Is this foam around pipes a cowboy job?

stuart45

As most half decent plumbers use a core drill nowadays, I'd say it's a cowboy job, but you are looking at another flip.

sheslookinhot

Shocking workmanship. A core drill should have been used. However, as above, foam needs replaced with like bricks. 

I would be concerned about the quality of any other work carried out by same “plumber/ builder”.

EssexExile

Kiran said:

That left hand pipe is definitely backfalling, also probably not ideal for it to be exposed to hot flue gasses from the boiler. As mentioned above, the foam will degrade and does already appear to be turning the orange colour that it does before it turns all powdery and falls apart. Also worth noting, birds and vermin will attack it and with the pipes you have a perfect access route to get to it. In an ideal world cut bricks to patch it back in. As a minimum the foam needs to be cut back and the hole filled with mortar and ideally a mastic seal from the pipe to the mortar

I'm not sure it is. Where it leaves the house it is close to the wall but where it joins the soil pipe it is a couple of inches away from the wall. Take that into account and may be (just about) falling the right way.