a). A lot of times it is common that you will find a plastic fitting, that has a plastic thread and is fitted to a copper pipe with a brass nut. The nut has the potential to slice through the plastic thread very easily causing a leak. In order to make sure this does not occur, always tighten the nut by hand being quite gentle. If the nut is hard to turn your probably ‘threading’ the joint which means that the brass is cutting its own route through the plastic rather than following the proper route of the thread. Undo the nut, check the pipe is going straight into the fitting and not at an awkward angle, check it for damage and start again. Try and have the fitting loose itself so that you can be sure that the pipe and fitting are lined up perfectly, you can’t do this this with taps but is the best way with ball valves. A Radlett Plumber can use plastic pipework.


b). O remove paint from copper pipes is quite a difficult and time consuming job but required if you want leak free pipes. Open a set of pump pliers and gently grip the pipe and start to turn the pliers back and forth and this usually causes the paint to flake off.


c). To shift a block in pipework you could use a water vacuum cleaner on blow. You need to make sure that all the relevant overflows are covered and plugs are fully shut. If the pipe is solvent welded pipe, this way can work well, but its not recommended for push-fit pipes as it can blow the joints of the end of the pipes. Be aware that it does make a mess but is very effective. Radlett Plumbers can unblock pipework.


d). If working with hot water pipes, and central heating pipework always make sure the joint remains dry once the pipe gets hot as it is common for it to be dry when the water gets cold, but leak when the water heats up..