Here is my short version of what is going on. I live in a craphole and the plumbig jist fell apart. I had mulitiple breaks and lost, get ready, 200000 gallons of water, all sucked into the desert.I turned off the water and the plumber comes over and he starts ripping out the old stuff and putting in the new. He said he had the shower to connect and put the water heater back. He wants to get paid so he can hit the bank and nthen finish. I pay him with the left over from my last job money and....I have not seen him in two weeks.

I use buckets of water to keep the toilet tank full and cleaning but I am not a wilderness type so I have to finish the job myself. Anyone out there I can use for advice? I will phone you a photo of the back of the shower etc. I have never done this stuff before.

You are not going to like this answer, but here it is, and comes from personal experience. Hire another plumber to finsih the job. If he wants a deposit, give him 20% of his estimate. If he wants to get paid up front, use your judgment, but in that case hold out another 20% as a completing incentive. The reaon I am saying this is that I know what happens when an incomepetant plumber does shower work. It works fine until you get a leak insode your wall and have to both repair/replace the incompetant work as well as re-drywall and re paint where the repair was made.

BTW report the first guy to the BBB and anyone else you can think of. We had a contractor abandon the job mid way through and the state licensing board pulled his license.

You are correct of course. I am not a happy camper and until I get my new prescription it isn't good if I find this fellow.

How did you find the first plumber?

I have used him before through the company he worked for. I called his diect line and it seems he quit his company and was doing his own thing. I had thought he was with the company still.

Santa,

I am fortunate that both my grampas taught me stuff like that. I have this book too. It's pretty useful.

http://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-Com......e+repair

- B.H.

If the amount you paid was the full cost of the full job, I'd say notify him, then start a small claims on him for half the money. Make a list of the job, what was unfinished, and take pictures.

If that doesn't get him to finish, it may get you half your loot back.

I believe in peace and forgiveness, and also believe in nailing weasels. Don't let this guy go if he owes you a dime.

If he was paid up to what he did...notify him that you expect him to cover your incidental expenses and/or damages from his leaving you hanging. Then hit the small claims court with your list and pictures.

Good luck.

I plan on going after him. Tomorrow I hit the library. The good part is the pipes for the shower is exposed so I don't have to fish around.

Stick with PVC for now (you are not ready to play with copper). If I was there I could do it for you. Before I came over to play in the sand I had a business renovating houses and apartments. If the only thing left is the water heater to the shower you can use a garden hose until you have a more permament fix. If your area is prone to freezing you will not want to have any exposed PVC to the elements. Not sure if you get snow or not. He should have installed a galvaninzed pipe that feeds into copper inside the house. It's not something you can walk someone through on a forum.

Is your toilet not hooked up? You said he told you he had the shower to connect and the H2O heater to turn back on. The toilet is a piece of cake. The shower should be no problem either. My experience is mostly in carpentry and woodworking but,I've had to renovate plumbing and electrical before. Like Salguod, if I were near you I would do it for you. If there is a Home Depot or Lowe's close to you, they will tell you what you need to do and how to do it.

Peace and Godspeed.

He used hose tubing not pipes of any kind. That is what the plumbers use here. We are po' people. I will take a photo and hit lowes. I could likely turn on the water and see where it comes out. I appreciate the advice a d it does snow here and winters suck, as in cold.

I would imagine it would be either the flex pvc or the braided stainless steel hosing that is used for washing machines and such. It sounds like the shower wall is open. I would assume the connection is in there. My house is off the ground so the connection for the shower is in the crawl space.

Peace and Godspeed.

Yeah the wall is open and all that.

I never learned this stuff growing up cuz my dad was a nuc physicist and engineer. Have you ever listened to an engineer try to explain pipes when they design the dang cooling system for nuc plants?

No, but I can imagine the conversation, like talking to Sheldon on Big Bang theory.

Peace and Godspeed.