How To Get A Good Plumber

My hot water tank has a 240V 3KW 14" immersion heater at the top and bottom of the tank. The one at the bottom has ceased to function and needs replacing the problem I have is that none of the local DIY stores or plumbing agents have the right bit. One even tried to con me into buying a new tank at £200-300.

The problem I have is that a 14" immersion heater does not seem to exist. The immersion heater at the top of the tank is working fine.

Is there any way I can use a different size of immersion heater or set up a different type without having to go into too much expense.

Howdens should be able to help with a 14" heater.

http://www.hdhowden.com/

If there is no coil (for indirect heating) in the cylinder, you can fit any length up to a couple of inches less than the cylinder diameter. You don't state if it's a screw in 2¼" or a 4/6 bolt type of heater!

KINGSTON and#8212; The planning board approved the site plan for a proposed plumbing facility at 2 Frontage Road on Tuesday despite some members’ misgivings.
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How does a DIY get around needing to get a plumbing permit and electrical permit?

I live in a small municipality in St.Louis county. I called the building inspector because I had a couple questions about they type of supply lines I could use. I am going to install a full bath in the basement.

He began telling me I need to get a structural permit (or something like that) that he would do. Then he said I need to get a plumbing permit and electrical permit from St. Louis county.

He also said I would need to have licensed plumbers and electricians do the work.

I am planning on doing the work myself with a friend who has all kinds of experience doing both plumbing and electrical.

So how do I get around this issue? What are the consequences if Barny Pheif buliding inspector comes around?

My state as a whole doesn't have professional licenses, but some cities require "city licenses" for electrical and plumbing work. In these cases we find city licensed electrical or plumbing contractors to "pull" our permits for us (usually for a fee), we do the work… they stop by and inspect before the city inspector does a final inspection. In general, it doesn't matter who does the work, as long as it is to code… if the permits are aquired by a licensed individual, they are vouching for your work. (It usually takes a friend of a friend type of arrangement.) We've paid anywhere from $150 to $500 as fees for permit pulling. (Depends on the job… most hover around $200.) Keeping this in mind, sometimes it is cheaper to just give in and hire the "professional"… as much as us DIYers hate to do it. Best of luck…

(ARA) - If you haven’t built a new home or taken on a major bathroom or kitchen remodeling project in recent years, you might not be aware that today’s plumbing options are very different than they once were.
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I'm no plumbing expert by any stretch of the imagination but have a simple (i think?!) question about rad valves for any plumbers or heating experts out there. I am trying to replace my rad valves on some fairly large rads in a house I just bought. The valves themselves are quite old.

The feed pipes going into the valve are 15mm copper pipes but at the thread of the valve where it screws onto the rad, the size seems to be about 22mm or so. All the DIY shops I go to only seem to sell the rad valves at 15mm connections to the rad. I've been told this is the new British standard. Is it no longer possible to pick up valves with a 22mm (or thereabouts) thread to screw onto the rad?

The valve to radiator connection is normally 1/2" BSP, if your old radiators hhave bigger tappings, then they must be 3/4" BSP, so you need a 3/4" to 1/2" BSP male iron to female iron reducer (Bush) into the radiator first. Go to a plumbers merchant not a DIY shop.

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My day time job is as a Mechanical Design Engineer, I design road tankers and pressure vessels. Calculations and autocad drawings etc.

At the weekend I do electrical wiring and plumbing and general DIY in my house and therefore have some good skills in it.

I am very skilled ay anything related to IT and have been a systems administrator in an old job.

What can I do as a way to make extra cash for my partner and my wedding coming up next year?

I have considered trying to find some private design or autocad work but I wouldn;t know where to start looking for it.

If your into technical and technology you might want to take a look into the telecommunications industry. I know a lot of people who are involved in telecommunications and do extremely well at it. When is the wedding? Congrats on that btw!
If you’d like some information on telecommunications from people that I know who have been working in this industry and have their own business, here’s a web site of someone that I know could answer any questions you may have regarding this industry.
http://www.tiffanyvague.acnrep.com

PROBLEM: Monica Gordon lives on Sunnyvale Drive in Antioch and wanted help with a problem with her home’s plumbing.
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We're been looking at a lot of home building options, and I'm stuck between stickbuilt and prefab.

I have family and friends who would help us build the house for free or cheap, so we'd only need a contractor to do a part of the work. We could do framing, drywall, electricity, and plumbing.

With this DIY help am I better off building myself? What are some good sites with free or cheap blueprints for bungalows.

Roughly how much will this cost us per sq foot if we are doing most of the work ourselves?

Thanks!

Oh and the place we are building on has a house that is in bad condition and is being torn down so there are hookups there.
Oh- the plumber is an actual plumber, it's his job. So is the electrician. All these guys built a relatives house for them, so I have faith in them for at least the electric and plumbing and drywall and stuff.

I would probably want to get the framing done by professionals, as well as foundation and stuff like that.

Be careful, sometimes free help can be the most expensive.

However, there is an upside to this as well. The parts of the job that you're talking about, the framing, electricity and plumbing are probably areas you want done by professionals.

But there are builders that will work with you to give you a partially finished house (called a "shell") where you complete the finishing. Drywall, cabinetry, final flooring, painting and trim.

These are labor intensive, but they can be done by reasonably skilled handyfolks.

The outfit that comes to my mind immediately is Lumbermen Homes here in the Northwest, but there are builders all over the country that do this.

Be sure to ask for references, then check them out.

As to cost per square foot, that varies based on your area and the type of materials you decide to use.

A simple, basic house with inexpensive fixtures and materials can be as little as $30-$40 a square foot.

But when you start adding the marble countertops, the cherry wood flooring and custom cabinets, top grade fixtures, etc… you can go over $200 a square foot easily.

It's up to you. Search for "shell house builder" in your area.

(ARA) - If you haven’t built a new home or taken on a major bathroom or kitchen remodeling project in recent years, you might not be aware that today’s plumbing options are very different than they once were.
Read the rest of this entry »