Disappointment

(warning - seriously post-dated)

The soil pipe for the toilet, and the main waste for the bathroom have been installed by the builder today. I have to say that I am a little disappointed. No problem with the soil pipe. It has lined up very well and allowed the toilet to be connected using a telescopic flexible union :

This goes straight out through the wall and joins onto a new vertical soil stack.

The waste pipe however is a different story. As expected it has been drilled through from outside and fed through each joist in turn.

The problem is that they have not put sufficient slope on it so it does not meet the minimum incline quoted by building regulations, and it does not exit the final joist at the right height to join onto my carefully positioned U-bend :

Now that the holes are drilled in the joists, there is nothing I can do about this. To extend them upwards makes them too big to meet the other building regulation, and would also bend the pipe. I am just going to have to put up with this, and keep fingers crossed that it drains properly. The biggest problem is that the lower position of the U-bend exit pushes the bottom of the trap below ceiling level. I am going to have to try and find an alternative with a shallower "U".

I did complain to the builder, but his excuse was that he needed to avoid the pipes to the radiator. In my view there is plenty of clearance and he could have got much nearer. Now I have to solve a problem that shouldn't need solving.

It actually makes me think I could and should have done this myself. It is going to cost me 2 man-days of effort - money I could have spent on hiring or buying the appropriate tools. Of course, I would also have had to put the effort in myself, and it would probably have taken me twice as long, so I guess I have saved two weekends.

The builder is back tomorrow to do a couple of other odd jobs. There is the repointing of the stones around the re-aligned flue terminal, blocking up of an air event, and the main task - installation of another solid hearth, this time in our future lounge.