Rogue traders or plumbers from hell?

[Longshanks]

Hi
Am having old gravity boiler replaced by Combi (Worcester Greenstar 30 CDI).
I was originally told the work would take 3.5-4 days and they are 2 days in. The thing is er indoors is unhappy on a number of fronts and I must confess that our kitchen now looks like a war zone and something out of Rogue Traders.
Gist is that we were originally advised that best (probably only) place for Combi was in kitchen where the old one was:
• We don’t have outbuildings or garage
• didn’t have any empty cupboards in the kitchen
• decided that putting it in the airing cupboard would require drain and pressure hoses going through the roof etc and would be too expensive
• Didn’t fancy having it in the loft
Having ripped out the old one yesterday along with the hot water cylinder and cistern in the loft they tell me today that they can’t do plan A cos the boiler would be too close to the hob (needs to be minimum of 750mm and would have only been 585mm). They then suggest removing one of our adjacent overhead cupboards to accommodate the boiler and somehow replace the cupboard on the other side of the boiler.
Why they didn’t realise this before baffles me but I’ll go on. At the end of day 2 we have:
• Massive square hole where they removed the old vent on the wall
• Two smaller holes now accommodating the discharge hose/pipes
• Broken external brickwork where they drilled the holes
• About 15 tiles removed
• The double socket underneath the boiler now almost hanging cos it’s resting on one tile and bare plasterboard.
All in all and making allowances for the fact that they haven’t finished and we aint paid a penny does this sound like Plumbers from Hell? (they are an established firm recommended by the guy who’s going to do our bathroom and are Corgi registered)
Specifically:
1. Does the location sound OK? (not directly over but near the gas hob)
2. Should they be able to retile behind the 5 copper pipes?
3. Will they be able to spur into the power supply to the double socket without too much damage?
4. Is it easy for them to brick up the hole where the old vent was?
5. Can they make good where they damaged the bricks when drilling?
6. I noticed that the bore holes for the two pipes (one plastic and one copper) seem to be a fair bit bigger than the pipe diameter. Should they be able to rectify this to stop water and damp coming in?
7. Is repositioning the overhead cupboard above the hob a serious fire hazard?
Many thanks for your time. Realise that I’ve twittered on but very tired and fed up at the moment.

 

[kevindgas]

can't say if it is right or wrong without seeing said mess
but I can do a swap like this in 3 to 3.5 days singlehanded,
including replacing any damaged bricks on outside with new ones.
you would have hot water every night during swap over as well.

preparation prevents p*ss poor performance as they say.

 

[leakydave]

A picture says a thousand words... so stop typing and get snapping...

... and be useful if, at a later date, you have any recourse to their 'workmanship'!

 

[gas4you]

can't say if it is right or wrong without seeing said mess
but I can do a swap like this in 3 to 3.5 days singlehanded,
including replacing any damaged bricks on outside with new ones.
you would have hot water every night during swap over as well.

preparation prevents p*ss poor performance as they say.

Ditto

 

[oilman]

One day you will wish you never had a combi.

 

[Garfeild]

Could be quite soon by the sound of it.

 

[Agile]

Some people, particularly those who dont go out to work, seem to imagine that major work can take place without being noticed.

Whilst some comments about location of the boiler sound questionable, the only thing that I can say is to wait until its finished to see what the final job is like.

Tony

 

[Longshanks]

Many thanks for the comments. Apologies for not using piccies. Here they are with my notes and concerns.

L

//www.diynot.com/network/Longshanks/albums/

 

[Bahco]

The pipework looks very professional to me apart from that socket. You should raise any concerns while the job is in progress.

I have seen a lot worse plumbing!

 

[kjacko]

As a diyer, and as a regards to the bricks blowing off. This does happen, and happened to me the other day when drilling holes for 15mm piping. However, what i managed to do was either guage or measure how deep i needed to drill then when nearing the end turn the hammer action off or at least ease back a little (with a small drill bit i might add) and finish the hole. Then i started to open up the hole from the outside to avoid blowing the brickwork. It worked for me, and seemed like common sense to be honest.
Although if they were having to drill like 400mm or so, then you probably can't get a 5-6mm drill bit that long, which is ideal for piloting.

Just my 2 pennies.

 

[tryitandsee]

IMHO the pipe work looks neat.

It was careless to blow the outside brickwork, it just needed a bit more care. That's years of experience that makes the difference of a good tradesman.

It must be difficult for any installer to make the customer aware that the pipework, however neat, will look crap when finished. You can always paint the pipes, but it still looks crap and a night mare to keep clean. If me, I would employ the services of a good carpenter and neatly box in pipe work and tile over. They will have to use the existing electrical socket supply, to put in a fused spur for the boiler, so now would be a good time to think about putting the old socket somewhere else (or incorporate it into the new boxing!)

The outside bricks can always be chopped out and redone, bit over the top, but if it really concerns you, you have that choice.

Do a favour to the installer and try and source some matching bricks to make good the brickwork outside. Save him the hassel and he might cut tooth and bond the brickwork properly.

 

[keego]

Why did they run the pipework down the side of the boiler? on that model you have the option of running the pipes from above down through the back of the boiler, have a look at the diagram on the backplate in the first picture.
As for the blown brickwork, it happens sometimes no matter how careful you are & also give them a chance to brick up the outside before you comment on what it looks like. Pipework is quite neat though.

 

[Agile]

I also agree tha pipework looks very neat and professional and is within the top 10% of the quality of work I see on newly fitted boilers.

The blown brickwork is a bit careless and implies to me that they might have saved that problem by drilling with 12 mm first and then opening it up with the larger drill from the outside.

Tony

 

[Longshanks]

Many thanks

Didn't realise that the pipes could be hidden in the boiler itself

 

[Longshanks]

Sorry

Forgot to add that I would be grateful for views on:

Location of boiler to the left of gas hob

Location of cupboard just above gas hob

Mnay thanks

L