Plumbs in His Bathroom. Triumph or Disaster? 

My son is a gas engineer and plumber and after watching this couldn’t really fault Kirk It’s more about your attitude to work and safety etc than actual experience A methodical brain and attitude towards a job is more important than a bit of specific knowledge in one area Turn your hand to anything

I'm doing it myself right now (plumbers are overloaded, we won't wait months). The hardest part is the 3D pipe puzzle, once that is done it is just making a plan which part to press first. Only very few people are still welding here. It is too easy to make errors with that. Viega has an idiot proof system. I won't mess with the gas pipe though.

Fully agree- when you or Roger speak - listen!!!

Cracking job Kirk, recently done my en-suite with my dad and you've given me a catalogue of ideas. Doing my bottom bathroom soon and I'll be using quite of a few! Also long time subscriber of both you and Roger!

Also good idea to suspend fan from fathers rather than fix to joists as it prevents vibrations/noise back into the room

@@user-bc5kp4vd5y My electrician uses the rubber grommets that go into metal backboxes. Puts one under each screw. Makes a big difference.

@@gdfggggg Good idea

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QOMMfUkwktQ.html

Most "masters" are Jack's of most other trades in my experience.

Thank you kindly

Many thanks

Shave your head, it’s cheaper 👍🏻

Or just have both and let the user choose........

The thing is that you are sticking something that has not strength onto something that may move. If you stop the movement in the floor the tray won't crack but board adhesive has no give in it.

We’ve just put the strong in line extractor fans above showers in our bathrooms and they work so much better and also clean the steam much faster when you switch shower off. Over run timer doesn’t need to be on long at all.

Empathy is good in the right situation, but too much is counterproductive.

Nice union flag 🇬🇧😊

If it is the Mira Flight with holes for optional legs then silicone is fine, provided you support enough points. Don't be stingy with the silicone. On resin cast tray you need sand and cement because the back is not flat.

@@SkillBuilder ta for the reply roger much appreciated.👍👍

yes it is best to cut notches for the plates or you can run some gun caulk along the joist tops to take up the 1mm. Buy the plates from plumber's merchant

you never find anything good under floorboards but I have lost a lot of tools over the years so one day I hope to find something other than crap.

What you find under the floorboards is all the rubbish they couldn't mix into the plaster. Before Selco, Travis Perkins and the like, plasterers used to go out into the garden and dig up a few shovel's worth of whatever they found there and mix that into the lime. Horsehair was expensive.

www.youtube.com/@Onthetrowel

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DkCacZR1PsE.html

The waste pipework was testedd, he said that. Flexible tile adhesive it not a good idea on resin cast trays. If they crack you will find the manufacturers will say that you should have bedded the tray according to their instructions. Some of those trays can be out by as much as 10mm on the back so tile adhesive may not be enough. I am fairly sure he will have timber grounds in the shower wall

@@SkillBuilder Mortar ok I suppose with resin because of the weight of the tray it will hold it down. Unfortunately cast resin trays look strong but they are quite a weak material Flexible floor tile adhesive with latex on will accommodate movement on a timber floor IMO it’s more resilient, finer aggregate, it’s bit nicer to work with. The regular mortar can go a bit crumbly on a timber floor. Lighter trays low profile trays need bonding down a bit more, definitely need tile adhesive for them, as they can loosen and lift off mortar as it doesn’t adhere to the tray very well Re: Building up you can just mix it a bit stiffer (The powder type that you add water too, not ready mixed stuff). Manufacturers instructions are a minimum requirement, but there is room for improvement

The silicone seal around the back edge of the tray will stop it moving. There is no point in gluing the tray to the floor. If the manufacturers say to use a weak mix of sand and cement and you decide not to do that, you are on your own.

Hey guys, appreciate the pointers... I was considering putting some lagging around the pipes but decided not to do it, only because they didn't have any originally and didn't make any noise. I can still get under there at this point but they don't seem to me making any creeks. I tested all the pipework and if you look close you will see water in the bottom of the trap when I drop the tray in. Good shout about giving solid grounds for fixing shower head. My plan is to use thick cement board and also there will be timber behind it. The shower screen actually fixes to a part of the wall that is solid block the bit where the shower is was actually a doorway. Hopefully the pipes won't knock because I'll kick myself 😅.. that said I'll be able to go up through the kitchen ceiling because the kitchen will be next. I feel the only substantial mistake I've made was the height of the extractor. In all honesty I didn't put it in the ceiling because I've got a shower head, 4 spotlights, and a speaker all going up there and also the fancy lighting detail that I'm going to install, I just didn't want the ceiling to be to busy. Thanks for all the pointers and advice fellas 🙏👍👍

@@Onthetrowel The hessian pipe wrap is thin enough to go in and let it will just let the pipes slide, when the hot water comes through on the hot water pipe it will expand and contract a bit, particularly in the case the timber is a bit resinous, and you’ll hear click, click, click, you won’t know with the waste pipe until you let hot water go down and the pipe starts expanding and contracting

I use a couple of plastic pallet straps under the tray. You can pull them out easily when you have it bedded level or just cut them off with a Stanley knife

I was on the plumber's development panel for JG when they first launched plumbing fittings. They were established as a company in the brewing and automotive industries but moving over into plumbing was a struggle. Plumbers didn't trust the concept but, over the years, most people now accept that, done properly with liners in the pipe ends, the fittings are as reliable as any other method. Nearly all failures are the result of somebody not doing the job right. I have quite a lot of these fittings in my house and have used thousands in customer's homes with no problems to date. Some people don't like to use them in hidden locations but I am happy to use them in the places described. I wouldn't bury them in plaster or concrete.

Fill them up, sand them down

Yes I have seen that pinholing many times. Copper wall thickness was halved when there was a war in Zambia and copper was in short supply. There was also a company called Servowarm that used some kind of coppered steel or something equally weird. Dylan, our eitor, had a similar spray in his cellar and, like you, caught it in the light of a torch. This is one reason that I think pex pipe (plastic) is a superior product. I use it for all this kind of plumbing now and place the manifold above the floor level so there are no joints under the floor.

It is all about support. The bottom of those resin cast trays can be 10mm out so you would need a lot of silicone to provide an even bed. I have seen people use lines of mortar and then silicone to provide some stability but I have never done that.

It is coming from the mains. Every time there is a leak on the mains and they turn the water off grit and sand gets into the pipework. There is also rust. A 'Y' filter on your incoming main just after the stopcock will solve the problem. You can empty it once a year.

Good point but the amount of deflection we are talking about when you glue and screw plywood to the side of joists is never going to sheer a screw. If you are putting ceramic tiles onto a suspended floor you need to elminate bounce and sistering plus the herringbone strutting will do that. Kirk as seen many cracked ceilings cause by joist bounce and some of those have been caused by excessive notching.

Thanks for taking the time to reply . I stand corrected . As a brit in the usa, anything that has to do with the structure here has to be nailed or structural screws. Cheers, Rog , really enjoy your channel 👍.

we also have wet rooms with tiles sloping into a drain but they need to be done properly to prevent leaks. That is not as quick and easy as a shower tray.

@@SkillBuilder, Can you elaborate? The way I see it is you have to properly seal the whole room with a waterproofing kit anyway. The tiler also has to come in once on both jobs. The only extra work seems to sloping the screed? For me, that seems easier (maybe not faster) vs transporting and placing the shower tray and hoping it won't crack in the future.

Which paper was that? 😂

I don't think Kirk will have any problem with the amount he used. Modern plumbing fluxes have to meet strict standards of water solubility and are flushed through in hot and cold supplies. The main problem is central heating where the water is captives so filling up and emptying three times is usually enough to clean it out. Lots of plumbers use too much flux, I have been guilty of it in the past but the risk is exagerated. The fact that is is routinely used on gas supplies which are rarely, if ever, washed through illustrates the level of risk.

@@SkillBuilder even on a cold main that's been left for a week or two... EVERFLUX😳

so tell me what happens on gas pipes? If what you say is true we have a real problem

@@SkillBuilder never seen a pin hole caused on a gas pipe, maybe the cold water keeps it active. You don't see it on hot pipework as the hot water washes it off the pipe surface. You use to see it alot on show houses after the pipework had been all done and then not filled and so the flux dried in the pipe and then clung onto the inside of the pipe wall. Had a couple of hoses we have had to replace alot of pipework due to continual issues with pin holing.. Cut a piece out look inside and you can see a blob of flux stuck to the wall.

Not yet but that will be interesting to see

Hope there will be a video on that!

That is softwood. If you glue the t&g it will just break the tongues off. It might shrink a bit but it is screwed down on each board so it won't move like chipboard sheets might. It needs a decoupling membrane for tiling and he is putting electric underfloor heating in.

@@SkillBuilder Didn't know that, thought it was good practice to glue & screw any T&G subfloor. Is it not even worth using watered down PVA?

No you need the movement in the t&g in timber

No

@@SkillBuilder wow is it not classed a trade or is it only for personal or non paid work.home insurance company's pay out on dodgy work.?in aus your lucky if you can change a tap

yes I would always try and fill up empty notches by gluing blocks in regardless.

Rocket science? Just light a match and retire to a safe distance. Plumbing? Now that requires a degree of bravery.

Hi Kevin There is so much crap out there, why add to it?

You must not know much about plumbing if that's what you think it all is 😂