HANDYHACKERinFL said:
I have seen a lot of products coming out that make plumbing repairs easier, I think this is the beginning of a new era for hackers, handymen, and DIY'ers. Plastic is the future. Just a matter of time.
One perfect example of how plastic indirectly is and will always be my friend in this business:
Service call 2 days ago customer calls to get a plumber to fix a leaking shower and toilet.
Someone installed a incorrect flush valve in the toilet....cracked and was leaking. Plastic of course = Total rebuild.
Customer decided to take on replacing the waste and overflow. Assembly is plastic and is "easy" to install....just add glue and your done. ???
He couldn't get the drain piece out of the fiberglass tub and the sawzall jumped and cut the bottom of the tub flange opening right past the edge.
I was called the first time to remove a partially broken plastic MIP out of a galvanized tee and install a new one. The plastic broke because he tried to move the plastic slightly and years of being heated and cooled allowed for brittle piping. I removed that short piece of broken threads in 2 minutes for $70 and on my way.
I reworked the toilet, installed what was left over of the tub drain and glued it all together and we are standing at $300 so far what he's paid me.
Tub still leaks. Apparently it wasn't the tub drain leaking initially after all; it was small scratches in the bottom of the tub that was allowing water to seep through the fiberglass netting under the tub between the two surfaces and dropping out right near the tub shoe.
When I removed the white vinyl supply tube to the toilet, the bottom plastic barb broke from being under a stressed angled position all the time it was hooked to the toilet. More than once I've seen these break off completely and do tremendous property damage.
So I guess my point is quite a hilarious one. I see people buying this stuff off the shelves like they've robbed a bank thinking they've beat the odds by not hiring the plumber to do the work because it is just sooooooooo simple to do it yourself!
That's fine. I'm the janitor who's following the mistakes and doing the cleanup work that is so painfully obvious that some people have no chance to do their plumbing correctly. My gain entirely. This guy could of called me and instantly I could of diagnosed the problem for a great deal less.
He worked on that plumbing from 10:30 until 3 in the morning and gave up. The tub is severely damaged as it is not holding water now that there is a saw cut beyond the drain opening. He probably paid me in 3 hours what took him the entire week to make.
I can fix my plumbing all day long and do it efficiently without error and save the most. I go work on my computer and I'll spend 3 days trying to do what a computer tech can do in minutes.
So, anyone feeling special that does their own plumbing thinking there are gains to be made.....remember one valid point;
One way or another even though you are saving on one particular profession........somewhere else you are paying the full monte for services. Might not touch electric or drywall or even painting. Unless you can do it all efficiently like the licensed professionals, your advances are limited exactly like mine. Like an idiot I've tried to fix my computer.....even do mechanical work to my trucks.....pffffffft! Too stoopid and too impatient to say I'm nothing but thumbs when I step out of my profession to do something I'm not familiar with.
That poor guy is probably going to spend another $100 to have me do a fiberglass repair patch on that tub just so there isn't rainfall in his basement everytime someone uses the tub. Staggering at a $400 tally and the same old toilet, same old shower connected to completely clogged galvanized and all because it is easy for everyone to fix their own plumbing...
Just call me Cuba Gooding Jr
Show me the money!!!!