Is this shower rough in plumbed wrong? And would you accept the "wonky" correction?

[sunnyday421]

Here's the story: I hired a "GC" from my neighborhood to remodel my hall bathroom. He claimed to have remodeled many bathrooms in my neighborhood and that he does all of his own work and doesn't use subs. (My home was built in the late 60's and this bathroom hadn't been updated.) After an unpleasant 4 week remodeling experience that he said would only take 2 weeks, on Friday he said he was done and wanted to be paid in a hurry because he had somewhere to be. Although I'd learned that I don't like this person, I thought I could trust that he tested everything to be functional so I gave him the final payment. The next day, I start the process of cleaning and moving items back into my new bathroom. I discovered that the tub spout was kind of wobbly and that the water flow coming out was really low. In addition, the diverter valve knob wouldn't pull up so the shower didn't work at all. As a side note, the drain under the vanity sink was leaking and the hot and cold supply on the vanity sink were hooked up backwards on the faucet. I texted the contractor and he sent his sidekick to come over. He's a nice guy, but his command of English isn't very good, and in my observation, his remodeling skills aren't that good either so I had to explain the issue with gestures. He cut a hole out of the back of the shower in my closet and cut off the supply to the tub spout trying to diagnose the issue. He couldn't explain to me if he'd figured out what the issue was as he left. He basically said my GC would be there on Monday to figure it out. I took a picture of the plumbing. The shower valve is the Delta R10000. I bought the Delta Nicoli Tub shower kit from Amazon, which came with the cartridge and the shower valve. Can some one please tell me ALL of the things that you notice that may be wrong with this picture?

The GC returned today and replaced the plumbing to the tub spout with copper (so he says, as I didn't see it). The flow is improved, but it's still slower than I would've thought. I measured 1.8 gallons per minute. I measured 1.2 gallons per minute out of the shower head. The diverter valve also seems to work now. When I looked inside the spout after the sidekick left on Saturday, I could see that it was all white and gunky inside and that the diverter valve seemed really sticky with the gunk. I'm guessing it was pipe dope in there? I suspected that's what caused the diverter to not work and that he cleaned it out. The picture of the shower head pipe shows that it's not straight and the lever assembly above the tub spout is weirdly pointing down. Also the shower trim piece has been mishandled such that it's dented. Would you accept all of this as acceptable fixes? I'm not sure what to do at this point. I'm worried there might be a bigger failure ahead in the future but maybe I'm just catastrophizing.

 

[Chucky_ott]

I'm not a plumber but the instructions for the Delta valve (and probably most valves) specify that PEX should not be used from the valve to the tub spout. Not sure about the pipe from valve to shower. The interior diameter of PEX is smaller than for copper. If he used 1/2" PEX, perhaps that's why you are getting reduced flow to both the tub and shower.

Plumbing aside, I'd want to know how the tub wall was built. Tile is not meant to be waterproof. On the walls, there is supposed to be a waterproofing layer between the tile and backer (in your case, cement board was used). Do you know if a membrane like Schluter Kerdi or RedGard was applied?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Chucky_ott]

For aesthetics, I would not be happy with the valve and tub spout being so close. Looks like the trim for both are touching. I also don't know why the valve is crooked. Was it even mounted properly?

 

[sunnyday421]

I'm not a plumber but the instructions for the Delta valve (and probably most valves) specify that PEX should not be used from the valve to the tub spout. Not sure about the pipe from valve to shower. The interior diameter of PEX is smaller than for copper. If he used 1/2" PEX, perhaps that's why you are getting reduced flow to both the tub and shower.

Plumbing aside, I'd want to know how the tub wall was built. Tile is not meant to be waterproof. On the walls, there is supposed to be a waterproofing layer between the tile and backer (in your case, cement board was used). Do you know if a membrane like Schluter Kerdi or RedGard was applied?

He painted some red stuff on the cement board. It wasn't solidly red, I could kind of see through it. Was this the water proofing material?

 

[sunnyday421]

For aesthetics, I would not be happy with the valve and tub spout being so close. Looks like the trim for both are touching. I also don't know why the valve is crooked. Was it even mounted properly?

These are great questions. I don't like how everything looks either. And I have no idea if it was mounted properly. I thought I was hiring someone who would know how to perform a bathroom remodel and would know how to do this kind of plumbing. Clearly I don't. Would you call in a different plumber? Or would you insist that the original guy try and fix the work?

 

[Breplum]

The valve is supposed to be securely mounted to solid blocking or special metal brackets AND should be plumb and square. Tub spout is way too close to the valve location and PEX is not suposed to be used for tub to spout.
The person who plumbed your work was a complete idiot, and that is the nicest words I can use.
If he does not correct everything, complain to him in writing, the license board and request a refund or sue the idiot.
Post pictures of his work on Yelp and Nextdoor without being nasty.

 

[Chucky_ott]

painted some red stuff on the cement board. It wasn't solidly red, I could kind of see through it. Was this the water proofing material?

The painted product is likely RedGard. The tile work actually looks good so maybe he's a better tile guy than he is a plumber.

 

[GReynolds929]

As was stated the plumbing install is terrible and not professionally installed. The contractor was not a plumber.

 

[CENTRALFL]

He painted some red stuff on the cement board. It wasn't solidly red, I could kind of see through it. Was this the water proofing material?

The red guard should be very red to the point that you shouldn't see letters coming through. It should be 2 coats or more.

I haven't used PEX B before, but I thought there was supposed to be a specific distance from the end of the pipe where the clamping ring should rest. You're supposed to use a gauge to verify (go no go gauge?). Some of those blue pipes have no spacing and that red one looks like it might be too much spacing?

That's beside the already mention lack of blocking/bracing for the valve, and not to use PEX for the tub spout.

As a side note, you could try taking out the water restrictor from the shower head to improve flow there, if it is easily accessible.

I'm not a plumber or tiler, just a DIYer so take the advice as you will.

 

[John Gayewski]

You should insist a plumber come and finish it. He can hire them or you can. But you should insist on seeing a license.