I'm currently dealing with a complete fucktard of a plumber who has made a massive massive mess of my house and i'm not at all happy.

The heating:

1. had a smell of gas where he's fitted the boiler for weeks now, had him in a couple of times and all he does is stick his head in the door say he can't smell it then fucks off.

2. he put 2 radiators in for us, 1 where there wasn't one before and then one in kitchen to replace an old one. both of them don't get hot in the slightest unless i turn the thermostats right up on them as far as they will go.

3. pipework he's fitted under the floor all bangs when the heating is on. i can only presume this is due to not putting the pipes far enough from the floor boards?

4. pipework he's fitted to the radiators is all on the piss!

THE BATHROOM:

1. fitted a bath that's on the piss

2. fitted a shower screen that's on the piss and broke tiles behind it in doing so! came back to replace tiles only to then put the new ones upside down.

3. bored a 2.5" hole in the wall for basin waste and fitted a 1.5" pipe so it's drafty as fuck.

4. sink was damaged so he's took it back but can't/won't give us a date for a new one.

5. fitted shower screen again today and it's still on the piss, can get my hand under 1 end and the other end hits the bath!

6. fitted a towel radiator today, fitted it off centre to where we wanted it and has made a massive hole in the brand new ceiling putting 2x 15mm pipes in.
.................................................. .................................................. .........

so here we are now, i've got half a shit bathroom, central heating i don't trust and a massive hole in a new ceiling.


what can i do? the heating is paid for but he's registered as gas safe so can i go to someone and complain?

how do i stand with refusing to pay him for the bathroom? it's a disaster and is causing so many problems between my wife and i with the stress from it. given him so many chances to put it right but everytime he just makes me look a cunt. i can't help but feel i'd have problems getting someone in to put it right without paying the earth for it.

i'd be very grateful for any help here folks.

 

Hello mate..........................

First off.....Oh Dear..........

Right, lets sort the gas issue out first.
He SHOULD of done a drop test on it......
If he is Gas safe registered then ring Gas Safe and say that you are not happy with Mr XXXX and there is still a smell of gas that he is not sorting out....they will be straight onto it.....

Radiators.
Sounds like he has added the rads in and not balenced the system out correctly......it needs to be balenced........

Banging pipes under the floorboards is because he hasnt sunk them deep enough and wrapped them in lagging/clipped them.......that needs sorting..

Bathroom

Sounds like the bath has been fitted and not leveled up, thats why the screen wont fit right.


All in all.........he sounds like a right prick.....i would not be paying him a penny till the gas leak/smell is sorted and the bathroom is sorted out.......

HOw is he making you look a cunt with the bathroom???........... Its not fitted right, full stop....you should be making him look MORE of a cunt

 

go onto

www.gassaferegister.co.uk and see if he is legit.............

 

Hi Tiff, thanks for the info, just checked on the gas safe site and he's registered on there. the hardest part of it is he's a friend of the family and that's how we ended up getting him in. biggest mistake i've made sinse buying this house thats for sure!

 

Thats always the way john....as now you dont want to upset the apple cart so to speak.........

But fuck it, its your house, your money and your wife that will be giving you greif........Dont pay a penny till you are 100% happy....

 

Pull him to one side explain calmly that when your wifes not happy your not happy and if he doesn't sort his mess out he'll be making a big mistake, No shouting be calm and walk away leaving it at that.

He'll sort out your problems

 

Have you paid him?

 

2.5k for the heating but not a penny of the 2k for the bathroom and he's not getting it either. just got home to have a look at said towel radiator which has a nice scratch in it and so many imperfections in the chrome work i'd have to take mine and the missus socks off to keep count.

 

Do not pay him. Give him every chance to rectify everything at his own cost, if he does and your happy then pay him. If he rectifies it to his std but you are not happy, get someone else to sort it and give them his money.

Did he come recommended?

 

Rule number one is never pay someone until you are happy. Materials on site is fair enough for the cost of boiler, but until it is right you should not pay. As for the bathroom he sounds like he doesnt know what he is doing. I would pay him for any materials and get someone else in. Ask for an invoice itemising the parts from the supplier and expect to pay a 20% charge on that which is the normal markup from contractors and pay no more.

 

dont payrest until your happy with job, if you werent bothered about about finish could of had a go yourself, as your paying it wants to be perfect

 

+1 what Tiff said and report him to Gas Safe Register.

 

tbh mate id get someone in just to get the gas checked out to a safe standard then go on to deal with the rest. shame im not closer id pop round and do a tightness test on the gas work just for safety then id give you a hand with the other shit hes caused!!

 

the gas is simple.. small drop is allowed UNLESS a reported smell of gas, no matter how small the drop the leak must be traced and repaired under a report of the smell of gas (iv just done my tests last week lol)

 

To be honest mate, I have had a "friend" do a job in my flat and it was shit. I didn't like it but I gave him two chances to sort it and he didn't so I told him where he could shove it basically.

When hiring anyone to work for you always, always write a contract outlining the work the be done and the costs involved and agreements on how much to pay up front and home many installments have to be done and what the final amount to be paid will be. It will also mean that you can put in there if your not happy with the work you can withhold the money until its done properly even if they say you have to pay them.

I'd sack him to be honest mate, get shot of him as soon as possible and get someone else to sort it. Make sure you get references and you sign an agreement!

 

Tiff, can you tell me more about balancing the system, i've got one rad thats very slow to heat up, all the rest are boiling and no air, got a combi boiler?

As for the OP, as per everyone else, dont pay till your happy.

 

I've had a friend do a lot of the work on my house and he's done a very good job - hasn't he Tiff?

 

I am sure Tiff will explain but basically you need to close all the valves and then crack the ones further away from the boiler open fully and the rest less to ensure the heat gets to the furtherest radiator.

On my house for example as its upstairs I need to close the upstairs valves and the crack them a little so the majority of the heat goes down stairs where I want it.

Its loads more technical than that but its a good starting point.

 

The gas smell is obviosuly more of a worry as far as safety goes and as said you can report him for that!
The rest of it though is just shoddy work which sadly you can only sort out with him really so just politely tell him there won't be any cash till you're happy......i'm an electrician not a plumber but the amount of other tradesmen you go in behind to sort out their mess is surprising really, it's as if some people just have lower standards than others and can't see what's wrong
Being a friend of the family doesn't help either does it, how exactly is he reacting when you tell him what you think of his work?

 

As Tiff isnt here yet, will I do.

Is the slow rad near or far away from the boiler, has it got a thermostatic rad valve fitted or a normal valve fitted?

Easiest way to see if its a balancing prob is to turn the rest of the rads off, with the CH turned on and the slow rad turned on only, now does the slow rad get hot quickly?

If it does, too balance the rads in, the rads that are closest to the boiler you need to turn down and the furthest away open up, (Most rad valves have about 4 turns from open to closed) you will have 2 rad valves, (the copper pipe to the valves 1 of the pipes will be slightly hotter) adjust the hotter valve only, anti clockwise to turn down and clockwise to turn up,

Try that and report back!

 

im just glad i have a good mate who is a great plumber and gas safe registered.

couldnt be putting up with all that shit

 

sounds like the boiler is insufficient to the amount of radiators you now have fitted, got any specs of the boiler? or a boiler name and model? my boiler heats upstairs and downstairs prety much equally, but then my system may be piped up different to yours, as for everything else he sounds like a cowboy who couldnt be bothered to do the job properly and i doubt no matter how many times he comes back to fix it it still wont be perfect, turn your gas off as it doesnt sound safe and look in your local newspaper for a corgi registered plumber to come do a tightness test and find out what the drop on it is if there is any as by regulations a small drop is allowed but if your smelling gas that bad then ideally you want to find the leak, im guessing gas safe is the new type of corgi? if he fitted the boiler make sure the flue is sealed properly and cemented as you may be smelling that and make sure its angled up for the pull as he may have pointed it down and thats the smell you may be getting, he should have also sealed the waste on the sink with some cement/mastic to stop draft, also dont firget if you dont pay him theres a certain amount of time before hes allowed to rip out all the work hes put in legally as it wasnt payed for, so get onto rogue traders or something to cover yourself as then you will surely be left with a wrecked house, where abouts do you live, if not too far i could possibly come do a tightness test and have a look at whats been done, any chance you can get some piks of the work up here on the forum?

 

Thanks steve, will try tomorrow and report back. Appreciate the reply

 

Cheers Steve....just spotted it, saves me typing it all out....

Czech........As Steve said.....lol

John PB--Whats the score today then mate, did you have a word with the plumber????

 

Are you gas safe registered?

 

The answer is in the question , slightly out of touch or what?


.

 

Thats why I asked him the question, because it didnt read right, I liked the bit when he said he could come and do a tightness test.

 

oh sorry if it didnt sound right or may have got a name or 2 wrong, just trying to help the fella out, i stoped doing plumbing 2 years ago now, was previously corgi registered and still hold my gas certificates that deem me competent, anymore holes you would like to pick?

 

no happy?????????
report him -its your home that will go up---------------

 

You may be competent, but not registered!!

No more holes to pick.

 

we spoke in length this morning but it's like talking to a brick wall. he has no urgency in coming to check the smell of gas just keeps saying oh i'll get around to it, it cant be that bad. that's my biggest ballache with him being a friend of the family or i would so report him without thinking twice.

the rest of it he just keeps bleating on about it not being finished and when it's done i'll be happy with it but every bit he does "finish" is wrong and has to be redone!

towel radiator is todays drama which he fitted yesterday, it's not some cheap piece of shit, cost Ł250 which i thought was steep but hoped we were buying quality, it's fully of scratches and bubbles under the chrome. now to me it's shimples.........it's faulty, it goes back, they cough up and new one it goes back on the wall....? apparently not, he needs to take it back then it needs to be sent back to manufacturer who will inspect it and make a decision! i've given him a proper fuck off to that one. he got it from his supplier so as far as i'm concerned it's his problem to sort out with them and his duty to do as agreed and get me a towel radiator that isn't sub-standard.

the shower screen was the giggle of the morning for me, he's had 3 goes at fitting it and each time it's on the piss, i actually had to talk him through how it was likely to need adjusting over the phone from work which is 15 miles away and i've never once seen the hinge on this screen or how it adjusts but it's common sense surely there's only so many ways you can have a hinge?! sure enough i was right and now that bit at least is sorted.

as for him having a legal right to come and rip it back out, i'd be more than happy if he did as i could then get a proper job done of it as i've not handed over a penny for the bathroom yet, i actually told him last night to come take it back out and shove it but obviously he wasn't having that.

 

I didn't know you had to be, to give free advice on the internet?

Benni.

 

Is the gas smell coming from the gas meter area or boiler area? I

If its the meter area then call your gas carrier, 0800 111999, used to be called Transco, our local one is Southern Gas Networks yours may be called differently, they will come out within 60mins but they will only make the system safe if the gas leak isnt on their property.

If the smell is elsewhere, you'd be better of getting someone local and registered in, if the gas boiler is new, try getting the boiler manufactures to call incase its a fault on the boiler,

Towel Rail should just go back to his supplier and swapped,

Id get someone else to fit the bathroom and tell you pal to do one.

 

He was offering to do a tightness test if he was local, not advice!!

 

steve, the boiler is fitted roughly 3 feet from the meter and in the same cupboard so impossible to tell exactly where it's coming from.

 

Ah right, I understand. Apologies if I came across as defensive.

Benni.

 

You could try your local gas carrier then, but if its not the meter they will turn off and make safe and cap the gas off or try the boiler manufacture 1st, sometimes they are more helpful.

 

No worries mate.

 

The guy sounds like a complete cock...............I would tell him to not come back in my house!!!!.....Full Stop

What happens tomorrow when he gets a call off the police as your house has blown up and he is looking at a big stretch inside.............

As at the moment you have not paid him for the bathroom.......Tell him he has till the weekend to take his stuff back and you will get someone else in..............Thats what i would do TBH.....