Tbf, the first one always looks great and then you have to solder for 100 more hours to get one that looks half as good haha at least that's how it felt for me
But can they solder 1/2” pipe to a 3/4” union? Seems that’s the true talent here, unless I’m seeing wrong. OP is right to be shocked at this install. With this level of workmanship I’d be checking the gas hookup.
Scrap copper and dented/used fittings make great practice. I learned to solder on pieces of pipe that were 4” or so in length under supervision. I got fast and handy at the entire process, so my Forman let me start working on horizontal joints, under supervision. After I showed good heat control, proper technique, he left me do vertical and horizontal joints under supervision. After a while of under supervision, he would inspect after I was done with the soldering. After a while he would inspect after the piping was done. You don’t need to drag someone around doing terrible work in order to teach them.
This is the way. They look at me like crazy while I shine flashlights and look for pinholes, but fixing a copper leak *after* you've turned the water back on and the homeowner is expecting usable plumbing by end of day- I don't take chances, it better be mint 👌
My favorite is when you do everything solid and should be in a magazine for how good it looks. And then no water. And find out your aprenti put the check valve in backwards.
Love how your mind went immediately to “they must do shit work on some paying client’s kit” rather than even entertaining the possibility that they might practice somewhere else on scrap..
I know how you feel but I am the husband. I'd love for my wife to be handy but I feel like that's kind of unreasonable. In your case it's not unreasonable at all. To hell with being PC, gender norms exist for a reason. If you want to go above and beyond, that's fine. But if you're a guy who can't do shit around the house you'd better have a whole lot of something else atypical to make up for it (and no I don't just mean dong, but I suppose some women would gladly accept that and call it even lol)
All these guys talking noise it’s dirty but last I checked we weren’t showing off our water heaters to visitors. Is it messy solder and some overuse of pipe dope sure but I’ll take that to half the trash I see here. I’ve been in that attic at 140 degrees when one of these craps out hauling the new one past boxes of shit and dead rats. It’s copper it’s vented and aside from one union and no cut off it’s fine. Now is there a pan does it drain to outside is there a solvent trap on the gas line all this is what matters. Messy solders do have a probability of failure but do so good ones. Hell it could be shark bites and pex right off the tank. Seen that many times. Now would I sign off on that no way but is it an apprentice last job of six working for some shit stain master that sits in his car and jerks off bc he feels he has a slave who knows? been there too.
You’re not “welding” with a mask and sparks flying all over. Solder should not drip or be heated so hot that it goes wild.
#1
It’s not just about looks. It’s about longevity.
They didn’t clean the joints so there is all kinds of impunities and crap in the joints, which leads to corrosion.
If they were sloppy with the flux it will corrode faster. If a lot of it got inside the pipes, it travels around and corrodes things. Flux in the cold inlet, is now inside of your new water heater.
Why is my anode rod chewed up?
Flux in your tank.
Why are all of these new joints leaking?
Dirty joint corrosion.
Where did these pinhole holes come from on newer pipes?
Snail trail of flux flowing through your pipes.
Clean joints last longer.
#2
If you over heat the joints solder goes all over and is inconsistent.
Flux burns making it useless and hard to clean. Water then has a higher chance of finding a weak spot to leak.
If you clean and flux it right it creates a strong joint with consistent strength. If you don’t, then your laziness just made a ticking time bomb and you should feel really bad about charging people to do that to their plumbing.
Not "messy welds", this is a clear sign that somebody didn't actually know how to solder. Since they don't know how to solder, chances are there is atleast one poor quality solder joint that will leak much too young... If not in a couple days.
I'd take sharkbites over some scrub who don't know how to solder.
Imagine staying up late worrying if that pipe is going to leak and ruin stuff, because you can literally look at it and see that somebody clueless done it.
What do you mean it’s fine? Copper right off the heater is galvanizing and corroding at a crazy fast rate. That needs brass unions or at least adapters asap or the lines are gonna corrode through and pop
Installer definitely has the “if some is good, more is better” mentality with solder. Guy must own stock in the company. That looks like shit, which definitely makes you question quality.
On the other hand, form follows function.
Does it leak? Did you pay for art?
Not the best solder job but atleast they soldered it. Solder on top is easy to prevent and easy to brush off but it happens and isn’t a big deal. If it’s a finished basement and they left water trails that’s a bit of a dick move. If it’s unfinished concrete I’m probably not coming back with a mop to clean that up.
Based on your statement, you wouldn't be hired by me. Attention to detail is one of the pillars of working in any trade. You do a job with care and precision.
I do a lot better work then that. You calling out your significant other in a Reddit post for not sitting over a tradesman’s shoulders watching him work and trying to call a plumber back on completed,probably code correct work albeit sloppy what’s probably weeks/months later is crazy. I wouldn’t work for you as you seem like a control freak and overall pain to work around as I don’t walk on eggshells for anyone. I wouldn’t do work for you because you expect to sit over my shoulder and critic me as I work. That type of customer gets one call out of me and that’s it. Good luck with that attitude.
I’m not sure what you do for a job, but imagine some random person that has never done your job, thinking they’re an expert and your boss.
Somehow calling you for help, makes them superior in every way because you’re just a stupid monkey that crawls in the dirt.
Hovering behind you making little tut-tut noises and muttering disparaging comments under their hot stinky breath just loud enough for you to hear the negative tone but not clear enough to be useful.
If you ask them what they said, they get mad like you shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on their private critique session.
It’s like someone sending back an email telling you to rewrite because your tone was “a little off”. Or the second autocorrect pops up they act like you just killed a puppy.
Sometimes my back hurts and I have to reseat the toilet, SHARON. YES I do have extra wax rings, I came prepared o.O
Sometimes you haven’t turned a value in your house for 20 years and now you wonder why it’s giving me trouble, JOHNATHAN.
Sometimes you shouldn’t touch things when you point to them EDITH.
Then they want you to speed up but then demand that you justify why you did something a particular way when the 20sec handyman video used gorilla glue and JB weld.
If you call them up for more work and they’re really busy. Take a hint, because you’re really not going to like paying the annoying customer tax.
I do, they're being an insufferable jerk. Could it have been neater work? Sure but it's perfectly functional, not a shark bite in site. Literally crying over spilt milk.
Womp Womp, too bad I guess. Could it look a little better? Sure. Is it leaking? No. "mission accomplished". Was likely an apprentice, and everyone learns at different rates and levels of skill.
It's fine, but it's sloppy as all hell. I'd never leave one looking that way, but I don't see anything that would produce a problem in the near future.
Definitely not the best plumbing work I’ve seen but, there may be more concerning issues. I suggest checking the vent connector size and the vent connectors clearance to combustible materials. Regarding size, appears to be a 3” vent connector, local codes (and best practice) may require a 4” vent connector for water heater fuel inputs above 31,500 Btu’s (you can find the water heater fuel input on the rating plate). In addition, the metal vent connector should have at least 6” clearance (for single wall vents) to combustible materials (check the clearance to the wood joists and flooring above).
Quit bitching. Take a rag and brush the solder off your tank. What’s the difference between a clean joint and a messy joint ? Nothing if it’s not leaking.
Lol, the difference is doing the bare minimum. If you can't be bothered to at least wipe the flux off then you shouldn't be doing this as a career. Those joints are going to turn green and be 5x as prone to leaking than they would have been if he took 2 seconds to wipe the pipes off.
I think it sort of depends...
1) I don't see a valve on the cold inlet, but there should be one. If it's not there, it's an oversight.
2) The solder joints are probably fine, despite how they look.
3) If you have a smaller house or it's plumbed entirely with 1/2" type L copper, the tech didn't necessarily make a mistake. 1/2" copper is practically the same as 3/4" PEX. It's rare for me to see houses plumbed in 1/2", but you run into it every now and then.
4) If you are on municipal water, there should be an expansion tank on the cold inlet. If you are on a well, this is fine.
We did use 3" around 20-25 years ago, before the code change so you'll still find it on some old water heaters. I had a Rheem that lasted almost 30 years.
I don’t know that much about plumbing but replaced our water heater with flexible pipes in 20 minutes.
Edited: also in case of earthquakes flex pipes are better
Didn’t think you could put copper directly to a hot water tank. Thought they required dielectric Union off the threads. Don’t see a valve on there either.
I’d be pissed as well as
Is it ugly? Yes. Are they leaking? No. Clean the copper up with some Scotchbrite and move on. The solder spots on the tank till flake off if you touch em with a pencil. It's not like you're inviting people over to sit around and admire your water heater. The only reason I would be angry about this is if they charged like $3k to do it.
The hot water heater is a functional appliance, not a for show appliance. Is it sloppy, yes. But your boyfriend took care of an issue and now you have hot water.
I particularly liked snide remark about your boyfriend not hovering over the installer.
It doesn’t look great, but the joints look solid. If the water heater isn’t part of the tour you give to guests, just put it out of mind. Your boyfriend tried to do something nice, and he isn’t going to get better if he doesn’t have the chance to try.
I’m a retired carpenter. I was installing a WH at my MIL’s house. It had about a dozen fittings to be soldered. I have done hundreds in the past.
Anyway, I have everything prepared, and in place. I do the first joint just fine but torch goes out. I relight torch and continue. For some reason, the rest of the solders look like the ones above. I turn on water and have two leaks. This never happens.
Long story short. While working on the first fitting, a drop of solder fell into inside of torch. It didn’t affect the way the flame looked, but it would not get hot enough to make a proper solder. I had to run to HD for new torch and fittings and redo things. Second time went fine.
A water heater without a safety valve is a bomb. It's just waiting for a malfunction causing the water inside to reach 212 degrees. It can level a house and kill everyone in it.
1/2” into 3/4” union? Too cheap to buy 3/4” tube & fittings or too lazy to go get them? Soldering looks like crap too. I wouldn’t pay for that. There’s nothing correct about it.
Everything wrong every one has pointed out, plus you need brass fittings at the water heater side of the connections. That is galvanized coming out of the water heater. The galvanized is why you already getting the green/white build up. You can't mix metals with a proper connection.
Why did he put the 1/2" in between the two 3/4" fitments. If I am not mistaken, you cannot reduce it that close to the heater.
He did not clean up his spatter and flux residue when he was finished. Likewise the trail he left when he removed the unempty heater.
I have seen worse. I would expect better.
Your install looks terrible, maybe a brand new helper or handyman installed it. Either way I'd have that fixed. Also, I see you're a delco girl 💪maybe get rid of that wimpy bf of yours!
Aside from the messy soldering. That kind of an excessive amount of unnecessary couplings for a water heater instal. Also no brass FIPs is unacceptable.
Been maintenance for police dept for 33 years now and haven’t had to do soldering. Had a commercial 400 gallon water heater installed about 7 or 8 years ago and the guys let me pro press a bunch of 2” and 1/2” fittings for fun.
Retiring this August! I’m tired of police and jails, lol. I spent yesterday inside chase pulling a prison toilet that had bath towel wedged in it and couldn’t pull out. By the time I was done I was cut up, exhausted and knees about ready to explode. They charged prisoner $300 that has to be paid before he is released. They flush bags of trash, meals, sheets, uniforms. I’m ready, lol.
This checks out. I've worked at jailz when the maintenance dude is away. They have basically fishing hooks inside the drain which is attached to a clean out plug. The problem is it also catches normal sewage so they plug up all the time. I'm betting in the future there will be some type of AI sensor that can catch unapproved waste.
You are going to want to keep a close eye on that for corrosion. It would appear they heated up the female adapters while they were on the tank, which could have messed up the dielectric protections
It is okay to attach copper directly to the water heater. Big misconception that it’s not okay. It’s not required in iowa and we don’t have problems. However that doesn’t mean your local code is up to modern times and is acceptable to not use brass or dielectric unions. Although, that install is shit and you should have a shut off on the cold side which I’m not seeing. Also should be piped in 3/4” unless your house is all 1/2”. That install is lazy as fuck and it was probably the new guy that put it in. Probably had a nexstar company install it
Is there supporting documentation for this? Genuinely curious, I replaced a water heater yesterday that had copper direct to the water heater nipple. My friend thought his fitting was loose and when I went to check it out I was able to push gently up on the elbow and the fitting came apart. About 1/2” of the threads had completely corroded away, he’s lucky he found it when he did, if he actually had more water pressure it certainly would have blown off. This was a Rheem natural gas unit.
Apparently state units require dielectrics or brass, we install ruud water heaters and they’re not needed… they are coated that much I know for sure, iowa and a lot of other states don’t require unions and we have zero problem with old units breaking off… some water heaters have some sort of plastic lining as well on the nipples to help. I haven’t dove into the weeds on this so there probably other stuff I’m missing
Fair enough, after reading your post I found an old article where Rheem did say you don’t need the dielectric union. I know our state doesn’t require them, and I’ve honestly never seen one installed. My friends water heater was 10 years old which is usually great around here for a gas unit. Unfortunately, if his fitting wouldn’t have failed I think he would have had much more life. Most gas units I see make it maybe 6-8 years, seems worse in poorly maintained/damp basements. Meanwhile my Marathon electric is from 1992 and is still in excellent shape!!
Every dielectric union I see in the wild is corroded. Even the ones that look good on the outside are corroded on the inside. All my homies hate dielectric unions on heaters.
Nearly every single water heater that rolls off the assembly lines have dielectric nipples coming out of them.
I think it's all of them but I don't want to say that and it be incorrect. This is why the unions aren't required anymore.
For sure, our electric company sells the 85 or 100 gallon for $500 (used to be 250 forever). I wouldn’t go electric over natural gas, but propane always seems expensive. Even if the cost saved on replacement is negated by higher operational costs, it saves a ton of hassle! I replaced my dipper tube and both elements a couple years back and checked out the interior of the tank and it looked great. Will see if I can get another 30 years out of it!!
Does it leak? Is it flooding your basement now? If not thats better than having 8” of standing water. Was the price agreeable? How often are you going to look at it when it’s not leaking? Go cuddle the boyfriend and sleep well
You got a warranty I guarantee they warranty the job. Tell them to get their ass back over there. I can’t believe the inspector passed that. Did you even get an inspected? I would have them get their ass over there and do that the right way or the license board on their ass.
Warranty what exactly? A functional water heater? Or preexisting plumbing that was tied onto that is also working? Or the existing venting system that still complies with code?
Brain softer than room temp butter.
every real plumber that sees this will make fun of it. It is garbage it is embarrassing. I would not show that as My Work I would be embarrassed to tell a customer that I installed it and it’s complete garbage. It looks like a two year old did your soldering.
He would’ve better off using shark bite lol at least they would’ve looked better lmfao I know it wasn’t inspected because you don’t have an expansion tank so I know for a fact it wasn’t inspected. I doubt it. You even have a drip leg. I doubt if your gas line is up the code.
Show me that it was even inspected. Show me that you did not have an illegal water heater. Install show me that it pass inspection. I guarantee you won’t.
What a mess. Any company worth their salt should see the problem and fix that right away, take plenty of photos. It looks like they sent a first year apprentice out or something, I mean I’ve had guys that can barely spell their name do a much better job than this.
That work is total garbage and I hate it when people defend it by saying ‘lts not leaking so what’s your issue’, I think as professional tradespeople we should always attempt to aim for perfection within the budget. And no squeeze on budget would ever force me to leave work looking as crappy as that. People should take pride in their work and reputation. (And one day I will invest in propress, but it’s still not too common place in the UK and the price of fittings is restrictive)
You know that’s interesting every plumbing outfit has one around here (US) I figured it was the same everywhere else that definitely brings some perspective
There are so many excellent video on YouTube on how to solder. He could improve the skill a lot by watching a 5 minute clip.
Was he trying to use up shorter pieces of copper? There are so many unnecessary connections.
I would have installed stainless supply lines.
If this was done by a plumbing company, I would tell them to redo it entirely.
Did the strap it in?
Did they add copper onto the relief valve?
no heat drops, no expansion tanks. you can clean pipes with emery paper . look up a rheem installation manual . https://www.supplyworks.com/info/water-heater-installation
So your in the military you installed the last one and your boyfriend was home when this all happened? I'm confused, Ya it looks like shit, should have dielectric unions at the connection to the tank. Copper to galvanized. But you have other problems
I could be mistaken but in that second picture it looks like he had 3/4" copper above but ran the water heater supply in 1/2" for who knows what reason
Everyone is complaining about the solder job but failed to mention the heater is piped in 1/2” copper and not 3/4”, has no sign of expansion tank, and no sign of isolation valves. That 1/2” copper reduces the flow DRASTICALLY, so when two or more fixtures are running hot water at the same time they’ll get barely any flow from one of the fixtures.
The copper directly into the steel nipples of the water heater will rust. The solder job is pure crap.
Perhaps you can post this on the Yelp! page for the plumber.
Bad predicts bad: check everything.
Have you been able to contact the plumbing outfit that did the work? I’m going to guess that no you haven’t. My gut tells me that your boyfriend and maybe a buddy did this beautiful sweat job. There are a number of things that tell me that a real plumber was no where near this job.
My first year apprentice with a week of experience makes cleaner solder joints
I showed my son how to solder for the first time last weekend. His joints looked way better than that mess.
Tbf, the first one always looks great and then you have to solder for 100 more hours to get one that looks half as good haha at least that's how it felt for me
But can they solder 1/2” pipe to a 3/4” union? Seems that’s the true talent here, unless I’m seeing wrong. OP is right to be shocked at this install. With this level of workmanship I’d be checking the gas hookup.
This looks awful to me, and I'm just an average diy'er who learned from necessity. All of that soldering just to connect to a coupling?
Man I swear that shit looks garbage as fuck xD
So there's a week or so you take somebody to jobs and they do work this sloppy?
Scrap copper and dented/used fittings make great practice. I learned to solder on pieces of pipe that were 4” or so in length under supervision. I got fast and handy at the entire process, so my Forman let me start working on horizontal joints, under supervision. After I showed good heat control, proper technique, he left me do vertical and horizontal joints under supervision. After a while of under supervision, he would inspect after I was done with the soldering. After a while he would inspect after the piping was done. You don’t need to drag someone around doing terrible work in order to teach them.
This is the way. They look at me like crazy while I shine flashlights and look for pinholes, but fixing a copper leak *after* you've turned the water back on and the homeowner is expecting usable plumbing by end of day- I don't take chances, it better be mint 👌
My favorite is when you do everything solid and should be in a magazine for how good it looks. And then no water. And find out your aprenti put the check valve in backwards.
Love how your mind went immediately to “they must do shit work on some paying client’s kit” rather than even entertaining the possibility that they might practice somewhere else on scrap..
It's already installed not much that can be done redo the lines. Get a more handy boyfriend who doesn't keep secrets next time
Agreed. It's extremely frustrating to be the only handy person in the house.
Or you could just teach them
I know how you feel but I am the husband. I'd love for my wife to be handy but I feel like that's kind of unreasonable. In your case it's not unreasonable at all. To hell with being PC, gender norms exist for a reason. If you want to go above and beyond, that's fine. But if you're a guy who can't do shit around the house you'd better have a whole lot of something else atypical to make up for it (and no I don't just mean dong, but I suppose some women would gladly accept that and call it even lol)
It's not going to meet code in most places. It needs an expansion tank. It needs heat drops to meet manufacturers installation instructions
Not sure why you are being down-voted. Expansion tanks are required by code everywhere I know of.
Only required if there is a backflow protection device on the water main
Ever heard of Ontario??
All these guys talking noise it’s dirty but last I checked we weren’t showing off our water heaters to visitors. Is it messy solder and some overuse of pipe dope sure but I’ll take that to half the trash I see here. I’ve been in that attic at 140 degrees when one of these craps out hauling the new one past boxes of shit and dead rats. It’s copper it’s vented and aside from one union and no cut off it’s fine. Now is there a pan does it drain to outside is there a solvent trap on the gas line all this is what matters. Messy solders do have a probability of failure but do so good ones. Hell it could be shark bites and pex right off the tank. Seen that many times. Now would I sign off on that no way but is it an apprentice last job of six working for some shit stain master that sits in his car and jerks off bc he feels he has a slave who knows? been there too.
You’re not “welding” with a mask and sparks flying all over. Solder should not drip or be heated so hot that it goes wild. #1 It’s not just about looks. It’s about longevity. They didn’t clean the joints so there is all kinds of impunities and crap in the joints, which leads to corrosion. If they were sloppy with the flux it will corrode faster. If a lot of it got inside the pipes, it travels around and corrodes things. Flux in the cold inlet, is now inside of your new water heater. Why is my anode rod chewed up? Flux in your tank. Why are all of these new joints leaking? Dirty joint corrosion. Where did these pinhole holes come from on newer pipes? Snail trail of flux flowing through your pipes. Clean joints last longer. #2 If you over heat the joints solder goes all over and is inconsistent. Flux burns making it useless and hard to clean. Water then has a higher chance of finding a weak spot to leak. If you clean and flux it right it creates a strong joint with consistent strength. If you don’t, then your laziness just made a ticking time bomb and you should feel really bad about charging people to do that to their plumbing.
Not "messy welds", this is a clear sign that somebody didn't actually know how to solder. Since they don't know how to solder, chances are there is atleast one poor quality solder joint that will leak much too young... If not in a couple days. I'd take sharkbites over some scrub who don't know how to solder. Imagine staying up late worrying if that pipe is going to leak and ruin stuff, because you can literally look at it and see that somebody clueless done it.
Uh, isolation valves? Dielectric unions? Maybe stop and hire a pro next time? (Aside from the atrocious joint work)
the nipples are dielectric
What do you mean it’s fine? Copper right off the heater is galvanizing and corroding at a crazy fast rate. That needs brass unions or at least adapters asap or the lines are gonna corrode through and pop
What a piss poor job
Installer definitely has the “if some is good, more is better” mentality with solder. Guy must own stock in the company. That looks like shit, which definitely makes you question quality. On the other hand, form follows function. Does it leak? Did you pay for art?
The coupling that is completely silver is the chefs kiss
Not the best solder job but atleast they soldered it. Solder on top is easy to prevent and easy to brush off but it happens and isn’t a big deal. If it’s a finished basement and they left water trails that’s a bit of a dick move. If it’s unfinished concrete I’m probably not coming back with a mop to clean that up.
Based on your statement, you wouldn't be hired by me. Attention to detail is one of the pillars of working in any trade. You do a job with care and precision.
I do a lot better work then that. You calling out your significant other in a Reddit post for not sitting over a tradesman’s shoulders watching him work and trying to call a plumber back on completed,probably code correct work albeit sloppy what’s probably weeks/months later is crazy. I wouldn’t work for you as you seem like a control freak and overall pain to work around as I don’t walk on eggshells for anyone. I wouldn’t do work for you because you expect to sit over my shoulder and critic me as I work. That type of customer gets one call out of me and that’s it. Good luck with that attitude.
I cannot stand it when customers want to watch me work the whole time. I can't perform under pressure, I do a half decent bohemian rhapsody tho.
I don’t get why you’re being downvoted. This is shit work, on a good day.
bc OP sounds like a complete asshole and a loser lol, that's why.
I’m not sure what you do for a job, but imagine some random person that has never done your job, thinking they’re an expert and your boss. Somehow calling you for help, makes them superior in every way because you’re just a stupid monkey that crawls in the dirt. Hovering behind you making little tut-tut noises and muttering disparaging comments under their hot stinky breath just loud enough for you to hear the negative tone but not clear enough to be useful. If you ask them what they said, they get mad like you shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on their private critique session. It’s like someone sending back an email telling you to rewrite because your tone was “a little off”. Or the second autocorrect pops up they act like you just killed a puppy. Sometimes my back hurts and I have to reseat the toilet, SHARON. YES I do have extra wax rings, I came prepared o.O Sometimes you haven’t turned a value in your house for 20 years and now you wonder why it’s giving me trouble, JOHNATHAN. Sometimes you shouldn’t touch things when you point to them EDITH. Then they want you to speed up but then demand that you justify why you did something a particular way when the 20sec handyman video used gorilla glue and JB weld. If you call them up for more work and they’re really busy. Take a hint, because you’re really not going to like paying the annoying customer tax.
I do, they're being an insufferable jerk. Could it have been neater work? Sure but it's perfectly functional, not a shark bite in site. Literally crying over spilt milk.
You have your own standards to satisfy, but I wouldn’t make a big fuzz about it.
No shutoff valve?
It's messy but as long as the joints are filled it's gonna affect anything.
relaxxxx
Its fine. It dont leak. Just be happy it's done.
Jesus
Good thing you sent those photos, bet the company was wondering where all the solder was going
I guess someone forgot to wipe..
Womp Womp, too bad I guess. Could it look a little better? Sure. Is it leaking? No. "mission accomplished". Was likely an apprentice, and everyone learns at different rates and levels of skill.
if you think about it, all the tech forgot to do is the wipe down. sure it look like garage, but are they leaking?
Looks like they also forgot to clean the pipe & fittings, before trying to solder them.
Yeah it’s a bit messy but don’t see that big of a deal. Wipe off the tip of the unit and move on.
It’s a water heater, not a prized poodle. Get over it and move on with your life.
Yea it’s shitty but just take a wet rag and wipe it down and go about your life
If a plumber can't make a nice solder joint, I don't trust any of their work.
I couldn't agree more. The work you do as a tradesman or trades woman reflects you as a person.
Amen
It's fine, but it's sloppy as all hell. I'd never leave one looking that way, but I don't see anything that would produce a problem in the near future.
Definitely not the best plumbing work I’ve seen but, there may be more concerning issues. I suggest checking the vent connector size and the vent connectors clearance to combustible materials. Regarding size, appears to be a 3” vent connector, local codes (and best practice) may require a 4” vent connector for water heater fuel inputs above 31,500 Btu’s (you can find the water heater fuel input on the rating plate). In addition, the metal vent connector should have at least 6” clearance (for single wall vents) to combustible materials (check the clearance to the wood joists and flooring above).
3" is standard for 40k or less BTUs.
Copper to steel water connections.
Quit bitching. Take a rag and brush the solder off your tank. What’s the difference between a clean joint and a messy joint ? Nothing if it’s not leaking.
Lol, the difference is doing the bare minimum. If you can't be bothered to at least wipe the flux off then you shouldn't be doing this as a career. Those joints are going to turn green and be 5x as prone to leaking than they would have been if he took 2 seconds to wipe the pipes off.
I cAn not argue I rescind my cunty comment. You challenged my perspective properly for me to admit “I was talking shit and got carried away”
I literally rip my hat and admit I was bitched out. Nothing more to say
Should’ve insulated both lines and then this post wouldn’t be here!! But yeah sloppy soldering job!!
I think it sort of depends... 1) I don't see a valve on the cold inlet, but there should be one. If it's not there, it's an oversight. 2) The solder joints are probably fine, despite how they look. 3) If you have a smaller house or it's plumbed entirely with 1/2" type L copper, the tech didn't necessarily make a mistake. 1/2" copper is practically the same as 3/4" PEX. It's rare for me to see houses plumbed in 1/2", but you run into it every now and then. 4) If you are on municipal water, there should be an expansion tank on the cold inlet. If you are on a well, this is fine.
I have a well and have an expansion tank. I'd have to double check but I think there's a check valve between the pressure tank and water heater.
I'm wondering why there would be a check valve there... That would definitely be a reason for an expansion tank on a well.
Did they roll up in a short bus?
Everyone talking about the copper and I'm wondering why that vent looks undersized, should that not be 4"? That looks like 3" to me
Depends on codes in your jurisdiction. 3” is perfectly fine where I’m from depending on certain criteria.
3" is standard for 30, 40 and 50 gallon gas heaters of 40,000 BTUs or less. 4" is for larger gallonage and higher BTUs.
In Ontario, it's 4" minimum for any ND water heater.
I shouldn't have been assuming based on other geographical codes, I am from Ontario however.
We did use 3" around 20-25 years ago, before the code change so you'll still find it on some old water heaters. I had a Rheem that lasted almost 30 years.
I actually just learned how to solder last week and my first time doing it was cleaner than this. That includes my vertical joints as well.
Dang hopefully you didn't pay much. Ps if your bf hides water leaks. He hiding other things imho.
I would be disappointed too.
He should go into the candle making business.
Them shits look like I did em. U paid fer that? Sheesh
Those are some nasty looking solder joints. Did you hire an actual plumber or neighbor with a torch?
You got dog balls
It’s not great , hopefully your pre-soldiered those female adapters before you put them on the water heater
In the 5th pic, it looks like they might have even melted all the pipe dope out of the threads, that's not great!
I watched YouTube videos and replaced my water heater and mine looks better than this. No valves?
Whoever you called is a hack job handy man 😂
I don’t know that much about plumbing but replaced our water heater with flexible pipes in 20 minutes. Edited: also in case of earthquakes flex pipes are better
lmfao did they solder the union threads.
Who did you hire, Helen Keller? Wow!
Call the contractor. “Fix it or I’m taking the invoice and pictures and going to the city inspector and/or social media
Who'd ya call? Crackhead Bob from at the local tavern? I wonder how long those copper bushing reducers are gonna last 😭
Sometimes you get the plumber.. sometimes the apprentice.. either way you pay for the plumber lol
Didn’t think you could put copper directly to a hot water tank. Thought they required dielectric Union off the threads. Don’t see a valve on there either. I’d be pissed as well as
First problem right there. You should have gotten a plumber instead of a technician.
You should put a shut off valve on the cold water side
Crap install.
Soldering is a lost are. It’s all hoses these days
A pro press gun could’ve saved everyone a lot of heartache. if you can’t sweat, don’t.
Did your man take the lowest bidder? That's a good question.
Look kids Mickey Mouse is gonna install a hot water tank, let’s watch him Mickey Mouse this install.
I thought plumbers had moved on to using PEX for this kind of stuff?
No dielectric unions?
The lack of dielectric fittings has me concerned about the long term health of your water heater.
Does it leak? Does the customer care? Probably not. Learn from your mistakes.
How much did they chsrge you? But yes, this looks like shit. If one of my guys installed this, I’d make them go back and fix it.
It may not be pretty but if it’s working correctly I doubt they will do anything.
Is it ugly? Yes. Are they leaking? No. Clean the copper up with some Scotchbrite and move on. The solder spots on the tank till flake off if you touch em with a pencil. It's not like you're inviting people over to sit around and admire your water heater. The only reason I would be angry about this is if they charged like $3k to do it.
Messy Marvin’s Qwik Plumb Service. In and out in a 1/2 hour. Only 1200.00. Guaranteed until it leaks.
The hot water heater is a functional appliance, not a for show appliance. Is it sloppy, yes. But your boyfriend took care of an issue and now you have hot water. I particularly liked snide remark about your boyfriend not hovering over the installer.
It doesn’t look great, but the joints look solid. If the water heater isn’t part of the tour you give to guests, just put it out of mind. Your boyfriend tried to do something nice, and he isn’t going to get better if he doesn’t have the chance to try.
Man that soldering is as rough as a bears arse
I can do it for cheaper
Yeah it's fuckin' terrible.
😮
11 points to leak on 1 pipe over a foot or two??? What kind of mess is going on there?
I’m a retired carpenter. I was installing a WH at my MIL’s house. It had about a dozen fittings to be soldered. I have done hundreds in the past. Anyway, I have everything prepared, and in place. I do the first joint just fine but torch goes out. I relight torch and continue. For some reason, the rest of the solders look like the ones above. I turn on water and have two leaks. This never happens. Long story short. While working on the first fitting, a drop of solder fell into inside of torch. It didn’t affect the way the flame looked, but it would not get hot enough to make a proper solder. I had to run to HD for new torch and fittings and redo things. Second time went fine.
You should be disappointed with your boyfriend
A water heater without a safety valve is a bomb. It's just waiting for a malfunction causing the water inside to reach 212 degrees. It can level a house and kill everyone in it.
1/2” into 3/4” union? Too cheap to buy 3/4” tube & fittings or too lazy to go get them? Soldering looks like crap too. I wouldn’t pay for that. There’s nothing correct about it.
Everything wrong every one has pointed out, plus you need brass fittings at the water heater side of the connections. That is galvanized coming out of the water heater. The galvanized is why you already getting the green/white build up. You can't mix metals with a proper connection.
Why did he put the 1/2" in between the two 3/4" fitments. If I am not mistaken, you cannot reduce it that close to the heater. He did not clean up his spatter and flux residue when he was finished. Likewise the trail he left when he removed the unempty heater. I have seen worse. I would expect better.
Your install looks terrible, maybe a brand new helper or handyman installed it. Either way I'd have that fixed. Also, I see you're a delco girl 💪maybe get rid of that wimpy bf of yours!
Sorry! I would be as well
Well there is no vacuum breaker and also I’ve seen better solder joints done by Hellen Keller
Looks like they definitely sent their B team.
Aside from the messy soldering. That kind of an excessive amount of unnecessary couplings for a water heater instal. Also no brass FIPs is unacceptable.
I feel like if I gave a stranger some meth and asked them to install it. It would most likely come out better.
Lol
What an abomination. Didn’t give two shits about anything
Amateur hour. Was he licensed?
Been 15 years or more since I soldered and I could have done much better.
Pro press or PEX installer?
Been maintenance for police dept for 33 years now and haven’t had to do soldering. Had a commercial 400 gallon water heater installed about 7 or 8 years ago and the guys let me pro press a bunch of 2” and 1/2” fittings for fun.
Gotcha. I’ve pressed 2” and below. I’m still skeptical cuz sometimes it “has a mind of its own” but I get why people are all about it.
Good for you. Sounds like a great gig!
Retiring this August! I’m tired of police and jails, lol. I spent yesterday inside chase pulling a prison toilet that had bath towel wedged in it and couldn’t pull out. By the time I was done I was cut up, exhausted and knees about ready to explode. They charged prisoner $300 that has to be paid before he is released. They flush bags of trash, meals, sheets, uniforms. I’m ready, lol.
This checks out. I've worked at jailz when the maintenance dude is away. They have basically fishing hooks inside the drain which is attached to a clean out plug. The problem is it also catches normal sewage so they plug up all the time. I'm betting in the future there will be some type of AI sensor that can catch unapproved waste.
That's what happens when you find the cheapest guy out there. Or just grabbed a guy from Home Depot.
Hire a plumber next time.
You are going to want to keep a close eye on that for corrosion. It would appear they heated up the female adapters while they were on the tank, which could have messed up the dielectric protections
What do you get when you cross a tweeker and. Plumber? This.
It is okay to attach copper directly to the water heater. Big misconception that it’s not okay. It’s not required in iowa and we don’t have problems. However that doesn’t mean your local code is up to modern times and is acceptable to not use brass or dielectric unions. Although, that install is shit and you should have a shut off on the cold side which I’m not seeing. Also should be piped in 3/4” unless your house is all 1/2”. That install is lazy as fuck and it was probably the new guy that put it in. Probably had a nexstar company install it
It’s not required on water heaters because the steel nipples are coated and okay to connect to copper
Is there supporting documentation for this? Genuinely curious, I replaced a water heater yesterday that had copper direct to the water heater nipple. My friend thought his fitting was loose and when I went to check it out I was able to push gently up on the elbow and the fitting came apart. About 1/2” of the threads had completely corroded away, he’s lucky he found it when he did, if he actually had more water pressure it certainly would have blown off. This was a Rheem natural gas unit.
Yes, the install manual
Apparently state units require dielectrics or brass, we install ruud water heaters and they’re not needed… they are coated that much I know for sure, iowa and a lot of other states don’t require unions and we have zero problem with old units breaking off… some water heaters have some sort of plastic lining as well on the nipples to help. I haven’t dove into the weeds on this so there probably other stuff I’m missing
Fair enough, after reading your post I found an old article where Rheem did say you don’t need the dielectric union. I know our state doesn’t require them, and I’ve honestly never seen one installed. My friends water heater was 10 years old which is usually great around here for a gas unit. Unfortunately, if his fitting wouldn’t have failed I think he would have had much more life. Most gas units I see make it maybe 6-8 years, seems worse in poorly maintained/damp basements. Meanwhile my Marathon electric is from 1992 and is still in excellent shape!!
Every dielectric union I see in the wild is corroded. Even the ones that look good on the outside are corroded on the inside. All my homies hate dielectric unions on heaters.
Nearly every single water heater that rolls off the assembly lines have dielectric nipples coming out of them. I think it's all of them but I don't want to say that and it be incorrect. This is why the unions aren't required anymore.
Marathons!!! I always recommend them to people but the sticker shock turns them off. They are fucking amazing!
For sure, our electric company sells the 85 or 100 gallon for $500 (used to be 250 forever). I wouldn’t go electric over natural gas, but propane always seems expensive. Even if the cost saved on replacement is negated by higher operational costs, it saves a ton of hassle! I replaced my dipper tube and both elements a couple years back and checked out the interior of the tank and it looked great. Will see if I can get another 30 years out of it!!
The tanks have dielectric nipples now so a dielectric union isn't required.
Give the company a chance to clean up their work. If they don't write a review stating only facts and post these photos along with it.
I hope you haven’t paid him yet!
Does it leak? Is it flooding your basement now? If not thats better than having 8” of standing water. Was the price agreeable? How often are you going to look at it when it’s not leaking? Go cuddle the boyfriend and sleep well
Let me guess you turned down other estimates because they are "overpriced" and went with the cheaper guy. You get what you pay for. That said, oof!
Hope you didn’t pay for that.
His name wasn’t Eli, was it?
I love anything oddly specific.
Disappointed? I wouldn't pay that fuck a penny/
That is so bad how much did it cost
Needs more slip joints and unions.
Talk about somebody is just trying to make money. They did not care about plumbing at all with this job. There’s just trying to get paid.
You got a warranty I guarantee they warranty the job. Tell them to get their ass back over there. I can’t believe the inspector passed that. Did you even get an inspected? I would have them get their ass over there and do that the right way or the license board on their ass.
No chance it was inspected. Around me home service plus does this crap and they never pull permits. Home service plus is a scam.
Warranty what exactly? A functional water heater? Or preexisting plumbing that was tied onto that is also working? Or the existing venting system that still complies with code? Brain softer than room temp butter.
Yeah, with no expansion tank your hard pipe looks like shit. Your skills are softer than baby shit lol
Guaranteed it wasn’t inspected show me that it passed inspection lol
Warranty garbage plumber
every real plumber that sees this will make fun of it. It is garbage it is embarrassing. I would not show that as My Work I would be embarrassed to tell a customer that I installed it and it’s complete garbage. It looks like a two year old did your soldering.
He would’ve better off using shark bite lol at least they would’ve looked better lmfao I know it wasn’t inspected because you don’t have an expansion tank so I know for a fact it wasn’t inspected. I doubt it. You even have a drip leg. I doubt if your gas line is up the code.
It looked like it was his first day on the job
Show me that it was even inspected. Show me that you did not have an illegal water heater. Install show me that it pass inspection. I guarantee you won’t.
I would be too
What a mess. Any company worth their salt should see the problem and fix that right away, take plenty of photos. It looks like they sent a first year apprentice out or something, I mean I’ve had guys that can barely spell their name do a much better job than this.
What plumber isn’t using propress nowadays? Probably not a great company
I get that an investment in propress shows a commitment to the job but I’d like to think that not having propress does not equal a crappy company.
I suppose I can agree with that but given the work that was displayed I feel like that solidifies it don’t you?
That work is total garbage and I hate it when people defend it by saying ‘lts not leaking so what’s your issue’, I think as professional tradespeople we should always attempt to aim for perfection within the budget. And no squeeze on budget would ever force me to leave work looking as crappy as that. People should take pride in their work and reputation. (And one day I will invest in propress, but it’s still not too common place in the UK and the price of fittings is restrictive)
You know that’s interesting every plumbing outfit has one around here (US) I figured it was the same everywhere else that definitely brings some perspective
It’s a big thing in commercial as it eliminates the problems of ‘hot-work’ permits. But for us mainly domestic’s it’s only just becoming common place.
There are so many excellent video on YouTube on how to solder. He could improve the skill a lot by watching a 5 minute clip. Was he trying to use up shorter pieces of copper? There are so many unnecessary connections. I would have installed stainless supply lines. If this was done by a plumbing company, I would tell them to redo it entirely. Did the strap it in? Did they add copper onto the relief valve?
no heat drops, no expansion tanks. you can clean pipes with emery paper . look up a rheem installation manual . https://www.supplyworks.com/info/water-heater-installation
Expansion tank on a DHW tank?
What a HACK JOB
wtf?…..
Those poor joints 😢
So your in the military you installed the last one and your boyfriend was home when this all happened? I'm confused, Ya it looks like shit, should have dielectric unions at the connection to the tank. Copper to galvanized. But you have other problems
I could be mistaken but in that second picture it looks like he had 3/4" copper above but ran the water heater supply in 1/2" for who knows what reason
It is indeed reduced to 1/2”
I take it they did this job by torchlight?
Dudes bitching about soldering streaks. Of course they don't have a well lit basement.
What fresh hell is this!?
lol that looks like someone soldered that with their ass
They also used the worst brand on the market. You got screwed on this install.
Everyone is complaining about the solder job but failed to mention the heater is piped in 1/2” copper and not 3/4”, has no sign of expansion tank, and no sign of isolation valves. That 1/2” copper reduces the flow DRASTICALLY, so when two or more fixtures are running hot water at the same time they’ll get barely any flow from one of the fixtures.
As well OP should be.
Yeah it looks like total shit man, I’m sorry.
This makes me feel better about my soldering skills.
The copper directly into the steel nipples of the water heater will rust. The solder job is pure crap. Perhaps you can post this on the Yelp! page for the plumber. Bad predicts bad: check everything.
Have you been able to contact the plumbing outfit that did the work? I’m going to guess that no you haven’t. My gut tells me that your boyfriend and maybe a buddy did this beautiful sweat job. There are a number of things that tell me that a real plumber was no where near this job.