Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kevin Wood]

Hopefully the leak(s) will be sorted and then you can assess and get any other damage sorted swiftly

Indeed.

Look on the bright side. Some friends of ours had a new build. A couple of weeks after moving in the lounge ceiling came down due to dodgy plumbing.

[Gaffers]

Well the plumber has been and sorted the problem.  It seems a washer had gone and not the joint as I had first thought.  So that has been done and the stop cock fixed which was not screwed in hard enough.

So far the damage is not too bad.  There is a very small water mark on the kitchen ceiling and the gratuitous use of towels in the bedroom has brought up most of the water.  I just need to move some furniture around to make sure it dries out.  I have a space heater too which will help dry things out.

[tunnie]

Grrr bet that is annoying!

The developer should cover this Matt, with ours, its less than 2 years into the 10 year Premier guarantee. Couple of minor things went with the previous owner, such a spring plug thing in the downstairs loo.

They call out the plumber who fixed it, he directly bills the developer, it does not even go through a premier guarantee claim. Apparently this is the case normally for the first 2 years? It goes straight to the developer 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Be careful getting work done whilst the house is under guarantee. 

A lady who used to live next door to my Mum had some alterations done to her house and when a couple of years later there was a fault with the plumbing (which was nothing to do with the alterations) the developer tried to wriggle out on the grounds that he hadn't been notified that the property had been altered.    He was just trying it on as she was a woman and sorted the fault after a solicitors letter! 

Worth bearing in mind! 

[Rods2]

I looked round a new build with a view to purchasing it when we last moved. The central heating had clearly just been commissioned. EVERY joint in the system was leaking. The airing cupboard was quite an impressive water feature. 

Now, I'm just a DIY'er, with zero formal training and little experience, but I enjoy plumbing and am happy to tackle my own plumbing projects. I probably do a plumbing job once a year or so. It disappoints me that perhaps 1 in 20 compression joints I make needs nipping up because it's weeping afterwards. If I were doing the job every day I'd damned well expect a 99.999% success rate.

So, how can a stop cock leak when it's turned off? Has it been put on backwards?

I always use solder joints as much as possible as they are very easy to do and far more reliable. I haven't tried the plastic pipes yet, so I don't know how good they are?

[ronnyd]

Guy who does my plumbing reckons it,s better to turn water off at meter (if you have one) as stop cocks are more
prone to leaks when used a few times.

[Taxi_Driver]

I looked round a new build with a view to purchasing it when we last moved. The central heating had clearly just been commissioned. EVERY joint in the system was leaking. The airing cupboard was quite an impressive water feature. 

Now, I'm just a DIY'er, with zero formal training and little experience, but I enjoy plumbing and am happy to tackle my own plumbing projects. I probably do a plumbing job once a year or so. It disappoints me that perhaps 1 in 20 compression joints I make needs nipping up because it's weeping afterwards. If I were doing the job every day I'd damned well expect a 99.999% success rate.

So, how can a stop cock leak when it's turned off? Has it been put on backwards?

I always use solder joints as much as possible as they are very easy to do and far more reliable. I haven't tried the plastic pipes yet, so I don't know how good they are?

In a bungalow i owned, that i was totally gutting, putting an extension on.....and installing a brand central heating system.....i discovered that in the original part of the bungalow the floor boards were tongue and groove and in mint condition under the old carpets, so decided to sand them and varnish.....the plumber installing the heating system, was told you do not lift any floorboards..as the walls were back to brick in every room....he decided to use plastic micro bore....dropped from the ceilling.....then it was plastered over....nice neat solution....and worked fine 

Only problem with that solution.....is i wonder if the new owners have found the plastic pipes with nails/screws/drills 

[TheBoy]

I've had 2 new builds, and in both cases the snag lists have been fairly minimal, certainly nothing serious.

This house did lose a few roof tiles (not even in high winds) after about 3yrs, developers weren't interested, so had to get it done via NHBC. Found out there are different levels of NHBC, fortunately ours included roof work.

My carpets are shagged, the firemen brought in tar, and ash has discoloured it in places.

[Gaffers]

As long as the heater does its job it looks like the carpets will make it.  A $200 hawaiian quilt has been ruined though.  I doubt that this is covered under the NHBC, thus an insurance claim may look likely

[05omegav6]

Don't forget to claim for the holiday time consuming, intensive trip in search of said quilt

Fair play to the developer for getting to it sharpish, not that the situation should have arisen in the first place

[Kevin Wood]

I always use solder joints as much as possible as they are very easy to do and far more reliable. I haven't tried the plastic pipes yet, so I don't know how good they are?

Yes, me too.

As to plastic pipe, the thing that worries me about using it where you can't get to it is that there is an O ring in every joint and, as we know only too well, rubber seals don't last forever. That said, I'm sure a solder joint will eventually fail with years of thermal cycling.

[chrisgixer]

Its easy to fit and as a bleddy sight more reliable than plumbers soldering.

Being fair, a low joint on old pipe work, where water seems along the pipe is exceptionally difficult to solder as the water keeps creeping in and cooling the joint. Or, just join the plastic onto copper. Cut to length(snip) push together (click).... measure the next one, to within the nearest two inches measure, snip, click. Jobbed.

It's actually bugger all to do with plumbing. Idiot proof. Ideal for tradesman.

[Kevin Wood]

Its easy to fit and as a bleddy sight more reliable than plumbers soldering.

Being fair, a low joint on old pipe work, where water seems along the pipe is exceptionally difficult to solder as the water keeps creeping in and cooling the joint. Or, just join the plastic onto copper. Cut to length(snip) push together (click).... measure the next one, to within the nearest two inches measure, snip, click. Jobbed.

It's actually bugger all to do with plumbing. Idiot proof. Ideal for tradesman.

Indeed, but in 10 year's time, when the rubber seal has perished...

[05omegav6]

The plumbing on the boat was a combination of twenty five year old (at the time) copper plumbing with compression joints in a handful of reasonably accessible places with some ten year old plastic pipe and speedfit connections. Only leaks were minor ones from a couple of compression joints, easily sorted with new olives, and one speedfit connection popping apart one winter where I hadn't drained it properly

Use pre soldered joints for any plumbing at home... So easy even I can do it

[Sir Tigger KC]

Its easy to fit and as a bleddy sight more reliable than plumbers soldering.

Being fair, a low joint on old pipe work, where water seems along the pipe is exceptionally difficult to solder as the water keeps creeping in and cooling the joint. Or, just join the plastic onto copper. Cut to length(snip) push together (click).... measure the next one, to within the nearest two inches measure, snip, click. Jobbed.

It's actually bugger all to do with plumbing. Idiot proof. Ideal for tradesman.

Indeed, but in 10 year's time, when the rubber seal has perished...

Plastic speed/push fit joints usually have a 20 year guarantee, which I'm sure will put your mind at rest Kevin!   

I used them recently when I fitted a bath with centre taps and it made the whole operation a lot easier!    If I'd tried to solder the joints I'd have probably managed to burn a hole in the bath!!