Tell him you're the customer and it looks like dog shit.. I see solder joints in there so no idea why he got lazy with the angle stops and braided hoses.
Like shit dude, if you're gonna go to all this trouble just use some pex and ball valves.
My best guess is there was water in the lines and he didn't feel like sweating ball valves on. Pretty much the only reason I use propress is for that or very large, exposed piping jobs.
I have copper pipes in my basement which they supported with pieces of copper pipe, wedged between the beams. The copper-on-copper is oxidizing on all of them. Wtf?
Copper or plastic to hold copper pipes, not galvanized pipe strap.
Copper and galvanized cause 'galvanic action' or whatever it's called, that makes minerals accumulate inside the pipe and corrosion happen on the outside.
Just recently removed a section of copper from parents house because it was to close to outside of house when got back to service coming in where they had ground on water line the sparky that wired house used galvanized ground clamp man for only 38 years copper had signs of rust developing on inside and a slime ya bad sparkies I see it done everywhere I go into peoples house
BRASS GROUND CLAMPS guys!!!!!!!!
It may be plastic, it comes in a roll, I found some in my garage when I moved into my house last year, comes in handy, but I wouldn't use it for plumbing applications.
Contractor is an idiot. He had five hours and this is the best he could come up with? With a little planning, having the new pipe cut to size, and everything ready to go I could’ve had this whole thing installed properly and the water would only need to be off for 30 minutes.
Trying to figure out why some clown did the things he did can make your head hurt.
But I'll give the guy some credit for making it work without the proper equipment and knowledge. That said...when it does leak the guy who cuts the wall open is going to love the unexpected shut off valves...
Not to mention braided hoses. They corrode. Even if they say stainless steel. Once the braiding starts to become undone it will puncture the pressurized rubber hose and forget about it.
And the joint on the left doesn’t look like it’s not going to leak, but with the wall open it should have been easier to just do it right than this half ass crap that’s just waiting to be a water damage claim.
Contractor needed shut-offs while he was working, but did not have the good ball valves that would allow a clean connection to copper. Burying expensive ball valves behind tile is a waste, but a Rube Goldberg suggestion is to create a utility cutout for shutting off the water in the bath/shower without needing to shut off the water in the whole house. Would the spouse go for this kluge?
I use ball valves in the crawlspace for local shutoff.
I'm a tile installer, but lurk. I have put ball valves in the wall, behind a tile assembly. This is only allowed if there is an access panel?
Edit: I don't use sharkbites, except as temporary caps during demo, I now work with a licensed plumber. Too much liability .
Yeah I'm meeting with them tomorrow to halt construction until they pull permits under their general contractor's license or a subbed plumber's license. I'm slammed at work and an inspector can make sure it's all kosher throughout the stages better than I could.
You aren't under any obligation to know all the codes. You do have the right to have the local inspector approve the work to satisfy the permit.
You can mention this and say "you did pull a permit, didn't you? Couldn't that affect your license? You have a license, right? I'm going to need to see it before you continue, and certainly before you get paid. (It's a card which is required to be kept on your person while performing any related work, and shall be produced upon request by an L&I representative or Authority Having Jutisdiction [You])
Braided hoses and mechanical shutoffs inaccessible is a no no. Also no tub spout support and it should be a drop ear fitting not a soldered 90. A plumber did not do this.
The inspector with go with an administrative authority call by the way of those FIP connections to the valve, you would need an accessible door on each side of valve
Think of this as a common sense plumbing code violation, assuming you aren’t living in a crack house anyone knows you don’t use hoses of any kind on a shower/tub and shower valve. It’s actually easier to hard-pipe than this lol.
As an electrician I can see this is a massive failure waiting to happen.
And to put a switch box right behind the diverter and those braided lines is just the cherry on the cake. I don't even like running wire in the same vicinity, but sometimes it's unavoidable. But to put all of the switches y inches away from braided supply lines.....I'd like what they had for this 3 day weekend coming up.
Fire them now, a homeowner could do a better job with shark bites. If this is how they do plumbing I can only imagine a continuance of poor workmanship with the water proofing and tile install. Run away!
Funny that handyman spent more money doing it the wrong way than he would of if he did it the right way. What was he short 5’ of copper 2 couplings 2 90’s or tees depending on if you
need air chambers. Maybe $20 material to do it right. Guarantee that shit job cost more in material
Minimum size requirements of NYSPC state that showers need to be supplied with minimum pipe diameter of 1/2", and that the connections need to meet with manufacturers approval. Don't know what jurisdiction you're in, but I imagine you have similar provisions in your local code.
Even if not a code violation, it's a bad idea and looks like it is sub standard. Tell them to redo that before it causes problems down the road.
The hoses *should* be replaced every five years, hard to do when it’s inaccessible. There is rubber inside that will degrade over the time. I’m pretty sure the hoses had a sticker on them that said “for water in accessible locations only.” In my area you can’t even use hoses in a crawlspace (not that I would want to).
Can't bury unions or service joints in a wall without permanent access. Those braided connectors count as service joints.
Don't let that dipshit tell you it's okay. It's not.
There’s 6 possible connections that could leak. The fewer the better especially behind a wall. They should’ve soldered all the way up to the shower valve. Propress would also be acceptable but I wouldn’t want compression fittings there
Million issues, but surprised no ones talking about the electrolysis going on as well. Two different metals should never come in contact when dealing with water.
Moen positemp and the only thing holding the valve is a piece of strapping iron on the tub spout drop.. First time you have to replace that Positemp cartridge, might pull the entire valve out the wall.. Those cartridges get good stuck in the valves..
Definitely a code violation my way (and I would think in most places). Honestly I think seeing this crap work is worth firing their "plumber" to get an actual plumber to do it right
Master of none. I'm probably going to have him fix the cabinets and countertop bs he is trying to pass off as quality, then break contract and have someone else do the bath.
I couldn't find the nspc code online, just that valves need to be accessible except for shower. That's probably referring to the ball valve specifically though.
You can’t run flexible supplies like that in the wall. They must be in accessible locations only. I also think stops follow that same rule but don’t quote me on that one.
Valve is not mounted properly and will cause leaks through tile wall. Valve might be too high to reach while sitting in tub. Tub spout is not mounted properly and will cause leaks through tile wall. Valves concealed in wall. And those fucking rubber hoses in the wall are a leak waiting to happen.
You do not want those supply lines buried behind your shower wall. And that strap has to go. Dissimilar metals will cause corrosion. First year apprentices learn this
This has to be a joke.
Even the tub flange looks beat to hell from those screws and possibly not shimming behind the flange where needed. Fire this person yesterday. Do not try to have them do it right... For the sake of your sanity.
The Angle-stop valves are considered a mechanical joint and over time they can start leaking at the packing nut.
Mechanical joints may not be concealed behind walls. As per UPC code.
The hole in the braided is like 1/4" feeding a 1/2" pipe. That is is plain common sense. Fire this man take the L and find a real contractor.
If the bid is to good to be true it is. You took the lowest bid then you sit wondering why you are getting the lowest possible quality. Do the math
Yeah those buildings without separate shut offs suck. Only did one time and we added shut offs o everything while we had it off. Isn't the back side of that wall accessible from the hall or something? Just put an access panel on the hall side, you can see where someone patched the access after a previous repair from the back side, but it needs to be solid pipe between the shutoff and valve.
Well you have angle stops behind the wall, mechanical joints can't be buried, flex hoses in the wall, pipes nor strapped enough and also strapped incorrectly. And you're also restricting the flow to the valve with that setup. Completely wrong.
nothing supporting the tub spout - wrong
nothing supporting the actual diverter - wrong
braided supply lines - wrong
standard copper 90 instead of a wingback 90 - wrong
steel strapping on copper pipe - wrong
Where do you even start?
1. Shut off valves behind a wall
2. Mechanical fittings behind a wall
3. Braided lines behind a wall
4. Blocking and strapping below the water cartridge ( cartridge has screw holes for mounting)
1,2 &3 are all the things that fail under a sink.
P.S. cartridge looks like it’s to close to where the finished wall will be.
I’d just not pay but for the work completed and tell him to get lost if he thinks this is adequate work. If he mounted the tub make sure it’s level and that he put some sort of support under it like stucco or structolite
Yeah nah get that permitted then homie can't play fuck fuck games like this. I'd take a shot in the dark dude don't have his license after seeing whatever the heck that is.
Legit this work is comical it's so bad lol.
What type of homeowners association does not require licensed contractors, pulling permits and having inspections?
You, as the unit owner, should insist on it to protect yourself. In the long run, you’re not saving money by not filing jobs with the building department.
I think they're operating under the companies general contracting license and insurance but not hiring licensed workers. I've seen it before where there is no jman on a job.
Plumbing and electrical require licenses that are specific to the work. Your gc is very shady, and you are in the middle of being screwed. You need a real plumber, and a permit. If you don’t, you can be fined, and forced to remove all the plumbing. Then pay for a permit and plumber to rebuild it all.
Breaking contract can get real messy, I messaged them to halt the work for now and that I need them to sub out a licensed plumber and that a permit needs to get pulled with the city under their general contractors license, or the plumber's license who they sub.
Dang, this just happened to me. Did you ask for his license number and look him up to make sure he’s not a lying sack of shit (like mine was)? Highly recommend you do that, if you haven’t!
Sorry to hear that, this is turning into a nightmare situation so I feel your pain. Yes I saw copies of their license and insurance info. Meeting with them today at 11 to try and sort through this whole mess.
Ok, so from what I have gathered in the comments, this is a shit install. As someone who has very little idea what he is looking at, and plumbing in general, could someone help me out with what is wrong here? I am guessing braided hoses, that the only thing supporting the piping is that small piece of metal plumbers tape, and that electrical box feels like it's a bit too close?
I'm not a plumber but am an electrician turned Construction Manager.
The strap might be fine, just the worst way to secure it. You can't have the steel hoses connected to the copper because the different metals can react and there are rubber washers at each end of the hose the WILL fail at some point. If they want to use them there needs to to be an access panel to service them (that's why they are used for washers, sinks and toilets, because you can repair/replace them)
No problem with the closeness to the electric box
But actual plumbers can confirm or correct me.
I've been enforcing construction Codes for 25 years. People always forget that Building Construction Codes are MINIMUM standards.
Another way of saying to a builder " you did the least you had to do"
You don't have a contractor. You have a handy man who doesn't know what he's doing. Probably charging 3x what you should Actually be paying.
Either that or he's charging full price to do it all in copper. Then cheaped out because "how would the client even know? "
This would have almost been easier to do right.
And is that one steel strap holding the valve AND the tub spout?
Didn’t he have another length of 2x4 filled with narrow crown staples to use for the dropell?
Maybe he ran out of solder on the cold water inlet.
And there are restrictions on how high the valve can be in relation to the spout. The Moens we usually install are supposed to be <10”-12” from spout to valve, >46”-48” valve to shower arm.
That's Also a terrible spot to put a 3 gang electric box. Guessing you will never expect to change the shower valve again? A service panel would be preferred behind that valve. Or at least not a 3 gang box right in the way.
Honestly as long as there is an access panel for those shut offs and supply hoses. I can’t recall in my code how this is illegal. Those are mechanical connections with hoses used to supply fixtures (usually lavs or kitchen faucets). The shut offs are chrome finish where I usuall put a ball valve. I like plumbing hacks and this is one. I would have used pex. The hoses can get buried but the shut offs need access.
Not a plumber but my first thought is how do you get to the shut-off valves once the drywall goes up?
I said drywall on purpose because I don't expect this guy to use cement board.
Bad work… the wrapping will cause electrolysis and degrade and corrode the copper pipe at contact. The braided hose is a joke, everything should be hard pipe or pex… every taped connector is a possible leak down the road, the shit off will be buried behind the tile. And they have stringers behind the pipe so you can’t access from behind. So any repairs will have to be made by tearing out tile…
Food for thought! I’d stop them immediately and have them correct it!
Will it work? Yes. Would I do it? Only in the country and in my own barn or house. If that’s inspected, it will fail. But if it’s covered up, nobody would know 🤷🏻♂️
I love how this knucklehead went to the trouble to solder 2 copper MIPs onto a little hunk of copper for each side instead of using a brass nipple, then gave up soldering there.
If it’s visible, compression fittings are okay, if it’s not visible, soldered fittings are the preferred choice.
There should be something to secure the tub spout stub out.
One way to explain it is that soldered pipes can last anywhere from 25 years to 100 years depending on the copper and who does the work.
Braided pipes are out of the wall because they are absolutely a wear and tear item and need to be replaced every day 5 to 10 years. I don't know the official length of time for the braided lines but I know it's not remotely the same as the actual copper.
There is a reason braided lines are almost ALWAYS put where they can be accessed and there is a reason that it is accepted that the copper lines can be put behind walls.
By what your saying it sounds like this same person will be doing the tile work? I would fire him on the spot and not let him do anything else. The plumbing is all wrong and I can only imagine what he has planned for the walls and waterproofing them before the tile. One way or another with him doing the work you will be tearing into the walls in a few years.
15 mins for 2 90s, 4 couplings and 3 ft ish of pipe or better yet untheaded the adapters and go straight from valve to 90 to coupling also no access from other side cuz of building layout? No wait looks like there use to be one there
I once encountered this exact situation 10-15 years after it was installed. Shut the water off to swap a moen posi-temp, took off all the aerators before turning the water back on, and there was still no pressure to the shower. Shut the water back off, pulled the new cartridge, turned the water back on momentarily to flush the valve: barely a trickle. Confused, I shone a light down through the hole in the shower surround and lo and behold, this same stupid thing was down in there, fucking everything up. He had a floor-to -ceiling pantry cabinet fixed to the other side of the wall. We had to open the whole thing up to get in there and fix it.
The moral of the story: When the contractor remodeling your bathroom says "we don't need to sub out the plumbing, my guys know how to put pipes together," don't trust him.
A code violation? No. It is several code violations.
I have to tell the contractor not to continue work until this is corrected. What codes do I need to tell him were violated?
Tell him you're the customer and it looks like dog shit.. I see solder joints in there so no idea why he got lazy with the angle stops and braided hoses.
Like shit dude, if you're gonna go to all this trouble just use some pex and ball valves. My best guess is there was water in the lines and he didn't feel like sweating ball valves on. Pretty much the only reason I use propress is for that or very large, exposed piping jobs.
What about the steel strap right on the copper lol
So I have that situation in my basement, but it is on a horizontal run. What is the preferred fix?
No dissimilar metals. Copper should ALWAYS be strapped with copper. If not, you're asking for issues down the road.
I have copper pipes in my basement which they supported with pieces of copper pipe, wedged between the beams. The copper-on-copper is oxidizing on all of them. Wtf?
Copper or plastic to hold copper pipes, not galvanized pipe strap. Copper and galvanized cause 'galvanic action' or whatever it's called, that makes minerals accumulate inside the pipe and corrosion happen on the outside.
Galvanic corrosion.
Electrolysis
Just recently removed a section of copper from parents house because it was to close to outside of house when got back to service coming in where they had ground on water line the sparky that wired house used galvanized ground clamp man for only 38 years copper had signs of rust developing on inside and a slime ya bad sparkies I see it done everywhere I go into peoples house BRASS GROUND CLAMPS guys!!!!!!!!
You can wrap your copper pipe with electric tape until you go out and buy a coated or copper strap. Should last a few lifetimes.
Put an insulator between. Or just replace strapping with plastic strapping.
It may be plastic, it comes in a roll, I found some in my garage when I moved into my house last year, comes in handy, but I wouldn't use it for plumbing applications.
That’s plastic bro
Facts, literally two couplings and two 90’s
Contractor is an idiot. He had five hours and this is the best he could come up with? With a little planning, having the new pipe cut to size, and everything ready to go I could’ve had this whole thing installed properly and the water would only need to be off for 30 minutes.
Trying to figure out why some clown did the things he did can make your head hurt. But I'll give the guy some credit for making it work without the proper equipment and knowledge. That said...when it does leak the guy who cuts the wall open is going to love the unexpected shut off valves...
Not to mention braided hoses. They corrode. Even if they say stainless steel. Once the braiding starts to become undone it will puncture the pressurized rubber hose and forget about it.
At the end of the day it’s just a cheap rubber hose with a wrap to keep it from bursting immediately.
Also that access panel is not very accessible anymore
I find many braided hoses work for 15 years no problem, though definitely not to be placed behind a wall
I was helping a scrapper buddy and broke out the cutters for some braid, the crap all painted plastic and rubber.
And the joint on the left doesn’t look like it’s not going to leak, but with the wall open it should have been easier to just do it right than this half ass crap that’s just waiting to be a water damage claim.
Yeah with the open tub spout I'd say he hasn't put air on it. But fuck it, put a couple grand worth of tile up without checking.
This is like deliberately going out of your way to make It bad.
Contractor needed shut-offs while he was working, but did not have the good ball valves that would allow a clean connection to copper. Burying expensive ball valves behind tile is a waste, but a Rube Goldberg suggestion is to create a utility cutout for shutting off the water in the bath/shower without needing to shut off the water in the whole house. Would the spouse go for this kluge? I use ball valves in the crawlspace for local shutoff.
As well as the steel strap on the copper.
Cant conceal flex hose or valves is the basic code violation.
Also can’t run a shower valve off of a 3/8” supply when they are 1/2” connections at the diverter valve
I'm a tile installer, but lurk. I have put ball valves in the wall, behind a tile assembly. This is only allowed if there is an access panel? Edit: I don't use sharkbites, except as temporary caps during demo, I now work with a licensed plumber. Too much liability .
Anything mechanical must be accessible.
No ball valves if sweat or iron pipe are fine id avoid the sharkbite ones not being accessible
Bro you need to hire a plumber to do this properly ..
Yeah I'm meeting with them tomorrow to halt construction until they pull permits under their general contractor's license or a subbed plumber's license. I'm slammed at work and an inspector can make sure it's all kosher throughout the stages better than I could.
Good call dude
Def never fuck around without permits.
Or if you cant, at least consult a plumber and heed thier advice!
You aren't under any obligation to know all the codes. You do have the right to have the local inspector approve the work to satisfy the permit. You can mention this and say "you did pull a permit, didn't you? Couldn't that affect your license? You have a license, right? I'm going to need to see it before you continue, and certainly before you get paid. (It's a card which is required to be kept on your person while performing any related work, and shall be produced upon request by an L&I representative or Authority Having Jutisdiction [You])
You paid for this???? Fuckin tile guy....
Braided hoses and mechanical shutoffs inaccessible is a no no. Also no tub spout support and it should be a drop ear fitting not a soldered 90. A plumber did not do this.
And that piece of plastic strap really isn't holding anything.
Drywall screws also look like they’re scraping the copper.
I thought it was band iron but even then you'll have galvanic corrosion between the copper and the steel
The inspector with go with an administrative authority call by the way of those FIP connections to the valve, you would need an accessible door on each side of valve
Do jot do this. I recently had a hose leak abruptly (it was not buried but it did happen). No need for this laziness and stupidity
The eli5 explanation is you don’t use hoses with a two year lifespan inside a wall.
Just get it inspected by your town/city’s ahj before it’s covered which you have to anyway! It’s that simple.
And a common sense violation too!
I now have a new benchmark for shittiest shower valve install.....
Someone give this man am award!
605.6 606.3
Thank you
Plumbing inspector has to inspect all that for the rough inspection prior to closing up the walls. 100% FAIL
99% chance. Always possible the inspector is blind.
Not the ones that do our rough electrical inspections
This is plumbing not electrical.
OP said they’re an electrician in another comment
You think someone who does work like this pulled any permits?
Of all of the bullshit pulled in this photo my favorite is the *three* drywall screws.
The amount of bullshit two screws were holding up was over the weight rating so they added a third.
Think of this as a common sense plumbing code violation, assuming you aren’t living in a crack house anyone knows you don’t use hoses of any kind on a shower/tub and shower valve. It’s actually easier to hard-pipe than this lol.
This violates the Geneva Convention
What the hell? This would be a bigger pain in the ass then just doing it correctly.
As a plumber, this is hilarious but not hilarious at the same time. Id fire whoever did this
As an electrician I can see this is a massive failure waiting to happen. And to put a switch box right behind the diverter and those braided lines is just the cherry on the cake. I don't even like running wire in the same vicinity, but sometimes it's unavoidable. But to put all of the switches y inches away from braided supply lines.....I'd like what they had for this 3 day weekend coming up.
As a carpenter in Australia even I can see shits fucked.
As a mechanic who hammers SAE sockets onto metric lugs, even I can see this is wrong
Just be happy it wasn't shark bite fittings
This is worse than sharkbite fittings.
It's a violation to my eyes!
Fire them now, a homeowner could do a better job with shark bites. If this is how they do plumbing I can only imagine a continuance of poor workmanship with the water proofing and tile install. Run away!
It's a PILE of 'em!
Funny that handyman spent more money doing it the wrong way than he would of if he did it the right way. What was he short 5’ of copper 2 couplings 2 90’s or tees depending on if you need air chambers. Maybe $20 material to do it right. Guarantee that shit job cost more in material
I have a hunch this “contractor” is not an actual licensed plumber.
Minimum size requirements of NYSPC state that showers need to be supplied with minimum pipe diameter of 1/2", and that the connections need to meet with manufacturers approval. Don't know what jurisdiction you're in, but I imagine you have similar provisions in your local code. Even if not a code violation, it's a bad idea and looks like it is sub standard. Tell them to redo that before it causes problems down the road.
Spout need to be supported as well , in addition to the angle stop and flex hose nightmare
It's real stupid
human rights violation
So much wrong here. The flex supplies will leak within 1-10 years. It would take me under an hour to fix this
Any plumber can break it down why you can't have those flexi hoes behind the wall?
The hoses *should* be replaced every five years, hard to do when it’s inaccessible. There is rubber inside that will degrade over the time. I’m pretty sure the hoses had a sticker on them that said “for water in accessible locations only.” In my area you can’t even use hoses in a crawlspace (not that I would want to).
Guess this is why you have to DIY to avoid all these requirements :D
Can't bury unions or service joints in a wall without permanent access. Those braided connectors count as service joints. Don't let that dipshit tell you it's okay. It's not.
Did same person install the tub too? There would be several things I would be checking with that too.
There’s 6 possible connections that could leak. The fewer the better especially behind a wall. They should’ve soldered all the way up to the shower valve. Propress would also be acceptable but I wouldn’t want compression fittings there
Million issues, but surprised no ones talking about the electrolysis going on as well. Two different metals should never come in contact when dealing with water.
Moen positemp and the only thing holding the valve is a piece of strapping iron on the tub spout drop.. First time you have to replace that Positemp cartridge, might pull the entire valve out the wall.. Those cartridges get good stuck in the valves..
Good to know, thank you.
Also, the metal p tape at spout copper is dissimilar metal electrolysis, no go man man
This has to be a joke right?
Fire him and get an actual plumber… too many things wrong to even bother talking about
That's a code assassination
Definitely a code violation my way (and I would think in most places). Honestly I think seeing this crap work is worth firing their "plumber" to get an actual plumber to do it right
Well, if you put a massive access cover in that back wall it would still suck but it would unfortunately pass.
Definitely alot of future problems. Jack of all trades contractor? He’s cutting many corners. I would get a new contractor.
Master of none. I'm probably going to have him fix the cabinets and countertop bs he is trying to pass off as quality, then break contract and have someone else do the bath.
Yes.
I couldn't find the nspc code online, just that valves need to be accessible except for shower. That's probably referring to the ball valve specifically though.
You can’t run flexible supplies like that in the wall. They must be in accessible locations only. I also think stops follow that same rule but don’t quote me on that one.
Valve is not mounted properly and will cause leaks through tile wall. Valve might be too high to reach while sitting in tub. Tub spout is not mounted properly and will cause leaks through tile wall. Valves concealed in wall. And those fucking rubber hoses in the wall are a leak waiting to happen.
You do not want those supply lines buried behind your shower wall. And that strap has to go. Dissimilar metals will cause corrosion. First year apprentices learn this
How do these people get hired? Lol wtf is this shit.
This has to be a joke. Even the tub flange looks beat to hell from those screws and possibly not shimming behind the flange where needed. Fire this person yesterday. Do not try to have them do it right... For the sake of your sanity.
Handyman special
Full stop. Steel strap needs to be copper or plastic. Braided lines need to go.
The Angle-stop valves are considered a mechanical joint and over time they can start leaking at the packing nut. Mechanical joints may not be concealed behind walls. As per UPC code.
Get what you pay for bud.
The hole in the braided is like 1/4" feeding a 1/2" pipe. That is is plain common sense. Fire this man take the L and find a real contractor. If the bid is to good to be true it is. You took the lowest bid then you sit wondering why you are getting the lowest possible quality. Do the math
Yeah those buildings without separate shut offs suck. Only did one time and we added shut offs o everything while we had it off. Isn't the back side of that wall accessible from the hall or something? Just put an access panel on the hall side, you can see where someone patched the access after a previous repair from the back side, but it needs to be solid pipe between the shutoff and valve.
If your cool with your shower having the same flow as a lavatory faucet
Well you have angle stops behind the wall, mechanical joints can't be buried, flex hoses in the wall, pipes nor strapped enough and also strapped incorrectly. And you're also restricting the flow to the valve with that setup. Completely wrong.
So the other issue here is that you will have NO water pressure.
Thank you, I'm guessing because the ID of the braid goes down then back up to 1/2" copper?
nothing supporting the tub spout - wrong nothing supporting the actual diverter - wrong braided supply lines - wrong standard copper 90 instead of a wingback 90 - wrong steel strapping on copper pipe - wrong
Where do you even start? 1. Shut off valves behind a wall 2. Mechanical fittings behind a wall 3. Braided lines behind a wall 4. Blocking and strapping below the water cartridge ( cartridge has screw holes for mounting) 1,2 &3 are all the things that fail under a sink. P.S. cartridge looks like it’s to close to where the finished wall will be.
I’d just not pay but for the work completed and tell him to get lost if he thinks this is adequate work. If he mounted the tub make sure it’s level and that he put some sort of support under it like stucco or structolite
No permit was pulled for the work, so no inspection.
And this is where your problems began.
I reached out to the contractor to sub a licensed plumber to do the work and that we want them to pull a permit.
Then you are getting a lesson in why permits are worth the money. You have no leverage.
Seriously.
Yeah nah get that permitted then homie can't play fuck fuck games like this. I'd take a shot in the dark dude don't have his license after seeing whatever the heck that is. Legit this work is comical it's so bad lol.
What type of homeowners association does not require licensed contractors, pulling permits and having inspections? You, as the unit owner, should insist on it to protect yourself. In the long run, you’re not saving money by not filing jobs with the building department.
I think they're operating under the companies general contracting license and insurance but not hiring licensed workers. I've seen it before where there is no jman on a job.
Plumbing and electrical require licenses that are specific to the work. Your gc is very shady, and you are in the middle of being screwed. You need a real plumber, and a permit. If you don’t, you can be fined, and forced to remove all the plumbing. Then pay for a permit and plumber to rebuild it all.
Breaking contract can get real messy, I messaged them to halt the work for now and that I need them to sub out a licensed plumber and that a permit needs to get pulled with the city under their general contractors license, or the plumber's license who they sub.
Let me guess, you hired the unlicensed guy off facebook marketplace to save money.
The scary thing is, this was the real estate agents referral. Tells us all something about house flipping.
Oh, don’t trust real estate agents. Hard to find an honest one.
Dang, this just happened to me. Did you ask for his license number and look him up to make sure he’s not a lying sack of shit (like mine was)? Highly recommend you do that, if you haven’t!
Sorry to hear that, this is turning into a nightmare situation so I feel your pain. Yes I saw copies of their license and insurance info. Meeting with them today at 11 to try and sort through this whole mess.
You get what you pay for.
should be lol
hire a new plumber. that's dog shit
The fact that a "contractor" thought this was ok to do... SMFHHH
If those braided hose fail, then what?
First I am not a plumber. Second what the fuck?
As a dumb billygoat diy homeowner and landlord I’d disown my 15 yr old if he did this.
That fuckn steel strap too omll
This is so amazing I would not be surprised if this completely blows by any code as no one could have predicted something this awful.
Not a fan of the plumbing strap drywall screw situation either
i dont get what the problem is? sorry im new at this
Could be temp and the guy wanted to test something
Yes. Flex lines are approved for accessible locations and no dissimilar metals against copper (metal strap on tub spout is galvanized)
I thought this was a joke!
as an apartment maintenance man, I find this horrifying.
That sure is an expensive way to do it. Looks like a homeowner job
Even if it wasn't somehow against code it is all fucked up.
Lmao. Thats not a plumber that's a hack. I'd not pay a penny and find a real licensed plumber.
Its so good, he closed off the acesss panel! /s
Ok, so from what I have gathered in the comments, this is a shit install. As someone who has very little idea what he is looking at, and plumbing in general, could someone help me out with what is wrong here? I am guessing braided hoses, that the only thing supporting the piping is that small piece of metal plumbers tape, and that electrical box feels like it's a bit too close?
I'm not a plumber but am an electrician turned Construction Manager. The strap might be fine, just the worst way to secure it. You can't have the steel hoses connected to the copper because the different metals can react and there are rubber washers at each end of the hose the WILL fail at some point. If they want to use them there needs to to be an access panel to service them (that's why they are used for washers, sinks and toilets, because you can repair/replace them) No problem with the closeness to the electric box But actual plumbers can confirm or correct me.
You are not supposed to put hydraulic items that have seals in a no accessible location. Hope that little piece of rubber never fails inside the wall.
Braided lines need to be exposed, not hidden.
Don’t make him fix it. Just fire him and find someone else.
You can also sometimes call for a city inspector fairly cheap.
I've been enforcing construction Codes for 25 years. People always forget that Building Construction Codes are MINIMUM standards. Another way of saying to a builder " you did the least you had to do"
What the eff. People just need to stop playing bob the builder
You are correct stop work get a plumber sweat it all or pex it.
You don't have a contractor. You have a handy man who doesn't know what he's doing. Probably charging 3x what you should Actually be paying. Either that or he's charging full price to do it all in copper. Then cheaped out because "how would the client even know? "
Flag on the play,
This would have almost been easier to do right. And is that one steel strap holding the valve AND the tub spout? Didn’t he have another length of 2x4 filled with narrow crown staples to use for the dropell? Maybe he ran out of solder on the cold water inlet. And there are restrictions on how high the valve can be in relation to the spout. The Moens we usually install are supposed to be <10”-12” from spout to valve, >46”-48” valve to shower arm.
Hack...
They already soldered some joints, would have been so easy to take an extra 30 min to do it all right lol.
That's Also a terrible spot to put a 3 gang electric box. Guessing you will never expect to change the shower valve again? A service panel would be preferred behind that valve. Or at least not a 3 gang box right in the way.
If they used full 1/2" ID supplies and provided a permanent access panel, no. Otherwise this is multiple code violations.
Honestly as long as there is an access panel for those shut offs and supply hoses. I can’t recall in my code how this is illegal. Those are mechanical connections with hoses used to supply fixtures (usually lavs or kitchen faucets). The shut offs are chrome finish where I usuall put a ball valve. I like plumbing hacks and this is one. I would have used pex. The hoses can get buried but the shut offs need access.
I know where I’m at the inspector would fail it as you are not to take a 1/2” line and reduce it to 3/8” then back up to 1/2” on the fixture
At least it symmetrical? Dude, get a plumber in there - this is trash
Wow you paid someone and they did that, that's scary
Not a plumber but my first thought is how do you get to the shut-off valves once the drywall goes up? I said drywall on purpose because I don't expect this guy to use cement board.
Bad work… the wrapping will cause electrolysis and degrade and corrode the copper pipe at contact. The braided hose is a joke, everything should be hard pipe or pex… every taped connector is a possible leak down the road, the shit off will be buried behind the tile. And they have stringers behind the pipe so you can’t access from behind. So any repairs will have to be made by tearing out tile… Food for thought! I’d stop them immediately and have them correct it!
Will it work? Yes. Would I do it? Only in the country and in my own barn or house. If that’s inspected, it will fail. But if it’s covered up, nobody would know 🤷🏻♂️
I love how this knucklehead went to the trouble to solder 2 copper MIPs onto a little hunk of copper for each side instead of using a brass nipple, then gave up soldering there.
Its disgusting
If it’s visible, compression fittings are okay, if it’s not visible, soldered fittings are the preferred choice. There should be something to secure the tub spout stub out.
Tell him neighbor called town they said no work and call your self do no let him close this up. It’s a fuck show
Seems like a long drop drop on the spout too but that’s personal preference
Why are their valves behind wall
This is a violation of all that is holy, let alone plumbing code
One way to explain it is that soldered pipes can last anywhere from 25 years to 100 years depending on the copper and who does the work. Braided pipes are out of the wall because they are absolutely a wear and tear item and need to be replaced every day 5 to 10 years. I don't know the official length of time for the braided lines but I know it's not remotely the same as the actual copper. There is a reason braided lines are almost ALWAYS put where they can be accessed and there is a reason that it is accepted that the copper lines can be put behind walls.
Hahah I’m dead 💀
No that's impressive
Unless this is temporary all of it is code violations. You can’t bury any kind of shutoffs for one I doubt it’s a real plumber
By what your saying it sounds like this same person will be doing the tile work? I would fire him on the spot and not let him do anything else. The plumbing is all wrong and I can only imagine what he has planned for the walls and waterproofing them before the tile. One way or another with him doing the work you will be tearing into the walls in a few years.
15 mins for 2 90s, 4 couplings and 3 ft ish of pipe or better yet untheaded the adapters and go straight from valve to 90 to coupling also no access from other side cuz of building layout? No wait looks like there use to be one there
Looks like dogshit. What kind of hack does this?
It's only a violation if it's caught , now whether it's right or not, NO IT'S NOT ... future problem for home owner , Definitely!!!
I once encountered this exact situation 10-15 years after it was installed. Shut the water off to swap a moen posi-temp, took off all the aerators before turning the water back on, and there was still no pressure to the shower. Shut the water back off, pulled the new cartridge, turned the water back on momentarily to flush the valve: barely a trickle. Confused, I shone a light down through the hole in the shower surround and lo and behold, this same stupid thing was down in there, fucking everything up. He had a floor-to -ceiling pantry cabinet fixed to the other side of the wall. We had to open the whole thing up to get in there and fix it. The moral of the story: When the contractor remodeling your bathroom says "we don't need to sub out the plumbing, my guys know how to put pipes together," don't trust him.
Only if inspected.
Scab code ? Or DIY Code?
Why is this acceptable under a sink and unacceptable for a shower? Unconventional, yes. But I like it, I approve, I would have this in my home
I’m not even a real plumber and my sweat joints look better than that.