New radiators - totally baffled!

FreeBear

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

A1ps

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

How can you tell that a joist has been cut? Which picture is it please?

A1ps

ThisIsWeird said:

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

Sure. I'll be able to do this later tonight. 

And not sure if I have legal cover as my wife done it this year. Will double check with her. May I ask why you ask? I'm even more worried now. 

May I ask for a mega big favour please as I'm totally lost and in a muddle here - could you please draft a short description of what exactly needs to be done on all the pipes so I can then send it to the "plumber"? I've tried but none of it makes sense. I get the processes mixed up and don't know exactly what fittings are required where.

ThisIsWeird

A1ps said:

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

How can you tell that a joist has been cut? Which picture is it please?

See FreeBear's post, two or three upwards. The one with the bit of screwed ply. It looks as tho' serious drilling has taken place through solid wood for the pipe to pass through. If that's the end of a joist, there's a chance it's been weakened excessively.

ThisIsWeird

A1ps said:

ThisIsWeird said:

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

Sure. I'll be able to do this later tonight. 

And not sure if I have legal cover as my wife done it this year. Will double check with her. May I ask why you ask? I'm even more worried now. 

May I ask for a mega big favour please as I'm totally lost and in a muddle here - could you please draft a short description of what exactly needs to be done on all the pipes so I can then send it to the "plumber"? I've tried but none of it makes sense. I get the processes mixed up and don't know exactly what fittings are required where.

I don't wish to alarm you, and all of this is sortable before the floor is covered up.
'Legal Protection' is there to advise and support you with issues such as breaches of contracts, or poor quality work - stuff like that. It's free to call for advice and guidance, and they should also undertake action for you if needed.
I'm really not sure what to recommend here. A big part of me thinks that the standard of work is simply so unacceptable - these are such obvious issues that should simply not have occurred - that the person is simply too incompetent to be allowed to continue, and the 'contract' should be terminated. The DIYers on here would not have done this.
May I ask - what stage is payment at? Have you paid for the work to date? Are there payments outstanding? 

As for the fitting issue, summat like, "At least one push-fit plumbing fitting has its release collar located so close to the underside of the floor that it risks the pipe being released, which would cause water damage. Each fitting should be checked and modified as necessary, to prevent this possibility." 
It will be interesting to see how he replies to this. 
Tbh, I'd be wanting to part ways, and find someone competent. The new plumber should check over all this work to ensure it's 'safe'. They will also likely be capable of patching these bits of floor to an acceptable standard, or will know a joiner/handyperson they, themselves, use for such a thing.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: I'm really not sure what to recommend here. A big part of me thinks that the standard of work is simply so unacceptable - these are such obvious issues that should simply not have occurred - that the person is simply too incompetent to be allowed to continue, and the 'contract' should be terminated. The DIYers on here would not have done this.

I'm not going to rush in to blaming the current plumber for all the poor quality of work - The OP did say this house was built by a corner cutting cowboy. So a building that has yet to give up all of its bodges.

A1ps

ThisIsWeird said:

A1ps said:

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

How can you tell that a joist has been cut? Which picture is it please?

See FreeBear's post, two or three upwards. The one with the bit of screwed ply. It looks as tho' serious drilling has taken place through solid wood for the pipe to pass through. If that's the end of a joist, there's a chance it's been weakened excessively.

ThisIsWeird said:

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

Guys, sorry for the delay. Here are the pictures after the ply was removed. My gosh it was difficult to take out the screws. Does it look like the joist has been cut?

A1ps

ThisIsWeird said:

A1ps said:

ThisIsWeird said:

FreeBear said:

A1ps said: Loft room: the 4th picture here is worrying if these are the press-collar fixings.

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

If someone has chewed a sizeable chunk out of a joist to fit that elbow, they need a kick up the proverbial. There are tables published on the internet (and freely available) that tell you the maximum permissible size of notches, and the distance from the ends. If it is indeed a joist that has been butchered, you might want to consider taking steps to reinforce it.

Yikes!

A1, could you unscrew that piece of ply, please, and hoover away all the debris so's we can have a proper gander at what's happened there?

Er, do you have Legal Protection included in your house insurance? 

Sure. I'll be able to do this later tonight. 

And not sure if I have legal cover as my wife done it this year. Will double check with her. May I ask why you ask? I'm even more worried now. 

May I ask for a mega big favour please as I'm totally lost and in a muddle here - could you please draft a short description of what exactly needs to be done on all the pipes so I can then send it to the "plumber"? I've tried but none of it makes sense. I get the processes mixed up and don't know exactly what fittings are required where.

I don't wish to alarm you, and all of this is sortable before the floor is covered up.
'Legal Protection' is there to advise and support you with issues such as breaches of contracts, or poor quality work - stuff like that. It's free to call for advice and guidance, and they should also undertake action for you if needed.
I'm really not sure what to recommend here. A big part of me thinks that the standard of work is simply so unacceptable - these are such obvious issues that should simply not have occurred - that the person is simply too incompetent to be allowed to continue, and the 'contract' should be terminated. The DIYers on here would not have done this.
May I ask - what stage is payment at? Have you paid for the work to date? Are there payments outstanding? 

As for the fitting issue, summat like, "At least one push-fit plumbing fitting has its release collar located so close to the underside of the floor that it risks the pipe being released, which would cause water damage. Each fitting should be checked and modified as necessary, to prevent this possibility." 
It will be interesting to see how he replies to this. 
Tbh, I'd be wanting to part ways, and find someone competent. The new plumber should check over all this work to ensure it's 'safe'. They will also likely be capable of patching these bits of floor to an acceptable standard, or will know a joiner/handyperson they, themselves, use for such a thing.

Thank you for the wording TIW. I'll definitely be taking this to him. And if you guys confirm the joists will be cut, how can he fix that (if at all)?

 Problem is, I've blooming paid him already. But that's not to say I won't be asking for my money back. Or for him to sort this out properly if he doesn't give it back.

I'm not the stressing type, but I have to admit, I am super stressed now. And to add to all this, we've today had a death in the family to add to all this 

FreeBear

A1ps said: Here are the pictures after the ply was removed. My gosh it was difficult to take out the screws. Does it look like the joist has been cut?

No. It looks like it has been chewed by a beaver or attacked with a screwdriver. If it had been cut, the edges would have been much neater.

Measure the depth & width of that "notch" and the total depth of the joist - We can then tell you if the integrity of the joist has been compromised too much.