plumbers and i use the term very generously...

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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 2:11 pm Post subject: plumbers and i use the term very generously...

sometimes really annoy me .when i got up to find a note from sd mentioning the flood in the kitchen after she used the shower i expected it to be a minor job (sealant etc etc ) .it was not to be.

having removed all the bath and shower tray panels i can see the problem which is the cowboy that installed i decade or more ago who

A used super cheap pipe and fittings

B failed to cut the pipes the correct lengths

C managed to get a few mm of pipe into each end and failed to secure those in any meaningful way

D failed to use any clips or other support for 2 m horizontal pipe run

E probably got several other things wrong (that i aint found and fixed yet although i have redone most of his work over the last few years ,the kitchen was special and the kitchen electrics were criminal)

i could try and do remedial stuff to the bits that are there but im going to do a proper job with good materials used well.this is not as simple as it seems cos i dont want to take the bath and shower out to get the plumbing in but if i cant work out a sneaky clever way to do keyhole surgery on it i might have to.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

i feel a bit better for sharing

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 2:18 pm Post subject:
Been there. Drainage is now definitely something I do myself.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 4:21 pm Post subject:

F the screw on the shower trap had not even been finger tightened which made it easier for the sagging pipe to escape

G i wont mention that if the pipe had been threaded though the upstand of the bath before the bath went in it would have been supported and in a strait line rather than both bent and saggy.oops i did

what i find both odd and annoying is it is usually easier,quicker and taking labour into account cheaper and more profitable to do plumbing (and almost all other construction jobs)properly .

the cheap trap on the shower should be an anti syphon one (an extra couple of� ) but as i would have to take the shower tray out (and retile the shower ) to even unfit the existing one it will have to stay gurgly,grrrr

sorry to rant but it is a good example of making sure you pick a tradesperson well or find out how to do it properly and diy the job.

anyway tis waterproof again so the bath and shower can be used but i might do it properly before i put all the panels back and my kitchen recently restored ceiling will dry out eventually.

BahamaMama

Joined: 21 Sep 2006
Posts: 2315
Location: Away with the fairies

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 4:44 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

it is a good example of making sure you pick a tradesperson well or find out how to do it properly and diy the job..

Sorry to hear this dpack - water-related incidents are grim.

The tricky thing is how to know you have a decent tradesman....

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 5:32 pm Post subject:
& I bet he charges �70.00 an hour. At least that's what the local plumber charges. & that's his day rate, emergencies cost a whole lot more. I encourage all children to take up a trade, you will never be hungry. Don't become a doctor or a nurse, there's no money in human plumbing. They are vocations not career choices.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 5:36 pm Post subject:

BahamaMama wrote:

dpack wrote:

it is a good example of making sure you pick a tradesperson well or find out how to do it properly and diy the job..

Sorry to hear this dpack - water-related incidents are grim.

The tricky thing is how to know you have a decent tradesman....

i am

this stuff was done before i met tt.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Nov 26, 15 5:39 pm Post subject:

Tavascarow wrote:

& I bet he charges �70.00 an hour. At least that's what the local plumber charges. & that's his day rate, emergencies cost a whole lot more.
I encourage all children to take up a trade, you will never be hungry.
Don't become a doctor or a nurse, there's no money in human plumbing.
They are vocations not career choices.

for a decent job his prices were quite reasonable ,it is the decent job bit that was missing from the equation .

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15970

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 15 7:00 am Post subject:

Finding a good plumber or other tradesman is difficult, particularly when they now learn 'on the job' or just do a bit of training for a few weeks. Although husband never trained as a plumber, a friend of ours always got him to do her plumbing as well as her electrics (for which he was fully trained), and he solved her leaking bath when nobody else could. Simple as putting a bit of mastic behind the overflow fitting.

jettejette

Joined: 01 Jun 2013
Posts: 225

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 15 7:15 am Post subject:
I sympathise, dpack. We had a leaky shower when we bought our house due to cowboy plumbing. Fortunately, like you, hubby can do basic things himself. Which goes to show that it was basic things which weren't done correctly in the first place.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 15 12:15 pm Post subject:

when i ran a refurbishment company about a third of our work was remedial to put right cowboy jobs.

among the seemingly improvement/modernisation jobs about half involved putting right something that had been done extremely badly

it is amazing the damage a minor cowboy job can cause ,the issues that a water source from plumbing or weatherproofing botch are often a thousand times more expensive than the original job ,"dry" rot is a good example(nice little earner/loadsamoney)

unless electrics have been done recently ,properly and throughout to 17th ed regs there is a good chance that it has been done "one piece at a time" and /or extremely badly and is best removed and replaced as finding un terminated lead sheathed cable in a wall when hanging a picture or replastering(see above) or that a unsupported cable behind a kitchen unit (with added kinks) has half burned through is a surprise nobody needs.

it isnt a modern problem i have fixed stuff done by georgian cowboys(a lack of foundations was an 18 c speciality )

etc etc .

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 15 4:58 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

for a decent job his prices were quite reasonable ,it is the decent job bit that was missing from the equation .

If there is a lot of it that is below par, you should consider sending him a bill for remedial work...

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 15 6:21 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

dpack wrote:

for a decent job his prices were quite reasonable ,it is the decent job bit that was missing from the equation .

If there is a lot of it that is below par, you should consider sending him a bill for remedial work...

i prefer the option of honest reviews get results. the kitchen wires were shown to a nice chap we know who happens to be head of trading standards along with a short list of about 5 other jobs we know that chap has done .

tis a small town hidden in a city

and quite a lot of potential clients and contractors now know him by his works

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15970

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 15 7:22 am Post subject:
The first house we had had some interesting Victorian work. The builders didn't know too much about slate damp courses, so only had one layer of slate, rather than 2 separated by a brick, and as far as we could see, the missing bricks in the fire wall between us and the next house in the terrace were an original design feature.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 15 8:53 am Post subject:
D Pack, I like your style.

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 15 11:11 am Post subject:
Indeed - nothing worse for business than a customer who can detail all your epic fails.

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