something interesting

[westcoastplumber]

2107

2108


I went to a job today to clear a mainline stoppage, appears that the "Resident Plumber" cleared it himself with a 3/8" cable.

I was speaking to the owner of the property because it is a row of 5 houses, no mainline c/o and stoppages every month or so. I explained to him that he needed a camera to locate where the problems are and too find a prime place to install a mainline c/o.

While speaking to him, the resident plumber was present and in his broken english explaining how he can do plumbing and so on and so fourth. I asked the owner who had repiped portions of his building, he had stated that his tenant had, the resident plumber. We'll, long story short, He lost my quality work and I lost the job to the resident plumber who said he is "going to dig a hole and stick a tee in the sewer"

I figured it would be a good time to post his prior work on the property.

I am so tired of losing work to these hack's, we need to send them all back.

What works in mexico, doesn't work here.......or does it.

[gear junkie]

Me and Robert had the same day. I was contacted to fix 2 leaks that a LICENSED PLUMBER did. He sweated this elbow and others and when they leaked, his idea was to put this 2 part epoxy on the fitting. The homeowner has already contacted the state board and BBB on his actions. He also forgot to put a p-trap for the shower, he missed installing a cleanout in 3 different places. The best was the water supply for the dishwasher. He ran 2 SS hoses coupled with a 90 straight through the floor into the crawlspace and contected it to the hot side with a saddle tap. And the cost of this workmanship? $600.00!

[gear junkie]

Don't worry Robert, the cream will always rise to the top. You'll succeed over the hacks in your area.

[oldslowchevy]

see this is why some home onwers get scared and want to try to do there own plumbing because they are just as good if not better then some plumbers....lol

that was a joke.......... awwww comeon now, i thought it was funny lol

[yasudaplumbing]

Looks like both of you had quite a "Hack-sperience".

They should make a "Sticky" thread of all the hack jobs we run across.

I was my own Hack today, I turned on the new lav faucet I had just installed only to hear water draining on to my towel in the cabinet. I got sidetracked and forgot to put back the trap after installing the pop-up assy. LOL.

Sidenote:

I don't really care for those plastic pop-up assemblies. I never provide these, usually its what the G.C. or homeowner buys.

Don't you just hate those late '80's - early '90's Merillat cabinets with the vertical center support behind the doors? Makes it a hassle to do repairs, especially when replacing angle stops.

Tracy

[westcoastplumber]

see this is why some home onwers get scared and want to try to do there own plumbing because they are just as good if not better then some plumbers....lol

that was a joke.......... awwww comeon now, i thought it was funny lol



HAHAHA, you make a valid point. These jackasses are doing it, so why can't I?? Plumbing is easy, why pay someone to do the kind of job I can do for the cost of material?

Sadly, it is true OSC.:mad:

[Herk]

Wow. It must be junker day all the way 'round. I already posted on another forum the long story about the job I looked at this morning, in a house plumbed maybe five years ago by a longtime local hack. This guy thumbs his nose at the state and does whatever he wants to, claiming it's his property and he can do what he wants to. He's plumbed a lot of commercial buildings that he owns, and there are always some real laugh riots at some of the things he's done.

In this case, none of the stacks were finished in the basement rough-in. The guy built the house for his son, then the house was sold to someone else. So there are the stubs coming out of the floor, and a 2" vent coming down over the outside concrete wall of the basement. There was a condensate hose going through the duct tape on one of the stubs. There's an unvented floor drain. They want to sell the house and have built two walls to either side of the original crooked 2" x 6" plate on the floor, making it extremely hard to plan cleanouts at the bases of the stacks that can be reached through the wall, and the toilet flange in the concrete is now about 3" away from the rough wall.

I also noticed that there were no dielectrics of any kind on the water heater - just copper piped directly, and the relief valve wasn't piped to the floor. AND IT HAD A FINAL PLUMBING TAG ON IT!

I can't imagine a plumber doing a house who wouldn't finish the stacks on the basement rough, and I always plumbed the copper for the future bath back when I was using copper. When I switched to plastic, I put the future water lines in, too.

I turned down the job since I don't do remodels anymore. And in this case, if I did remodels, I would insist on doing the entire job - not just a trap for the washer and pipe to the washer box like the owner wanted. The only reason the HO wanted the washer in the basement plumbed is so they could rock and tape the walls so that they could get another $18,000 out of the house, which is what the real estate agent told them. And they'd pass the plumbing problems on to the next owner AGAIN.

[TozziWelding]

Morons, plain and simple. I get called on jobs thet there "weldor" fixed and sometimes have to laugh, or yell at them for using the repair risking life and limb. I am no pro plumber, but damm that is some hackmaster delux work right there.

[toolaholic]

There's a million of those. Would have been a heartache customer, anyway!

Be happy He showed His cards early. A good customer always replaces these jerks !

[bondibouy]

Gday Im a Plumber from Sydney Australia.
So from the posts on this topic am I correct in assuming that when people do work on their own house they are not requiered to be the holder of a Plumbing Licence ?:confused:
Thanks Shane

[Wild Weasel]

Well I sure as hell don't have a license and have only nearly burned my house down once. :D

[Herk]

So from the posts on this topic am I correct in assuming that when people do work on their own house they are not requiered to be the holder of a Plumbing Licence ?

It depends on the state. Here, they can work on their own home, but have to pass code and take a permit. In some states, the cities require some licensing and the counties outside the cities are a free-for-all. In some places, the requirements in the city are more stringent than the county.

As an added confusion here, there is a "manufacturing" clause that allows just about anything, including work on a farmhouse, meaning that there's the wrong way, the right way, and the farm way. The farm way is usually bailing wire and duct tape.

[Evil Gopher]

I figure people can DIY all they want...save that $$$$$ put it in the bank....because they will need it when the hack's work catches fire...or for plumers floods the house...apprtment what ever.

I love people trying to fix their AC unit before calling me...nothing makes my little furry hart sing a happy song than walking up to a nice condensor and seeing a pannel off....humm oh my neighbor's brother twice removed knows all about air conditioners and he come over and worked on it.....hummm cool he's a lot cheaper than company I work for...oh by the way if he fixed it why did u call? Lonely? had extra beer? just wanted to pay me to drive up to your house? Ohhhhh its not working...hummm welp let me look....welp u see this fuse here? or Capacator? or burt wire....what ever...yep welp IF u would have called us ..or another company...it would ahve cost u $100 to fix it.....but ur buddy's friend how worked on this....welp he blew the transformer...the compressor....and since he's changed the wireing around...its going to cost $XXXX for me to rewire the unit.

Most likely same with this case....once sewer backs up...puts raw sewage in a few units....then they will call u back to "fix" the cheap repair....:)

I seen a sign at a auto repair shop... Labor rate $25 per hour, If u watch $50, if u help $75 per hour, if u tried to repair it yourself first $150 per hour :)

[gear junkie]

I figure people can DIY all they want...save that $$$$$ put it in the bank....because they will need it when the hack's work catches fire...or for plumers floods the house...apprtment what ever.



Gopher not trying to pick on you hear but I feel this has become a common sentiment floating around here. DIY are lowly folks, how dare they try to fix there own house? The audacity, trying to save money. They should always call professionals. Of course I'm being dramatic and sarcastic. We were poor growing up and I can't remember a time when a professional was called to do a job. My dad would get a book from the library and figure out how to solder or do whatever. We always did the job right to the best of our abilities. Of course there's a need for us in the field. But let's slow our roll in thinking that DIY are idiots who can't do anything but call a guy from the yellow pages. This includes me. We need to focus our attention on the hacks like me, robert and everyone has encountered because we (A) either lost business to them or (B) had to fix their screwup. Those are the people hurting the trade and our reputation. Most DIY are self reliant people who need a little guidance on when they can do a job and when they need to call a professional.

[oldslowchevy]

gear,

that is a great post and i could not agree more

[westcoastplumber]

Gopher not trying to pick on you hear but I feel this has become a common sentiment floating around here. DIY are lowly folks, how dare they try to fix there own house? The audacity, trying to save money. They should always call professionals. Of course I'm being dramatic and sarcastic. We were poor growing up and I can't remember a time when a professional was called to do a job. My dad would get a book from the library and figure out how to solder or do whatever. We always did the job right to the best of our abilities. Of course there's a need for us in the field. But let's slow our roll in thinking that DIY are idiots who can't do anything but call a guy from the yellow pages. This includes me. We need to focus our attention on the hacks like me, robert and everyone has encountered because we (A) either lost business to them or (B) had to fix their screwup. Those are the people hurting the trade and our reputation. Most DIY are self reliant people who need a little guidance on when they can do a job and when they need to call a professional.



Good job Ben, that is an excellent way to put it!!!:D

[Evil Gopher]

you have a very vaild point Gear...I will have to review the way I look at DIY's.

[DuckButter]

Robert, what a PERFECT thread for me to walk into at this particular point.....
I've been all out busy day & night working.
Went to look at a pool heater relocation job last week, a 300K btu heater connected with 80 feet of 1/2" CSST from the meter on the other side of the house, instead of cutting into the nearby gas main.
I don't care what state you're from, thats WRONG.
It had apparently just been installed by their "certified pool guy" a few years ago.
I showed the inspector today what I'd replaced and I though he was gonna fall over laughing.
I wound up running steele hard pipe underground to the new location in 1-1/4" diameter and sleeved with pvc with tracer - as we chatted about on the phone one night Robert.
Dude, I'm right with you on the hacks stealing work....if that guy charged for that work he should face the consequences.
As for the "farmhouse" mentality, sure it's understandable a lower income family can't afford a plumber for smaller, less dangerous tasks.

[westcoastplumber]

Robert, what a PERFECT thread for me to walk into at this particular point.....
I've been all out busy day & night working.
Went to look at a pool heater relocation job last week, a 300K btu heater connected with 80 feet of 1/2" CSST from the meter on the other side of the house, instead of cutting into the nearby gas main.
I don't care what state you're from, thats WRONG.
It had apparently just been installed by their "certified pool guy" a few years ago.
I showed the inspector today what I'd replaced and I though he was gonna fall over laughing.
I wound up running steele hard pipe underground to the new location in 1-1/4" diameter and sleeved with pvc with tracer - as we chatted about on the phone one night Robert.
Dude, I'm right with you on the hacks stealing work....if that guy charged for that work he should face the consequences.
As for the "farmhouse" mentality, sure it's understandable a lower income family can't afford a plumber for smaller, less dangerous tasks.



You know whats funny Ducky, I have been sniffing around my competion lately, I have located multiple contractors advertising drain cleaning for $40.00, some from the roof for $50.00, I even ran into one guy that say's he will beat any written estimate by 50%:mad:

I wonder what these jobs look like? Are they clean, and plumb? How does one survive charging these rates? Are they insured?

I am going to change my moto to:

If They Can Do It, I can Do It Cheaper.... or....

If They Can Do It, I Can Do It Cheaper And Better.......

Sadly, I refuse to hurt the trade anymore then it already is, so I would rather leave the state and move to one that isn't so over run with hacks and where plumbing is still a respectable trade, where people don't have the "anyone can do it" attitude cause they see all these clowns in plumbing vans.

[DuckButter]

Right, makes me wanna scream hearing Herks stories in particular.

[biscuit]

Duck,

300,000 btu with a 80' run of 1/2" CSST????

Was that a 2 pound system with regulator at heater??

I dont see how that was possible at 4oz. (7" W.C.).

Just Curious???

[DuckButter]

Scouts honor Biscuit...and it actually worked (I'd bet it took five times as long to run)
At .25 psi, 7-8" WC...thats right...tied right into an available tee at the meter instead of 13' away at the gas main.

[biscuit]

There is no way he was getting the capacity out of it, thats for sure.

I bet you will be the hero now when teh weather gets a little cooler.

regards,

[westcoastplumber]

Keep in mind, it isn't even steel pipe, it was CSST, pull out the size chart, csst is sized differently then steel, I am very suprised it worked, they were probable getting around 25,000 btu's out of it:D

[DuckButter]

Whats funny is both of you just repeated almost exactly what I told the homeowner regarding the csst sizing as well as the heater not functioning at nearly it's capacity.
To her I sound like I'm trying to "sell" more work...to us it's unbeleivable it actually worked.