Is it illegal to do your own plumbing (like it is with elec work)? I want to re-do a bathroom installing a new vanity and relocating the shower.

Depends where you are and what youre doing. At least that used to be the case.

Edi: what I mean is more detail is needed as my understanding is it isnt quite a blanket rule although a plumber is sure to tell y o u it is

ok said...
yeh for sure go ahead and do it yourself!!! I know as a tradesmen I always charge a lot more to re do a spastics work who thought they could do it better and CHEAPER themselves.


p.s do it yourself and void all house and contents insurance if your poor workmanship causes damage.....seen it happen before with poor waterproofing ~~~~~

I should be OK then, seeing as I am not a spastic.

Codes are generally not a problem to someone that really wants to diy legally. You can look up your local codes, it does require some serious self evaluation and some effort into finding out what you actually need to know.

Or that little extra trickle of solder around a bend....

After watching my plumber over-tighten the first of my expensive new bathroom taps, I took over and installed the other five. Seven years in the only one that's needed replacing was the one he did. Just saying.

Edit: to be fair, it was his offsider - of four or so years...

Not even that Japie but cheers.
My business does a lot of short notice call out work and I'd say 20% is DIY in need of help be it trouble now or something they had done a while ago that has failed.
But after 25 + years in the trade you learn that it's often the stuff you don't think of that cause the biggest problems down the track. DIY will never know of them and sit on a problem waiting to happen.

saltiest1 said..
Not even that Japie but cheers.
My business does a lot of short notice call out work and I'd say 20% is DIY in need of help be it trouble now or something they had done a while ago that has failed.
But after 25 + years in the trade you learn that it's often the stuff you don't think of that cause the biggest problems down the track. DIY will never know of them and sit on a problem waiting to happen.

Spot on saltiest.

i was concreting a carport, when i could hear the owner screaming **** **** ****.

i walked around the front of the house to see what the swearing was about finding the owner running down the dirt road screaming the ****'n water the ****;n water.

i walked back to the concrete to find water running out of the upstair door over the back patio and onto the concrete.
i jumped into the ute to get the owner who had run 200m to turn the mains off.

when we got back to the house the water had flooded upstairs totally, new bamboo flooring,new carpet,water down the grade 1 victorian ash staircase
(i know ALL about the staircase )
and into ground floor.

he had turned the water on at mains, walk 200m back to the house and found he couldn't stop the water coming out of the taps then run 200m to the mains to turn it off.

the culprit was 1/4 turn taps in two upstairs vanity basins, the owner didn't install a stop tap at the house and the mains was 200m away on about 5 acres.
he fitted the taps just like he had done with all the taps. but the 1/4 turn taps can **** the wannabe plumbers up real quick, as in this case.

My work used to be installing kitchens, renovating bathrooms etc. I always got a plumber to do the plumbing work (as I wasn't paying for it and they were better at it than I was), until one job that was a fair way out of town and only needed a sink change-over. I did the plumbing myself...

...2 hours after leaving the job I got a phone call from a distressed lady saying that there was water everywhere throughout her new kitchen sink cupboard! I had to call a plumber in to fix my balls-up - then again to change the cupboard over. He charged me accordingly and I never touched it since - not even at my own home.

Does using a licensed plumber guarantee that the job will be done properly?
My own experience with a brand new house.

Plans for downpipes not followed consequently not enough were installed.
Guttering doesn't have enough fall, probably because of the above and so water pools after rain.
Holes cut in guttering only roughly comply with the downpipes therefore restricting the water flow.
Gas leak left in pipework after gas hot water system installed.
Overenthusiastic with plumber's friend ie silastic which blocked up the overflow from the vanity.
Septic tank installed backwards meaning it can never reach it's rated capacity meaning I have to pay for more frequent pump-outs.
No overflow installed on the rainwater tank.

Is it possible to do the work and then get a plumber to approve it? From my experience above, you will probably get a better quality job.

landyacht said..
having got my plumbig properly done by a plumber in my bathrooom laundry, Im stuck withknocking pipes. when I got the plumber back he gave me an estimate for the fix given the amount of work I gave him in the past. I was rather dissapointed.
last work he did for me

Google this issue, and you being the handy chap you are, can fix that problem.
Don't pay some ratbag who wants to get into your pocket .... and live there for a bit. Am a trade myself, and nothing gets my back up more, is when I see/hear crooks in the system.

landyacht said..
having got my plumbig properly done by a plumber in my bathrooom laundry, Im stuck withknocking pipes. when I got the plumber back he gave me an estimate for the fix given the amount of work I gave him in the past. I was rather dissapointed.
last work he did for me

Replace your rubber washing machine hoses with braided steel jacketed jobbies.

I'd been chasing a badly knocking pipe for years, trying my own diy fixes, putting clamps on every pipe I could find in the ceiling, putting those anti-knock devices on taps, the lot, before finally getting fed up and googling it. It turns out that the washing machine hoses act like a spring, retaining the energy. When I replaced the washing machine hoses with braided steel, the knocking stopped.

Simple test, turn your washing machine off at the tap, and see if your pipes still knock

nebbian said..

landyacht said..
having got my plumbig properly done by a plumber in my bathrooom laundry, Im stuck withknocking pipes. when I got the plumber back he gave me an estimate for the fix given the amount of work I gave him in the past. I was rather dissapointed.
last work he did for me

Replace your rubber washing machine hoses with braided steel jacketed jobbies.

I'd been chasing a badly knocking pipe for years, trying my own diy fixes, putting clamps on every pipe I could find in the ceiling, putting those anti-knock devices on taps, the lot, before finally getting fed up and googling it. It turns out that the washing machine hoses act like a spring, retaining the energy. When I replaced the washing machine hoses with braided steel, the knocking stopped.

Simple test, turn your washing machine off at the tap, and see if your pipes still knock

Plumber could have told u that

busterwa said...
You can do what ever plumbing you want apart from natural gas And gas installation work.

You forgot roofing.

Iceman said..
Does using a licensed plumber guarantee that the job will be done properly?
My own experience with a brand new house.

Plans for downpipes not followed consequently not enough were installed.
Guttering doesn't have enough fall, probably because of the above and so water pools after rain.
Holes cut in guttering only roughly comply with the downpipes therefore restricting the water flow.
Gas leak left in pipework after gas hot water system installed.
Overenthusiastic with plumber's friend ie silastic which blocked up the overflow from the vanity.
Septic tank installed backwards meaning it can never reach it's rated capacity meaning I have to pay for more frequent pump-outs.
No overflow installed on the rainwater tank.

Is it possible to do the work and then get a plumber to approve it? From my experience above, you will probably get a better quality job.

Sounds like my plumber, random tap heights, knocking pipes, fark... can't be that hard

My father used to be a plumber and we would follow him around learning bits and pieces. He would make it a point to make sure things were done well and neat. I guess it might come from the days when bending pipe was not easy and they even used threaded and soldered joints.

As a result, when I had a plumber do a job and join 15 different bits of copper together to make one section and not clip it to the wall, I had a go at him about it. Surprisingly, he sort of admitted it wasn't up to scratch, and redid it. I think he couldn't dodge the quality of his work, and thought the homeowner wouldn't know any better.

Its a bit of a worry that for a while there proper licensed plumbers were using PEX and other types of (not so good) friction fittings, and I think they had some failures. I still can't get past the idea of copper and silver solder because at least its not going to leak as easily, even if its more expensive and fidlier. I hope the new range of fittings are better than some of those in the past.