I ended up doing the bathroom myself full rip out floors and walls , followed all your videos used all the abacus items and backaboard , got a tiller in and he said it’s a privilege to work on a bathroom that’s been properly prepped , I now have a dream bathroom that I’m confident in thanks to you 👍

Even if you don’t have the capability to do the job yourself, I would say research how to do it. Then at least you can spot when it is not being done properly and also ask for items such as in this case the shower flange/ bracket / backplate to be included in the installation. I did my own shower apart from connecting up the power shower. The plumber was amazed when he saw the chunky solid flange I was using. Cost a lot from the German manufacturer but boy I know its solid and will outlast the rest of my house. Homeowners check out the shower maker websites for installation information. Very useful in my experience. When getting quotes for the job you could specify “installation in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations.” I ordered a wickes kitchen, before doing so I spotted the bad reviews for their installation services and decided to do it my self. For me working alone it was too big a job . I got there in the end however and saved a boat load of money. I think all the frustration and pain of doing it myself would have been far less than chasing wickes to come back to fix things. As it was we did have lots of issues with faulty parts. Customer service was very bad until we hit them with Facebook reviews. They have a special team monitoring social media which is much more responsive. I wonder why! So to the homeowner in this case, put a post on the relevant company’s Facebook page. No need to comment just the picture should do it as it is absolutely damming in my opinion. Perhaps Posing a question such as “does this installation adequately reflect the standards of workmanship that your company provides?”

Shocking! What an absolute shower!

Its not just 'cowboys'; we had a Jaga Strada DBE radiator that seemed to have stopped working. After 2 plumbers - Absolute Plumbing Feltham (£1000) & Pimlico Plumbers (£324) we were told the new pipes were blocked and probably the radiator (actually a convector) had failed. The minimum ballpark estimate to fix it was £5k & would involve ripping out 2 radiators (not just the one not working), 4m of pipe that ran trough a wall, etc. Jaga were mortified & sent one of their people to see if the unit was faulty & he fixed it in 10 seconds. All that was 'wrong' was someone had turned off the lockshield valve. Neither firm would give a refund & claimed their experienced and highly trained engineers had done their best. It wasn't worth chasing them through the courts but it just goes top show how poorly trained and managed many plumbing firms are.

The trouble is, and I speak as an honest tv repair engineer, retired, there is a massive problem with finding an honest, respectable tradesman. If I was the sort of person that conned everyone, I might be rich and living in the sunshine. I am not, I am me, living rented (just) with a clear record and happy to walk the streets, without 'avoiding people.'

Remember on first self build there was Two Plumbers /One heating engineer when you looked inside the tank cupboard that the plumber chap had fitted. It looked like someone had a bag of scrap in the back of the van and just threw it into the cupboard. The copper pipes where everyway and anyway no clips on any pipe it was a pile of scrap. (looked like it) On the other hand the Heating Engineer boiler cupboard looked like one large musical instrument "The Tuba" would be best way to describe it The pipework was a work of Art it was amazing (Told heating engineer to leave the boiler cupboard door off for all to see it was so good ) In the same house the plumber fitted radiator tails these looked like kettle handles coming up from the floor. (maybe there is Art in there somewhere) Depends who fits your plumbing /heating what you get.

Wickes, I think I recognise the tile

A lot of these DIY stores sub-contract out which squeezes the cost further. No staff on the books, no quality control. Still, inexcusable!

At this point if you have the time and some skill it’s worth doing everything yourself. Nobody would do a better job than you. All the bits you don’t see are the most Important and the bits that are cut by tradesmen. I was made redundant just before Xmas 2020, had a guy in to fit a kitchen. Within 2 hours I knew he was a cowboy or at least not up to my standard. Gave the guy 150 quid to leave and did it all myself using KZfaq as guidance. It’s flawless and couldn’t be happier. Probably took me 3 times the time to complete but I know it’s done right.Since then I’ve replaced all my windows, fit 2 showers etc etc. what I’ve learned in the last 2 years will probably save me more in the long run than the wage I would have got.

Seeing things like this all the time in new builds

Looks like a Wickes tile with a Bristan shower, the Wickes sub contracted installer will have got £126, -20% CIS to fit this inc his materials. Wickes are part of the furniture ombudsman, if your not happy start a case with TFO it costs you nothing and you can ask for an independent inspection and they are bound by the results of the inspection. A quicker method to get it fixed is to complain on their twitter or Facebook page, they don’t like bad publicity and someone from their customer relations team will take over and get it resolved.

Pro tiler here and i'm pretty confident looking at the tiles where they came from. Not gonna say which company but it rhymes with nicks.

Didn't even have the sense to box it in to hide the shoddy job.

That's why I DIY, takes ages because I'm not skilled. my bodges are my bodges. When you pay good money to get a job done ...you want it doing right!

Dang…my husband and I who have never fixed up a house in our entire lives ripped out our 2 bathrooms that shared a wall and re-did everything down to the rotten subfloor, replaced cast iron drain pipes, replaced everything to PEX, bracing for sinks and fixtures, heated floors, everything! Surprisingly it looks incredibly professional. I don’t think anybody would be able to tell it was just us. If anybody asks who did the bathrooms, I’ll tell them it’s not professional, that’s OCD 🤣 and we are mechanical and electrical engineers so we have quite a bit of knowledge about this sort of stuff but residentially zero experience.

I’m a DIY plumber, electrician, painter, bricklayer, car mechanic to the family cars and I find I do a better job that most tradesmen. I know I can spend time on a job, because I’m not earning a living on my own work on my own home, but where’s your professionalism, where’s your pride in the work you do? I look at my work and smile.

That is shocking. Hopefully get it sorted.

😔 2 feet of plasterboard to take down and conceal the pipework jeeze. I bet the fitter says to the clients, trust me I've been doing this for 30 years. What they don't mention is they've been doing it wrong from the beginning. Hats off to a DIY person who is willing to learn, use the right materials and take the time to do the best they can. The amount of trades that I've seen have the f it attitude, it'll do . Does my swede in. Thanks for another eye-opener Roger👍🏼just when I think you couldn't make it up lol

That is an unbelievable installation.

We had BQ install two bathrooms, the first was fantastic the second…everything leaked and more than once - toilet, sink, shower it would have flooded the house if we hadn’t noticed water running down the wall on the way out. BQ gave us a few hundred pounds by way of compensation but the people they used for that install were shocking, I could have done better and I have no idea. However, we were smart enough to photograph and record every single problem and present it to BQ😬

Rough that tbf no preparation whatsoever by the look of it! Going to end in tears 😭

I love your videos thanks

A trick I've used with those overhead showers is to put a cutting disc against the back of the plasterboard and then tighten the nut on. Some may consider it a bit cowboyish but it works really well and the hole is the exact size to suit. I've used worn diamond discs and new fibre discs. 9" is best but 4½" also work fine in reality.

Cracking pipe work. My bathrooms are to that standard :-)

There's too much substandard work these days, so please call the bad guys out!

Shouldn't that pipework have been boxed in as well, bearing in mind it's in a cupboard? We had our bathroom installed by Wickes, they use their 'approved contractors' & the standard was absolutely abysmal. After a long battle, a year later they ripped it out completely & did it again, this time a different guy was used & he did a good job. It shouldn't be a lottery the standard you get, especially from a large company. We were compensated a paltry 500 quid for our stress & inconvenience.

well said roger. 👍

As a retired electrical contractor I know what ever you do the cowboys still come crawling out the woodwork . Yes as Roger rightly says they may indeed be under pressure because of limited time , but in my experience the work has probably taken more time to do badly than if done correctly in the first place . And I’m afraid ultimately the core reason is totally lack of ability in the first place . Companies are so desperate to fill places they would higher anyone who can hold a spanner . As my late departed gaffer would say Just because someone has been to college and got the certificate to prove it , doesn’t mean mean there any good at it . And that simple saying can apply to every job in life you can think of . Best wishes to your good self Roger

arnt we lucky to have Skill Builder, want a super hero

I'm refurbing my bathroom myself, including joists etc.. not a tradesman, my pipework is better than this, I'm comfortable Roger or James would check it and say " it's ok" and maybe offer tips. When I removed my old shower 🤦🤦🤦 the valve was screwed into an old cupboard door, and stud work was pick n mix of old wood. Roger and James and actually Robert C videos has helped me alot so thanks for thu guys! 👍

That shower wasn't fitted by a plumber. It's probably the tiler or the plasterer that's done that.

That's some of my best work there that's being picked on! 🤠😂

They’ve got shares in pushfit fittings but with a spare bit of bent copper to use up too (lovely jubbly) how horrendous 😡😡

I had exactly the same thing with an overhead shower install by a largish local company. The showerhead was bodged in with scraps of wood and plastic pipe had been used and not dressed in at all. Big lengths hanging loose in front of the water cylinder. I refused to pay the remaining 50% for the job and got into a bit of a phone battle with them which ended with the boss of the company calling me so I said, "come up and if you are willing to put your company's name to this work, I'll settle today" so he charged up to my house all full of piss and vinegar, took one look in the airing cupboard, and said "Keep it."

That is horrendous. I dread to think what other corners have been cut.

The problem with the sheds is they usually outsource installation to the cheapest fitter. When I worked in a DIY shed during my student days they charged £2k for a bathroom install and £3k for a kitchen install. The management gave the installations to a mate and paid him £800 so they pocketed a minimum of £1200 extra on every kitchen and any hiccups they blamed on the guy that installed it. Head office knew what was going on but didn't care. You can have a cheap kitchen installed well or a expensive kitchen installed badly. Do your homework and don't be afraid to complain at the first cockup

kin' hell the state of that!

I can't imagine any contractor here in the US that would think that exposed plumbing like that would be acceptable. Not to mention the holes in the ceiling they ran the pipes through. It reminds me of plumbing I have seen in some countries where they just aren't taught proper practices so they just make it work.

Great tiling and bathroom finish, let down by a tragic 'plumber'. I recognise those tiles, wow, shocking that they have no quality control.

Not good!!!

Looks like that bottom block of wood is being used to hold the valve in place you can just see the copper spacer they put in behind the wood

Bodge, bodge and bodge again. I got one plumber in as I was too busy to do it my self, ended up I had to train him how to do compression fittings. Then had to take all the stuff he had done out and start again, so net result was longer.

I’ve seen many jobs that have simply looked like a lay person has had a stab at it. Supposed ‘professionals’ who, when you confront them absolutely lose their shit. “I’ve been a plumber for thirty years and I’ve never had anyone complain! This is the way I’ve always done it!” So, you’ve always done a shonky job then? Bad trades people rely on clients not having the confidence to question their work.

Woop woop flexi Friday 😂😂

The piece of wood is probably holding the shower valve to the wall by wedge force...

It's probably a trick of the camera and angles, but it looks like the shower arm is mounted too close to the ceiling to twist it on correctly. What I've done in a similar scenario is to mount a drop ear on a piece of 2x6 mounted towards the back of the studs and then added a 2x4 to the front of the studs for added support during rough-in. You could probably get away with 2x4 in the back but I wanted extra wood for more screws. Mostly, I was worried about the extra leverage of 16"-20" shower arms that many of the rain-fall shower heads require.

Shower fitted "BETWEEN" Tiles in the grout. ding ding ding, Alarm bells.

I reckon I could do a better job fitting that pipe work and the most I’ve done is odd jobs around my current home! Prep for a lead pipe swap over to MDPE and an external tap and that’s the lot! I had my kitchen fitted by Wickes. Lovely kitchen design and products, fitters were a nightmare and I was left without a working kitchen sink for over a month because we kept getting sent one which ended up getting withdrawn due to a manufacturing fault which meant it couldn’t be fitted. Parents had a similar design 6-12 months before I did and it looks fantastic. Fitter went to a real effort despite not being the most personable. Mine looks night and day compared to those with many oversights and aspects of poor workmanship and it still winds me up to set foot in their kitchen! Looking now at an extension and I’d happily buy their products but I wouldn’t go near their fitters again.

Same guy must have done my shower lol

Omg unbelievable

I've just ripped out my old bathroom and installed a new one myself, I've never done it before but i know what's right and what's wrong. I took it right back to the brick work, re plastered it, new floorboards, did all the copper pipework myself, wastes etc, battened around the bath, used better/longer/stronger fixings over what was provided for things like the shower screen, radiator. I over engineered it and i couldn't imagine getting someone in to do it as i know the majority would just want to get it in as fast as possible and be done with it. I wasn't willing to risk that.

I recognize those tiles , I used the same in my en suite ...well known name starts with W and rhymes with sticks...I followed all Rodgers videos and ripped it out to the stud and made good the Abacus element board solution......

We just had our bathroom redone by B&Q and couldn’t have been more lucky with our fitter. He was brilliant and did a superb job, going over and above throughout to give us an excellent finish. Sadly the treatment he has had from B&Q recently has pushed him to do only private work. Seems that the only people that will carry on working for them will be fitters/subcontractors like the one shown in this video.

Defo wicks. Did a massive recruitment for fitters a year ago. Called every bathroom fitting company in the Uk. And spent bundle’s on tv adds. There equipment is comprised of kitchen wall cabinets with legs for bathrooms furniture. Trust me I fitted them. There bad. But to make it worse they charge the fitter 1100 as a admin fee. Lol.

Take the cover cap of the wall arm to see if it’s fixed, duh !

Wow. That's pretty appalling.

Absolutely shocking!!!😆😆😆

This is the rocket since from genius installers! They took into account reactive force from the water jet which compensates gravity force from the water keeping the setup in equilibrium. That's what happen when you wasting your time in uni instead of taking proper plumbing qualification.

Roger - I noticed how carefully you enunciated "Ask Skill Builder". Most of us run it all together and it ends up sounding like "Arse Kill Builder" - not a fate I would wish on you!

When you pray for rain you’ll need to deal with mud too

My neighbours employed a plumber who had 'learnt' his trade through a six week course. His previous occupation? Hair dresser! I'm a carpenter and they asked me to reinstate the bathroom floor so I saw the results of the guy's work. What a shambles. Anyway, he soon got his marching orders. Hopefully he's gone back to cutting hair.

I'd have taken out the plasterboard between those studs out to get the fixings rock solid and get the plumbing looking neat and boxed it in, but what do I know I'm just a DIYer.

Wicked 👿 …..I mean Wickes

Continuous Tile pattern not matching either by the looks of it?

Lol what the hell. I am so glad I did my own pipe works. I also used push fit and copper but only when it was needed on odd hard to reach places. under the bathroom floor making sure all fully secured and no leaks and fully tight with a small finger touch of expansion foam on the twisty bit so doesn't undo over the years (I've noticed hot pipes on push fit it slowly undo but very tiny probably takes about 8years till you will notice) Have had no leaks for last 12years. Funny how relatives get theirs done by professionals but end up having leaks within less the one year. They ask me to do it but expect me to do it for free so I stay out of it. Till they try the blame game. Ill just say well in life everything isn't free. Strange they happy to pay strangers but not their own.

The good points, Nothing is leaking or so it seems, also the fact that he has formed a couple of copper offsets that give me the idea he knows his job to some extent, but the rest of it looks shall we just say a mess, plus that Flexi,i am not sure what that's about at all, am i right in assuming most plumbers today do actually connect all basin taps toilet valves and probably, baths mixers with flexi,s but these are all neatly hidden away,thanks for this post we all enjoyed watching it ,PS the tiling looks ok,

Do you think these boys were around in the 70's Roger ?? ...... There was some REAL Plumbing Antics going on 'everywhere' back then - (Rusty steel nails supporting copper pipes under floorboards/in the attics etc)..... Along with all the other trades as well of course on the Bovis, TaylorWoodrow, CharlesChurch, SNW .... etc,etc,etc 😉😊 ....... Loved the 70's dedication to Hard WORK! ..... BUT!! 🤔🤫

I'm currently tiling a bathroom and they do look the same tiles that came from Wickes

10 to 1 the plumber was presented with a built and tiled shower and told to get on with it. No chance to fit the necessary reinforcing plates. Add the time pressures and this is what you get.

They should have faced the plasterboard wall with Viva board before tiling.

Why I did my full bathroom reno myself.

I have a feeling one of my customers used the same company to fit a bathroom for them, needless to say they had to call me in afterwards to put a couple of things right including ventilation!

rough as toast that is like

Wow!! That IS a crap job without a doubt. I hope they weren't paid.

The fitters are probably working to a tight set price , its no excuse - but im sure the DIY store is making more profit .

That is not good enough as it has been left, but in defence of the fitter, shower heads and mixer valves often come with no fittings to secure them, so on a retrofit can be tricky. Incidentally, what's wrong with push fit?

that's absolutely terrible! worst case scenario is that they should have built the wall out in order to put the pipework in, not stick it in the cupboard where it's on show for all to see the mind just boggles at how they thought they could get away with that shoddy fitting

Looks like wickes. I done a couple fits for them, if the customer pays 5K for install, we get 2.5K and wickes have the rest. The rates were awful. They even made us pay for hippo bags at the same cost of a decent sized skip... needless to say it didn't last long

How any self-respecting "tradesman" could walk away from that is beyond me, why didn't he bring the pipework down between the studs?

This spitting out plumbing work can be put together in one hour. All with closed eyes

Looks like a temporary fix not a new install 😳

It's a handyman looking job really!. I know solder is heading towards £30 a roll now, maybe the guy ran out of gas in his gas torch or something?. There's a lot more plastic being used these days unfortunately. It's sad it's been thrown in!!.

Must be "Homebase Harry" !! 😟

That looks like a “Friday” job to me! No pride!

Shocking fix...hi I've a quick question, I have a electric shower, probably now about 10yrs old and not getting much power from it,so seen this shower head on fb which looked the business which gives more water power due to the little fan at the back on head.i used it first time and it was great,but 2nd time I used it I had no hot water, only stone cold coming through. The bath taps were fine... Do you think this is a coincidence or just something seriously gone wrong with my shower.my shower is a galaxy aqua3000. Thank you

Rougher than a badgers......

Yah, I know a few maintenance men who do shabby stuff like this then they call me to correct it after having a catastrophic failure. It is flustering to me, but they pay

Very messy i prefer solid mountings and all soldered joints for something like this wow

Definitely wickes

Why use push fit fittings, on copper pipe, shocking

What I don't get is why, when they're using push fit elbows, they are using copper pipe. They must be using it to try and get some structure out of it. Either that or that's what was kicking about in the van.

What are the chances the tiling is ok? Looks good, but …

if you remove the escutcheon from the wall on the rain-head, it will give you really good idea of how it is fixed to the wall (hopefully it is)

Tiles look shite too - no attempt to match the pattern

I use to sub contract the electrics for the bathrooms from the alleged company. Until some unqualified manager somewhere saw my already reduced schedule of rates and told me to adjust them to his figures. I asked him how he was qualified to produce such figures, no answer. Anyway, I saw the electrics before I arrived and I've see some of the electrics since I've left, put it this way you pay peanuts you get ..... Also, the guys who do the bathrooms are 'multi traders', aka jack of all trades - master of none.

People need to say company names instead of hiding the name. They can't sue just for mentioning their name.

They would have been better off fitting a ceiling head but it probably still would have been botched. The pipework looks like it wasn't done by an experienced plumber. This is typical work seen in many installs by "bathroom fitters".

I hate it when a job that somebody has paid a lot of money to do looks like it's been bodged by a customer who has never done any real plumbing in their entire life. Name & shame.

Exposed pipes in a cupboard. Well that not going to get knocked , will it.

Noice. Veri noice.