Is this modern bathroom sink fitting a cowboy job?

[Holly2011]

Dear All,
It's me Holly again.
Could someone give me an opinion on this plumbed in sink please. I have a plumber (or so he calls himself) who has been refurbishing my bathroom. He gutted my bathroom and went through designs and I said that I wanted a modern bathroom design with the pipes hidden in the walls etc. Specifically with the sink I wanted the chrome waste arm to give a contemporary look so my new sink would look like it is floating with the chrome waste coming from the wall. Today I went to do an inspection and have seen what looks like, 2 flexible pipes connected to the tap very low and in the way of the chrome waste pipe spoiling the effect.


Could someone advise are these flexible tubes temporary? As I am thinkg that either the plumber is on another planet, from the wild wild west or I am being too fussy, as if they are permanant I would have expected them to be placed higher up on the underside of the sink so they they are hidden out of view and would have expected him to lay the piping that way as he gutted the bathrom and laid the piping. I have not spoken to the plumber who I will see on Monday but I don't want to appear to make a fuss if this is something technical which has to be like this. It just in the magazine and the look I wanted to go for I have not seen anything like this and to be honest it makes the bathroom look a mess, it looks so wrong. I am so worried I cant sleep thats why I have to ask for some advice as my gut instint is tell me this is wrong and botched. Could have some opinions please.

Regards Holly

 

[Gray0689]

Hi Holly
No there not temporary and no there not right
You will always see the tails a little bit but they should be a lot higher and LEVEL at the least the.
bottle trap don't look to straight either IMHO

 

[kay-jay]

they definately should be higher up.

if you have a couple of spare tiles its not too bad, can just knock off the tiles over the pipework alter pipes as necessary, then re-tile.
i would reccomend you get someone 'proper' in to do it tho, as the guy you have already doesn't seem competent.

 

[kay-jay]

yep i agree with Gray, the trap looks pulled off centre because the sink is hung slightly off.

 

[stevetheplumber]

nothing wrong with the flexibles its where he has left the tails of pipe to connect them they should be nine inches higher
to move them is going to cost you at least four tiles
this is an example of how not to fit a basin unless your in spain /greece

 

[kimbo]

I agree with all the comments. The problem with looking at glossy brochures is that they NEVER show the pipes(because they are not fitted as its just for show) so the customer doesnt expect to see any in the final installation. The plumber could have done a better job in hiding most of them.

 

[SimonG]

Higher, level, symetrical and square would have been my preference. But then I'm picky as well 🙂

 

[Holly2011]

Dear All,
Thanks for all your comments, I will have a closer look at the rest of the bathroom today and discuss it with the plumber, will feedback if he offers rubbish advice.

Thanks to you all Holly2011

 

[dontknowitall]

Most of us here would have tried to hide the pipes better.

You might want to ask yourself first: did the plumber install the pipework or was he working with what he had in front of him (ie were the pipes already sticking out of the wall before he got there?)

Was he the cheapest quote you had? I often tell my customers that you can have good quality, good price and quick installation, but you can only have two of those. So if this plumber had a good price and quick installation then the quality wouldn't be there.

If, however, he was quite expensive compared to others and took a long time to install it then you should expect a quality installation.

 

[stevetheplumber]

probably the best solution is two chrome elbows looking straight up with chrome tube and a couple of chrome clips

 

[Gray0689]

Most of us here would have tried to hide the pipes better.

You might want to ask yourself first: did the plumber install the pipework or was he working with what he had in front of him (ie were the pipes already sticking out of the wall before he got there?)

Was he the cheapest quote you had? I often tell my customers that you can have good quality, good price and quick installation, but you can only have two of those. So if this plumber had a good price and quick installation then the quality wouldn't be there.

If, however, he was quite expensive compared to others and took a long time to install it then you should expect a quality installation.

I disagree I've seen expensive installations that are terrible and I've seen boys with really cheap price doing an excellent job it's what people are happy earning IMHO it's on recommendation not price

 

[dontknowitall]

I disagree I've seen expensive installations that are terrible and I've seen boys with really cheap price doing an excellent job it's what people are happy earning IMHO it's on recommendation not price

I didn't explain myself well enough!

You can have:
1. Low price, quick installation, poor quality
2. Low price, good quality, slow installation
3. Good quality, quick installation, high price

That is, two of those will be favourable to the customer but not the third.

Then again, with a cowboy you'll be lucky to get one of those options - so in that sense I do agree with you!

 

[quality]

Good fast cheap you can only have two

 

[AWheating]

was the basin or its technical information onsite at the time of 1st fixing?

done plenty of jobs in past where ive been told its standard kit and then when ive come back theres some expensive non standard stuff cus it looked good in the shop.

 

[bert large]

I agree re: the comments about flexi positions etc. but I have seen a lot worse.

Not saying Holly's bathroom falls into this category but I am finding that most bathroom refurbs since the recession kicked in want to use cheap gear from the sheds & state they want a budget job but still want it absolutely top class when the work gets underway. The glossy brochures have a lot to answer for !
I am now trying to steer clear of bathrooms for the time being as it is difficult to make any money. Easier to make money on kitchens I find.

 

[bcp]

Consider too the wall and age of property. If its old/ish, there may well have been no good fixings (and no stud work). Have come across many a wall in London with old lime mortar (which is in varying states of disintegration) and on-site made plaster/render mixed with assorted pebbles, on wooden rotten laths (turn of the century or Edwardian build). If fixing was an issue (levelling), your installer should have raised the issues with you, but the price would have been higher, as wall work would be involved. Were you flexible on price? or did you give the impression that you wanted the cheapest possible job? Was this brought up as a possible issue by your installer? (It may not be an issue here, who knows, but to generalize, all readers / members of the public please take note - if you screw the lid down on price, you potentially screw yourselves).

 

[jase158]

No matter the plumbers reason, he should have spoken to customer first, I had this a while ago, was doing 3 bathrooms for a customer, turned out there was a tiny leak under the floor, I was urgently ripping up floor boards trying to get to it, customer walked in and saw the floor boards up and nearly blew her lid off.

If i had explained first she would of been happy, but Because I didnt came as a complete shock.

maybe there was no other way around it. wires/ stud in way, but speak to plumber first. like you said check the rest of bathroom before and make sure you ask him if there is likely to be any other problems.

 

[bcp]

We never start any work without customers knowledge and preferably (always in my case), approval. Yes the 'expert' should always have the conversation, that's part of the expertise and skill and knowledge and professionalism that you are in theory being paid for, but these days its often a case of NOT being paid for. So, (it's not my way of doing business) if for example you have had lean times, the mortgage is due, kids to feed, van payment due and you are in front of a potential customer and your reading is that they absolutely want the rock bottom price or its no job.......
Whilst I in no way condone bad practice, its about time that some of the responsibility was transferred back to the customer - if you want 2 for 1 or buy one get one free, go to Tesco, not your professional. This attitude is true in all walks of business now with many getting screwed to ridiculous margins. Again the media and lead generation websites push the fantasy that you will offer your best services almost free. No price does not always guarantee a good job ; it's all about balance and fairness. Had to add as an afterthought, nor does being a member of one of the trade bodies guarantee the best job either.

 

[jase158]

We never start any work without customers knowledge and preferably (always in my case), approval. Yes the 'expert' should always have the conversation, that's part of the expertise and skill and knowledge and professionalism that you are in theory being paid for, but these days its often a case of NOT being paid for. So, (it's not my way of doing business) if for example you have had lean times, the mortgage is due, kids to feed, van payment due and you are in front of a potential customer and your reading is that they absolutely want the rock bottom price or its no job.......
Whilst I in no way condone bad practice, its about time that some of the responsibility was transferred back to the customer - if you want 2 for 1 or buy one get one free, go to Tesco, not your professional. This attitude is true in all walks of business now with many getting screwed to ridiculous margins. Again the media and lead generation websites push the fantasy that you will offer your best services almost free. No price does not always guarantee a good job ; it's all about balance and fairness. Had to add as an afterthought, nor does being a member of one of the trade bodies guarantee the best job either.

Nearly every customer I have asks for a cheap price.

however, most of the customers get a quote from b and q, wickes, focus i.e.

then get 3 or 4 plumbers and mine is usually in the middle and thats why they go with me.

However its suprising at how many customers I have that have said they have had tradesmen who just simply do not listen and thats why they get things wrong.
I also write exactly what is to be done before the start of work, had somebody tell me after i was half way through work that they wanted all the pipes hidden, this was all toilets, basin, radiators. so minimal if not no pipework showing.
wish they had told me that before the start of work, extra fittings, extra time, extra hassle.

I had to take 2 or 3 pipes out and redo, which i did.

 

[tommohawk]

If the pipes are exposed its best to make a feature of them. Just by using some chrome pipe and fittings they will look good for many years. I prefer to use chrome as it always looks good.

 

[secret squirrel]

Very interesting post first page agree with the original post and the second page put forward a different/alternative view.

I agree with a lot of what has been said. I don't like the idea of 'bashing' the plumber for doing this without hearing his side. Maybe he had spoken to the customer who agreed 'off site' then looked at the basin and it was not what was expected.

Maybe the plumber was told 'just do what you think'

I had a customer on a project that never turned up on site,after many requests and I was told 'sort it out, I'll go with what you think'

Well, I did, surprised the pictures weren't on here! Long story short, I got my money which is what I cared about, then left. As did the sparky, tiler and the plasterer. You cannot manage a project from a distance.

I find these posts quite difficult because we only have one version.

 

[dontknowitall]

... I got my money which is what I cared about, then left. As did the sparky, tiler and the plasterer...

I had a customer like that - all seven of us left within a day of each other.

 

[Gray0689]

View attachment 4018
If the pipes are exposed its best to make a feature of them. Just by using some chrome pipe and fittings they will look good for many years. I prefer to use chrome as it always looks good.

Sorry mate dont like it think it looks a bit silly IMHO but apart from the pipes the rest looks good

 

[Hardy1]

i agree, flexi's way 2 low, the pipes should been bought up much higher.

 

[princegoose]

I once had a customer show a 'brochure' of a worcester boiler, asking why the one I'd fitted had pipes comming from it when the brochures didn't. Didn't want to pay for the job unless it was sorted. Money was received after pictures I'd taken were attached to a letter sent from my solicitor.

Yes, the pipes are too low, but like some have said, did the plumber know the job spec from the word go? The way he reacts to your feedback will give you a clue to his competence.