The Big Hot Water Switch On

Sunday afternoon was a big milestone - I completed the final connection to the hot water pipework in the new bathroom. The results were, however, mixed.

The compression joint on the flexible tail to the basin lasted about 10 minutes before blowing off completely. A similar connection to the bidet was about to blow, but we got to it in time. A simple case of not being done up tightly enough. When undone, the olive was still loose - not compressed onto the pipe at all.

Worse news was that the waste from the bidet leaked like a sieve too. We tried to tighten it up, but to no avail. In the end it came out completely for re-seal and test on the workmate outside. However, even this proved very difficult. The waste is in two halves which screw together through the outlet in the bidet. There is a meaty rubber washer on each side and we discovered that the bottom one was upside down. However even reversing this did not help. The underside of the bidet is very rough so we added "plumbers mate" to try and make a seal. Still no luck. However the plumbers mate is very old and I have no idea if it has the consistency that it should !

In the end I phoned a plumber I know for advice. He recommended a bead of the ubiquitous clear silicon mastic. I applied it yesterday evening, and tested it when I got home from work this evening. I think that has done the trick.

So the big switch on was a damp squib and will have to be repeated. Jan refused to open the Champagne.....