If you have a new kitchen, it makes sense to have a new radiator, especially if it is probably forty, if not more, years old. I'd bought a new 500mm one from Wickes, where we had the kitchen from, and we'd arranged to have it fitted by the team fitting the new kitchen.
Apart from the fitter, Mick, most of his team seemed to be miserable, although, in general, most UK tradesmen like to moan. I'm unsure if they are generally miserable or if it's some cunning ploy to inflate the bill. (Sharp intake of breath) "Ooh, that looks more difficult than I was told!" To be honest, it was pretty straightforward. He just had to extend the pipes slightly, connect them to the fittings I'd already bought, put the radiator on the wall and connect the fittings to the radiator, turn the water on and bleed the system.
The missus prefers me to be at home when we have tradesmen in the house, not really for protection but because you can guarantee there's a problem for which nine times out of ten she doesn't know the answer which, in my opinion, is fair enough. Sadly, I'd used up all my holidays, and my employer had kindly let me work from home for a bit, but I had little choice and had to return to the office, which meant the wife had no choice but to start texting me when workers started bellyaching.
I still can't fathom out why he said: "The waters not coming through." We'd had the boiler serviced by our usual plumber the day before, and he was pretty impressed with the boiler, which I'd had installed a few years ago from some inheritance money. Eventually, the wife texted me to say he'd got it working. Fast forward to the following morning, and the house was like an icebox! Normally, the wife gets up within a few minutes of me, but not this morning; no, she decided today would be a good day to have a layin! A couple of hours later and absolutely freezing, I greeted her as she walked into the front room: "THE HEATING IS NOT WORKING AND I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO GET UP!"
Most boilers have a header tank; your car has a header tank too. This is a small amount of water that rises and falls to compensate for the expansion in the system when it gets hot. I had a pretty good idea what was wrong, but because I'm such a good husband, I didn't want to go crashing about upstairs in the cupboard filling the tank. As I pulled down the flap on the control panel, my thoughts were confirmed. There was the needle stuck firmly in the red on zero. As soon as I started to fill the header and the needle rose into the green, the heating burst into life. This tells me the plumber didn't run the system up to temperature but also didn't bleed the system or fill the header tank. It stands to reason that adding a radiator that needs filling with water will drain the tank! 🤦♂️🤷♂️
We're getting somewhere!
The kitchen was starting to come together, and as a bonus, we were starting to get our front room back. No more negotiating boxes and appliances, although the oven was still missing!
Next up was the tiler. Yet another moaning tradesman that the wife had to deal with while I was safely holed up in my office at work. Ooh! Those tiles are gonna be a problem." the tiler exclaimed to the wife. Basically, they're tiles glued to a hessian backing; if anything, they should be easier, although I will agree cutting them might be a problem given it's not as simple as cutting one tile.
About an hour and a half into the job and, the tiler has changed his tune: "These are alright, you know." of course they are! You're able to slap up eighteen odd tiles in one go! You do all the large areas and then come back to the fiddly bits like that boxing that covers the pipes where you'll need to cut tiles, simple! Oh, he was Captain Happy when he realised he would be done in half the time it usually takes him.
In part 5
The final chapter (hopefully)Has the oven turned up?
"I'm missing two drawers and the replacement door."
"Six hours to fit two doors!?"
Image created by irisworld
My actual name is Pete. Here is why I have the username dickturpin.
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Podcaster. FOSS, Linux & Creative Commons Advocate.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Heating systems can be a pain as you tend to rely on gas, water and a boiler to all work properly. There's a lot to go wrong and it helps to know the basics.
How long has this all taken?
Officially, it's still not finished.
Spoiler Alert
We're still waiting for a replacement door to be delivered; then it and two drawers need fitting. Plus, after all that, we're replacing the radiator because it's too small. We've discovered that by blocking up that door that generally remained open 24/7 and was allowing heat from the front room into the kitchen, the 500mm radiator is not powerful enough to heat the kitchen.
We've also discovered some other niggles and mistakes, which sadly cannot be addressed now, but I will possibly explain all of those in part 5.
Don't panic, even I've had enough of the "New Kitchen" topic now. 🤣