Got more plumbing problems than I thought I had.

aliasojo

The new plumber is coming out this week to sort out my bathroom plumbing and I've just pulled out a unit that has been hiding the boiler pipework for the last 6 months at least, to give him full access to the adjacent soil pipe which I want him to completely replace as the last plumber was a cowboy and I've got more joins than pipe (all of which leak and to think I thought the smell was next door's cat spraying at our back door :rolleyes:).

I'm disgusted to see that there isn't one copper pipe connection to the boiler that hasn't leaked. So that is now everything the old plumber did that has a problem. I'm so angry and fed up that I'm about ready to chuck in the towel. I'm wasting my time trying to improve our lot when so called 'tradesmen' make sure I end up worse off than ever. If the stuff he did above the floor is like this, I cant even bear to think what the pipework he routed under the floor is like.

I'm hoping the new plumber can cut off the pipes leading to the boiler, at floor level and re-do the connections at least.

I've also had it mentioned that the fridge water supply should not have been connected to the boiler pipework. Does anyone know if that's correct or not?

Lastly, I dont know if it's my imagination or not but I'm thinking I can get a faint smell of gas immediately under the boiler bottom. If the plumbers water pipe connections were bad then maybe his gas one was too. Is there a specific meter to pick up on this? I've not smelt it before, but then again I've not been stood with my nose in the boiler workings before. :rolleyes:

I've got pics but Photobucket is doing maintenance so will post them shortly.

Canucklehead

aliasojo wrote: »

The new plumber is coming out this week to sort out my bathroom plumbing and I've just pulled out a unit that has been hiding the boiler pipework for the last 6 months at least, to give him full access to the adjacent soil pipe which I want him to completely replace as the last plumber was a cowboy and I've got more joins than pipe (all of which leak and to think I thought the smell was next door's cat spraying at our back door :rolleyes:).

I'm disgusted to see that there isn't one copper pipe connection to the boiler that hasn't leaked. So that is now everything the old plumber did that has a problem. I'm so angry and fed up that I'm about ready to chuck in the towel. I'm wasting my time trying to improve our lot when so called 'tradesmen' make sure I end up worse off than ever. If the stuff he did above the floor is like this, I cant even bear to think what the pipework he routed under the floor is like.

I'm hoping the new plumber can cut off the pipes leading to the boiler, at floor level and re-do the connections at least.

I've also had it mentioned that the fridge water supply should not have been connected to the boiler pipework. Does anyone know if that's correct or not?

Lastly, I dont know if it's my imagination or not but I'm thinking I can get a faint smell of gas immediately under the boiler bottom. If the plumbers water pipe connections were bad then maybe his gas one was too. Is there a specific meter to pick up on this? I've not smelt it before, but then again I've not been stood with my nose in the boiler workings before. :rolleyes:

I've got pics but Photobucket is doing maintenance so will post them shortly.

Good morning: Did you have someone in to fit the boiler? If so, this work needs to be reported to Gas Safe Register (they will only be interested in the gas side). If you think you can smell gas this should be reported to the National Grid.

I hope the new plumber has be recommended to you a source you trust.
PS...fridge should have its own supply.

HTH

Canucklehead

chnelomi

aliasojo wrote: »

I've also had it mentioned that the fridge water supply should not have been connected to the boiler pipework. Does anyone know if that's correct or not.

:eek::eek::eek:Erm no i'm no plumber but as far as i am aware the only thing that should be connected on to the boiler is the boiler their should not be anything on the pipes at all.
Get this checked asap as it could interupt the supply to the boiler and cause problems later.

aliasojo wrote: »

Lastly, I dont know if it's my imagination or not but I'm thinking I can get a faint smell of gas immediately under the boiler bottom. If the plumbers water pipe connections were bad then maybe his gas one was too. Is there a specific meter to pick up on this? I've not smelt it before, but then again I've not been stood with my nose in the boiler workings before. :rolleyes:

Sometimes you can smell burnt off gas close to a boiler but have this checked too as like you say if his water work was less than satisfactory i would be very cautious of anything he touched.

Sorry your having these problems but in my experience allot of these so called qualified trades men are shocking. once payed a gas man to fit a new pipe for my cooker and left OH in the house with him when i got back OH wouldn't let me in the kitchen. strange given he dose not cook. Our recommended fitter had run the gas pipe along the TOP of the work top then behind the cooker that could no longer sit against the wall as the pipe was in the way. i was like a mad women trying to find the yellow pages to complain to any one that would listen lol

Pssst

The pipework and earth bonding does look pretty rough but then thats what happens when you turn out corgi registered engineers and plumbers after a bit of a course and a few hundred quid.

The greenery on the pipework is probably due to the use of self cleaning flux when soldering which has then not been cleaned off.

Prey that he flushed the system after he installed it. He probably didnt so this stuff will be swirling round eating away at it. Bad news.

If you even think you smell gas call 0800111999 to have it checked out. Its free and they will visit within an hour or two.

aliasojo

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good morning: Did you have someone in to fit the boiler? If so, this work needs to be reported to Gas Safe Register (they will only be interested in the gas side). If you think you can smell gas this should be reported to the National Grid.

I hope the new plumber has be recommended to you a source you trust.
PS...fridge should have its own supply.

HTH

Canucklehead

The old plumber is a chap I've 'known' (loosely) for years. He has done previous small jobs for me with no problems so I had no reason to suspect there would be any issues.

This time around he said he would just work 'off the meter' which meant no proper bills. Given what I'd shelled out previously, I will admit to being quite happy about the thought of saving some money on this job. Obviously this has backfired and a lesson has been learned.

He had a sidekick in tow this time and his work was no better. The only difference was his bits leaked obviously straightaway and my usual plumber 'fixed' them. Or not as it's turned out to be.

I was under the impression he was Corgi registered at the time until he brought in someone else to switch the boiler on, do some sort of test and declare it fine. That's when I realised he wasn't registered himself.

I did get a Corgi cert through the post afterwards but it wasn't accurate as it was for 'work not requiring a building warrant'.....and ours did as the boiler was being moved, it wasn't a new installation.

Worcester Bosch has been out to service the boiler and no mention of any gas leak has been made (would he have picked up on that?) Also no comment was made about the fridge connection so I didn't think it was an issue until someone else mentioned it.

I'm very unhappy about it all, I wish I could just turn back the clock.

The new plumber (s) are 2 brothers who come from a plumbing family. They are friends of my son so are young but they seem to know what they are doing and the work they've done for me so far (new kitchen sink installation, stand alone pipe for washing machine, outside tap, new radiator and pipework) has been really neatly routed and none of it has leaked, so I'm happy with their work. I only wish I'd got them in sooner.

Canucklehead

Pssst wrote: »

The pipework and earth bonding does look pretty rough but then thats what happens when you turn out corgi registered engineers and plumbers after a bit of a course and a few hundred quid.

The greenery on the pipework is probably due to the use of self cleaning flux when soldering which has then not been cleaned off.

Prey that he flushed the system after he installed it. He probably didnt so this stuff will be swirling round eating away at it. Bad news.

If you even think you smell gas call 0800111999 to have it checked out. Its free and they will visit within an hour or two.

Hi...classic cowboy job. As I've said before, not all RGIs/'plumbers' have completed an apprenticeship.... consumers should try sourcing a member of the CIPHE if possible.

HTGH

Canucklehead

aliasojo

Pssst wrote: »

The greenery on the pipework is probably due to the use of self cleaning flux when soldering which has then not been cleaned off.

No, it's definitely from the connections to the boiler, it has been water that's run down the length of the pipe in most cases.

I turned the boiler off today and let the pipes cool and sure enough there is wet around the connections. It must just be small regular amounts that evaporate with the heat of the pipes usually, when the boiler is on and that's why it wasn't obvious that there were leaks.

aliasojo

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi...classic cowboy job.

That's what I thought too.

This is an older bloke who has had his own business for many years. I have no idea why he's still getting work.

aliasojo

Bit concerned about this....the metal plate that the boiler connection 'hang' from seem to have rusted. You can't really see clearly from the pic but just under the nut has rusted badly.

This plate was supplied by WB as an aid to getting the plumbing connections sorted out before actually hanging the boiler so I'm assuming it's not a necessary part and wont be the end of the world if it is now rusted through?

brig001

What is wrong with the way the water to the fridge is connected? Assuming it is the small white pipe in the photo, it looks like it is connected to the cold water feed to the combi and should be OK. I suppose you could argue that it shouldn't go past the hot pipes to be cooled by the fridge...

Bri.

andyhop

Seen worse than that!!

Dented gas pipe, too much flux on pipework, tap on the threads of compression fittings and not on the olive....Cowboy job!!

The connections onto the valve do sometime weep over time, the fibre washers once wet just break up with the temperature...As much as we could all blame the installer sometimes the householder is just as responsible, Should have been checked.You must have known that you have a leak as its a pressuirised system and needs manual top ups!