Day in the life of a plumber Things don't always go right in plumbing, in this video I swap out a bath tap and blending valve, as well as looking at a commercial boiler room. #plumber #plumbing #dayinthelife
They were fine to be honest mate, they have had other issues in the property with fittings leaking so know it can happen, thanks for watching as always 👍
Thanks for the support as always Tony, plastic has it's place but for me it would be copper every time, If that had been below a tiled floor I would have been in a world of pain
My heart allways sinks when a customer says " its an easy job this one", kiss of death, you just know it especially on a Friday afternoon. By heck Tom that looked tight under that bath, at least you were able to twist the fittings. Have you thought about the tapex kit, I had the jaw droppers for ten or so years but found the tapex spanners give you miles more articulation for awkward angles etc Jeez that call back what a bummer, who would have known, just one of them things Tom, either way you dealt with it well as allways. It still amazes me how much asbestos is, still in situ these days. Another cracking vid buddy, hope you have a restful weekend. Rob
I keep looking at the tapex kit but I can't justify the price tag, I've had the jawdropper 14 years now and have changed 100's of taps without to much bother, I know the tapex does more stuff but it is expensive, saying that I will probably treat myself one day. There is still loads of asbestos around, you have to be so careful, thanks for watching as always, the support is greatly appreciated
Good to see the asbestos part,i don't think a lot of people are aware of how much is still about in older commercial buildings,i do maintenance for pubs, and before we start a job the sites have an asbestos register that shows its presence and we have to sign to say we've read it,great work as usual.
Thanks for the support as always Andy, my luck ran out on this job, at least it showed it self in the middle of the day rather than at night I suppose, that would have been the cheery on the cake
Great vid. It amazes me how long that ticking bomb has been waiting to leak but hasn't, you nudge it a bit and then bang you've got a leak. Hopefully your clients understand it wasn't your work and the person before you. As always great content 👍
Thanks for the support as always mate, the customer has had quite a few problems with the plumbing in this place, so they know to expect trouble I think, to be honest this must have been dripping a while as the plaster board below had starting to go mouldy
Thanks for the support as always mate, you are not wrong there mate, I try to never leave a leak, If I had seen it I would have 100% fixed it while I was there
YTW , heart used to sink when you saw the red line, another interesting vid Tom, keep them coming, and hope you have a good weekend and aren’t working it like me 🤪👍🚽
Thanks for the support as always Peter, I was going to start a heating system this weekend but I've decided to take it off, hopefully you get a bit of a break
Love it, well done again. Had a call back this week for a new basin mixer I'd fitted, turned out that the tap body was leaking between the cast and the brass insert. Took a minute or two to suss that one out, you're always expecting it to be something you've made a hash of. See you next time.
It's a horrible feeling getting a call back, the drive of shame and worry on the way to the customers house, it's the one bit of the job I hate, we all get problems though, it's how we deal with them that matters, I just wish sometimes when it is a manufacturing defect, manufactures would take responsibility, thanks for watching as always mate 👍
Hi Tom, under that bath was horrible and the dreaded plastic to contend with also. The call back is always a nightmare, I have been there too once or twice, as you know I’m not a plastic fan. Hope you got it sorted and all is well now. A nice weigh in with all that copper and brass for you, have a great weekend and as always, take care. 🍻👍👍👍
Thanks for the support as always Chris, the worst part of the job is when the phone rings for a call back, it honestly is a horrible feeling, it certainly wouldn't have happened if it had been copper, have a great weekend mate 👍
Thanks for the support as always Steve, copper certainly would have been better, honestly most of the issues with plastic pipes is installer error, I don't think that fitting had ever been pushed in properly
Bummer that leak but obvs wasnt your fault.. but you soldier on as usual.. thanks for the vid and look forward to the next one. 😊 have a nice weekend tom.
Great video Tom, felt for you on that, we have all been there. Super unlucky :( I’ve had it before on copper, a joint snapping under the floor but thankfully never speedfit!
Thanks for the support as always Dan, I think this would have happened to anyone who touched it, sometimes you need a bit of luck but it ran out on this job
Quality mate and I love the honesty. You get some difficult jobs mate, how the hell did you manage to get that bath tap off.......10/10 !!! As an amateur plumber I never use plastic pipe and fittings........I know there is a time and cost implication etc but 'do it proper, use copper' is my way of doing things.
Thanks for watching mate, I hate plastic too, it would be copper everytime for me but some jobs you just have to do what you can, the bath tap wasn't to bad, they can be awkward
Good work Tom, your not supper man with X-ray vision 😂the last one must have only had speed fit on his bike ,or it may of been a horse as it looks a bit of a cowboy job.very good vlog 👍👍👍👍👍👍
It' always tough when you can see the last person did a bad job, the first thing I noticed was the secondary piped in speedfit, I've worked here before and un-covered loads of problems like this, it's almost like you are expecting things to go wrong, thanks for watching as always, have a great weekend
We kept getting called out to a leak through a ceiling in a flat that only happened at night time. Eventually the floor above was taken up and we found 2 JG push-fit tees that hadn't been locked into place. They would be fine in the daytime but when the pressure went up at night they then would start to leak!
Jobs like that can be a real pain, to be honest I think this one had been leaking a while, it could have been very similar to the one you had where it only leaked when the pressure increased, thanks for watching as always 👍
I'm not a heating engineer or plumber but those speedfit plastic connectors give me the ad dabs, I'm never too confident on those especially like with the array of fittings you had under that bath, a disaster waiting to happen if you ask me. The leak wasn't your fault, but I feel your pain when things like this happen.
Thanks for the support as always Alan, I'm not a huge fan of them either, they do serve a practical purpose on some jobs but I would stick to copper if I could, this job I just dis the best I could, sometimes that's all you can do
I've only got one rule when using or renewing push fit... all joints accessible with access hatches. I've lost jobs when I've speced up for the extra access but hey ho... we've all learnt the hard way
It's always tough when you just go out to repair one thing and something like this happens, in many ways you are relying on the last person to have done a competent job, thanks for watching as always 👍
I left a bleed vent open on a gravity fed system when I was a apprentice flooded the garage the ceiling coke down then as well I earned 0 pounds that week 😂😂
Thanks for the support as always mate, it was just the ceiling that was asbestos on that job, I was just asked to isolate the boilers and take down any loose pipework, I couldn't unclip anything that was touching the asbestos though
Great video, Tom - thank you. Any pointers you can give me as I'm considering installing my own central heating system? It's the whole job, oil tank, boiler, rads and pipework ALL required as there's currently no heating. My biggest worry is connecting up the boiler incorrectly and not adhering to today's regs. I heard rads need to have their own 'zones' - any reading material you can suggest? Cheers.
With regards to zones on new systems you are required to have separate circuits for living and sleeping areas, normally upstairs and downstairs circuits, this can be achieved with zone valves or by installing smart trvs, the domestic heating compliance guide is a good document but it might be quite heavy reading.
Great video again Tom thanks out of interest when you need to connect onto YTW can you use standard compression fittings? or will the pipe collapse or is it a matter of soldering to connect to YTW Thanks
Fair point mate, I was considering repairing the tap but the end I decided to change it fully, it wasn't too bad but like you say would have been easier without the blender in
Thanks for the support mate, the pipework was really bad, I know some people will say rip it all out but when you are only there to fix a problem sometimes it's tough to justify, thanks for letting me know about the thumbnail, I have updated it now
@@PlumbLikeTom no worries mate if people regularly watch your videos they will see the quality of your work and you would not have not plumbed it that way
I'm not a fan of them but is was needs must on that job, sometimes you only do what you think is best at the time and try to do the best for the customer, thanks for watching as always 👍
That red line copper pinholes alright , had that when converting to an unvented cylinder, week later it's leaking like a sieve 😯 . Went to a job yesterday afternoon, so called plumber went into a loft to change a float valve, thought he'd turned the mains cold off and didn't check , chopped the pipe and flooded through the airing cupboard into the kitchen. Not a great day for him 😂 . Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes you get lumbered with other people's cr@p jobs.
Thanks for the support as always mate, I always think plumbing is one of the most punishing jobs for that reason, one small mistake or laps of concentration and the place is flooded, nowhere to hide when things go wrong. The thin wall copper is troublesome, I've had a couple of full run re pipes because of it
You make a fair point, honestly I don't know, when I watched it back I did think the same, sometimes when I'm working I get focused on one thing and miss an easier alternative, I'm not that good at my job sometimes, but I do always try to give my best for my customers, thanks for watching the videos
Weird how with copper you try to fasten it with clips and keep everything looking neat but with plastic you rarely see anything clipped and the pipes are all over the place. I’m guessing you can get nearly plumbed plastic pipes but not here….. Was that genuine Speedfit that was crumbling? Hardly permanent.
I think it was genuine speedit, the wrong inserts had been used though and plastic pipe should not be used for secondary returns as it will eventually start to break down, it was a bad install from new and all you can ever do is just tidy things up best you can, thanks for watching as always 👍
we have all been there , nothing wrong with with using john guest but just wish people would use their cir clips , thats not a dig but no one uses them
I used to use the circlips but no one round here stocks them now, I don't use plastic that much but would certainly use the clips if they were stocked, thanks for watching mate
Nothing worse than a call back mate, pipework looked like a Friday afternoon job! You can’t blame yourself for unluckily disturbing a previously leaking fitting.
I think that entire building was plumbed on a Friday afternoon, I've had issues with other pipes there as well as backfilling wastes, I think that must have been leaking a while as the ceiling was mouldy, I just made it worse, thanks for watching as always 👍
When there's a leak on plastic it often turns out to be a speedfit fitting that's the problem. I much prefer polypipe fittings with its fixed grab ring but I don't think the pipe itself is as good as speedfit.
You are right mate, it always seems to be speedfit, I think a lot of the problems though is installer error, it could be that speedfit is marketed more towards the DIYer so you see more faults, thanks for the support as always
Also Tom.. why didn't you just swap out the tap bodies... the less interference with that dogs dinner pipework the better I would of thought... Anyway mate... your a top engineer so don't be hard on yourself..
I just decided to swap the old tap out because it was a swan brand one and it was covered in scale, I did ask the customer and they were happy for me to do this, sometimes you only do what you think is best at the time, looking back just changing the cartridges might have been better but then next week the shower divertor might have failed in it, you just never know
How can it be your fault if it was under the floor that was not visible with a old crappy plastic speed fittings. Someone cobbled the job before you. Good thing you recorded the first visit for liability reasons I know people who records all there work. They don’t post everything but they keep a tripod or a chest mount
I can fully understand why people take pictures of their work, things like this do happen, luckily this job the customer was fine, they have had other issues with pipes in the property. Some customers though will make the most of it and take you for every penny, thanks for the support, it is greatly appreciated 👍
It was a care home mate, new build domestic properties you are still required to install thermostatic valves on baths though, on this job I was asked to set the temperature to a maximum of 43, thanks for watching
I had some dipstick on Facebook the other day saying that plumbing is by far the easiest trade because you can just google the regulations and watch RU-vid video's. Ok, mate. Try doing this!
Plumbing is one of those jobs where things go wrong fast, even experienced plumbers can make mistakes, it looks easy sometimes but just one mistake and you are in big trouble, thanks for watching mate
@@PlumbLikeTom Had one of those days today. The last job was a leak through a ceiling. After breaking my neck to get into the loft it turned out to be the roof. Turned the water back on to find it raining in the other side of the house! A copper pipe had split somewhere else! To see it you'd swear it had been frozen, but in May?
Thanks for the sub mate, I use the monument 2069r, the silver line one is identical at half the price though, to be honest I have a couple, one I cut in half to get in really tight places
It's not the best stuff, I had a job a few years back where the entire run of pipe had pinholed, I ended up having to rip it all back to the cylinder it was fed from
@@PlumbLikeTom As for the leak ‘water off a Duck’s back mate’, happens all he time, you can easily disturb some cowboys’ pile of 💩 work & it leaks. Of course, you’re the last man in, so it’s always your fault!! What always terrifies me, is going to a job & theres compression fittings covered in PTFE!! OMG I can touch anything!!
It is scary what you see on some jobs, this could have been a lot worse and done more damage, I went to a job a while back where the entire gas run was compression with PTFE on the threads, and the boiler was piped in plastic, I do have some pictures but never posted them as I felt bad for the customer who had been ripped off
