As part of the remedial plumbing after boiler-gate, we had a couple of chaps pop by to see if they could make amends. Sadly they had not been briefed at all but at least it's free labour! We were due out that day to London for Beth's indoctrination admission into the Law Society so after giving the chaps their marching orders we boldly left them to it.
The main job was to replace the mains water feed into the house. Actually getting this done from outside on the road was never really going to happen (though technically they had agreed to it with a careless email) but we were hoping to at least get 90% of the galvanised pipework out. Pipework tends to be copper because it doesn't rust*. Galvanised pipe, though strong and tough and with a thick coating will, eventually. Ours had. It's a bit like limescale build-up but nastier. Especially as the rust can break up and make its way into your cuppa.
When we got back we found a wonderful-ish new pipe snaking its way, just as had been asked, around the Hall, stairs and shower room. Unfortunately it wasn't 28mm or even 22mm pipe but merely 15mm. Water pressure around here is pretty good though so it shouldn't be an issue. Never mind. It's a lot easier to play with 15mm anyway.
This has opened up the way for all the rest of the plumbing to go in, so without a minute to lose we hit up the shops for some of this decade's most popular metal. Whereas in Bristol compression fittings were the coupling of choice, this time solder ring is the way forward. It's about a quarter of the price of compression and only a fraction more than ring-less joints. It also allows a certain someone to practice brazing just in case they should wish to braze a bike frame at some point...
The kitchen was the first to get it. That was all fairly easy stuff, nice an accessible and long straights with a few right angles. The holes in the wall to the utility were leftovers from the old radiator. Very convenient if a touch high. Hot and cold feeds were duly run for the sink and dish washer.
Sunday was for the shower room. Here many different pipes meet. There are the hot and cold for the sink and shower, a cold for the toilet and the flow and return for the Hall's radiators. The real complication lay in the mismatch of alignments. The boiler's pipes run from top to bottom: cold, hot, flow, return. The cold feed from outside, already laid but not connected had the cold on the bottom. What a pain. A little cack-handed jiggery-pokery later and it was all sorted. Hopefully. It might get revisited at some point.
The upshot is that all the hot and cold water for the ground floor's done and the radiators are well on the way. The real problem is you don't know how good your joints are until you put the water in.
Also, check out the drill bit. Absolutely necessary you can be assured.