Tiling and Plumbing question
Tiling and Plumbing question
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D5ACT

Original Poster:

66 posts

197 months

Saturday 24th October 2009
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Hello All

I am in the process of purchasing my first property. An exciting and stressful time.

Over the coming months my girlfriend and I are going to renovate the entire flat but there are two questions that I wanted some advice on.

1. Tiling - The bathroom tiles are in good nick (no loose tiles, no blowen areas) although they look like something from a set of 'Life on Mars'. Question is, is it worth removing the tiles and tiling diretly onto the walls or would it be better advised to simply tile over the tiles that are already there as it is a good surface?

2. Plumbing - The flat is on the 5th floor, has good cold water pressure but poor hot water pressure. The water is heated via an immersion heater in a copper tank with a header tank directly above. I will have to keep this setup as there is no gas in the building to allow a combi boiler. I was thinking of getting a pump to reslove the issue of pressure. What are your thoughts on this and which pumps would you recommend. I was thinking of getting a Monsoon pump that will work on both the hot and cold water.

Any help would be appreciated.

Chris

Ferg

15,242 posts

273 months

Saturday 24th October 2009
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Bear in mind that manufacturers have very strict rules about the amount of stored water required for twin-impeller pumps. You could easily run a small tank dry with a pump.

jaybkay

488 posts

236 months

Saturday 24th October 2009
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Your poor hot water pressure is because you don't have enough "head" of water, ie the header tank isn't high enough above the shower or taps.

A small boost pump is the easiest answer - they have an inbuilt switch so when you turn a hot tap on it switches the pump on and shoves more water down the pipe.

The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.

You'll should have a plumber install it

Ferg

15,242 posts

273 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
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jaybkay said:
The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.
You were doing OK 'til this bit.
The OP needs a pump, not a circulator, which is COMPLETELY different to a central heating circulator. They are almost NEVER bronze, but either brass or plastic impeller bodies.

However, all that notwithstanding....
it is essential that you pay attention to the stored water capacity to avoid running into problems with the warranty on the pump.

cjs

11,255 posts

267 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
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Is it the shower that you are having pressure problems with? If so you may be better off getting an electric shower fitted, as said before, you could empty a tank of HW using a 'power shower' pump, no good if there are two of you.

dirkgently

2,160 posts

247 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
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Ferg said:
jaybkay said:
The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.
You were doing OK 'til this bit.
The OP needs a pump, not a circulator, which is COMPLETELY different to a central heating circulator. They are almost NEVER bronze, but either brass or plastic impeller bodies.

However, all that notwithstanding....
it is essential that you pay attention to the stored water capacity to avoid running into problems with the warranty on the pump.
I want to know who is selling bronze circulatory pumps for 60 quid, as I'm up for a dozen.

Webber3

1,228 posts

235 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
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D5ACT said:
Hello All

1. Tiling - The bathroom tiles are in good nick (no loose tiles, no blowen areas) although they look like something from a set of 'Life on Mars'. Question is, is it worth removing the tiles and tiling diretly onto the walls or would it be better advised to simply tile over the tiles that are already there as it is a good surface?
I never liked the idea of tiling over old tiles. This would look odd if you only had tiles half way up the wall, they'd stand out about 2cm.

If you do remove the tiles and you have plasterboard walls, do what the tiling guy did in our house; instead of chipping all the tiles off and spending days chipping the lines of adhesive off, just cut the old plasterboard off along with the tiles and get the plasterboard replaced and skimmed. It may cost more, but it saves time and gives you a perfectly flat wall to tile onto.



D5ACT

Original Poster:

66 posts

197 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
quotequote all
cjs said:
Is it the shower that you are having pressure problems with? If so you may be better off getting an electric shower fitted, as said before, you could empty a tank of HW using a 'power shower' pump, no good if there are two of you.
It would appear that all of the hot water taps suffer the same lack of pressure. Would fitting a pump to the hot water tank and installing an electic shower be advisable? Can you do both?

Thanks for the info so far.

D5ACT

Original Poster:

66 posts

197 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
quotequote all
Webber3 said:
If you do remove the tiles and you have plasterboard walls, do what the tiling guy did in our house; instead of chipping all the tiles off and spending days chipping the lines of adhesive off, just cut the old plasterboard off along with the tiles and get the plasterboard replaced and skimmed. It may cost more, but it saves time and gives you a perfectly flat wall to tile onto.
This sounds like a good plan. I've seen this done before. We have a fully tiled bathroom so I better get chipping. smile

Arthur Jackson

2,111 posts

246 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
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What capacity is there on the tank supplying the hot water cylinder?

D5ACT

Original Poster:

66 posts

197 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
quotequote all
Arthur Jackson said:
What capacity is there on the tank supplying the hot water cylinder?
Not sure on the size of the tank but it is pretty small. Was planning on renewing it with a new tank so can spec a larger size as I haven't bought anything as yet.

Arthur Jackson

2,111 posts

246 months

Sunday 25th October 2009
quotequote all
Most decent showerpump manufacturers will require 50 gallons storage per bathroom. There are other issues involving the position of the outlet relative to the ballvalve. It's all to avoid cavitation which kills pumps in no time.