Outside Tap

new arrival

Anyone installed an outside tap? Hard to do yourself?

NarkyBoots

You know I was just thinking that the other day when it took me 5 trips to the sink to water the garden!!

Anyone?

Charlie-Bravo

I'll take this one...

so what type of house are you in??...I'll take it that you live in 2 bed townhouses?!...So where do you want the tap??...Where's your most convenient water supply??

Back wall of the house for a tap I suppose. Nearest water supply point is at the kitchen sink...don't fancy taking up the floor finish (Tiles/hardwood flooring whichever may be the case).

Other pipes are located in the Guest WC/Inner Hall ceiling. You could route the pipe up the inside of the dry-lining of the back wall, run across the kitchen ceiling and connect to one of the pipes over the WC. then again, you will have joists running against the route of the pipe so you would need to notch the joists...never adise to notch joists without correct supervision.

Either way it'll be messy enough and would cost a bit to get someone to do it for you!

The problem here is getting to water supply pipes and not pipes for the radiators (before anyone suggests such an option).

MuffinsDa

What about rain tanks? How hard would it be to tap into the gutters (I know in terraced houses there's only one downpipe, but there's nothing stopping mid terrace houses to tap into it, I suppose) ? That'll be a lot less expensive, and have the added benefit of not wrecking the water supplies/environment/etc.

Marcais

new arrival wrote:

Anyone installed an outside tap? Hard to do yourself?

Call a plumber

new arrival

Marcais wrote:

Call a plumber

At least you didn't say call Evelyn Cawley..........


Thanks Astrofluff for all your suggestions....... I am actually in a 3 bed in the Grove and thought I could literally bring a pipe through the wall from the downstairs loo?

CathD

new arrival wrote:

At least you didn't say call Evelyn Cawley..........


Thanks Astrofluff for all your suggestions....... I am actually in a 3 bed in the Grove and thought I could literally bring a pipe through the wall from the downstairs loo?

Hi new arrival......

There probably wouldn't be great pressure in the outside tap if you take your supply off the internal distribution pipework (i.e. the cold supply from the tank in the attic). You would probably need to take the feed to the outside tap off the mains supply which feeds the cold kitchen tap and the attic tank if you wanted to say hose the garden.

Mr. CathD.

Marcais

new arrival wrote:

At least you didn't say call Evelyn Cawley..........

What's the matter you don't like the one liners on issues of no concern to me?

Journalist to Ronnie Drew in Ryans of Parkgate "Why do drink so much Ronnie?"

Ronnie "I drink to mind my own business.........can I get you a pint?!"

loyatemu

CathD wrote:

Hi new arrival......

There probably wouldn't be great pressure in the outside tap if you take your supply off the internal distribution pipework (i.e. the cold supply from the tank in the attic). You would probably need to take the feed to the outside tap off the mains supply which feeds the cold kitchen tap and the attic tank if you wanted to say hose the garden.

Mr. CathD.

there'd be plenty of pressure as the taps are all connected to the water pump in the Grove. You could probably take a feed from the handbasin and run it along the wall and then through the back wall of the downstairs loo.

TnJ

hi guys,

installed an outside tap last weekend. not a plumber but I did a bit of research first and now the finished job seems to be grand (pic below). steps as follows:

1. Turn off mains water supply under the sink
2. Cut the pipe (qualex) with PVC pipe cutter and attach sepaerator joint.
3. Connect one part of the divider back the the cold tap, take the other and feed to a short length of qualpex and put an 'on/off' valve on the pipe.

This much honestly takes about 5 mins.

4. Now ensure the new valve is in the OFF position, then turn back on the water supply to you mains cold tap.
5. Right, the tricky bit is feed a continous length of qualpex from this new valve, as far as the outside wall. We live in a 2 bed terrace with the kitchen at the back. The pipe therefore had to feed under the kitchen units (so you have to remove the kickboard). Our skirting board along the length of our dining area is a type of 'box' section with radiator pipes running through it. Therefore there should be plenty of room for another pipe or two. Remove the cover to this 'boxed skirting board' and feed the pipe from under the sink to the end of the wall.

This job actaully took the longest as it was v. akward feeding the pipes under the units.

6. Right, you've reached the outside wall. You now need a half inch masonary drill bit of at least 14 inches in length, and a hammer action drill preferably. Drill straight out (under the level of the box section so you cannot see the hole when the job is done.) Once you break thtrough the wall its pretty straight forward.

At this point I shold tell you the materials I used thus far. Qualpex 1/2 inch pipe (bendy) and qualpex approved joints (such as the ones available in B&Q tallaght or Woodies Bray). They click together so simply its childs play. Make sure to use inserts on the Qualpex, and ensure a clean cut has been made.

More info available on www.easiplumb.ie. Go to technical documents.

7. Once I broke through the wall I used copper piping & brass joints (cos its looks better). These joints are more difficult to join so you will need 'copper olives' to ensure there is a tight fit. Also if you have to screw on the tap or perhaps an elbow joint PTFE tap is essential to ensure a tight fit. Et voila, picture below!

Right, its not perfect and I started to drill an extra hole (which I need to fill in) but the water now comes from the mains to the garden without leaks, and the missus is delighted.

And oh yeah, silicone the hole in the wall. Connect the qualpex joint under the sink, and open the valve. Presto Magico, water in the garden!

Wineman

looks like a great job...now you can come over and do mine!!:D

ChickenBalls

Just want to say Great Job!

I had the same idea as yourself - now I just need to do it!

K.

new arrival

Cheers TnJ........... all good.........

I picked up a garden tap set from Woodies and T separator and knocked off the water to downstairs bathroom then cut the pipe feeding the loo (this is as it's against our back wall) , placed a T separator on this and hooked in the 2 qualpex pipes and finally placed the copper pipe into this which fed the Tap outside........

All done in about 30 mins!

loyatemu

new arrival wrote:

Cheers TnJ........... all good.........

I picked up a garden tap set from Woodies and T separator and knocked off the water to downstairs bathroom then cut the pipe feeding the loo (this is as it's against our back wall) , placed a T separator on this and hooked in the 2 qualpex pipes and finally placed the copper pipe into this which fed the Tap outside........

All done in about 30 mins!

whats the water pressure like? the feed to the loo isn't connected to the pump upstairs - is there sufficient pressure to run a hose?

new arrival

You're right, it's not connected to the pump but the water pressure is fine...... I think we're getting used to the Power Hose effect as these pumps are the norm in new houses/apartments.

Also when you buy your hose for this (presuming you are), you can get the unit (like a gun) that gives extra pressure if required.

testicle

That copper pipe outisde is going to rust to sh1te!

MuffinsDa

new arrival wrote:

Cheers TnJ........... all good.........

I picked up a garden tap set from Woodies and T separator and knocked off the water to downstairs bathroom then cut the pipe feeding the loo (this is as it's against our back wall) , placed a T separator on this and hooked in the 2 qualpex pipes and finally placed the copper pipe into this which fed the Tap outside........

All done in about 30 mins!

How did you find the feeding pipe?

new arrival

There is only 1 pipe feeding the Cistern...... you need to take out some plaster ......... (can be filled with polyfilla afterwards) and then cut the pipe then.......... but try and do it at the location where you want your tap outside........ we chose above the drain for obvious reasons........

MuffinsDa

thanks!

Marcais

testicle wrote:

That copper pipe outisde is going to rust to sh1te!

Copper rusts ! Better let the Vatican know, they may need to put a coat of Hammerite on cathedral roofs.

new arrival

Marcais wrote:

Copper rusts ! Better let the Vatican know, they may need to put a coat of Hammerite on cathedral roofs.

Exactly didn't want to say............

Does copper rust?


No. Pure copper oxidizes but only on the surface in the form of a dark green patina. Like paint, this thin coating of oxidization prevents any further oxidization. Surface oxidation does not weaken the copper nor does it reduce electrical conductivity.

Marcais

new arrival wrote:

Exactly didn't want to say............

Does copper rust?


No. Pure copper oxidizes but only on the surface in the form of a dark green patina. Like paint, this thin coating of oxidization prevents any further oxidization. Surface oxidation does not weaken the copper nor does it reduce electrical conductivity.

fcekin hel! ........that's tellin' him! Somebody made good use of their chemistry set...or Wikpedia !

testicle

Oxidising is rusting. Don/t believe everything you read on the sales website for electric fences.

Maisy

new arrival wrote:

Anyone installed an outside tap? Hard to do yourself?

For anyone in a terraced two bed with kitchen to the front, - a plumber friend of mine put in an outside tap for me yesterday. As I am mildly interested in a bit of gardening, its a boon - was developing Popeye-esque muscles from hauling cans of water from front of house via kitchen tap.

He ran it from the water tank, through to the back and down the wall - very straightforward - took him just over an hour, but thats discounting tea breaks and chewing the fat in between lol. He put a penny valve at a pipe join at the attic entrance, so its easily isolated, esp for winter, when it would probably need to be turned off in the very cold weather - he didn't even have to turn off the mains !

Same guy is also a qualified sparks and moved the attic light switch from the back of the attic to the top of the ladder. I would be up there every so often as the attic is floored so there is oooooooooooodles of storage.!!!! I'm mad me, prefer to have the light on first, rather than stumbling around in the dark - not sure if it is the same for all the two beds in the Park or whether they just ran out of cable in mine !

shay123

testicle wrote:

That copper pipe outisde is going to rust to sh1te!

Copper does not rust !!!!!!!!!!!

testicle

ok ok, rust is the term for iron oxidising. Copper still oxidises, so matter how you look at it. Feck sake.