Any fast help appreciated,plumber coming back

diddlydi_3

i discovered I had a leak on the stopcock where the mains pipe comes onto my house(just inside my front door)The two pipes in & out of the stopcock are lead.

I called a plumber today & he had a look & said he could mend it for £100 or replace it for £160.00,I went for the replacement & he said I was lucky as this type of stopcock were no longer available,but he had one in his van.

he tried three that he brought out,none of them were new,& fitted one of them,when he was near completion of the work he said that if it didnt work,i would need to have a new copper pipe section either side of the stopcock & stopcock at £200.

i paid the £160 cash & he was very reluctant to give me a receipt when i asked for one

this was at 12.30pm today,the work took approx 25mins,& now I have had a look,it is still dripping,although a lot slower than before.

I have called him & he said -'those types of stopcock will never be completely dry',i told him I have paid £160 & the problem is still there,so he has agreed to come back at 4pm today.

I am a female on my own & concerned that he will blind me with plumbing science.

would be really grateful if anyone has any advice

thank you

Browntoa

ay decent plumber would be able to replac it with any of these

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_search=stop%20!!!!&cm_mmc=Google-_-Plumbing-_-Brassware%20-%20Stop%20Cocks-_-stopcocks?P=P&gclid=COWBp5b17ZgCFVCS3wodoTgz1g&source=aw

turn off the supply in the road



and connect the old lead if need be to some new pipe

sparky883

You have already paid enough for a new stop-tap tell the plumber when he comes back to do it correctly,Like he should have the first time,Plumbing onto old lead is more diffucult but he should have make a better effort.You are in the right,He will soon back down,and fix it for you.
Browntoa: plumbing onto lead is not straight forward!!!

Browntoa

this company has special lead fit components

http://www.tycowaterworks.com/Resources/pdfs/T_Stopcocks_www.pdf

diddlydi_3

sparky883 wrote: »

You have already paid enough for a new stop-tap tell the plumber when he comes back to do it correctly,Like he should have the first time,Plumbing onto old lead is more diffucult but he should have make a better effort.You are in the right,He will soon back down,and fix it for you.
Browntoa: plumbing onto lead is not straight forward!!!

thanks for that Sparky883

Do you think that it is repairable then - i am worried he will say its the lead pipes & I have to have the copper ones put in at £200

sparky883

He knew it was lead pipes when he got there £160 is still more than enough even if it is lead-What he should have done was explained to you the problems that the lead pipe can have on repairs and swapped it for copper giving you the price upfront before trying to repair it.
I would have quoted your job at around £200 as an Emergency repair and let you decide itemised at 2 hrs labour £160 plus parts.

Canucklehead

Hi

Is it too late to post a photo?

Stopcocks, as with all plumbing, should not leak or drip.
I'd be wary of this plumber.

Corgi Guy

diddlydi_3

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi

Is it too late to post a photo?

Stopcocks, as with all plumbing, should not leak or drip.
I'd be wary of this plumber.

Corgi Guy

Thanks corgi guy,I will try to take a photo,

spakkker

Our water company swapped ours for free -and we weren't even paying water rates then!

diddlydi_3

The plumber has just been round again.

Fitted a new washer,said the one he put in earlier was leaking.

It started to drip again,very slowly though,he said there was nothing else he could do as if he tightened it anymore that the lead pipe could break,apart from fit new copper pipe & a new stopcock at an extra cost of £200
Which means that to get this fixed would cost £360 in total.

I asked him why he did not give me the choice of copper pipes at £200 & only said he could fix it for £160,he replied that he didnt think of it until after he had done the repair & anyway he had fixed it 99%.

It is still leaking,although a lot less than it was.

He then said he would replace it with copper piping for £140 extra - should I accept this even though I have already paid £160?

Any advice would be very appreciated

Canucklehead

Hi
Stop using this guy .It sounds like he's dragging this out out and will milk it for all it's worth.
Sit back get the photo posted and lets see....
Corgi Guy.

PS where did you find this plumber?
Back later