Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 Jun 26, 2010 11:13 am Just hoping there's a plumber amongst out midst who might be able to give some assistance please? While I knew there would be some hurdles during the building process I really didn't expect them so early. When the plumber was doing the drainage in readiness for the slab to be poured, he asked about vanities and I said 'wall hung' to which he screwed up his face, shrugged his shoulders and walked off mumbling to himself. Aha, immediately I knew he didn't like my choices but this didn't bother me too much, that is, until he came back a few minutes later saying that wall hung vanities ALWAYS have problems with blocked drains which are inaccessible (due to being in the wall cavity), my theory is that the waste is totally inaccessible once it goes beyond floor level anyway so why would the additional 300-400mm in the wall make much difference? He has insisted in putting the waste through the 'floor' and said he will either put a 'chrome' cover over the waste..or..'box it in', to which I replied that I didn't like either of his suggestions and wanted the waste through the wall, otherwise what was the point of having a wall hung vanity? If I had wanted a 'highly' visible waste then I would have made a feature of this in the plans...not have it forced upon me by a plumber stuck with old fashioned ideas. These are the chosen basins and they will sit atop an oiled Beech benchtop http://www.bathroomwarehouse.com.au/bas ... essel.html I talked to the builder who has tried to smooth the waters saying the waste is not 'too' noticeable once the tiling has been completed and that it's impossible to do any other way because the waste pipe won't fit inside the 70mm wall cavity, which I don't think is correct but am in the process of checking further. Before the slab was poured on Thursday I took photos of the position of the steel mesh in case the concrete has to be kango'ed to move the waste further back into the wall cavity. Thought it was better to be forearmed! In all the houses I've owned we have 'never' had a blocked drain, bathroom or anywhere else, although many years ago moved to a rental while building and the bathroom vanity drain was blocked with cigarette butts and LOTS of very long hair. A garden hose through the window, aimed down the vanity waste soon got rid of the muck and once the smell was dealt with there were NO further problems. At the moment, I'm thinking that vanities might have to be an 'after' handover project because I don't want an ugly waste pipe hit me in the eye every time I walk into either bathroom. As above, I'm hoping there might be a H1 plumber who can help...or if anyone has a wall hung vanity I would appreciate a photo or comments to help back my case with the builder/plumber, who btw, have said that wall hungs in display homes are 'never' connected and only there for display purposes, but, don't these houses get sold somewhere along the line? and don't they need an occupancy certificate from council? Have a great weekend Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 2Jun 26, 2010 12:36 pm What a load of BS I had wall hung vanities in my last house for 13 years and never had a problem. I have them now in all bathrooms, our plumber didn't say a thing against them. Maybe he doesn't know how. I would not want the pipes showing on mine either...that would look really tacky. Tell him you don't care about blockages, you want your pipes in the wall and that Mr Plumber is that!!! Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 4Jun 26, 2010 2:37 pm sorry HC, I can't help but heck I sure got a laugh from another tall story told by an incompetent &/or lazy &/or old-fashioned tradesman Good luck Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 5Jun 26, 2010 2:41 pm I reckon he's just being lazy. What's the point of a wall hung vanity if you can see the pipes running down the wall to the floor even if they are "boxed in" . It's YOUR house HC. YOU have to live in it, not the plumber. www.themaxbuild.blogspot.com forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20717&start=300 www.leahspaperpassion.blogspot.com Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 6Jun 26, 2010 3:00 pm HappyCamper_au .....the builder/plumber.... have said that wall hungs in display homes are 'never' connected and only there for display purposes, but, don't these houses get sold somewhere along the line? and don't they need an occupancy certificate from council? That's the tallest story I've heard in a long time. Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 7Jun 26, 2010 4:12 pm Our main ensuite is wall hung and the pipework is all hidden in the adjoining wall. At no time did anyone say that is was a no go. We were asked whether we wanted chrome pipework to be on show or the way we have it - figured less cleaning for it to be hidden away. They did have to do a bit more work to hide the pipework as well as add more struts in the wall frame to handle the weight of the unit (think it is around 2.5m in length so the weight would be pretty heavy methinks) Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 8Jun 27, 2010 8:03 am Thanks everyone for your support and replies, your thoughts mirror mine. I didn't want to do a dummy spit on the first day of the build but this plumber either doesn't like me (which doesn't bother me really) or doesn't want to deal with a female, then again maybe he's still stuck in the last century, but THREE faux pas on the first day are a bit too much and this vanity waste pipe was the last straw. The other two, were the water conduit to the island kitchen bench that 'should' have been in the garage/kitchen wall cavity and was centred in the garage/hall doorway approx 300mm from where it should have been. Next was the main water connection and front tap that was approx 1200mm from the side fence, where I wanted it as close to the fence as possible because I've left vehicle access down that side of the house. Mmmm, there's a pattern here...maybe he needs a new tape measure??? Suh, thanks so much for the photos, I will load them onto my phone (along with a couple of others) and use as evidence showing it 'can' be done. Thanks again Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 10Jul 02, 2010 2:43 pm Been trying to get in touch with the builder all week, got the feeling he's not wanting to talk as he's never been so hard to contact!! Called to the block today only to find the plumbers doing the main drains down the side of the house, the plumber who has said the wall hung vanity 'must' have a chrome waste pipe wouldn't even look my way, let alone talk, although I got the impression the vanities had been discussed prior to my arrival because one of the other plumbers asked about them (he wasn't even on site last week & never met him previously). Anyway I said I had googled like crazy, even asked fellow H1'ers who kindly provided photos and not ONE of the photos showed a waste pipe, all exited through the wall cavity. As expected I was sneered at and told 'you will be sorry when the waste blocks' as there is NO way to clear a blockage if you can't get access to the pipe...so I asked (after counting to TEN!!!) wouldn't any blockage be cleared from the floor waste end? besides I've 'never' had a blocked waste because I do NOT put rubbish down the drains...then was told that's what all women say!! Such chauvinist b******ds!!! So I just said I'll get someone to dig up the floor with a kanga hammer and put the wastes where they 'should' be after handover because a visible waste will totally ruin the bathrooms (imho). I must say that one of them seemed quite embarrassed and said if I want the wastes in the wall, then they will go in the wall but I don't know how much clout he has, or if he's the boss or the boy!! Also the bloke with the smart a**se comments then said that 'every' mixer tap needs a stop tap in the ceiling...could those of you with mixers confirm/deny this please? I've never had mixers previously but nobody has mentioned a stop tap for 'every' mixer....supposedly (according to him) mixers give 'heaps of problems, and I'll be sorry I fitted them'. He went on to say that 'when a mixer fails (and they do ALL the time) you have to wait weeks for parts and sometimes they aren't even available, and during this time you will have NO water to the entire house unless you isolate each mixer with a stop tap in the ceiling and when said mixer fails you have to get into the ceiling to access the stop tap. Heck 'if' a tap fails big time (as he's suggesting) I'd turn off the water at the mains, rush to the nearest hardware store and buy a whole new tap...who'd wait for parts to be ordered, it would be cheaper to fit a new one. (Singing)...it all sounds like bull dust to me...to me!!!! Thinking I'll get minimum (and basic) plumbing done with these blokes, they don't fill me with confidence. Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 11Jul 02, 2010 2:57 pm If you end up with problems you would have to be suspicious that it's not a coincidence. Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 12Jul 02, 2010 6:17 pm yes thinking that myself catjim this guy would really pee me off yes, the red face and i would possibly tell him where to go, but only possibly. i have many mixers and i haven't the faintest what he's going on about with the stop tap in the ceiling bit. my guess he's full of sh!!t but it's only a guess Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 13Jul 02, 2010 7:48 pm Never heard of stop taps for mixers. Cheaper mixers tend to fail pretty quickly, but then they're cheap ...so you replace them. Who on earth would bother waiting for parts, which would probably cost just as much as a whole new tap anyway? We replaced our kitchen mixer in our old house after about three years because it was a piece of cheap crap. Never even thought about parts and plumbers, just got a new one from Bunnings and put it in ourselves. I think your plumber is trying to make a big deal out of nothing - all to save himself some effort. Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 14Jul 02, 2010 7:53 pm I don’t even want to read the post through….I get too angry. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 15Jul 02, 2010 8:07 pm All our mixer taps have extra hot and cold taps where the pipes exit the wall - so the water can be turned off very easily for replacement or repairs - great idea, but I don't know if it's regulation or not. Why, Oh why, would you put the taps in the ceiling though? Surely they can be sufficiently invisible below your bench where the pipes exit the wall. The extra taps are really tiny little round chrome things and are hidden in the vanity cupboards in our case. (This wasn't the case in the house we built 30 years ago - so the water had to be turned off at the mains to replace a tap washer) Glad something is better in the way things are built today, but I really had never given it a second's thought til I read this thread. Cheers zeke BTW, the plumber in question sounds like one of those tradies from hell - the only approach I can recommend is to be calmly assertive and quietly insistent. Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 16Jul 04, 2010 11:30 pm suh yes thinking that myself catjim this guy would really pee me off yes, the red face and i would possibly tell him where to go, but only possibly. i have many mixers and i haven't the faintest what he's going on about with the stop tap in the ceiling bit. my guess he's full of sh!!t but it's only a guess Suh, I think if you look at your powder room#1 photo you can see the stopcocks where the pipes leave the wall. It is good practice to include them, but certainly not required (at least in WA), my plumber is a quality oldschool plumber and includes them. He also ran my waste pipes in the wall. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 17Jul 05, 2010 9:05 am chippy suh yes thinking that myself catjim this guy would really pee me off yes, the red face and i would possibly tell him where to go, but only possibly. i have many mixers and i haven't the faintest what he's going on about with the stop tap in the ceiling bit. my guess he's full of sh!!t but it's only a guess Suh, I think if you look at your powder room#1 photo you can see the stopcocks where the pipes leave the wall. It is good practice to include them, but certainly not required (at least in WA), my plumber is a quality oldschool plumber and includes them. He also ran my waste pipes in the wall. So what's with the stop tap in the ceiling chippy? Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 18Jul 05, 2010 5:57 pm I'd say they are just being difficult for the sake of being difficult. I'm a tradie and sometimes people ask for things that I haven't seen before, if it's a good idea and I can't see any problems then I embrace it, I might even learn something. Unfortunately not all tradies want to keep on learning or anything out of the norm. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Wall hung vanity and exposed waste....yuck!! 19Jul 10, 2010 11:04 am Sorry I haven't reported back but only caught up with the builder yesterday (had crossed my mind he may be dodging me...now why would I think that???...lol). Anyway, it seems they have 'always' used a visible waste pipe in wall hung vanities and this idea didn't even cross my mind because all of the photos, display houses etc where I've seen wall hungs there was NO waste pipe visible (I thought this was the whole idea?)...still suspect they are telling a porkie but how can it be proved and in reality not worth worrying about because now that the builder has seen how important it was that the waste NOT be visible he's agreed this is how it will be done. Needless to say the slab might have to be kangoed to enable a remedy...which is what I was trying to avoid by speaking up 'before' the slab was poured, but at least it's going to be fixed. Thanks to everyone who replied and sent photos because I printed the replies and loaded the photos onto my phone, but once it could be seen I had evidence to support my case, they weren't required. Last weekend I went to yet another display village and have to admit to being discovered by other prospective customers, crawling around on the floors of bathrooms and ensuites merrily photographing plumbing inside the wall hung vanities. Sorry to any H1 members who thought I was crazy (well I am, but try not to admit it). Yay, for sticking to my guns as now the bathrooms will look just how they were planned (hopefully). Chippy...imho, you've summed it up in a nutshell. Last weekend I made the decision to... a) ask the builder to hire a different plumber to complete my job because I had lost 'all' confidence in the plumbers to date and was worried about the job being sabotaged...b) not complete the bathrooms through the builder, get them done after handover. Of course, the story the builder has been told from the plumbers is definitely NOT what happened on site and only my word against the (2) plumbers, but I 'know' I'm telling the truth...their side of the story makes them look good, whoever said anything about putting the stopcocks in the ceiling??? Gee, it wasn't the plumbers...the owner must be having hallucinations!! The builder laughed when I called the first plumber, Mr Snuffleufagous (?spell) and I questioned if he'd done the plumbing on Noah's ark!! Hope I don't have any repeats but at least the builder now knows I'm a bit pedantic (although try not to go overboard), have access to H1 members in excess of 15k and have done several previous builds including an owner build where I was not only project manager, but did a LOT of the physical build. Thanks again everyone Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi all, My neighbour has built his 15m long garage on our boundary. It was agreed as part of the planning permit that the wall must be in exposed recycled brick. For some… 0 10916 Transform your bathroom into a sanctuary of calm and sophistication with Hera Bathware's Bathroom Vanity Collection. A standout… 0 12287 Last year I had a gas leak at my house. 3 days later, I have about 1 sqm of my exposed aggregate paving broken up. I am not sure how to go about getting it repaired… 0 10415 |