All bathroom appliances connected to the pump???

[cihi2001]

Hello,

I recently had a situation after a plumber came and did a job for me. He connected the water pipes through the toilet,basin and the shower. I was bringing another plumber and asked two more if the pump should be connected through the toilet and the basin too and they said no. I want to find out opinions on how plumbers will do in this case? The plumber who did the job was explaining that if the water pipes from toilet and basin will be disconnected from the pump the try won't function as well as the modern appliance works much better on pressurised systems i.e booster pumps. He also said if he would install a booster pump then he will connect all bathroom appliances to it unless instructed to do otherwise. I'm looking for opinions: how is it right in fact? to connect only the shower/bath or all appliances? When all appliances are connected the noise made by the pump is not little. Thanks for reading my post.

 

[Riley]

I'm sorry this really doesn't make much sense. Are you asking essentially if your water pump should be attached to all sanitary ware

 

[jtsplumbing]

I take it you suffer from very low water pressure, are you having just the cold water pressure boosted , or both Hot & Cold, is the pump connected to the mains water supply, or is it connected to tanks in the loft, Problem with a lot of modern taps is that they are made for high pressure systems, and although they will work on older type plumbing systems you will notice a difference in flow rates (How fast water comes out) Some pumps tend to be noisy but it will depend where it is fitted and on what kind of floor, Do you know what make of pump has been fitted ?

 

[cihi2001]

Yes the question is: pump should be attached to all sanitary ware?

 

[cihi2001]

I'm trying to find out who is right? the one who did the job and he said the pump has to be attached to the sanitary ware or others two who said the pump should only be connected through the shower only

 

[jtsplumbing]

Can you update type of pump that has been fitted ! Photo if you can, Shower booster pump or whole house pump ??

 

[Riley]

If it is a whole house pump then there is no problem often pump manufacturers will suggest some sort of a pressure reducer going into a toilet but I will hinge on the make of the pump

 

[plumb_know]

i think customer is trying to say that in the middle of night when he uses toilet or basin pump goes off making lots of noise and this is why i always suggest to the customer not to connect toilet or basin to pumps unless pressure is extremely bad.

 

[Best]

I would only want a pump connected to bath and shower pipes and only to basin pipes if essential where pressure and flow is terrible. Toilets connected to a pump can cause the pump to cycle on and off if the modern flush valve is letting water trickle into the pan, which is very common.

 

[cihi2001]

Here I attached pictures,hope this will help

 

[cihi2001]

Also the plumber said no one specified to him how to do it this is why he was connecting the pump to all sanitary wares. The client is not happy because of the noise made by when they use the basin and the toilet

 

[Best]

But the plumber might have had a problem if he had to just have the pump doing the bath and shower, unless the pipes to basin and toilet were on separate runs, or if it was a repipe job.
Looks also like somebody couldn't use a bending machine.

 

[NickH]

Stuart turner Monsoon's are good pumps. Usually very quiet. Like Best has said, if there are only a single pair of feeds for the whole bathroom then you have to pump the lot. I've done it many times and with a good pump it's not a problem.

 

[cihi2001]

Here is the chat I had with the plumber:

Me: I've met with the owners on Friday. We discussed about the job and snags that need to be done. They were happy about the overhaul quality of the job except the plumbing part. They called an independent plumber to assess the plumbing. He found a few problems that the owners are asking to fix immediately.
First is the sensor on the tank wich is not secured to the tank and comes off very easy. This is a serious health and safety issue.
Second problem is the fact that there was no need to connect all the water pipes to the pump, only the shower needed extra pressure.
Third problem was the price quoted for changing the 3 way valve. The plumber they brought said that shouldn't cost more than £150, with the valve included. (can you give a price for this? )
I expect you to cover the cost of disconnecting the water pipes from the pump and connect only the shower to the pump.

Plumber: I'm sorry but with modern Taps and fitting they function off high pressure
So either mains or a booster pump. This is why we ensure the whole bathroom is off the pump
Again unless it was specified to only fit the bath and shower to the pump then I can not take responsibility for this. It is the clients duty to tell us exactly what they want and why they don't want
If they don't want the toilet off the pump then this should have been specified

If I install a booster pump then I will connect all bathroom appliances to it unless instructed to do otherwise

Hope the above information will give you a clearer idea of all the situation and will receive as fair as possible advice from you, thanks.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Are you the owner of the property ? or a Tenant ? as you refer to the owners ! £150 to change 3 port valve seems a fair price depending on your location it could be a lot higher, and how long ago was this job done, Plumber has a point, if he was asked to fit a booster pump to water supplies it should have been made clear that only the bath and shower were to be boosted, this however would have involved re-piping the remaining water supplies at extra cost

 

[cihi2001]

South East London was the job done 2 weeks ago (£150 was the price of the plumber who checked the job, the plumber who did the job was asking for £350)

 

[Riley]

It does make the good point are the taps and fittings for low pressure water?? If they are new it's likely this hasn't been thought about.

 

[Best]

I would have thought the plumber should have asked what the pump was supplying to whoever instructed him to do the job. I assume you are the builder? If so, you should have made sure what the job needed exactly was, which would normally require the plumber and customer to also communicate directly to each other. If it was straightforward to keep basin and particularly the toilet not pumped, or on a repipe job, then they should have been separate IMO. Pumps are just being overused, shortening their lifespan every time a basin tap is opened or a loo flushed, not to forget the noise nuisance.
I know I wouldn't fit a pump to anything that didn't require it unless with specific instructions from customer and I would consider and advise on existing taps or new tap choice.

 

[Riley]

I agree. Just sounds to me like a typical case of breakdown in communication you didn't specify and plumber didn't ask. Is one of you more to blame than the other I wouldn't say so if the plumber has done a good job then maybe have a chat with him and see if you can sort something out as gentlemen

 

[cihi2001]

I only can be happy about having one more time the chance to learn a new lesson as when the plumber sent his quote to me he asked me ''is that too high? '' I said is fine I will pay the price you asked for. So I gave him the job and in the end I'm the one who needs to be nice to the client and to solve out the problem on the behalf of the plumber

 

[jim fennessey]

Dear lord he is cheap we charge £ 300 per day plus vat then parts

 

[Radioman]

You still need to make it clear to us what your role is in this repair/refit/refurbishment of this property. If you are the contractor responsible for subcontracting trades then it is your responsibility to ensure the tradesman is given exact instructions usually via a written contract or job specification. If not you leave yourself open to exactly this issue. Without written instruction you have no chance to claim "it was not done as instructed". For example if you just told the plumber to "fit a pump to boost the pressure to the bathroom" that's what he's done.
As an aside how qualified is the "plumber" you used?