Home Sweet Home

Before phoning the plumber consider the following — you can’t take the mountain to Mohammed, so Mohammed will be charging a call-out fee to come and look at the mountain, after which he will charge you a bit more to fix the mountain. After 5 minutes you may realize that the mountain was in actual fact a very insignificant little molehill, easily taken care of yourself, if only you’d known.

The molehill could take on various forms: a leaking tap, a blocked toilet or a blocked drain, all of which you will be able to fix if you follow our detailed instructions. But there are a number of mountains best left to the plumber. These will include a burst water pipe (possibly caused by over-eager digging in the garden), a water pipe that accidentally connected with a power tool near the bathroom or kitchen (caused by over-eager drilling) or an old geyser that is on the blink.

If you have to deal with a burst water-pipe, the most important consideration is finding the stopcock (not a revolutionary new birth-control device, but the tap that controls the flow of water into your property). Find this before you phone the plumber. It is usually situated near the perimeter of your property, set underneath a cover. It is also possible that there is no cover at all except for a heap of dirt. If this is the case, cover it with a piece of plastic pipe or the bottom half of a 2-litre plastic cool drink bottle. This will make any future missions involving the stopcock slightly easier. To close it, turn the handle clockwise. If you struggle, spray the shaft with oil and try again, using a pair of pliers. Manipulate it at first to spread the oil, then close it completely. Now phone your favorite plumber.

Leaking Taps

The most difficult part of fixing a leaking tap is establishing what kind of tap you have and finding the source of the leak. A defective washer will cause a tap to leak at the spout —that annoying dripping sound that keeps you awake at night. A worn o-ring could be the cause of leakage at the spindle when the tap is turned on,or at the spout of a mixer tap — the little stream of water running down atthe base of the tap. Before unscrewing anything, close the stopcock.

Now open the offending tap to release any excess water and leave it open while you do your repairs. When working with taps, havesome petroleum jelly handy. It comes in useful during reassembly for smearing the thread and also when replacing o-rings.

Replacing a washer

You WILL NEED

• Pump pliers & shifting spanner
• Thin screwdriver or pocket-knife
• Phillips screwdriver
• Washer/jumper unit

DOING THE JOB

Capstan - (The tap in the cartoon) Using the pump pliers, unscrew the domed- cover in an anti-clockwise direction. Protect it with a cloth to avoid scratching the chrome surface. If you cannot get the domed cover off, unscrew the grub-screw just below the handle and with the tap opened fully, remove the handle. You should be able to unscrew the domed cover now. Remove the headgear from the rest of the tap, exposing the jumper (hopper) unit. Remove the jumper unit from the rest of the headgear. Some taps have a retaining nut that holds the washer in place. If this is the case, unscrew it using a shifting spanner. (If you are unable to remove the nut, replace the entire jumper unit.) Replace the old washer with a new one of the correct size and redo the nut. Before re-fitting the headgear, ensure that there is no chalk build-up in or around the tap. If so, carefully remove the hard bits of chalk using a screwdriver and wipe or wash out any remaining debris. Replace the headgear by placing it on the base and screwing it on by hand at first. Tighten with a pair of pliers and close the tap.

Shrouded Head-(The tap with the big perspex head) Once you have opened the tap, either screw or pry off the indicator cap. Keep it in a safe place — spares are practically impossible to come by! Once you have undone the retaining screw that has been exposed, you should be able to remove the head. Hold the spout while using a shifting spanner to unscrew the headgear. Remove it from the base and undo the retaining nut. Replace the old washer and reassemble the tap.

A leaking spindle

You WILL NEED

• Pump pliers
• Shifting spanner
• Thin screwdriver or pocket-knife
• Phillips screwdriver
• o-ring(s)

DOING THE JOB

Brace yourself; you might get to change an o-ring! But only if the first test fails. Undo the little screw just below the handle and remove the handle. Unscrew the domed cover, either by hand or using the pump pliers, in an anti-clockwise direction and remove. Gently tighten the gland nut (the first screwable nut at the top of the headgear). Re-assemble the tap and check whether it is still leaking. If so, yeeha! You get to replace an o-ring; if not your tap-fixing adventure ends here.

When trying to locate the seals on a tap, undo everything as you would when checking the gland nut. Prise he clip that holds the spindle in place. You should be able to assess which of the o-rings need replacing by simple inspection — they do look a bit worse for wear. Use a pocket-knife or thin screwdriver to remove them. Replace worn o-ring(s) with new ones and reassemble the tap (by now you should be able to do this with your eyes closed).

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