DIY?..Housekeeping?...My DP!...says "ask on mumsnet, they'll know"!!!!

[PinkChick]

prob1 : we have gas fire with back boiler, its old, but we really cant afford to replace this year as just paying of kitchen after flood...soo...only recently (been in 2 years, previous owner was gas man so serviced it before we moved in)..actually since we replaced old carpet with nice clean cream one!..we have crap flying out from under fire!..soot!..black little clumps!????..i hoover every day in there and even take off the front to hoover up anything that may have blown down...did this this morn and came back this afty to find big specks of 'black' all at foot of fire on carpet!...so what can i do?, who can i call to fix or can i do something myself??

Prob2 : Our 'seen better days' bathroom taps, well the hot one has started clunking when we run it fast, water spurts out, stops, spruts out..then after minute is fine...is it the cold weather?..or are my taps falling apart and im going to have ANOTHER flood in the kitchen????

prob3 : easier one...as bathroom is 'next' on a long list of to do's we dont have a fitted shower, we use those awful rubbery attatchments on the taps for hair washing..but the white rubbery bits stick to nozzle of taps and is now developing a ring around both??..go's soft on hot, so can pick it off(feels like chewing gum!), but cold wont budge??..what can i use???

LOl, so if you can help, my DP will finally admit i dont sit here whittering on about any old rubbish with you lot and you ARE actually a fountain of all knowledge

TIA

Prob 2 sounds like an airlock.

Still thinking about others

hmm..so how would i fix that??..taps are under bath(obv) and the panel is fixed in place with tiles right upto it????

Prob 3 - how about vinegar soaked cotton wool wrapped around the mark, and leave it overnight covered in a plastic bag or clingfilm.

My dh always says that there's an airlock in the pipes coming from the tank when it splutters. Is there not a valve somewhere that can be "bled"?

I'm sorry, dh has just gone out to work, so he's not here to ask. This is a pity because he plumbed our house and knows about things like that.

Perhaps someone will come on who is a plumber!!!!!

Prob 1 - don't know enough about gas fires. We have a wood burning stove so I have lots of soot to deal with.

But if a gas fire is sooting up, doesn't that mean that it's got a problem?

found this

Don't want to panic you, but it may mean that dangerous fumes are being emitted.

Prob 1 - Is the gas fire installed in an old chimney?

If so it may be that the chimney wasn't swept when it was (hopefully) lined with a gas flue and with all the horrendous weather of late particularly winds you're getting a downdraft blowing out old soot and tar.

in the mean time i would get a rug to save your carpet until u can get it resolved.

be careful incase it is dangerous

hope u get it fixed

1. Get your gas fire checked - gas and soot NOT a good combo

1. Airlock - you need to force the bubble back through the pipe, try running the tap then applying pressure to stop the water (worked for us)
2. No idea

HI and thanks for those ...i WILL call a gas company but i KNOW its not emitting carbon monoxide as i have an alarm just outside that room, i DO think it is prob what ANTagony said and that its the wind blowing it in...i put sellotape(stickyside facing fire) in front across legs of it last night to see if it 'caught' anything but so far nothing???..but like i say, i will cnotact someone to get it swept..how much does something like that cost??and i didnt realise you could get that done with it being a gas fire/back boiler and not an open fire (sorry if im dim)

For prob 2, no cant see a valve anywere, may be under bath but cant get to it easilly without breaking tiles off..will try 'forcing' the water back up see if that helps??

and prob 3...ill try the vingar and cotton wool method, see if that helps..does it have to be white vingar?

Thanks so much for all this...DP can now be proven wrong LOL

HI...rang chimney sweep and he said not possa s you have to be able to get access to chimney from inside..impossible as fire is there..hm...rang gas guy..£44-55 for servcie £55 said inc certificate..other didnt specify..is this reasonable?...what are the chances of them telling me it would cost me £100's as back boiler is obsolite??