DIY Plumbing Resources - Recommendations?

ladybee

Hi there,

We are shortly due to complete on a house that is going to need just a bit more than a lick of paint. Learning some plumbing is high on our to-do list, as we'd like to refit the bathrooms!

Are there any good particularly good online resources anyone can recommend for some tutorials for beginners? Anybody particularly good on Youtube to watch? Or maybe some good books to hunt down?

Any suggestions much appreciated - from 2 total beginners.

adonis

Forum I use,
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/index.php


on Youtube,



plumberparts
Dereton33

tacpot12

+1 for PlumberParts on YouTube

Generally I use Tectite Pro push-fit fittings when I do plumbing at home as you don't have to be able to solder. Once you have learned how to prepare the pipe, and bought the decoupling tool (Got mine cheap at RS Tools of all places), it's a great system. Try to buy quality fittings from Pegler and Altecnic, not the cheap, unbranded stuff. Don't use flexible hoses anywhere - they are the work of the Devil.

Fitting a Surestop Stopcock should be your first job.

ladybee

Great stuff both, thanks, I'll take a look at those channels on youtube (gives us something to do whilst we wait for the conveyancers...:cool2:)

It seems depending on who we speak to whether soldering copper or push-fit is recommended. Push-fit looks easier to me but OH fancies giving soldering a go. Maybe he can do one room and I'll do another and we'll see whose leaks first :rotfl:

SteveJW

My local college (Hull) ran a one day plumbing course a few years ago
Learned soldering skills
How to fit a vanity unit etc
Course ran on a saturday and was relatively cheap
Have a ring around

tacpot12

Plumberparts has some good videos on soldering. OH will need a blowtorch (Rosenberger Super Fire £85 from Screwfix with a Gas Cylinder), a Dual Head Fluxuator (£9.99 from https://gassafetyshop.co.uk/products/Flux-application-Tool-Fluxuator-for-15mm-and-22mm-pipes), solder, some pipe and fittings to practice on, and possibly a heat mat to allow them to solder close to materials that might be damaged by the heat.

Pushfit tends to be cheaper if you need to buy less than 10 fittings, soldering cheaper if you need more than 10 fittings.

ladybee

SteveJW wrote: »

My local college (Hull) ran a one day plumbing course a few years ago
Learned soldering skills
How to fit a vanity unit etc
Course ran on a saturday and was relatively cheap
Have a ring around

Thanks yeah I had thought of this. I had a look around a while back and couldn't find anything local to us but it'd be really useful so I'll have a look again (s wales) - they should do more courses like this everywhere. Saw some 5day courses in stoke or the south east - both a bit far and long. 1 day would be ideal.

ladybee

tacpot12 wrote: »

Plumberparts has some good videos on soldering. OH will need a blowtorch (Rosenberger Super Fire £85 from Screwfix with a Gas Cylinder), a Dual Head Fluxuator (£9.99 from https://gassafetyshop.co.uk/products/Flux-application-Tool-Fluxuator-for-15mm-and-22mm-pipes), solder, some pipe and fittings to practice on, and possibly a heat mat to allow them to solder close to materials that might be damaged by the heat.

Pushfit tends to be cheaper if you need to buy less than 10 fittings, soldering cheaper if you need more than 10 fittings.

Well OH will win this one, I think we're gonna need a lot more than 10 fittings :rotfl: Thanks really useful info for those tools too.

cybervic

I was a total plumbing beginner and I went to a 4 day plumbing course (2 weekends) in Croydon and learnt about different types of fitting and where/when/how to use them, practiced on pipe bending and soldering and connecting techniques, learnt how to connect bathroom, kitchen, central heating plumbing, it was very useful. Plumbing isn't difficult per se but having that experience of knowing how to do little steps and tips makes all the differences.

Youtube certainly is great but often it takes a lot of time to find the right info for a simple task. I would highly recommend a book called MASTER BASIC PLUMBING AND CENTRAL HEATING, and use it in conjunction with youtube video if you don't have a course nearby.

adonis

tacpot12 wrote: »

Don't use flexible hoses anywhere - they are the work of the Devil.

.

Why do you say that about flexible hoses, they are used all the time these days

Jackmydad

adonis wrote: »

Why do you say that about flexible hoses, they are used all the time these days

Yup. OP make sure they're not twisted or kinked though when installing.

A pipe bender for the copper is useful if you're doing more than the odd bit of plumbing.