tht

do they not put covers like these on where you are? Air goes in around the side and “steam” comes out the front… one issue I have is a banister right in front of the vent, so in the winter a big “stalagmite” or ice forms as steam freezes.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Weil-McL...saAo0sEALw_wcB

Pulaski

If the heater produces very hot fumes, yes ... that kit includes a metal surround to protect the wall/ siding from scorching or worse, but the latest (for at least 25+ years) gas-fired water heaters and home heating furnaces, that are rated 90%+ efficient (?? I think 90% is the minimum to vent through a plastic pipe, but most high efficiency systems are now rated 95% or 96% efficient), can* be vented through a 2" plastic (Sch40) drain pipe, which as noted above, can be horizontal.

* Just because they "can", doesn't mean they "are", and it is common for new installations to use the old vent pipes for the ease and convenience of the installer. So per Ddsrph, above, I had to tell the installer that he needed to cut a new vent and not just use the ugly old metal "stovepipe" chimney through the roof. So per your question, even a new installation of an efficient system may deserve a nice new end cover if the hole in the wall was previously cut to fit one. ..... Conversely, if you have an efficient water heater or furnace, but vented through an older metal vent cover, and are having your siding replaced, you could have the end cover upgraded at the same time, to a simple plastic pipe vent.

ddsrph

Have poured 4 of 7 post caps and installed 3 of 7 aluminum post covers. All block pillars will be connected by parallel brick walls and caps to provide 24 inch high seating around perimeter. Everything not stained brick will be covered in artificial stone.

tht

mine was oil to gas so they had to add new. Old chimney was sealed up inside and has vent cap I had added.

Lion in Winter

Not really worthy of the title "project", but I have a shower head question. Where we are we have a normal shower - rigid pipe going up to which a rigid shower head is attached. Is it possible to attach a handheld shower head simply by unscrewing and removing the rigid head, screwing on a flexible pipe/hose for a handheld, and then put the handheld head on the end of that?

And presumably attach a thing to hold the handheld to the vertical pipe.

I realise this would mean no rigid shower head but that would be ok in this case. I just want to be sure it's doable since I know nothing about plumbing.

Steerpike

This is what you need: https://www.amazon.com/Aquarius-Hand...5XWZFUDL5&th=1 . I have one in my shower currently.


The adapter attaches to the existing pipe, and presents a 'holder' to hold the (now movable) shower head.
obviously this is for US but I can't imagine it being any different in UK.

Note - my experience (or more to the point, my UK family's experience) with UK water pressure is such that the hot/cold balance can be easily affected by moving such a 'head'. If your hot and cold water pressures are notably different, the water 'mix' may get hotter/colder as you raise / lower the head. More modern UK installations have apparently addressed this. I THINK this used to be caused by the fact that older hot water systems in UK were 'detached' or 'decoupled' from the incoming cold water pressure (via a tank and ball valve?), but I'm not sure. Hopefully a thing of the past by now.

Lion in Winter

That looks like exactly the thing, thank you. No idea on the water pressure thing, but we'll find out I suppose.

tht

similar to the above, but this lets you have the best of both worlds:

Delta Faucet 4-Spray In2ition 2-in-1 Dual Shower Head with Handheld, Touch-Clean Brushed Nickel Shower Head with Hose, Detachable Shower Head, Hand Held Shower Head, SpotShield Stainless 75486CSN https://a.co/d/6rYn0FJ


I also have this, it waits till the water is hot and then shuts it off until you pull the cord, so you know when the shower is hot:

ShowerStart TSV showerhead Adapter, Polished Chrome

https://a.co/d/3JGVFBs

Pulaski

In the US, hand held shower heads always come with the flow-through connector that doubles as a shower head holder, as well as the connector hose. ... You can buy shower heads in the US that connect directly to the pipe coming out of the wall, but they don't have a handle - it will be somewhere between near-spherical and flying-saucer-shaped. IME such non-handheld shower heads are ubiquitous in US hotels.

Per Steerpike's advice, if you insert an adapter and hose to a UK shower set-up you will likely upset the balance of hot and cold water. ..... You might want to consider getting a "power shower" installed, which is fed only by cold water, so is similar to the "tankless" water heaters that were being pushed in the US 10-15 years ago.

At some point in the past few years, the UK plumbing code altered, in favour of US-style plumbing that connects directly to the mains water, so the entire house is at mains pressure (unless a pressure reducer is used, as is relatively common in the US. .... Household water doesn't need to be any greater than 50-70psi (which is what we'll pump pressure switches typically provide), but depending on various factors, including local geography (is your home on a hill or in a hollow?) and the distance your home is from the water tower, US mains pressure can be over 100 psi, or even 120psi.

All that said, I doubt that many homes in the UK have had their plumbing replaced or modified to connect directly to the water main/ mains pressure, as all existing plumbing set-ups are grandfathered in. And I would generally advise against making such a change, at least without careful consideration, as household plumbing that has been fed from a tank in the attic and has therefore been running for decades at no more than about 4psi upstairs, and maybe 8psi downstairs, might develop leaks or other issues (such as vibrations from the toilet fkush mechanism) if connected to mains pressure, even if a pressure reduction valve is used to moderate the pressure down to say 50psi.

Lion in Winter

Thanks both. I'm in a rental so won't be doing anything major or installing power showers. The thing has a mixer tap down at waist level. Then the pipe goes straight up ( in the shower stall, not behind the wall) then has a horizontal arm that sticks way out into the shower stall and points directly down at the end with a square rainfall shower head on it. I want to attach the handheld hose where the square head currently is, then attach a holder for the handheld shower unit to the vertical pipe against the wall, further up and out of the way.

lizzyq

One of these? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diverter-Sp...JH/ref=sr_1_47

Pulaski

What you have sounds like it was installed as one complete "kit", unlike the US system with the pipes concealed in the wall being generic/standard plumbing, and only the decorative bits being part of the purchased bath-shower hardware kit. So I wouldn't be surprised if the screw thread where the head attaches is specific to the kit/ manufacturer, and not a geneneric/ standard thread that allows an easy switch between different shower heads.

Lion in Winter

I have changed just the shower head before, so with any luck it's a standard pipe. Do I have to have the converter/diverter thing, or can I screw the end of the hose that comes with the handheld unit right onto the pipe?

Lion in Winter

Answered my own question. Not only is it possible, I've done it.

Thanks all, for pointing me the right way.

Pulaski

In another thread, that took a detour into discussing the price and practicalities of selling scrap metal, I made this post (with the post that I was replying to, for context), discussing a recent project of mine, which more properly belongs here.

There were several complications in my case, including switching from a "package unit" (all the machinery in a single metal box installed outside, up against the crawlspace wall), to a "split system" with the furnace in the crawlspace, and the condenser unit outside, away from the wall. The package unit had needed a roughly 2'x3½' hole in the wall for the ducts, and had been located just behind a row of railroad ties, which also provided a little protection from vehicles parked in the adjacent parking area, at the end of a branch in the drive, as well as making an edge to the garden bed on either side.

However, the ties were in the way of where the condenser unit would need to go, and so had to be removed, leaving the unit unprotected from vehicles. Also the area next to the house was slightly below the parking area, leaving it at risk of flooding. So by lifting up the condenser unit onto a plinth, I could [1] protect it from flooding, and [2] from being bumped by a vehicle, and also [3] leave open the possibility of eventually having the parking area concreted, or paved with blocks, without risking the condenser unit sitting even further below grade.

The well-regarded local heating contractor I was using had literally no interest in addressing any of these concerns or issues, which is exactly what I had already anticipated anyway. So between signing the contract for the new unit and the contractor coming to install it, I removed the old package unit, paid a bricklayer to brick-up the brick "veneer" layer on the outside and the concrete block wall on the inside, dug a foundation for a roughly 8'x8' wall of concrete retaining wall blocks, built the square retaining wall plinth and filled it with waste hardcore and the clay from the foundation trench, packed it down well, leaving a very slight dome, covered it with thick sheet plastic tucked under the top course of concrete blocks, and covered it with a layer of crushed granite. After the condenser had been installed on the pad supplied by the heating contractor, I surrounded it with more crushed granite, leaving the wall capstones, the crushed granite, and the pad the condenser unit sits on, pretty much at the same level. This was the result (well apart from the final topping-off with crushed granite.)

​​​​​ ​​​​​The back left corner also still needed to be finished in this picture, as there had been a gas pipe in the way.
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