Got more plumbing problems than I thought I had.

aliasojo

andyhop wrote: »

You must have known that you have a leak as its a pressuirised system and needs manual top ups!

I knew I had A leak...not several.

The leak I knew about was the towel rad he had put up in the bathroom. The valves were on the wrong way and a loud vibration happened if you turned the thermostat up, so we never had it on. The cold water would seep out of the connections (to the rad and also the joins that were inside the wall). We knew the bathroom was being redone and the new plumber said he would do everything at once so we just put up with it and occasionally topped up the boiler. The plaster board had been pulled off the wall so we could keep an eye on the leaks inside, we just wrapped cloths round them until they got too wet then replaced.

So....that's why we thought the boiler lost pressure. With hindsight the man's work was clearly very poor so we should have treated everything suspiciously. :rolleyes: You would not believe how much money we paid him. :rolleyes:

I suspect that's why I ask sooooo many questions now.

Pssst

aliasojo wrote: »

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?

Oh this is bad news. The bracket is a pipe jig which is affixed to the wall in the correct position so that the boiler can be piped in without actually fitting it until the final stages. This is useful for example for building site fixes for security against the boiler getting nicked. Its also useful as you can flush out the new system without fitting the boiler. Im guessing your boiler is sealed/combi type . Presumably you have to keep topping up the pressure due to leakage? Bad news,encourages corrosion and dilutes system additives if he has put any in. A real bodgit job. The chap from WB who serviced it may not necessarily have detected a leak. If you smell gas,get it checked. You could also do with having a system water anaylsis done to see what kind of soup is swirling round in the system.

EliteHeat

aliasojo wrote: »

You would not believe how much money we paid him.

Go on, tell us

btw I've seen much worse than that, but i thought the gas tape coming loose was a nice touch - just how bad at your job do you have to be to not be able to get a bit of sticky tape to stick?

aliasojo

Thanks for all the replies. On a bit of a downer today with it all.

Psssst....that's exactly what that is, a pipe jig, I couldn't remember what it was called......I'm wondering if a replacement can be bought? Any idea? There again, if the boiler and system has been seriously compromised by topping up/no additive (I have no idea if he put in additive or not, I dont remember his mentioning it nor did I see any bottles left....and he left me all his rubbish), I could be looking at having to replace more than just a jig in the not so distant future. :undecided Right now, I have a huge intense loathing for any flipping tradesman who thinks he can do anything less than a good job. This plumber's laziness/lack of care might well cost me thousands to fix. I'm really very angry and more than a little fed up.

If there is a corrosive issue...does that mean all the pipework would have to be renewed too? And the rads? How would I get a water analysis done? Can the plumber do that or is it a more specialised thing?

EliteHeat

You're getting too stressed by this. The pipe jig is not supporting anything, the weight of the boiler is supported at the top not the bottom.

Just get some quotes to fix the leaks and to flush and protect the system, I wouldn't have thought it would cost a great deal.

All this talk of replacing pipe work and radiators, let alone boilers is just panicking, So, despite your great loathing of tradesmen, a decent one can and will save you money. Quite clearly you have taken on someone unqualified & inexperienced and agreed to pay cash for a cheap job, unfortunately this is exactly what you got.

aliasojo

Yes, I am stressed and panicking. I will happily admit that. It's been one thing after another for years. I usually try to keep my sense of humour about things but I'm having a bad day today and it's getting on top of me.

Oh and btw....I dont loath tradesmen in general, my new plumber who will be coming to sort this out seems good and I have a good electrician. I just hate poor tradesmen who do a bad job through sheer carelessness or laziness.

mikey72

Hope you get it all fixed, I don't touch gas myself, (not registered), but it doesn't look stunning. The earth bonding needs checking as well.
With respect to Eliteheat and Canucklehead, the OP has said the plumber wasn't young and inexperienced, and it was then certified by a Corgi registered plumber, and inspected by Worcester Bosch. Goes to show sometimes age and certification don't mean anything. I would say stick to a recommendation, but even then this guy has worked for you before, so maybe there was no way out of this one.

Pssst

Inspection and certification is more to do with the appliance operating and installed in such a manner that it does not present a danger to the user. Quality and integrity of work is a different matter.

I'd suggest that was the OP needs to do is to find someone who has some pride in their work and who is competent and have that person assess the installation.

On the surface,it seems like it needs to be thoroughly flushed,have its leaks sorted and have some water treatment done with the possible addition of a Magnaclean device or similar.

The pipe jig isnt an issue as its just their mainly for installer convenience and doesnt bear a great deal if any of the weight of the boiler. It depends on make.

I wonder what area the OP lives in?

aliasojo

Pssst...just searched for Magnaclean as hadn't heard of it before. Will definitely get one installed, it sounds like my system could use something like that as well as a good clean out and some protective additive of some sort.

The new plumber has already voiced concern about some of the pipes he saw when putting in a new rad. He reckoned the pipe should have been clipped to the underside of the joists and not left lying in messy loops on the ground under the floor. He said that a 'run off' (?? think that's what it was) should have been installed at the lowest point but all the looped pipes left lying has meant the 'lowest point' bit is now a joke.

He hasn't seen the boiler pipework yet.

North of Scotland btw.

Pssst

I cannae make it that farrrrr.....

Good luck with your new plumber though