Topic ID 4516
Can anyone recommend someone who installs outdoor taps so i can hose my back garden!! and roughly how much it would cost? had one quote for £160 which i find to be overpriced?
Reply ID 64573
There are DIY kits available. No plumbing required. They just clamp over an existing pipe and screw down to pierce it once you are happy with all the rest of the installation. You still have to drill a hole through the wall though and attached the tap with three screws and plugs and you'll need a basic tool kit to include a couple of adjustable spanners. The greener alternative would be a water butt. Kits are avalailable which are inserted into an existing downpipe. A small saw is all that is required. Presto! Free water, but unfortunately no pressure for that hose. If you use a professional tradesman, bear in mind that you are paying for his tools, his experience, his administration, accountant, his vehicle, his downtime and all that goes with self-employment, not just his wage. £160 begins to look more reasonable, though I'd always get more than one quote. Try Mark on 01992413368
Reply ID 64586
try hubby 2 hire as well, they have a flat rate of I think 50 first hour, then 25 an hour, plus parts - as shunt says the kit of parts for such a job will be 30 quid or so...
Reply ID 64588
The price will also depend where you want the tap in relation to the nearest cold water pipe. The kits only work if you are within a metre or so of a 15mm cold water pipe on the other side of the wall. Everything else will require water off, the pipe cut and the insertion of a T piece and extended piping.
Reply ID 64589
If it is going on the wall as the kitchen sink (I.E where main supply is) I would charge £100 all in.
Reply ID 64604
You can get the kits for £9.99 from Focus, you just need to have or buy the right drill bits.
Reply ID 64609
If you don't have a water meter, you will also have to contact the water company (Three Valleys) as you have to pay extra to have an external tap for watering gardens. (Or at least you used to have to do that.)
Reply ID 64639
Dear Mr Beane... You do indeed pay more for the privilege of having an external pipe for watering the garden.. and then you get a heatwave and are banned from using it!!! Drama Queen's father moans about it all the time.. So we also have big water butts to collect rainwater and use them too... but yes, there is a charge and woe betide you if you install it and don't let the water companies know..
Reply ID 64652
quote:Oh dear [B)]
woe betide you if you install it and don't let the water companies know
Reply ID 64787
quote:Last time I checked the 3 valleys website - you need a water meter if you want to use a sprinkler, but not a garden hose.
Originally posted by Ray_by_the_Beane
If you don't have a water meter, you will also have to contact the water company (Three Valleys) as you have to pay extra to have an external tap for watering gardens. (Or at least you used to have to do that.)
Reply ID 64792
quote:So how is the water company going to know??
Originally posted by Drama Queen
Dear Mr Beane... You do indeed pay more for the privilege of having an external pipe for watering the garden.. and then you get a heatwave and are banned from using it!!! Drama Queen's father moans about it all the time.. So we also have big water butts to collect rainwater and use them too... but yes, there is a charge and woe betide you if you install it and don't let the water companies know..
Reply ID 64793
quote:I seem to remember they had spotter planes out last time we had a drought and anyone with a green lawn that did not pay for a sprinkler and / or hose got a visit!
Originally posted by buzzquote:So how is the water company going to know??
Originally posted by Drama Queen
Dear Mr Beane... You do indeed pay more for the privilege of having an external pipe for watering the garden.. and then you get a heatwave and are banned from using it!!! Drama Queen's father moans about it all the time.. So we also have big water butts to collect rainwater and use them too... but yes, there is a charge and woe betide you if you install it and don't let the water companies know..
Reply ID 64795
Can I just mention at this point that according to Mr G (a gardener by profession) it really isn't a good idea to water an established lawn in the dry summer months. Watering just causes the roots to stay shallow and dry out quicker, as does cutting it too short. It is far better to mow the lawn on a higher cut and not watering, that way the grass stays thicker, lusher and in much better condition (especially if it has had a spring lawn treatment). Of course in a really hot dry spell it will still dry out, but it will take much longer to do so and recover much quicker when the rains start again. So if you are just installing a tap just to water an already established lawn, you might be better to save your money (and water). [:)]
Reply ID 64826
Water companies can see by your consumption of water going up if you're doing something you shouldn't and gardeners who may have a hosepipe ban on their precious gardens have been known in my neighbourhood to "rat" on those using pipes/sprinklers when they shouldn't so the water companies will find out.. trust me!!!!
Reply ID 64839
Water companies will not see your consumption going up if you don't have a water meter...and most of us don't! Hosepipe bans are a different matter all together.Even so, when there has been a hosepipe ban there was nothing to stop someone from filling up a watering can from an outside tap.
Reply ID 64976
Certainly Mr Buzz, but I am only speaking from local experience, when a neighbour of mine defied a ban, used their hosepipe and sprinkler and another angry neighbour (still unknown) shopped them..