Anyone have any advice on getting into the plumbing field?

[Master Plumber Mark]

since whenever

Since whenever you claim you have been in business

I got born into it, the actual building is

about an 1840 red brick that has been in the family since

about 1901...

the story goes some great grand father and or some

bob-tailed drunk uncle did plumbing out of the place since

that time... basically a bunch of Drunk Germans who made

beer in the basement ....(the barells are stilll there)

So if you have a good reputatioin , the story does go a long way for extra credibility.....


the only downside to being born into plumbing is you have a pretty rough exterior when you are young...being around a bunch of dumbass plumbers at 7 years old does not mold a very personable child.....

and it was not the
best way to attract chicks...

----------------------------------------------------------------------
RUGGED

as far as sewer cleaning goes....I dont see that as something you should be doinig with a bad Knee..

its only going to kill you some day when you ride that drum down the stairs....

and I feel its for a young stud with little braines to do
its certainly not for someone who needs to stay in one piece for the long haul.


I give it away to others
in town ----perhaps 4 sewers a month and a few kitchens along with that too....

I get a X-mas card with a few gift certs to restraunts in it for a thank you


Hey......maybe thats why the chicks did not like me when I was younger...I must have smelled funny..!!!!..

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Without materials?

Don't you own a drain cleaning machine. Material costs are passed on to the customer so that is a wash. The drain cleaning machine is a huge expense, cutter heads aren't cheap and neither are cables. You have more overhead expense doing a drain than repairing a leak in a copper pipe.

I spent nearly $5500 4 years ago and in the first year alone, can't begin to put a number on how much those machines have made in income and spawned other jobs at the home other than drain cleaning.


small machine paid itself off in 6 uses (6times minimum $115) Only bought 1 cable that I only destroyed just last year.

Med/large machine is a combined machine. I machine two different sized drums. That machine paid itself off in a 1.5 years and I've never bought new cables or attachments for it yet. That's the big money machine that doesn't come off the truck without a minimum 3 figure charge.

I just did a drain call for a AL member today, all that it cost me to do the drain was a business magnet and two pieces of candy. I'm glad I don't have to keep constantly buying from supply houses to do the task.

In probably the last 20 drain calls, I might of had to supply 2 cleanout caps, one twistfit and the other a 3" PVC cap.

So basically the machines got paid off in the beginning, no real maintenance other than a pressure sprayer cleaning it periodically requires and it doesn't require much when you buy the best. (Spartan) When you buy the good ones and properly take care of them, they will last your career IF you maintain them. Cables though have to be replaced periodically if you use them a great deal, which I don't. Every spring though I'm put to the task because drain buildup is common over the winter months until the rains cometh.

Mark I'd say that most of my calls are sink drains, I use the small machine and upsell drain additives when it starts to slow in the future. On the big machine (Spartan 300, not the biggest in comparison to the 1065) I don't always do the steps thing; the best ones are bi-levels with one small tread into the door in the basement. I just had a rash of jobs of steps which isn't the norm.

Hard rains are coming, that involves drain cleaning and sump pumps. Warm weather triggers at least 50 hose bibb replacements so I welcome the longer daylight hours and warmer weather.


Okay, I clean it up a little, "Been in Business since 1896" Or was that 1986? Oh well. Great grandpa William replaced a faucet in his home and called himself a plumber....the rest is history

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

helpers

One thing I never do is return a call from someone looking for a job. Sometimes they are a front for an agency trying to prove discrimination, and if you call the person, and they sound foreign and you tell them you are not hiring, or not interested, they will come by the next day with official documents to check your hiring practices.

 

[Billsnogo]

Welcome to my world.

To get to be a journeyman, you need 1750 hours of drain/vent work, 1750 hours of water distribution piping, 1750 hours of applience installations, 1750 hours of misc, and if I want to work in st. paul, I need an extra 1750 hours of gas piping, that is before I can take the journeymans test. Schooling is not a must, but pretty much needed to pass the test.

I have tried two years in a row to get into a union apprenticeship, passed the test no problem, but the interviews must not have gone all that good as I placed in the 90's out of 300+ applicants.

I got tired or waiting, so I finally found a tech college that has an apprenticeship class (you need to find the work) that is once a week in the evening and is four years long.

I am going for my third interview attempt with the union in a week, and if I still place too high, I am going around and trying to get in with a non-union shop.

I am learning a lot with my class, and am getting hours on my apprentice card as right now we are installing the drain/vent/water distribution piping in a new house. I have also been certified in Wirsbo pex piping. Hopefully that will help........ hopefully

I have asked a few shops if they are looking for apprentices, I actually followed one van yesterday until he pulled over and asked, but most are small shops that are not looking.

My instructor suggest looking with the bigger shops, like roto rooter, but they will want me to start out drain cleaning, and I am not interested in that, or with b. franklin and I have heard they love to overcharge customers. I am not in this to screw customers, I have a consious and want to provide a service for a justifiable fee.

So, I am hoping third times a charm with the union, if not, I got to keep chasing plumbing vans

 

[lovetohelpya]

I get a charge out of opening up a drain as quickly as possible. Dollar signs without materials involved equals solid profit.

yeah, I've got a guy who likes to open drains as quickly as possible....
He's being fired tomorrow. Faster doesn't necessarily mean better. We are all sick of call-backs because someone just jammed it out, collected the cash, and ran out the door.

Work it like you own it!!

"And away go troubles down the drain" tm
btw-I own the local franchise, and have nothing to do with the Seattle company (fyi - full page yellow book ads scream "OWNED BY CORPORATE" and "WE'RE COMING FOR YOUR MONEY" for companies with a national chain)