AIBU or the plumber?

[michelehu]

Asked a plumber I've used before to stop by this evening to fit a bath mixer tap, basin and flush. He said he'd finished and we realised that both sets of taps were coming out of the wrong one (they have hot/cold written on the taps). He looked a bit crestfallen then said he'd swap them over. He's now gone and the basin taps are the right way around but the bath mixer tap has steaming hot water coming out of the cold and cold out of the hot. The flush also isn't working!

I'm very stressed and he is saying he'll fix the toilet but says the hot/cold mix up isn't his fault as they were originally plumbed that way. I would have told him to leave it and returned the taps if he'd bloody told me!

Who chose the taps?

How difficult is it to swap the supply around?

Asking because I want to switch them when I renovate the kitchen.

which tap is everyone's hot water??

@michelehu

why could he 'fix' the basin but not the bath?

can you still swap the tap ?

if not, can you sell the tap & buy a different one?

What are the taps like? Can you remove the h +c and swap them?

Well exactly.

And as a plumber, surely he should have taken note of the supply before starting the work? It just feels a very basic expectation to fit the hot water to the hot tap and cold water to the cold tap. I'm not a plumber!

They're these. I potentially could try to pry them out and reglue them but they're brand new taps... I don't want to damage them and bodge them

A plumber once told me that they should always be the same way round to prevent blind people getting scalded. Makes sense.
Mine are hot on right as you look at it

I thought it was uk standard that the hot tap is located on the left and this is the case for mixer taps too. Was your plumbing the 'wrong' way to begin with?

My kitchen taps were fitted the wrong way round (I was overseas at the time so didn't find out until later). I've just learnt to use the cold tap when I want hot water and vice versa 😂 At some point I'll replace the entire kitchen and have it fixed then.

I can honestly say I don't know, it's a new house and I don't have a picture of the taps before. I would assume so - but nonetheless, he's the professional and surely should have spotted this before installing? If it cost more for labour at that point, he could have told me?

He's a plumber! He should have left you with the job done properly ie hot and cold coming out of the correct taps, and a working flush. He needs to come back and fix it.

Thank you! If he'd told me he'd have to do extra labour to swap them around, I'd have said ok leave those ones and I'll return them to get a different tap.

Where do I go from here? He's saying he'll fix the flush but is still expecting payment for the incorrect taps and labour on top of I want to swap them around!

I have taps very similar to that. The "h" and "c" ceramic discs are usually screw on, so you can probably switch them yourself in 2 mins.

I have these taps and the silver bits that say hot and cold unscrew and can be swapped over that way if it helps? Means you dont damage the white bit 🙂

Oh my gosh if they unscrew and I can swap that will save everything. Just tried to unscrew but either they don't or are very stiff? I'll have a go with some pliers

I've got them!!! I've managed to swap them over. Thank you so much

Aww im glad you managed it, now just to get the flush sorted. Hopefully he will come back and fix it quickly 🙏

YANBU he should have at least informed you about the taps and let you decide. The flush is on him.

The writing fades on these anyway.

Your plumber's a plum. It should take all of about 15 mins to rectify to get the hot correctly onto the left. Just install crossing flexis. Good business just to get on and sort it even if inside you feel like it wasn't your problem.

Frankly if you're remotely DIY competent it should cost no more than about £10-20 and 30-60mins (+ some youtube time...), especially if there are already flexi terminations anyway - guess how I know...

Mind you I do wonder about the absolute arsespanners who do the original installs on these places. My house was the same. Original plumbing to the bath was correct, but somehow the basin (right next to the bath) was the wrong way around. There was nothing odd about the position of the hot and cold feed pipes, just creative stupidity when running the coppers up to the basin.

Absolutely!!! State The Bloody Obvious springs to mind!!

i just assumed it was easy enough to plug it either way around to suit the tap.

🤷🏻‍♀️

I have similar taps and OP has worked out you can just unscrew the H and C and swop them over. Think this is to facilitate access to a screw ...maybe perhaps they are designed especially for situations like this....VERY surprised plumber was not aware of this

Well he has since been back to look at the flush, apparently the filling valve is now broken (it was absolutely fine before) and we have a leak that wasn't there before. I sent him a video asking him about the leak and he's said 'what advice do you want when you haven't paid me'. He's left me with a broken toilet!!!! I will pay him but am amazed he'd expect it before fixing his mistake and at least telling me why there's a leak. I despair

Hot should be on the left traditionally so that visually impaired people don't get scalded. With most taps the supply is just fitted to the taps with a screw on hose, I've easily changed taps myself several times.