Ben's plumbing odyssey : 2. An audience with Mr Fixit

I was at a friends house - who was serious wizard in the art of home maintenance. He was bleeding the radiators and I noticed a few missing floorboards which had not yet been replaced.

Me : "Why are the floorboard missing"
Mr Fixit: "Because I moved the radiator"
Me : "Did you get a plumber to do the pipework then ?"
Mr Fixit: "No, I did it myself."
Me : "Do you know how to solder pipes together then ?" (This was the only method I knew of.)
Mr Fixit: "No, I used compression joints"
Me : "What's a compression joint ?"

He explained what a compression fitting was. I was fascinated. I had all sorts of niggling plumbing problems at home with various pipes in the wrong places and redundant bits of pipe. Perhaps if I could get to grips with this I could address a few of them - and save myself a pretty penny in plumbing bills. Ah... the prospect of plumbing independence. Emancipation from the tyranny of plumbing bills.

Anything was possible now. Perhaps I could irrigate the sahara next!