Had new bathroom fitted, hot and cold are coming from opposite taps in Bath and from the shower. Has plumber screwed it up?

[CrapBag]

Plumber finished his part of the bathroom around during Christmas and we were finishing the rest, and his bodge job on the cupboard and plaster boarding so we have only just finished.

Yesterday I cleaned the bath out and when I put the shower on (not a mixer tap, a thermostatic one) I looked at the controls to see which way was hot but it was stone cold. I tried the cold way and it got really hot. I tried the bath taps which are coming off the same pipework and even though the hot bath tap has red on it, it is cold and the blue bath tap is hot water.

Has our plumber screwed it up somehow? I admit I am reluctant to get him back as he made a mess of stuff he said he could do (we were initially happy with his plumbing but the other bits he said we're no problem, he did a really shit job of it. The kitchen fitters we are using asked if he had cut our cupboard doors with a spoon!) He was also only too happy to take shoes off for upstairs when he came to quote (new light carpets) but when he had to come back for something after he had finished the majority, the dust sheets had been taken up and I reminded him about the shoes and he stood there and stared at me with a hint of "like fuck am I taking my shoes off". He appeared to get fed up with the job which had turned out to be more complex than first thought.

I'm going to end up paying someone competent to sort this out aren't I?

I am not sure if I am reading this right, so apologies if I answer completely off track. The problem is the hot is coming from the blue tap and the cold is coming from the red tap? Its not an actual plumbing problem (more of a confusion). They are just mixed up. It is a fairly simple job to change (but ask someone how first!). Or can you just prise the little red and blue bits up off the tap and swap them (we can do this with our crappy taps from
China!)

he has probably connected the wrong pipe to the wrong tap so yes it is a plumbing problem. They would need to be disconnected and reconnected to the correct ones

Problem is they aren't individual taps, joined in the middle and the colours are a band around in the middle of the tap so nothing that can be prised off. Doesn't solve the shower either. Shower clearly has a H, which when you turn towards is cold and a C that when you turn towards it gets hot.

Sorry I worded it wrong - it IS a plumbing problem in that the water is coming from the wrong tap - but it is not something that will cause plumbing problems further down the line. They need to be swapped over.

Ring him and get him back to correct it. It should only take a small amount of time and you paid him to do it properly so he should fix it. In know he had a bit of an attitude before but he should have done it right in the first place, so tell him that if you have to.

He's not much of a plumber.

Cold taps are now put in the right, allegedly because most people are right handed and automatically reach for the one that uses less energy.

If the shower is from a major brand, they probably offer an alternative disk with H and C the other way round. However it is important because if you ever get a thermostatic mixer it will have to be fitted upside down or it will not work. For this reason any professional plumber with more than a week's experience knows to get it right.

If the taps are on flexible, braided connectors it may be easier.

Changing taps is wearisome because you have to lie on your back and turn awkward nuts you can't see. So they are often fitted before the bath or sink goes in, which is much easier.

Not sure what brand the shower is, it was a whole package from VP. It isn't on a disc, the H and C are on the actual main bit where the parts that turn the shower on and off are.

I Googled flexible braided connectors, the shower connections has these. The bath taps don't. All the pipes for the shower and bath are inside the airing cupboard that the plumber bodged so we can see them clearly.

I would be tempted to ask around for recommendations for an experienced local plumber to cross them over in the airing cupboard.

Your previous one sounds like a dead loss.

IMO people who know how to do a good job find it very difficult to do a bodge.

I think i'll ask my kitchen fitter.

I asked for recommendations previously, no one I knew could recommend anyone, found this plumber that I used then my friend remembered she knows someone who fits bathrooms and kitchen and used to work for a high end bathroom company. We are using him for our kitchen and he did look at the bathroom when doing the kitchen quote and pointed out a couple of things. He won't mind having a look for me. Just annoying knowing i'll have to pay extra for someone who is actually competent.