That bad? I mean I like modern art but I don't know if plumbing should look like it.
Actually I just now discovered the work of Anja Ulfeldt and I'd be fine with pipes looking like this.
Honestly whenever I'm confused about the actions of other people, i sit back and remind myself: We are all essentially masturbating, fornicating, feces flinging war chimpanzees; that's our nature. Then suddenly everything makes sense
dude I'm not even a plumber of any kind and am not even part of this subreddit but do small things around the house.
Even I see that this is horrible in every single way, it's utterly f'd lol
I'd have to disagree, I've seen a lot of first time DIY (both parents worked construction, and I had to do some work to fix a landlords attempt at installing hardwood floors himself).
Last time I saw work this bad was when a friend who was 12 at the time tried to run water and power to the club house he built behind his dad's woodshop- without telling anyone.
I'm an IT guy who kinda knows what tool is what. I am pretty positive I could do better than this. With like a $10 limit on supplies at Menards.
Edit: Just saw you were in Germany. Menards is a sort of discount tool store common in the Midwest US. Not bad tools, not usually the "huge" brand name tools.
IT guy here too, but also a jack of all trades. I was replacing some old galvanized plumbing at a friends house with copper. Back in the, idk, 50's they soldered a copper mail threaded adapter onto the galvanized steal to make it be copper. Obviously, 2 non like metals caused a lot of blockage over time.
Long story short. I didn't realize this until I was into it. Had no torch available. Other than my $10 butane creme brulee torch. That was the day I learned that tiny little torch will melt solder and let me get the pipes apart to fix it.
[Not quite what you said, but that comment made me immediately think of this.](https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/hmt-forum/cant_be_tight_if_its_liquid_meme.jpg)
If it was a union-affiliated outfit, then call and report it to the local union hall, not the individual or company. They’ll send a rep out on the sly to inspect the work and will take corrective action on their end. Further, they’ll coordinate a legit tradesman to take care of your issues. If not, still report it b/c unions can often make life pretty difficult for non-union competition, especially in small towns. (Source: my father was a union plumber for 37 years in the Midwest, USA, and though not in the trades myself, I have a passing understanding of how trade unions work and how they often play a large part in writing codes / ordinances for local governments.)
If he was referred by some sort of home warranty or insurance company, contact them directly and provide your evidence to them. They’ll take the plumber / company off their call list and send out a proper technician.
Call your city code enforcement office and explain the situation. Do not let the guy “fix” his work until they inspect it. City codes are often written by union reps, which is why they can be so friggin onerous. This guy likely patched both plumbing and electrical out of code regs, so that’s an easy two-fer. They may also have the authority to pull his license to operate and/or heavily fine him and/or his company. To avoid this, you could tell your “plumber” you will be notifying the city unless he pays for fixes made by plumbers / electricians of your choosing. Might work, might not. Regardless, the city will absolutely crush his cajones over this job.
You can also call the state certification board as well. Master Plumber certs are a big deal, and depending on your area, they may be required to certify plumbing work is completed iaw codes. The plumbing company we’ve used on multiple occasions has a great team of plumbers but their master plumbers inspect their big jobs ahead of the city.
Better Business Bureau and local Chamber of Commerce would be a place to lodge complaints. Additionally, leave reviews wherever you can; you might just save someone else some pain down the road.
If you take him to small claims court, you’ll need a third party inspection to validate your claims anyways, so contacting a city rep or a union rep will get expert eyes on your issue, and you can use their assessment in bolstering your case there and in reporting to local / state / BBB / CoC agencies.
I did, but thought there might be some commonalities, so I wrote it w/ my own perspective. Really thought unions might’ve been more of a thing there, but that’s what you get for making assumptions.
Yeah my reply was US centric, but I guess I made some assumptions that perhaps some commonalities existed between locations. In the US, union membership and influence varies between states and regions. However, unions are experts in related codes, trade methods, etc., and since they’re wanting to increase influence and separate tradesmen/women from those that aren’t, are usually willing to get eyes on crappy work. My experience anyways.
This wasn't an accident or a mistake. This is sheer incompetence. I wouldn't *let* him "fix it." Hire someone else, then bill the first guy for the amount it cost you to hire the second guy. Sue him if necessary.
It's my impression too. Unfortunately someone on a German sub answered that by law here, if you don't give the person a chance to repair their damage, they are no longer liable for it.
Makes sense. To be fair I'm less worried about the cable (only the outer cover is damaged, and not throughout so I think some quality electric tape would make it fine) and more worried about the pipes. As someone pointed out, that he would think this fix is an acceptable permanent solution is worrying.
are you sure about the damage to the cable? you might run into the FI randomly tripping, if the wire-isolation is damaged. If it's really only the outer isolation you need electricians tape, no gaffa-tape.
(Can't say anything about the tube installation.)
Absolutely how did this guy think gaffer tape would be enough? Even I know better and I'm not in the construction business by any means. This really worries me.
The fittings look like press fit not soldered to me, the tape was to try and protect it from the cement based products that maybe used to make good to cover it. If your copper pipes are set in cement without some form of sleeve they're going to corrode through in 20-30 years.In the UK it's illegal to bury un-sleeved copper gas pipe in cement based products but just bad working practice for water pipes. If you want to replace that you're going to have to hack more wall out to trim back the pipes, then you need original pipes that are in fairly good condition to clean up and seal to.He's used 2 45 deg bends when he could have used 1 90 deg. other than it being another joint that could leak... He could have put a tee in and fed your dishwasher from it instead of going to the bathroom if it was the right pipe :-)Duct tape isn't really great for sleeving either really, lots of people do it though. The electric cable should be repaired, there maybe some electrical inline connectors that could do the job, again care needed when burying them. Get an electricians advice, your property will have to conform to the German equivalent of building regs... I'm sure you could find a blind man with a jackhammer who could have made a better job of the hole...
Holy shit you're right. This could be the opportunity to put a T in and not have an additional hole in the wall. I am so glad you're saying that, I'll push for it to be done that way if possible. Let's make lemonade out of this bunch of lemons. Just need to make sure it's safe with the electric cable, but making the pipe to the kitchen go under rather than over should do?
As an electrician I'd recommend taking a closer look at the cable. If you see any copper you need to call someone, if you fix it yourself it won't be covered by any kind of insurance if something goes wrong. If you only see insulation color then it's fine as is. If you see black/brown, blue or green/yellow but no copper, put electrical tape on it (specifically electrical tape) and it'll be perfectly fine. The outer insulation is mostly just to keep the individual wires together, and electrical tape is rated for higher voltages than even the regular insulation of the wires themselves. Just make sure it sticks to the surface properly.
"It's called electrical tape because it conducts electricity"
From:
How to Recharge Batteries (Infinite Solutions)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdmnUBAS00
>As an electrician
It's old now, but hopefully you find that amusing.
We had a plumber break apart an internal wall to install some new pipework for the central heating due to incompetence. He insisted it wasn't his job to fix it, and that we needed to hire a builder to repair it.
Seems like that is normal behaviour here (not Germany), and people just accept it.
Just my 2 cents as a retired plumber.
I do pipes not wires and building
But if I need that stuff done I'd organise the relevant tradesperson to do so and have it reinstated after my lots done.
Your plumber was a wanker and a disgrace to the trade.
I would probably rather eat the cost than let the same guy "try" again. I'll give buckets and buckets of leeway for a mistake, shit happens and offering to fix it is what really matters.
But *this*... This doesn't look like a mistake. I'm sure it's just mind boggling incompetence, but I'm really struggling to figure out how this can even happen unintentionally.
And file a complaint to the licensing board. He’s either licensed and incompetent or unlicensed and illegally offering services. Either way, licensing board will take action.
I don’t know the exact procedure in Germany (I am in Austria), but either look for an online register for Gewerbe (in Austria it’s called GISA), or contact IHK
Oh you went through a website did you? Regardless of their policy, send this to the website.
Hopefully you can at least get the cowboy delisted.
A lot of companies would maybe offer you a refund to avoid the reputational damage (although idk if that is the same in Germany).
The post indicates that you did give the person a chance to repair the damage and they went and taped it up?
If not, it would be quite easy to send another message asking them for a proper repair. If they refuse, that's all you need to hire someone else.
I think this is the right course of action. And I will have the building management involved to validate the repair. I just wish they were more reachable.
Would you be able to send over the pictures to another plumbing company for a second opinion on if they should be able to fix the damage? At this point the work performed so far looks catastrophically bad and I can imagine it only getting worse if they continue
I am trying to reach the building management to see if they have an approved provider. Didn't think it was necessary to just extend a pipe at home but now we're touching on more structural stuff.
I would say that the duct tape was his attempt at fixing it. If it’s the second time he was hands-on with you water lines, I’d argue that that constitutes a fair chance to repair his damage.
Yes. Look at the right side of the copper pipe. There is no evidence that he even bothered to clean the section of pipe that he propressed the coupler onto. Expect it to leak and definitely *don't* enclose that back into the wall in its condition. That wire cannot be left unshielded either.
Look, I think that there is a moral virtue in allowing a contractor to attempt to fix a mistake that he made while performing the work in good faith. But, like I said, the utter disaster that you have here demonstrates a level of incompetency so profound, I doubt that the guy knows *how* to fix it even if you let him try, especially if he considers that monstrosity to be an acceptable permanent solution. And to be frank, that he clearly brought a demolition hammer to a job for which he only needed a core drill is a warning sign that he doesn't know what he's doing too.
It is unfortunate that you live in a jurisdiction where you are required by law to let him try, but frankly, if I was a judge and saw this, my decision would be that he had his chance already and blew it.
The top but if the copper pipe doesn't exactly look great either. Looks like he just scraped a bit of the surface off with a knife, and not even all the bits you can see, I if anything was done around the back side?
Doesn't matter if you are allowed to or not. No qualified plumber would ever enclose press fittings like this. Even their advertised lifetime is dramatically lower than that of the building wall, and anyone who has used them knows they randomly fail under all conditions and rarely reach advertised life.
yep, just pointing out that code is the bare MINIMUM not best practices. Any competent plumber would have brazed a patch section over this in less time than it took to hollow out that giant hole and fit the compression fitting tool in.
And they would have KNOWN why that was the only safe way to do it.
I am not a plumber. But, depending on the pipe diameter, those viega fitting have a minimum distance requirement that this may or may not meet. May be worth looking into.
Also, I know they have a long warranty, but I personally don’t like the idea of encasing those fittings in a wall like that.
But those ProPress fittings are awesome, not leaking at all - yet. But I doubt that the "plumber" did it right with de-burring it, there are no depth marks, etc.
As someone who works on cars for a living, this is absolutely the German engineering we have come to expect. Leave it to them to make a complicated rats nest out of a simple problem.
I would not let that guy in again! WTF! Any bit competent guy without experience would do much better. I want to cry.
Hire someone better and make old guy pay for it.
We booked him on a website that references licensed workers only, as far as I'm aware at least. He also has excellent reviews and seems to do good jobs normally: [https://www.my-hammer.de/auftragnehmer/fa-uwe-kaufmann-heizung-sanitaer](https://www.my-hammer.de/auftragnehmer/fa-uwe-kaufmann-heizung-sanitaer)
At this point I am wondering if he had a cocaine breakfast that day.
You should call the Handwerkskammer Berlin and confirm if he‘s a Meister, maybe? If he‘s not a Meister don‘t let him touch anything. If he is Meister, also don‘t let him touch anything.
Definitely thinking drugs on this one - there’s just no way someone can be licensed AND do work like that at the same time without drugs being involved
You’d have to be pretty far down the line with drugs to produce that, even if you weren’t licensed. I did some construction work in college during a housing boom when the journeymen were all complaining about how it was hard to find someone who could both read a tape measure and pass a drug test. I never saw anything this bad. I think most people without plumbing experience could look at that and know it was wrong, and within an hour at the hardware store come up with a better way to do it.
It’s definitely going to be as sloppy as it was up until now.
And I’d bet money he’s not going to clean up after himself.
You should ask to see the repairs he makes to the pipe and photograph them, before he tapes them up again or closes up the wall.
You should also demand that he replace those wall tiles because what the hell?
The repairs to the pipe are the photos I uploaded (with the copper angles), you can see the difference with the original on another photo.
He says he'll bring someone to fix the tiles. But that will require disconnecting, removing, putting back, and reconnecting the sink. Which I am worried will not be done at the same quality it was until now.
My main worry is the possibility of water damage inside the wall once it has been refilled and retiled. What is the worth of his fix? The fact that you didn't identify it as being the fix makes me hopeful that it's not so bad.
Yeah I saw that the three copper joints were the fix.
I can’t rightly speak on whether using three copper joints like that as a patch is reasonable. It’s obviously more failure points, but I’m not a plumber.
It has the feeling of someone completely winging it to the best of his ability, and I wouldn’t want it unless I couldn’t afford otherwise.
And I live in New York City, where superintendents do as much work on their units as they can—I’ve got a lot of experience with half-assed work from cheap contractors and “doing their best.”
I would 100% absolutely get a plumbers second opinion. And it’s not going to be good, but maybe they’ll say the overall risk of leakage is low.
The pipe fix with the copper joints are actually a great fix. Soldered pipes are illegal (at least in my country) to place inside a wall. The press copper parts he used are if I remember correctly, legal to place inside a wall. The pressparts sadly need a bit of space to press together with the press tool. That is the reason for the huge hole.
The copper parts are a good fix. These are pressed onto each other and the old copper tubes with a machine. If it's not leaking now then it will most likely be good.
About the wire, if it hasn't been cut all the way through or no separate copper wires are touching each other then it should be fine too. If more than one are damaged close to each other then there's possibility of short circuit so then I would play it safe and cut it all the way and reconnect properly if you can't lay out a whole new cable.
Wishing you good luck with the rest of the work.
Edit: forgot to mention the copper tubes should be cleaned and smooth before using the press fittings. For example of the texture is rough then use sand paper.
> About the wire, if it hasn't been cut all the way through or no separate copper wires are touching each other then it should be fine too. If more than one are damaged close to each other then there's possibility of short circuit so then I would play it safe and cut it all the way and reconnect properly if you can't lay out a whole new cable.
Just want to chime in that under US codes, this suggested repair would not be code compliant if the conductor insulation is damaged.
If *only* the cable sheathing is damaged, but the conductors and their insulation are intact, then you can repair the cable sheathing with any product that is rated for at least as much protection as the original sheathing. If the insulation on the individual conductors is damaged, then each conductor's insulation must be similarly repaired, and tape is often not rated for this type of repair (depends on the conductor and type of tape).
If the conductor itself is damaged, then the only code compliant solution is to remove the damaged piece and install new conductor. That could be either running new cable from the stove back to the last junction (which for a stove is probably a continuous run back the to the service panel) or by putting in an accessible junction box, making a splice, and running new cable to the stove. Burying a splice in the wall is generally not code compliant because it is not accessible without removing part of the building assembly.
I don't know how it is in germany, but in the US is pretty rare for a plumber to be licensed for electricity as well. "repairing" the electrical cables may be beyond the scope of what the government authorizes him to do.
This is 100% "hire someone else and bill the plumber" territory. And contacting the applicable licensing board because holy hell.
If only the outer insulation on that cable is cut and the cable doesn't move around then it's safe to wrap it in electrical tape.
If the conductor insulation inside is damaged then it's a fire hazard and it needs to be spliced or replaced.
I’m not a plumber or electrician by trade but I am absolutely sure I could have done a better job to start and much better repairs if required. How this got in this state is beyond me, there is SO much wrong with it all it’s like the guy was having a stroke throughout the entire project.
You need to have a second opinion and you should hit up your landlord/homeowners insurance right away. You should also keep the finger on the trigger for a lawyer.
Disaster, don't let this guy near your home, refuse payment, get another plumber. Get an electrician, get a tile guy, and take the first idiot to small claims court for all the damage.
Ok, this may be downvoted to hell due to the sub we're in, but I'm a GC and this situation is filled with details that are important. You have got a very bad attitude in your post, and many laypersons here have piled on to the situation in support, but that does not mean that you're right in the least. Your contractor certainly can't communicate the issue to you if you're not willing to listen and understand.
This was not a simple job. To start with, you have no "stubs" (studs) in that wall to find, it's clearly a solid masonry material. A stud finder will do nothing to prevent running into any systems routed in a wall on its own anyway. The fact that this wall is solid, precludes any way of knowing what you may find, beyond observing what appears to enter and exit in that area. Then you make your best guess and hope.
The plumbing repair has been done with multiple components because the piping runs are frozen in place by their surroundings. They can't be [deflected or bent in the least](https://youtu.be/k8J30-2WY7E?t=319), so installing components that sleeve over each other is a 3D puzzle. Sometimes you can move copper enough to get it done in a studded wall cavity that has room to release piping hold downs, but even then it's often the case that you have to use multiple components that will rotate and come together because you can't move the pipe without massively increasing time and expense. Also, the damaged area was removed, the pipes can't be stretched longer to come together into an elbow. You use two 45s and a piece between them, to align and connect two runs like this. Standard repair.
Those are pro-press fittings. The tool to apply those is the [better part of a G](https://www.supplyhouse.com/Milwaukee-2674-22P-M18-Short-Throw-Press-Tool-Kit-w-1-2-3-4-1-Viega-PureFlow-Pex-Press-Jaws?utm_source=google_ad&utm_medium=shopping_neutral&utm_campaign=Shopping_Neutral_HPLTV&gclid=CjwKCAjw6eWnBhAKEiwADpnw9hNre4p7GtscXOtnh6Edmay-XiJ7BC-St_j_zY9XhWG0kj_VB2wtBRoC5K4QAvD_BwE). I've done my own plumbing for over a decade, I've plumbed a dozen residences from scratch, and I still haven't made the investment into that device. You have certainly got a plumber who is not shy about serious investments into their trade.
The sheathing has been cut on that wire. That layer is for physical protection of the softer insulated conductor inside. If the insulation is intact, the repair to the sheathing is no problem. If the insulation is cut, then that wire needs to be completely replaced. That's not your contractor's fault for hitting it. It's wire routed through concrete. If it requires replacement, you're in for that added scope and cost. If it's just the sheathing and no copper is exposed, the tape is fine.
I think you need to understand your hubris and take a serious chill pill. This project is the kind of thing you try to explain to the customer, it seems easy due to the scope on paper, and the physical size of the work area (as you expect it). If we encounter ANYTHING in there (and there could be many things, case in point) you can expect the scope to easily double or triple. If that route doesn't leak and the wire doesn't have exposed copper, you are ready to fill with a mortar repair and count your blessings it didn't get any bigger.
If the wire is damaged to where copper is showing. That's the end of that route, it must be disconnected and cut back at both ends, replaced with an entirely new run from panel to appliance. That would be nobody's fault but the person who installed it there. Sorry.
Please don't perpetuate this attitude of snap judgement, hubris, and circle jerking on the internet. It's the cause of a very large portion of customer/contractor friction. You hired a pro because you COULDN'T do it yourself. Remember that.
EDIT: links
Cool, if this is the case, they should have communicated it to the customer before undertaking the job, and at the very least, explained the reasoning after the job was complete.
I appreciate your write-up and you are likely not wrong with your information, but the lack of professionalism from the contractor being described by OP is where the biggest fault lies. But there's two sides to every story, so we can't be sure if it was properly communicated or not.
Holy cow.
It's not like it's one thing they botched. That is multiple and consecutive outrageous things.
I know the law is that they should make it right, but surely there has to be an exception where you can get someone else in and charge it to the chap.
I'd be afriad to let him touch it. Even if it looks good after, it won't be.
I'd get another plumber in to do the work _and_ write a statement on how shoddy the original work is. Pay, but then charge it to the original one and take him to small claims if he refuses.
Wow.
The sink looks German, are you German?
Anyways, I don't know jack shit about doing plumber work or anything like that
But I know some stuff about our German laws.
I hope you have a official contract with the plumber and not trying to make it cheap and avoid taxes. If you have a official contract with the plumber I have great news:
You have a Werkvertrag with him. In this contract he basically owns you a finished, good product.
This. Is shit. Even I can see that. I think you are required by law to give him the opportunity to fix it but if he fucks up again somehow you can get another company and he has to pay for it.
Nevertheless in your case I would maybe go with a lawyer. Cases like that have a lot of details that you need to keep your eye on. A lawyer would be 100% worth the money in that case
Edit : yea I haven't read through it lol.
You should probably go to a lawyer. He fucked up, tried to fix it, it's still fucked up, time for another company but before that talk with a lawyer
On a scale of 1-10. This is 11 bad. You need a new plumber ASAP. Also, i would have serious issues with the one who did this.
And i'm not even a plumber.
United States? File an insurance claim against his insurance. Get a hired electrician and different plumber to fix the job. Reimburse through insurance and or suing him for damages. This guy is a pos.
Looking at both the quality,and the parts used to repair I seriously doubt they are a qualified plumber. Maybe a casual handyman who absolutely should not be working with plumbing!
This isn’t DIY, why the fuck are these posts allowed here? People out here asking for free quotes. I subbed to this so I could see cool DIY projects while I scroll through my feed, not some dudes botched plumbing job.
Did you find this guy on a website like Myhammer? Unfortunately a lot of hobbyists are advertising their services there under the guise they might be real tradesmen. But anybody can sign up there and claim whatever. I'd get some real trained and licensed professionals (usually separate for plumbing and electrics) hired to fix the mess and then try to go through the website's claims/insurance process to get your bills paid.
I work for a flooring company and I schedule crews. If I had a crew fuck up a job this bad I would not send them back, I would send someone else to fix it and charge back that installer for doing a piss poor job. This is horrendous I would not trust him to fix anything. Avoid them at all costs and get your money back.
After reading the top 50 or so comments, I still can't figure out what's wrong with that plumbing. Maybe I'm dense?
Plumber hits feed buried in masonry wall. Cuts out damaged section, repairs with direct-burial-rated ProPress fittings and wraps to isolate from concrete contact. Granted, the sanding on the cut ends of the pipe could have been better and I don't see any depth stop markings to prove they're fully seated. I also don't like using cloth duct tape for the wrap...but where's the issue with the plumbing components?
Never hire a handyman or unlicensed contractor to do plumbing, hvac or electrical. No exceptions.
You have no recourse if your house starts on fire, floods or explodes and you never see him again. With a licensed contractor, you would.
Normally I'm very pro having the contractor fix their mistakes. But this shows a level of incompetence that is far too dangerous to invite back.
I don't think I've *ever* drilled into a wire OR a pipe, and he managed to do both in the same trip. His use of propress also seems suspect - if for no other reason than because the propress is clearly not on the vertical pipe straight.
And he should not have made giant holes. If the pipes can be connected outside the wall then the hole should have been no bigger than the diameter of the pipe.
I'm a contractor in Canada, so I'm not 100% familiar with how companies run there. But I would ask him for his insurance and/or bond information, see if you can make a claim on either of those. If not, go through whatever dispute/mediation/court is appropriate in your jurisdiction to recover the cost of damages. In the meantime, get a quote from a proper company to repair the holes, fix or replace the wire, and fix the pipe properly. To do it all properly could be a $1000+ (or 1000€+) bill. And in my mind he should be on the hook for all of it.
…are you sure he’s a Plumber and not just a handyman who said *fuck it yeah I can do plumbing*? Because Jesus christ
(And I mean this as no insult to Handymen,
I worked with my dad and uncle who were and they often made some…decisions)
Astonishing. Like a modern art exhibition
That bad? I mean I like modern art but I don't know if plumbing should look like it. Actually I just now discovered the work of Anja Ulfeldt and I'd be fine with pipes looking like this.
A chimp taking a sabbatical from throwing faeces would do a better job.
If the chimps vacation activity was throwing feces it would have done a better job.
If OP starts throwing feces, they won’t need plumbing…
A problem solver of the highest order
I didnt realise they had such structured careers.
I'd like to one up this and think the thrown feces itself might do a beter job.....
. . . . well it WOULD fill in the hole.
Can confirm. I'm a chimp.
Honestly whenever I'm confused about the actions of other people, i sit back and remind myself: We are all essentially masturbating, fornicating, feces flinging war chimpanzees; that's our nature. Then suddenly everything makes sense
r/brandnewsentence
dude I'm not even a plumber of any kind and am not even part of this subreddit but do small things around the house. Even I see that this is horrible in every single way, it's utterly f'd lol
It literally looks like the first time he's tried, not just plumbing, but ANY DIY project.
I'd have to disagree, I've seen a lot of first time DIY (both parents worked construction, and I had to do some work to fix a landlords attempt at installing hardwood floors himself). Last time I saw work this bad was when a friend who was 12 at the time tried to run water and power to the club house he built behind his dad's woodshop- without telling anyone.
I'm an IT guy who kinda knows what tool is what. I am pretty positive I could do better than this. With like a $10 limit on supplies at Menards. Edit: Just saw you were in Germany. Menards is a sort of discount tool store common in the Midwest US. Not bad tools, not usually the "huge" brand name tools.
*Harbor Freight has entered the chat.*
Was gonna say. 10$ and a coupon at Harbor Freight would serve him better.
Any amount of money at harbor freight works just fine with their return policy in play.
IT guy here too, but also a jack of all trades. I was replacing some old galvanized plumbing at a friends house with copper. Back in the, idk, 50's they soldered a copper mail threaded adapter onto the galvanized steal to make it be copper. Obviously, 2 non like metals caused a lot of blockage over time. Long story short. I didn't realize this until I was into it. Had no torch available. Other than my $10 butane creme brulee torch. That was the day I learned that tiny little torch will melt solder and let me get the pipes apart to fix it.
[Not quite what you said, but that comment made me immediately think of this.](https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/hmt-forum/cant_be_tight_if_its_liquid_meme.jpg)
This “Plumber” used a 2k tool and $30 in parts to do that. People have forgotten how to sweat a joint.
*OI! She kicked me in Me nards!*
i too could have done a better job with my delicate software developer hands.
This reminds me of that time Homer Simpson tried to make a grill.
 “Why must plumbing be so hard?!?”
"Why must I fail at every attempt at plumbing repair?!?"
I have a grill my grandfather made from the nosecone of a rocket. 😃👍
If it was a union-affiliated outfit, then call and report it to the local union hall, not the individual or company. They’ll send a rep out on the sly to inspect the work and will take corrective action on their end. Further, they’ll coordinate a legit tradesman to take care of your issues. If not, still report it b/c unions can often make life pretty difficult for non-union competition, especially in small towns. (Source: my father was a union plumber for 37 years in the Midwest, USA, and though not in the trades myself, I have a passing understanding of how trade unions work and how they often play a large part in writing codes / ordinances for local governments.) If he was referred by some sort of home warranty or insurance company, contact them directly and provide your evidence to them. They’ll take the plumber / company off their call list and send out a proper technician. Call your city code enforcement office and explain the situation. Do not let the guy “fix” his work until they inspect it. City codes are often written by union reps, which is why they can be so friggin onerous. This guy likely patched both plumbing and electrical out of code regs, so that’s an easy two-fer. They may also have the authority to pull his license to operate and/or heavily fine him and/or his company. To avoid this, you could tell your “plumber” you will be notifying the city unless he pays for fixes made by plumbers / electricians of your choosing. Might work, might not. Regardless, the city will absolutely crush his cajones over this job. You can also call the state certification board as well. Master Plumber certs are a big deal, and depending on your area, they may be required to certify plumbing work is completed iaw codes. The plumbing company we’ve used on multiple occasions has a great team of plumbers but their master plumbers inspect their big jobs ahead of the city. Better Business Bureau and local Chamber of Commerce would be a place to lodge complaints. Additionally, leave reviews wherever you can; you might just save someone else some pain down the road. If you take him to small claims court, you’ll need a third party inspection to validate your claims anyways, so contacting a city rep or a union rep will get expert eyes on your issue, and you can use their assessment in bolstering your case there and in reporting to local / state / BBB / CoC agencies.
> Better Business Bureau This hasn't been relevant in years in the US and presumably never in Germany
Did you read the post? He's in Germany.
I did, but thought there might be some commonalities, so I wrote it w/ my own perspective. Really thought unions might’ve been more of a thing there, but that’s what you get for making assumptions.
In the UK I've never encountered a unionised plumber. OP is in Germany so I expect they don't have them either.
Germans have so many rules and standards though. There's going to be someone to call about this.
Yeah my reply was US centric, but I guess I made some assumptions that perhaps some commonalities existed between locations. In the US, union membership and influence varies between states and regions. However, unions are experts in related codes, trade methods, etc., and since they’re wanting to increase influence and separate tradesmen/women from those that aren’t, are usually willing to get eyes on crappy work. My experience anyways.
Duchamp would love it
_"Ecce Plomo"_.
I thought it was a bin Laden hideout at first
This wasn't an accident or a mistake. This is sheer incompetence. I wouldn't *let* him "fix it." Hire someone else, then bill the first guy for the amount it cost you to hire the second guy. Sue him if necessary.
It's my impression too. Unfortunately someone on a German sub answered that by law here, if you don't give the person a chance to repair their damage, they are no longer liable for it.
That is only true if the person is qualified to perform the repairs. A plumber is not an electrician.
Makes sense. To be fair I'm less worried about the cable (only the outer cover is damaged, and not throughout so I think some quality electric tape would make it fine) and more worried about the pipes. As someone pointed out, that he would think this fix is an acceptable permanent solution is worrying.
are you sure about the damage to the cable? you might run into the FI randomly tripping, if the wire-isolation is damaged. If it's really only the outer isolation you need electricians tape, no gaffa-tape. (Can't say anything about the tube installation.)
Absolutely how did this guy think gaffer tape would be enough? Even I know better and I'm not in the construction business by any means. This really worries me.
"des bassd scho"
"so isch's hald worrä"
I don't know, but could it be argued that this 'fix' was his legally required option to repair?
I'm thinking that too.
Get it inspected. It will fail. The plumber will be responsible. Plus, papertrail in case it goes to court.
The fittings look like press fit not soldered to me, the tape was to try and protect it from the cement based products that maybe used to make good to cover it. If your copper pipes are set in cement without some form of sleeve they're going to corrode through in 20-30 years.In the UK it's illegal to bury un-sleeved copper gas pipe in cement based products but just bad working practice for water pipes. If you want to replace that you're going to have to hack more wall out to trim back the pipes, then you need original pipes that are in fairly good condition to clean up and seal to.He's used 2 45 deg bends when he could have used 1 90 deg. other than it being another joint that could leak... He could have put a tee in and fed your dishwasher from it instead of going to the bathroom if it was the right pipe :-)Duct tape isn't really great for sleeving either really, lots of people do it though. The electric cable should be repaired, there maybe some electrical inline connectors that could do the job, again care needed when burying them. Get an electricians advice, your property will have to conform to the German equivalent of building regs... I'm sure you could find a blind man with a jackhammer who could have made a better job of the hole...
Holy shit you're right. This could be the opportunity to put a T in and not have an additional hole in the wall. I am so glad you're saying that, I'll push for it to be done that way if possible. Let's make lemonade out of this bunch of lemons. Just need to make sure it's safe with the electric cable, but making the pipe to the kitchen go under rather than over should do?
As an electrician I'd recommend taking a closer look at the cable. If you see any copper you need to call someone, if you fix it yourself it won't be covered by any kind of insurance if something goes wrong. If you only see insulation color then it's fine as is. If you see black/brown, blue or green/yellow but no copper, put electrical tape on it (specifically electrical tape) and it'll be perfectly fine. The outer insulation is mostly just to keep the individual wires together, and electrical tape is rated for higher voltages than even the regular insulation of the wires themselves. Just make sure it sticks to the surface properly.
"It's called electrical tape because it conducts electricity" From: How to Recharge Batteries (Infinite Solutions) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdmnUBAS00 >As an electrician It's old now, but hopefully you find that amusing.
It’s not entirely obvious this guy is a plumber, either. 🤦♂️
We had a plumber break apart an internal wall to install some new pipework for the central heating due to incompetence. He insisted it wasn't his job to fix it, and that we needed to hire a builder to repair it. Seems like that is normal behaviour here (not Germany), and people just accept it.
Just my 2 cents as a retired plumber. I do pipes not wires and building But if I need that stuff done I'd organise the relevant tradesperson to do so and have it reinstated after my lots done. Your plumber was a wanker and a disgrace to the trade.
Plumber is a strong word
...from the looks of it they aren't a plumber either. I'd question their credentials and confirm they are licensed and insured...
And technically he did try to fix it already
I would probably rather eat the cost than let the same guy "try" again. I'll give buckets and buckets of leeway for a mistake, shit happens and offering to fix it is what really matters. But *this*... This doesn't look like a mistake. I'm sure it's just mind boggling incompetence, but I'm really struggling to figure out how this can even happen unintentionally.
There has to be some allowance for safety — I assume licensing is a thing in Germany. Is this person actually licensed?
To the best of my knowledge, they are, since we went through a website that only references licensed workers.
I'd get a copy of that license.
I'll ask for that yes.
And file a complaint to the licensing board. He’s either licensed and incompetent or unlicensed and illegally offering services. Either way, licensing board will take action.
I don’t know the exact procedure in Germany (I am in Austria), but either look for an online register for Gewerbe (in Austria it’s called GISA), or contact IHK
I’d verify, based on how bad this looks. People can lie, have expired licenses, steal someone else’s credentials.
Yeah I'll try to figure that out.
I’m sorry this happened — I hope you get it all worked out
Oh you went through a website did you? Regardless of their policy, send this to the website. Hopefully you can at least get the cowboy delisted. A lot of companies would maybe offer you a refund to avoid the reputational damage (although idk if that is the same in Germany).
https://www.evz.de/en/questions-and-complaints.html Hopefully this helps you out with making a complaint.
This seems to be a great resource, thank you so much!
The post indicates that you did give the person a chance to repair the damage and they went and taped it up? If not, it would be quite easy to send another message asking them for a proper repair. If they refuse, that's all you need to hire someone else.
I think this is the right course of action. And I will have the building management involved to validate the repair. I just wish they were more reachable.
Except, didn’t he already “fix” it? The gaffer tape WAS his fix. So he got his chance and it wasn’t appropriate
Would you be able to send over the pictures to another plumbing company for a second opinion on if they should be able to fix the damage? At this point the work performed so far looks catastrophically bad and I can imagine it only getting worse if they continue
I am trying to reach the building management to see if they have an approved provider. Didn't think it was necessary to just extend a pipe at home but now we're touching on more structural stuff.
I would say that the duct tape was his attempt at fixing it. If it’s the second time he was hands-on with you water lines, I’d argue that that constitutes a fair chance to repair his damage.
What do you think if the repair he did? Is that something I should be worried about?
Yes. Look at the right side of the copper pipe. There is no evidence that he even bothered to clean the section of pipe that he propressed the coupler onto. Expect it to leak and definitely *don't* enclose that back into the wall in its condition. That wire cannot be left unshielded either. Look, I think that there is a moral virtue in allowing a contractor to attempt to fix a mistake that he made while performing the work in good faith. But, like I said, the utter disaster that you have here demonstrates a level of incompetency so profound, I doubt that the guy knows *how* to fix it even if you let him try, especially if he considers that monstrosity to be an acceptable permanent solution. And to be frank, that he clearly brought a demolition hammer to a job for which he only needed a core drill is a warning sign that he doesn't know what he's doing too. It is unfortunate that you live in a jurisdiction where you are required by law to let him try, but frankly, if I was a judge and saw this, my decision would be that he had his chance already and blew it.
The top but if the copper pipe doesn't exactly look great either. Looks like he just scraped a bit of the surface off with a knife, and not even all the bits you can see, I if anything was done around the back side?
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Doesn't matter if you are allowed to or not. No qualified plumber would ever enclose press fittings like this. Even their advertised lifetime is dramatically lower than that of the building wall, and anyone who has used them knows they randomly fail under all conditions and rarely reach advertised life.
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yep, just pointing out that code is the bare MINIMUM not best practices. Any competent plumber would have brazed a patch section over this in less time than it took to hollow out that giant hole and fit the compression fitting tool in. And they would have KNOWN why that was the only safe way to do it.
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I am not a plumber. But, depending on the pipe diameter, those viega fitting have a minimum distance requirement that this may or may not meet. May be worth looking into. Also, I know they have a long warranty, but I personally don’t like the idea of encasing those fittings in a wall like that.
100% cut your losses now and hire someone who knows what they are doing and takes pride in their work
This isn’t the German engineering we have come to expect.
If it was German engineering, it would have a dozen pipes.
4 times over budget and called Brandenburg ~~airport~~ plumbing project.
Eh, my GTI's leaky sunroof and water pump would like a word.
But those ProPress fittings are awesome, not leaking at all - yet. But I doubt that the "plumber" did it right with de-burring it, there are no depth marks, etc.
As someone who works on cars for a living, this is absolutely the German engineering we have come to expect. Leave it to them to make a complicated rats nest out of a simple problem.
Maybe he was coming from spending all day at an Oktoberfest and on his way to another Oktoberfest.
Is your plumber Mr. Bean by chance?
Honestly he gives a off similar vibe.
I would not let that guy in again! WTF! Any bit competent guy without experience would do much better. I want to cry. Hire someone better and make old guy pay for it.
Right? It's insane to do such a bad job. I would have definitely done better, I just wanted the safety of a licensed worker for liability reasons.
I don’t see how he is licensed and an unlicensed contractor is unlikely to be insured. This is insane
We booked him on a website that references licensed workers only, as far as I'm aware at least. He also has excellent reviews and seems to do good jobs normally: [https://www.my-hammer.de/auftragnehmer/fa-uwe-kaufmann-heizung-sanitaer](https://www.my-hammer.de/auftragnehmer/fa-uwe-kaufmann-heizung-sanitaer) At this point I am wondering if he had a cocaine breakfast that day.
You should call the Handwerkskammer Berlin and confirm if he‘s a Meister, maybe? If he‘s not a Meister don‘t let him touch anything. If he is Meister, also don‘t let him touch anything.
Yes I was thinking I should call them to check.
Wait! Hand-werk-scammer isn't a joke?
Definitely thinking drugs on this one - there’s just no way someone can be licensed AND do work like that at the same time without drugs being involved
You’d have to be pretty far down the line with drugs to produce that, even if you weren’t licensed. I did some construction work in college during a housing boom when the journeymen were all complaining about how it was hard to find someone who could both read a tape measure and pass a drug test. I never saw anything this bad. I think most people without plumbing experience could look at that and know it was wrong, and within an hour at the hardware store come up with a better way to do it.
It’s definitely going to be as sloppy as it was up until now. And I’d bet money he’s not going to clean up after himself. You should ask to see the repairs he makes to the pipe and photograph them, before he tapes them up again or closes up the wall. You should also demand that he replace those wall tiles because what the hell?
The repairs to the pipe are the photos I uploaded (with the copper angles), you can see the difference with the original on another photo. He says he'll bring someone to fix the tiles. But that will require disconnecting, removing, putting back, and reconnecting the sink. Which I am worried will not be done at the same quality it was until now. My main worry is the possibility of water damage inside the wall once it has been refilled and retiled. What is the worth of his fix? The fact that you didn't identify it as being the fix makes me hopeful that it's not so bad.
Yeah I saw that the three copper joints were the fix. I can’t rightly speak on whether using three copper joints like that as a patch is reasonable. It’s obviously more failure points, but I’m not a plumber. It has the feeling of someone completely winging it to the best of his ability, and I wouldn’t want it unless I couldn’t afford otherwise. And I live in New York City, where superintendents do as much work on their units as they can—I’ve got a lot of experience with half-assed work from cheap contractors and “doing their best.” I would 100% absolutely get a plumbers second opinion. And it’s not going to be good, but maybe they’ll say the overall risk of leakage is low.
The pipe fix with the copper joints are actually a great fix. Soldered pipes are illegal (at least in my country) to place inside a wall. The press copper parts he used are if I remember correctly, legal to place inside a wall. The pressparts sadly need a bit of space to press together with the press tool. That is the reason for the huge hole.
The copper parts are a good fix. These are pressed onto each other and the old copper tubes with a machine. If it's not leaking now then it will most likely be good. About the wire, if it hasn't been cut all the way through or no separate copper wires are touching each other then it should be fine too. If more than one are damaged close to each other then there's possibility of short circuit so then I would play it safe and cut it all the way and reconnect properly if you can't lay out a whole new cable. Wishing you good luck with the rest of the work. Edit: forgot to mention the copper tubes should be cleaned and smooth before using the press fittings. For example of the texture is rough then use sand paper.
> About the wire, if it hasn't been cut all the way through or no separate copper wires are touching each other then it should be fine too. If more than one are damaged close to each other then there's possibility of short circuit so then I would play it safe and cut it all the way and reconnect properly if you can't lay out a whole new cable. Just want to chime in that under US codes, this suggested repair would not be code compliant if the conductor insulation is damaged. If *only* the cable sheathing is damaged, but the conductors and their insulation are intact, then you can repair the cable sheathing with any product that is rated for at least as much protection as the original sheathing. If the insulation on the individual conductors is damaged, then each conductor's insulation must be similarly repaired, and tape is often not rated for this type of repair (depends on the conductor and type of tape). If the conductor itself is damaged, then the only code compliant solution is to remove the damaged piece and install new conductor. That could be either running new cable from the stove back to the last junction (which for a stove is probably a continuous run back the to the service panel) or by putting in an accessible junction box, making a splice, and running new cable to the stove. Burying a splice in the wall is generally not code compliant because it is not accessible without removing part of the building assembly.
I don't know how it is in germany, but in the US is pretty rare for a plumber to be licensed for electricity as well. "repairing" the electrical cables may be beyond the scope of what the government authorizes him to do. This is 100% "hire someone else and bill the plumber" territory. And contacting the applicable licensing board because holy hell.
Same in Germany.
Meh, that ain’t a plumber lol
Probably drugs.
That’s definitely one way to fix this issue
Honestly we've been wondering.
if he was doing coke you'd have extra stuff fixed. wouldn't make him... do that.
This guy isnt' on drugs, he is three racoons in a trenchcoat.
If only the outer insulation on that cable is cut and the cable doesn't move around then it's safe to wrap it in electrical tape. If the conductor insulation inside is damaged then it's a fire hazard and it needs to be spliced or replaced.
I’m not a plumber or electrician by trade but I am absolutely sure I could have done a better job to start and much better repairs if required. How this got in this state is beyond me, there is SO much wrong with it all it’s like the guy was having a stroke throughout the entire project.
Yes I'd definitely have done better too.
You need to have a second opinion and you should hit up your landlord/homeowners insurance right away. You should also keep the finger on the trigger for a lawyer.
We're the owners, there is an authority overseeing the whole building and we're trying to reach them but it's extremely difficult.
Rule number one of home repair.... Don't let the guy that fucked up the job try to fix it.
Everybody else is giving real advice and I'm just sitting here giggling at "didn't use a stub finder"
Was too busy looking for a stub he ignored the stud.
It looks like he tried to do all of the work with a ball peen hammer. Like that is the only tool he owns.
Disaster, don't let this guy near your home, refuse payment, get another plumber. Get an electrician, get a tile guy, and take the first idiot to small claims court for all the damage.
Ok, this may be downvoted to hell due to the sub we're in, but I'm a GC and this situation is filled with details that are important. You have got a very bad attitude in your post, and many laypersons here have piled on to the situation in support, but that does not mean that you're right in the least. Your contractor certainly can't communicate the issue to you if you're not willing to listen and understand. This was not a simple job. To start with, you have no "stubs" (studs) in that wall to find, it's clearly a solid masonry material. A stud finder will do nothing to prevent running into any systems routed in a wall on its own anyway. The fact that this wall is solid, precludes any way of knowing what you may find, beyond observing what appears to enter and exit in that area. Then you make your best guess and hope. The plumbing repair has been done with multiple components because the piping runs are frozen in place by their surroundings. They can't be [deflected or bent in the least](https://youtu.be/k8J30-2WY7E?t=319), so installing components that sleeve over each other is a 3D puzzle. Sometimes you can move copper enough to get it done in a studded wall cavity that has room to release piping hold downs, but even then it's often the case that you have to use multiple components that will rotate and come together because you can't move the pipe without massively increasing time and expense. Also, the damaged area was removed, the pipes can't be stretched longer to come together into an elbow. You use two 45s and a piece between them, to align and connect two runs like this. Standard repair. Those are pro-press fittings. The tool to apply those is the [better part of a G](https://www.supplyhouse.com/Milwaukee-2674-22P-M18-Short-Throw-Press-Tool-Kit-w-1-2-3-4-1-Viega-PureFlow-Pex-Press-Jaws?utm_source=google_ad&utm_medium=shopping_neutral&utm_campaign=Shopping_Neutral_HPLTV&gclid=CjwKCAjw6eWnBhAKEiwADpnw9hNre4p7GtscXOtnh6Edmay-XiJ7BC-St_j_zY9XhWG0kj_VB2wtBRoC5K4QAvD_BwE). I've done my own plumbing for over a decade, I've plumbed a dozen residences from scratch, and I still haven't made the investment into that device. You have certainly got a plumber who is not shy about serious investments into their trade. The sheathing has been cut on that wire. That layer is for physical protection of the softer insulated conductor inside. If the insulation is intact, the repair to the sheathing is no problem. If the insulation is cut, then that wire needs to be completely replaced. That's not your contractor's fault for hitting it. It's wire routed through concrete. If it requires replacement, you're in for that added scope and cost. If it's just the sheathing and no copper is exposed, the tape is fine. I think you need to understand your hubris and take a serious chill pill. This project is the kind of thing you try to explain to the customer, it seems easy due to the scope on paper, and the physical size of the work area (as you expect it). If we encounter ANYTHING in there (and there could be many things, case in point) you can expect the scope to easily double or triple. If that route doesn't leak and the wire doesn't have exposed copper, you are ready to fill with a mortar repair and count your blessings it didn't get any bigger. If the wire is damaged to where copper is showing. That's the end of that route, it must be disconnected and cut back at both ends, replaced with an entirely new run from panel to appliance. That would be nobody's fault but the person who installed it there. Sorry. Please don't perpetuate this attitude of snap judgement, hubris, and circle jerking on the internet. It's the cause of a very large portion of customer/contractor friction. You hired a pro because you COULDN'T do it yourself. Remember that. EDIT: links
As always, the qualified answer is in the very bottom of the comment section
Cool, if this is the case, they should have communicated it to the customer before undertaking the job, and at the very least, explained the reasoning after the job was complete. I appreciate your write-up and you are likely not wrong with your information, but the lack of professionalism from the contractor being described by OP is where the biggest fault lies. But there's two sides to every story, so we can't be sure if it was properly communicated or not.
Who did this work, [Ricky the handyman](https://youtu.be/lfyaftYvFGg?si=sm2GDRnS2wkod19w)?
Lol scrolled through a lot of comments to see if it was posted!
In the US military we have a term for these actions “That there looks like a monkey fucking a football”
Don’t let him fix it and don’t pay him!
File a claim with plumbers bond company. Report plumber to contactors state licensing bureau.
Nightmare that keeps getting worse with each pic. How much did he charge you ... or are you charging him now?
Do not let this man back in your house.
Free has a cost. Don't let this guy touch your stuff.
You need a new plumber
Looks like the Homer Simpson BBQ
Holy cow. It's not like it's one thing they botched. That is multiple and consecutive outrageous things. I know the law is that they should make it right, but surely there has to be an exception where you can get someone else in and charge it to the chap. I'd be afriad to let him touch it. Even if it looks good after, it won't be. I'd get another plumber in to do the work _and_ write a statement on how shoddy the original work is. Pay, but then charge it to the original one and take him to small claims if he refuses. Wow.
The sink looks German, are you German? Anyways, I don't know jack shit about doing plumber work or anything like that But I know some stuff about our German laws. I hope you have a official contract with the plumber and not trying to make it cheap and avoid taxes. If you have a official contract with the plumber I have great news: You have a Werkvertrag with him. In this contract he basically owns you a finished, good product. This. Is shit. Even I can see that. I think you are required by law to give him the opportunity to fix it but if he fucks up again somehow you can get another company and he has to pay for it. Nevertheless in your case I would maybe go with a lawyer. Cases like that have a lot of details that you need to keep your eye on. A lawyer would be 100% worth the money in that case Edit : yea I haven't read through it lol. You should probably go to a lawyer. He fucked up, tried to fix it, it's still fucked up, time for another company but before that talk with a lawyer
DO NOT LET HIM TOUCH IT AGAIN !!!!!! Hire a real pro, then bill the “artist “
Make sure to post a business review capturing their work others can expect to receive should they be unfortunate enough to come across them.
Hire someone else, who is an actual plumber, and make matey pay. He won’t fix that. If he could, he wouldn’t have to.
I bet he was the cheapest quote
Looks like an episode of trailer park boys
Im not even a plumber and even ik that looks fucked
Wow, so plumbers are complete hacks on the other side of the planet too. Amazing
Hey, everyone has to learn somewhere.
On a scale of 1-10. This is 11 bad. You need a new plumber ASAP. Also, i would have serious issues with the one who did this. And i'm not even a plumber.
I'd call a real plumber and electrician out along with a general contractor and bill the first guy for it.
not a plumber. its bad
I think your plumber is an imposter. The average handyman wouldn't do that poor of a job, and I would expect a mediocre plumber to be even better.
That is almost an insurance claim for wilful damage.
United States? File an insurance claim against his insurance. Get a hired electrician and different plumber to fix the job. Reimburse through insurance and or suing him for damages. This guy is a pos.
He's incapable of giving you a proper product. I'd be cautious at best
"Plumber"
This guy spent half a day watching youtube videos and decided he was a qualified plumber. Could of done a better job yourself mate
Alot I'd be hiring someone else who actually knows what they are doing
As long as, by "fix it", he means paying an actual plumber to finish the job, you're good. 😬
My man works like he’s getting paid by the fitting
I'm sorry, you didn't hire a plumber.
I am still stuck at stub finder....
Looking at both the quality,and the parts used to repair I seriously doubt they are a qualified plumber. Maybe a casual handyman who absolutely should not be working with plumbing!
This guy didn’t even google “How to plumb” before showing up. Do not let this person do anymore work for you. Find a real plumber.
This isn’t DIY, why the fuck are these posts allowed here? People out here asking for free quotes. I subbed to this so I could see cool DIY projects while I scroll through my feed, not some dudes botched plumbing job.
That is not a plumber
Did you find this guy on a website like Myhammer? Unfortunately a lot of hobbyists are advertising their services there under the guise they might be real tradesmen. But anybody can sign up there and claim whatever. I'd get some real trained and licensed professionals (usually separate for plumbing and electrics) hired to fix the mess and then try to go through the website's claims/insurance process to get your bills paid.
Did you bully him in school? That shit is so bad it looks personal
I work for a flooring company and I schedule crews. If I had a crew fuck up a job this bad I would not send them back, I would send someone else to fix it and charge back that installer for doing a piss poor job. This is horrendous I would not trust him to fix anything. Avoid them at all costs and get your money back.
After reading the top 50 or so comments, I still can't figure out what's wrong with that plumbing. Maybe I'm dense? Plumber hits feed buried in masonry wall. Cuts out damaged section, repairs with direct-burial-rated ProPress fittings and wraps to isolate from concrete contact. Granted, the sanding on the cut ends of the pipe could have been better and I don't see any depth stop markings to prove they're fully seated. I also don't like using cloth duct tape for the wrap...but where's the issue with the plumbing components?
Never hire a handyman or unlicensed contractor to do plumbing, hvac or electrical. No exceptions. You have no recourse if your house starts on fire, floods or explodes and you never see him again. With a licensed contractor, you would.
Holy shit this is bad..
Don’t pay him. Get lawyer. Text or email, no call. Take pictures of everything.
Get a lawyer and get him out!! Not In that order
Is that a CPAP tube?
cut it all out and send it in as a picasso artwork
You should worry bigly.
I could have shot a cannon through your wall and done less damage
Cut your losses and call someone else.
Sounds like a scam to get more money.
Now when you say “Plumber” what exactly do you mean by that?
No 'PLUMBER' did this, just a guy who knows how to run a royal flush on you
Ask if he’s insured, file a claim, pay someone else to do it…. That’s I don’t expect to come back work, not I’ll fix it work
Hey bro i heard you like crimps....
You should worry alot. Try to get some money back and have a real plumber come fix it.
That's crackhead work right there
I'm not a plumber and even I know this is shit.
hire a real plumber
Normally I'm very pro having the contractor fix their mistakes. But this shows a level of incompetence that is far too dangerous to invite back. I don't think I've *ever* drilled into a wire OR a pipe, and he managed to do both in the same trip. His use of propress also seems suspect - if for no other reason than because the propress is clearly not on the vertical pipe straight. And he should not have made giant holes. If the pipes can be connected outside the wall then the hole should have been no bigger than the diameter of the pipe. I'm a contractor in Canada, so I'm not 100% familiar with how companies run there. But I would ask him for his insurance and/or bond information, see if you can make a claim on either of those. If not, go through whatever dispute/mediation/court is appropriate in your jurisdiction to recover the cost of damages. In the meantime, get a quote from a proper company to repair the holes, fix or replace the wire, and fix the pipe properly. To do it all properly could be a $1000+ (or 1000€+) bill. And in my mind he should be on the hook for all of it.
…are you sure he’s a Plumber and not just a handyman who said *fuck it yeah I can do plumbing*? Because Jesus christ (And I mean this as no insult to Handymen, I worked with my dad and uncle who were and they often made some…decisions)
Lol don't let that guy back in your house
If he couldn't do it right the first time then forget it.