Need advice on what looks to me a bad job so far.

Yes, I agree about 'a certain type of client'. I sometimes turned down seemingly good jobs for various such reasons. But - a good job should be done when it is agreed by both parties.
 
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I agree but this job is not finished.

Its a Universal rule that on the internet every plumber/rgi can do a better job. Also 'tidy ' is in the eye of the beholder.

I agree going up the back of the boiler would of been much better. Going through the work top is unavoidable unless you want to go outside and back in.

You never know they could be the best making good people ever :LOL:
 
I have paid a deposit of 20% of the full value.

Below is a link to what the plumber has sent just now.

http://gallery.me.com/dreidesq/101523

Better but not by much.

Still holes in the kitchen and no pictures of the airing cupboard.
The brickwork is better but not great, but then they are plumbers and not brick layers, after all.
The plastering job by the reworked pipe by the flue is a hash job.

Is the condensing pipe still wrong?
What can I say?

Regards
David
 
If a client made these kind of demands of me, I would have walked. Fair enough he is paying to do the job, well I am supplying the talent to do the job, so let 'me' get on with it. If at the end it is not tidy (Image 59 seems to suggest not bad- pumps are well positioned for future maintanance).

I think OP's demands are excessive. Wonder what he would have said if it was all plastic plumbing.

'No visible pipe londer than 0.5m' Do not see how for the cylinder in the picture.
 
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A total mess, looks worse than the original boiler.

Your just going to be left with the boiler on the wall, with the pipes painted white. It's going to bug you for years & years.

I agree with the other comments, the pipes should of ran up the rear. The pipes that have ran down through the worktop should of gone in the corner so you could of boxed them in.

I am not a plumber, but i would be extremely unhappy if i was left with that standard of work, unless i disapproved the use of a backing plate etc.

I once carried out some DIY plumbing, the pipework looked something similar to that. It was ace..
 
If a client made these kind of demands of me, I would have walked. Fair enough he is paying to do the job, well I am supplying the talent to do the job, so let 'me' get on with it. If at the end it is not tidy (Image 59 seems to suggest not bad- pumps are well positioned for future maintanance).

I think OP's demands are excessive. Wonder what he would have said if it was all plastic plumbing.

'No visible pipe londer than 0.5m' Do not see how for the cylinder in the picture.

The cylinder pics are the old plumbing now removed.

The new plumbing is shocking! I would be furious if a plumber did that to my boiler!
 
First round of pics were shocking. But the new and nicely blurry ones imply an improvement.

If I was presented that checklist at the start of the job it would be met with a polite but firm "are you serious?"

Last thing you want on the start of a job is the feeling the customer is going to be finicky for the sake of it. Why would past experience with unrelated trades/companies have anything to do with ones own work ethic?

Like people phoning up pleading their boiler is down and they are cold. Unfortunately there are so many hours in the day and the previous half dozen that called earlier are also cold. Sad but true.
 
Hi Guys,

OK, so I get back to to the house this morning at 3.15am to find quite a leak in the hallway and a boiler which has no pressure.

Here below is what I wrote to D&G and the link to the new pictures of in their view a finished job.

Dear Ada,

I am now not happy at all!

Please see the pictures attached to the link to see why.
http://gallery.me.com/dreidesq#101536

I had a conversation with the manager yesterday evening at 5.30pm on my way home.

This was to determine whether or not I could live with the work done so far or request that the work be done as I originally requested with a view to me paying a further £130 to cover the costs of the rework.

Based on what I have discovered this morning in my inspection and a very thoughtful evening, my findings are as follows.

My general overall feeling was one that an excuse of a misunderstanding of my wording in my original email and our subsequent phone conversation to discuss it lead to the pipework being longer externally to the wall than I requested. This also lead to the reworking of originally bad pipework multiple times just to straighten the pipework but still did not address my original request which is written below
"10/No pipework to be created externally to walls of any length greater than .5 metre. Unless otherwise approved. Please seek approval first."

Needless to say I made three complaints prior to, during and at the end about the state of the pipework and how this did not conform to my request.

What I am not happy with and in my view not acceptable.
1/ The flooding in my hallway due to an incorrectly fitted TRV.
2/ Water damage to floor and wall due to flood of central heating system because of the ill fitted TRV.
3/ Boiler obviously not working due to no pressure, because of the leak.
4/ The builders chalk and paper stuffed into the hole above the flue.
5/ The builders chalk which has leaked over the flue and top of boiler.
6/ The weather seal around flue, which is cracked in two places and glued in with builders chalk.
7/ The scorch marks from the soldering around the externally fitted and bent pipework around the flue.
8/ The scorch marks from the soldering down the side of the boiler, on the boiler and on the wall.
9/ The poorly filled holes below the boiler, with what looks like cement, which is also levelled up to the tiles on the left hand side, ensuring that no tiling can be covered over without restitution of the area first.
10/ The visible damage to the worktop which has not even been attempted to be covered up.
11/ The greasy stain on the stairs carpet.
12/ The leak, stain and new hole damage to the ceiling directly below the airing cupboard.
13/ The rubble left in the airing cupboard.
14/ The visible obvious leak from the pipework spur in the airing cupboard.
15/ The overall job and quality of workmanship. Not excluding the brick and mortar filled hole to the existing flue hole.
16/ The fact that I have been requested to pay a further £130 to fit a spacer bracket to move the boiler away from the wall so at least the pipework can comply with my original requests.

What I am expecting now:-
A/ To fix all of the above at no further cost to myself.
B/ I reserve the right to hold Domestic and General accountable for the flooding and to hold in reserve a judgement of further complaint including the use of previous photographic material to should anything else go wrong.
C/ For this to be fixed ASAP and will not sign or pay any further money until this work has been completed to my satisfaction and original specification.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards
David Reid
 
The reason for the ridiculous checklist.
Years of the p being taken out of me by. Car dealers, insurance companies, dentists, tradesmen, salesmen, window companies, ex business partners and my ex best friend from school who b f'd me on some building work to the tune of £70,000 etc. etc. They all love to do verbal quotations and argue the toss when they do something wrong. Mostly making out it's my fault for not being specific.

Now I'm very specific.

.
Sorry you had to find the way of the world like that - Me , I just trust no one from the start - and being in the building trade saved a fortune over the years - serviced all my cars too - until computers came in to them :cry: . If you had outlined your reasons earlier, you might not have come across as a PITA customer to us here ;)
 
The overall standard of workmanship to me looks amateurish and a mess.Were that my house I wouldn't pay another penny. As for your list of specifications your fully justified in making these requests as it's your money your forking out.
 
The overall standard of workmanship to me looks amateurish and a mess.Were that my house I wouldn't pay another penny. As for your list of specifications your fully justified in making these requests as it's your money your forking out.

Totally agreed with this. Extremely shoddy workmanship and the finish is dire. Keep documenting and taking photos. What you expect is not unreasonable so ensure it is done to your satisfaction, accept nothing less.

Good luck.
 
Sometimes the client and the contractor may be incompatible in their natural state, and unless both recognise that at outset and make arrangements that allow for a communication style that circumvents the difficulties then the mental health of one or both will suffer.

I know it is thread hijacking, but psychology plays a part in all inter personal transactions, including trade services. It is perhaps unrealistic to expect all trades people to be aware of the effects of minor psychoses and, as in life generally, this results in the situation escalating beyond the simpler easier outcomes.

Working life is not just about the trades aspect of the job.
 
I wonder how many manhours it would take to remove the boiler from the wall, fit the spacing bracket thing then run all the pipework up the back.
 
I would think you have grounds to terminate the contract, and persue them for the return of the deposit you have paid. Make all their materials used available for their collection, and get another plumber in to complete the job.

I have been down this route before with a poor contractor. It was quite a fight to get my money back, but if you check with the CAB, they can help you make sure you have done all the correct things to win any potential case.
 

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