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Just moved into a newly built house.
Took us 40 minutes to get hot water to our master bath in the AM. We have a very high end tankless water heater, and the Master bath is the room closest to the heater - maybe 5 feet away.
Once we got the hot water, it lasted about 2 minutes, and then got cold for several minutes, and then hot again a few minutes later.
Showering was fun in the afternoon - got into a hot shower - water hot in only about a minute - but 2 minutes into the shower, COLD water, and didn't get hot until a few minutes later.
Water in kitchen never got above lukewarm.
When there IS hot water, it is hot. But it just can't maintain the hot, and takes too long to get to a fixture.
What the heck can be the problem!?!
What fun it is to have a new, custom-built home!
THe heater has no controls on it for me to adjust. It comes with a remote, but the plumber never left the remote with us.
TRied calling the plumber, but not answering. Our builder also told me he called him & two other plumbers but got no answer.
Also. one of the toilets keeps running after flushing - a brand new toilet!
Welcome to useless....er, tankless water heaters. I won't install one. I've never had one work per advertisement or specs. And of those I've heard worked right, didn't last long. Best of luck with it. The toilet, probably just an adjustment but yes, the plumber should have checked all of the plumbing fixtures before he closed out the job. The super should have checked behind the plumber so apparently the plumbing slipped thru the system.
You don't even want to know the depths I would stoop to to get an immediate remediation to that problem.
"TRied calling the plumber, but not answering. Our builder also told me he called him & two other plumbers but got no answer."
You have been nice. I might start with -
"You have a choice - this fixed properly within 24 hours - I don't care how or by who - or you pay the hotel bill for my family at the fanciest hotel in town, meals included., until it is." Very simply, this is NOT your problem and you have zero need to try to fix it yourself.
You don't even want to know the depths I would stoop to to get an immediate remediation to that problem.
"TRied calling the plumber, but not answering. Our builder also told me he called him & two other plumbers but got no answer."
You have been nice. I might start with -
"You have a choice - this fixed properly within 24 hours - I don't care how or by who - or you pay the hotel bill for my family at the fanciest hotel in town, meals included., until it is." Very simply, this is NOT your problem and you have zero need to try to fix it yourself.
Just because you unilaterally demand something, that doesn’t mean the other party is bound by your unreasonable demands.
There is a warranty process to be followed in construction, and by signing an agreement with your contractor, you agreed to be bound by it.
Construction is booming right now. Every trade I know is up to their eyeballs in work. It is entirely plausible, and likely, that plumbers don’t have the capacity to drop other jobs and come to look at this immediately.
Try adjusting the water level in your toilet tank. You can find videos on You Tube showing you how. If that is the problem, it is quick and easy and will eliminate one of your headaches....although I agree the plumber should not have left it that way.
that doesn’t mean the other party is bound by your unreasonable demands.
If you work with FEMA, the demands are not only reasonable, but required to call it a living area. The home must have sleeping quarters out of the weather, a place and means to cook a meal, a place and means to use the toilet, a place and means to take a bath. ALL items must be met, otherwise, FEMA considers the house unlivable. The demands are not unreasonable and the builder needs to get off of it and get a plumber over there, like this AM or foot the bill to have it done. That any plumber in the new home construction business is not available 24/7/365 is part of doing business and is not acceptable.
Just because you unilaterally demand something, that doesn’t mean the other party is bound by your unreasonable demands.
There is a warranty process to be followed in construction, and by signing an agreement with your contractor, you agreed to be bound by it.
Construction is booming right now. Every trade I know is up to their eyeballs in work. It is entirely plausible, and likely, that plumbers don’t have the capacity to drop other jobs and come to look at this immediately.
Absolutely. A unilateral demand without a means of enforcement isn't worth the paper it isn't printed on.
"Unreasonable?" In this case, no. In case you haven't yet heard the saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." If a plumber is too busy doing other jobs the he may leave in a f***ed up condition to quickly fix what he has already left in a f***ed up condition, and the builder or G.C. allows that, the new CUSTOM-BUILT home buyer is NOT being unreasonable to demand immediate correction or recompense. The use of an expensive alternative is a motivator for those so lazy as to pass off -"Oh, I tried to reach him by phone too and couldn't." as an acceptable complete response. What next? "Oh, your house is about to burn down from sparking wires? I tried to get the electrician, but he was busy (sips coffee in his office)."
A correct response is "I can't reach him right now, but I will try until lunch and if he doesn't respond another plumber will be out by 6PM to fix your problem." It is called doing your job and holding those who work for you accountable.
"Construction is booming right now. Every trade I know is up to their eyeballs in work. It is entirely plausible, and likely, that plumbers don’t WANT to drop other jobs and come to look at this immediately."
"Construction is booming right now. Every trade I know is up to their eyeballs in work. It is entirely plausible, and likely, that plumbers don’t WANT to drop other jobs and come to look at this immediately."
While all this maybe true, both the homeowner and the builder deserve a call back. Failing to call back will be remembered when times are tough and you as a tradesman don't have much work. OP, call your builder and tell them to get someone, anyone to come and look at it. There must be a plumber out there who has time to respond.
The toilet is probably a simple issue. When the tank is still running after flushing, don't jiggle the handle, take the cover off the back and see what is hanging up. It is probably the chain. Clip it up so that it doesn't get caught under the flap.
Did the builder give you an occupancy permit? Call the town or county building office. Report to them that the new house is not fit for occupancy. See if they will get after the builder and/or plumber.
We had the plumber out this morning - at least he showed up.
He thought he fixed the hot water issue by cleaning the filter in the heater. We got hot water in a couple of minutes - but then it went cold. And that's what it does - it stops the hot water and cold gets in the line. His quote was "something is weird." I guess that is tech talk?
He also said we should have a recirculation pump so we don't have to wait so long to get hot water. Even without the pump, it should not be over 10 minutes to get hot water to reach ANY faucet, especially the one just a few feet from the heater.
I have two neighbors who have the same tank, and same size house. One timed his hot water to the furthest point in the house - 32 seconds. SAme builder. The other just said it works great.
I have had 2 tankless heaters in the past, and they worked great.
TOilet is not a big deal - just an example of this plumber's work. Just noticed he never caulked the toilet or tub either. And the showerhead was clogged already that he should have noticed.
We've been having a problem with this builder since Day 1. He is overextended and understaffed. A/C was actually put in upside down & no one noticed it until I did. THe "fix" resulted in too little return air, so the a/c not working right.
My poor little dog is a basket case, as are we, of course.
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