I hate my neighbors Plumber

Users who are viewing this thread

killforfood

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Orygun
Last week my hot water heater ruptured while we slept. About 5:30 I get up for work and no hot water???
Well of course the basement is flooded and I go straight for the main shut-off valve. I can only assume that the raging flow blew the seat off of the valve because the valve failed to stop the flow (I'll do an autopsy after I put the new one on). I grabbed a wrench and ran for the street meter.

Last week my next door neighbor noticed weeping in her galvanized pipes in her basement. She hired a "really good Plumber" to do a complete re-pipe. He is also apparently running a new pipe from the meter to her house because the jerk had laid a sheet of plywood over my meter and piled all of his ditch dirt on top of my meter. Now I'm really pissed and running for a shovel. It's a good thing he wasn't there because I would have sharpened my shovel on his face. OK maybe not but I was pretty mad.
I've seen him over there a couple times since but decided not to waste my energy. I've got enough problems (water damage) to deal with. The good news is that the new water heater went in without a hitch and works better than the old one. Well... I guess that old 70's harvest gold shag down in the storage/mechanical room was kind of ugly.
I also need to do a complete re-pipe and this kind of kicked my butt in gear to get going on it.
There, I feel better already. I'll bother you plumbers later with some re-pipe questions.
You can't all be bad:D

I forgot to add that just before all of this happened I had started tearing out walls to remodel all three of my bathrooms. Move toilets, change master shower form square to larger Neo, all new cherry vanities, tile work. electrical, repair dry rot, new flooring, lighting, fans, framing... MAN my plate is full!!!
 
Last edited:

killforfood

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Orygun
It looks like we'll seeing more of you here. Nothing worse then not being able to shut down quckly. :)
Hi Terry,
Yah, I've actually been researching the heck out of this place. Two weeks ago I thought ToTo was just a little yappy dog.
You're advice and others on here convinced me not to buy the first decent looking cheap toilet from Home Depot. Now if I could just find some shower heads that flow. I think the Feds got me over a barrel on that one. Lots more questions coming.
Happy plumbing, Joel.
 

Suceress

Active Member
Messages
319
Reaction score
37
Points
28
Location
LA
Welcome to the forums, killforfood!

This site is great.

I would have been very irritated with that plumber for doing that as well. Not being able to stop a leak is very frustrating. Even more frustrating when someone else blocks your access because they lack common courtesy.

I'd love to see pictures of your projects as you go along. I keep forgetting to take pictures of stuff. Probably sometime next week I will try to remember to take pictures of my new septic tank and field lines going in.
 

LLigetfa

DIYer, not in the trades
Messages
7,497
Reaction score
575
Points
113
Location
NW Ontario, Canada
The question begged to be asked is why there was not a shutoff right at the HWT? Going to the street should have been the third option.
 

ckl111

Home Builder
Messages
71
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Location
Ontario
At least you could shut off the water by yourself. In these parts, you would have needed a curb key which I doubt most homeowners would have.
 

Gary Swart

In the Trades
Messages
8,101
Reaction score
84
Points
48
Location
Yakima, WA
In my not-so-humble-opinion, you should have a master shut off valve where the water enters the house. As the previous poster mentioned, most places require a curb key to shut the water off at the meter and many cities don't want you to have one. I had a near disaster once when the master valve actually broke off and caused a huge flood in my basement. I tried all the wrenches I possessed, but couldn't get the long handles in the hole where I could get leverage. Took awhile for the city to get to me, of course it seemed like half the night. My next move was to have a friend make a curb key for me. I have had a couple of occasions to use it, but none as dramatic as the first time.
 

killforfood

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Orygun
The question begged to be asked is why there was not a shutoff right at the HWT? Going to the street should have been the third option.
The previous owners left me with a lot of surprises that have to be addressed. After replacing the water heater, a good look at the plumbing convinced me to redo everthing with Pex. I will definately be installing a ball valve on the hot water heater and new main ball valve.
J Whipples rants can be a bit on the irritating side but my bathrooms are living proof that his anti sheet rock rants are gospel. This is where the master shower used to be. There was no pre-slope in the pan, no weep holes and the liner was nailed full of holes on the floor and inside the curb. ALL of the walls in all of the showers are all sheet rock. I had to tear up the sub-floor because it was all dry rotted. The other bathrooms are pretty much the same.



I really don't know what they were thinking on this vanity vent but it's just one of the many surprises.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Suceress

Active Member
Messages
319
Reaction score
37
Points
28
Location
LA
Yikes! That is a lot of work. I still haven't uncovered all of the surprises in this house. I don't think I'm going to like what I find when I finally take out the avocado one-piece shower/tub unit.

I love seeing pictures of the process as you go along. Good luck with the renovation!
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks