Plumbing Bloopers

[Guppy]

Did they wreck the cabinets

[Rmarsh]

Customer calls the office and says toilet in new home is "rocking"......original plumber (who I have judged to be incompetent and has been fired since then) goes back to fix.....customer calls back after a few weeks and says toilet not flushing completely now. So another more professional and experienced plumber was sent to check on the problem. The wax ring that is used to seal the toilet was improperly done with an excessive amount of wax was blocking the drain.

[FishermanTim]

makes you wonder how they got their job and license?

The kids, unfortunately, are being taught by an idiot and unless they get better, more complete instructions, are going to end up perpetuating those same bad work skills.

My brother and I built his house in NH.
The only things we didn't do were pour the foundation and do the heat/hot water piping. That was left to a competent licensed plumber. We were able to do the wiring ourselves and when it was inspected my brother was told we did a professional job.
Heck, my brother opted to go with a 2x6 framing for the exterior wall framing instead of 2x4 for more insulation.

Having a father who was a carpenter for BU and the opportunity to learn basics from him and my brother help make some projects easier and less expensive when you could do some of them yourself.

Still, when you hire someone for a job you should be able to expect that they do know their stuff and will treat each job as if they were working on their own house.....unless they live in a sh*thole.....

[Rmarsh]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

makes you wonder how they got their job and license?

The kids, unfortunately, are being taught by an idiot and unless they get better, more complete instructions, are going to end up perpetuating those same bad work skills.

You nailed it Tim....The guy is a hacker, his work is awful, and his young apprentices will be as bad or worse than he is. He is also a part time inspector.

I was fortunate to have learned my trade from two of the finest craftsmen I have ever met, both were Wentworth graduates and had many years in the home building trade. They showed me methods I may never had learned on my own.

My company hired a young carpenter, very nice kid, hard worker, humble, and very willing to learn. When I see him having trouble with a certain task, or not sure about something, I show him how its done. It makes my day when he comes back later and says
"Thank you for showing me that"

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Rmarsh

You nailed it Tim....The guy is a hacker, his work is awful, and his young apprentices will be as bad or worse than he is. He is also a part time inspector.

I was fortunate to have learned my trade from two of the finest craftsmen I have ever met, both were Wentworth graduates and had many years in the home building trade. They showed me methods I may never had learned on my own.

My company hired a young carpenter, very nice kid, hard worker, humble, and very willing to learn. When I see him having trouble with a certain task, or not sure about something, I show him how its done. It makes my day when he comes back later and says
"Thank you for showing me that"

Came back to haunt me, ended up competing with a couple of them :-)
All good!

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Rmarsh

You nailed it Tim....The guy is a hacker, his work is awful, and his young apprentices will be as bad or worse than he is. He is also a part time inspector.

I was fortunate to have learned my trade from two of the finest craftsmen I have ever met, both were Wentworth graduates and had many years in the home building trade. They showed me methods I may never had learned on my own.

My company hired a young carpenter, very nice kid, hard worker, humble, and very willing to learn. When I see him having trouble with a certain task, or not sure about something, I show him how its done. It makes my day when he comes back later and says
"Thank you for showing me that"

Great stuff!

[bloocrab]

Just like with any other trade, not everyone should be a plumber.

If you weren't taught good work ethic while growing up...or didn't figure it out soon enough on your own, you'll probably never "get it".

That toilet obviously slid while they were positioning it...and they KNEW it, but decided to just slide it back INSTEAD of doing the right thing by removing it and checking. They didn't want to waste another wax ring...so they flushed and walked away.

Some companies grow to the point where the contractor's original passion for quality diminishes as he has to hire on more people than he can supervise... then the added income totally blinds him into believing that he can sacrifice quality for quantity. That's when the spiral affect begins...it takes time, but word gets out and he joins the circle of "hacks".

[Rmarsh]

Dont get me wrong...there are many good plumbers out there.
But the company I work for pays the minimum to a lot of the subcontractors.....they are told what the job pays and they can take it or leave it.
Guy at work likes to say "You pay peanuts...you get monkeys"
I'm not sure that makes sense but it does make me laugh.

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by Rmarsh

Dont get me wrong...there are many good plumbers out there.
But the company I work for pays the minimum to a lot of the subcontractors.....they are told what the job pays and they can take it or leave it.
Guy at work likes to say "You pay peanuts...you get monkeys"
I'm not sure that makes sense but it does make me laugh.

That make PERFECT sense!

We're lucky enough to know people we can call that we trust, so if repairs need to be done they will be done right the first time.

Unfortunately many don't have that luxury and have to do their own search. What really sucks is that some of these hacks have learned to "pad their resume" by having friends and relatives give them great online reviews, even though they had no work done.
Sadly, the internet can be (and has been) manipulated by computer-savvy hacks who can create impressive websites and reviews when they are complete boobs in their respective fields.

[Rmarsh]

Got a new plumbing sub.....personal friend of mine who is a real professional. Does all the work himself...has a helper who he never leaves unsupervised. This guy should have been a finish carpenter.....very fussy.....says his name on the job means it has to be just right. Might be the end of this thread for a while.

[Rmarsh]

Everything with the plumbing had been going fine....finally got a great plumber....then we got busy and had to bring in another guy....right away I see stupid stuff like this. and no they didnt leave the tail piece loose....so I can install sink cabinet.... WTF.
Thats okay i cut that #^&#^&#^&#^& out of my way.

[Rmarsh]

Sometimes a finish carpenter screws up....both baseboard nails hit the toilet supply line.
I sent this picture to our young protege....nice kid ......he felt terrible about it...apologized profusely. I told him we have all done it at some point...so welcome to the club. Wasnt trying to berate him....just a reminder to beware of waterlines ....bathroom walls in particular.

[Hookedagain]

Much easier fix than when I did the same time as a young carpenter many years ago....copper was a bit more work.

[Rmarsh]

Originally Posted by Hookedagain

Much easier fix than when I did the same time as a young carpenter many years ago....copper was a bit more work.

Yup if you been doing this a while it happens. Plumber had the line filled with air for testing......noticed pressure had dropped....when I pulled the baseboard and nails the rest of the air hissed out so no water leaks.....I like to get pictures of the kitchen area walls before sheetrock so I know where pipes are.....its been a while since ive damaged any pipes.....sheetrockers do it too often
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Rmarsh]

I could hear our young finish carpenter in training, hammering away very hard on something....a piece of hardwood flooring right near the bottom tread of the stairs?....not sure what problem he was having....but when the hammering stopped he came over to where i was working with a very worried look on his face. "Bob...can you come and take a look". Sure....I said.
Well.... I could see right away that the starting tread of the stairway had a very significant dent from his hammer ....right near the newel post....on the rounded edge of the unfinished oak tread. "Is there any way to fix it" he asked.

I told him to try applying a glob of spit on it and sand profusely to generate heat and repeat.... that the wood was still there ....only compressed....and would swell back into place. He returned to me later.... very relieved and said "It worked.....I knew you would have an answer"

I like this kid....he's a fast learner......glad that I could help him out.

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Rmarsh

I could hear our young finish carpenter in training, hammering away very hard on something....a piece of hardwood flooring right near the bottom tread of the stairs?....not sure what problem he was having....but when the hammering stopped he came over to where i was working with a very worried look on his face. "Bob...can you come and take a look". Sure....I said.
Well.... I could see right away that the starting tread of the stairway had a very significant dent from his hammer ....right near the newel post....on the rounded edge of the unfinished oak tread. "Is there any way to fix it" he asked.

I told him to try applying a glob of spit on it and sand profusely to generate heat and repeat.... that the wood was still there ....only compressed....and would swell back into place. He returned to me later.... very relieved and said "It worked.....I knew you would have an answer"

I like this kid....he's a fast learner......glad that I could help him out.

Nice, he’s a lucky kid (guy) I’d say…..

[Hookedagain]

Originally Posted by Rmarsh

I could hear our young finish carpenter in training, hammering away very hard on something....a piece of hardwood flooring right near the bottom tread of the stairs?....not sure what problem he was having....but when the hammering stopped he came over to where i was working with a very worried look on his face. "Bob...can you come and take a look". Sure....I said.
Well.... I could see right away that the starting tread of the stairway had a very significant dent from his hammer ....right near the newel post....on the rounded edge of the unfinished oak tread. "Is there any way to fix it" he asked.

I told him to try applying a glob of spit on it and sand profusely to generate heat and repeat.... that the wood was still there ....only compressed....and would swell back into place. He returned to me later.... very relieved and said "It worked.....I knew you would have an answer"

I like this kid....he's a fast learner......glad that I could help him out.

Its a good feeling to teach the younger generation new tricks. One of the kids that work with us (one of the laborers) always asks me how I know so much and the only thing that comes to mind is the Farmers Insurance commercials...I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two.

[Rmarsh]

Originally Posted by Hookedagain

Its a good feeling to teach the younger generation new tricks. One of the kids that work with us (one of the laborers) always asks me how I know so much and the only thing that comes to mind is the Farmers Insurance commercials...I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two.

That's a good way to put it.....if I make it....working through to 2023...It will be 50 years I have worked as a carpenter. I would like to give back some of what I've learned to someone worthy.
My young co-worker...Louis....is from Ecuador.... humble, respectful and very hard worker. He gets better at his job every day.
Pains me a little that most of the american boys I've encountered .....cant or wont put in the effort that it takes. Electrician just hired a young guy of chinese decent.......very hard worker....boss leaves him alone and all he does is work.....he calls me "Sir"......I let it go a few times until I told him.... "Alex...just call me Bob.

[Hookedagain]

The kid we have is from Tunisia North Africa. He's a laborer but very eager to learn as well. And much like Alex he's full of respect.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Rmarsh

Customer calls the office and says toilet in new home is "rocking"......original plumber (who I have judged to be incompetent and has been fired since then) goes back to fix.....customer calls back after a few weeks and says toilet not flushing completely now. So another more professional and experienced plumber was sent to check on the problem. The wax ring that is used to seal the toilet was improperly done with an excessive amount of wax was blocking the drain.

Interesting. We had a new toilet set 2 weeks ago and our plumber says they don't use a wax ring anymore. he used a neoprene ring.

[Rmarsh]

Originally Posted by Hookedagain

The kid we have is from Tunisia North Africa. He's a laborer but very eager to learn as well. And much like Alex he's full of respect.

Seems to me.... that with all the emphasis placed on getting a college education....there are a lot less young people going into the trades.
The promise of higher income does not always come to fruition and then there is the student loans to pay off. I learned how to build a house from start to finish in less years than it takes to earn a bachelors degree.

My good friend is a plumber.....looking to hire an apprentice.
He isnt the easiest guy to work for....but will teach them the right way of doing things.