Heads up to bargain-hunting DIYers and gardeners

Discussion in 'UK Motorcycles' started by Ivan D. Reid, Jun 4, 2011.

  1. Ivan D. Reid

    Ivan D. Reid Guest

    Went down to the local Focus DYI today in search of solutions for
    my broken bathtub and sewer-pipe seal. Was very surprised to see "Closing
    Down Sale" signs!

    Seems the parent company is in administration, and while still
    trading for now, there are heavy discounts: "30% off lowest price shown"
    for most things, 20% for the rest. Some shelves are noticeably empty --
    the guy in front of me at the till had about 30 compact fluoro bulbs in
    his buggy, inter alia.

    The cement selection seemed rather depleted, but I decided to fall
    back on an alternate solution for sealing my foul drain -- closed-cell
    foam pipe insulation in an obviously >1" diameter form factor. Thinks:
    offer up and cut off appropriate length; insert length of propylene garden
    twine and tie off the ends when installed around pipe (to allow recovery
    if necessary); poke down into gap and seal off the sewerage smell, leaving
    something substantial to stop concrete falling into receiver when I do get
    some.

    Waltzed up to till with a metre-or-so length; of course I chose the
    wrong queueue, so waited while the people ahead of me fiddled about with
    debit-cards and such (Why? Cash is much quicker and never refused...) and
    finally got the till to flash up when the PFY zapped the barcode -- 48 p!

    Unfortunately the execution was not so slick as the idea. The
    foul pipe is not concentric with the hole through the footpath, so while
    the gap is 25 mm or more at the front, around the back it's only 5 or 6
    mm. The broken concrete seal only extends around the region of wider
    gappage -- about 180-degrees of the circle. I cut the foam to length and
    blocked up that gap pending finding some ready-mixed cement at Wickes
    downtown.

    As for the bathtub, nothing's offering itself (JBWeld?) so I have
    to find time to tidy up the house enough to let a plumber in to replace
    the tub. :-(

    --
    Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
    Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
    GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
    WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
    KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".
     
    Ivan D. Reid, Jun 4, 2011
    #1
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