We could disconnect water and gas but we couldn't hook it back up. To much liability if one or the other leaked. I carried both comp and liability insurance-the law.
What did you do today to show understanding
- Thread starter MSLI
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Liability is the biggest reason but I honestly never had a problem not touching anything water related just on principle. I am NOT a plumber and I’ve never claimed to be one. That’s not my trade. Standing my ground on this issue IS what I’ve been doing to show understanding for the past 25 years.
Here’s a thought for ya. You wouldn’t call a floor covering store to install a new toilet anymore than you would call a plumber to replace your floor. They are two separate trades, one of them being a protected trade. Don’t use me to try and undercut a fellow tradesman who has put in their time to be able to command the prices that they are charging. Don't you wish you could charge their prices? Do an apprenticeship for 4 years and you can.
What are we, crabs in a bucket?
As said, I completely understand the dilemma. I just know that it takes a plumber nearly a week to come to my area unless you pay triple hourly pay. I sure hope you work on customers with very strong bladders!
The better shops would go over this with their customers ahead of time so it wasn’t an issue when I showed up. Some of them went so far as to include the plumber in the job and would handle scheduling the plumber as well so there was one overall seamless experience for the customer. Other times the job would be split up amongst different days. Maybe I do a kitchen and one bathroom today and come back for the other bathroom after the first toilet has been reset. Apartments and cheap rentals usually had their own maintenance guy that would reset the toilet.
On the other hand there were times I showed up and the customer was completely caught off guard. Those were always fun days. I’ve handed more than one customer a wrench as well as I’ve scribed around a few toilets.
...or teach them how to do the Asian "squat and drop?"
You sure that isn't squat and spray?
Yup, that finger roll works. I've never liked caulking toilets either. If the toilet looks to have a little wobble the caulking can give it the support it needs.I generally don’t bag on plumbers but that looks almost as bad my first attempt at smoothing acrylic caulk.
Dude should have blue taped in front of the shower before he caulked it. Toilet isn’t as easy to blue tape but damn, did he use the back of his thumb? When I’m smoothing caulk I’ll roll my finger so the excess caulk goes up the toilet as opposed to the floor. Lot easier to wipe fresh caulking off of porcelain than it is a textured floor.
When I would reset a toilet I would purposely not caulk it. Then I would give the customer the line That’s so you can tell if it’s leaking. Some of the more knowledgeable customers would tell me it’s code to caulk a toilet and would I tell them back that it’s also code to have a plumber reset your toilet so, no, I will not be the one to caulk your toilet cus I’m not a plumber.
Thinking about it, I can’t believe how many times I’ve had to tell people that I’m not a plumber and I don’t touch anything that has to do with water.
Something else if you are good at caulking, I find caulking, using squeeze tubes as the only way to get a nice bead that doesn't require the finishing touch of a finger. Caulking guns in the confines of a toilet area are tricky, so in that case, blue tape and a ton of paper towels.
For larger or irregular gaps, use blue tape very close to what you're caulking and fill the gap evenly all the way around whatever you're caulking...... Smoothing carefully.
Now, with the gaps filled, remove the tape and add a second finishing bead. The caulk required will be even around or across the entire edge.
If you do it all in one shot, it may need a lot, then a little, then very little, then a lot, so your constantly applying a different amount of squeeze and having to guess in advance to squeeze harder or less so.
Fill the gap first, then do a second, thin, even finish fill.
Grandpa always did R&R with toilets and washing machines. Always new hardware...hoses or washers.
You can't call a plumber at 6:00pm.
I've reset a few hundred for sure and it's no different than connecting a hose to wash your car. Over the years as the trade changed and slowed down, it was a very rare day when I was asked to set one.
Tho a simple process, since I hardly ever did an R&R, I became less comfortable doing it. At some point the shop started having plumbers do the resetting. That didn't bother me at all.
Only one toilet ever leaked.
I rolled an older toilet out onto the front porch on a dolly and did my install.
End of the day I put it back.
The next morning,bigot a call the there was a drip behind the toilet.
I remembered going out to the truck to get my trowel and the old fella had rolled the toilet out to the yard, had it laying on its side and was washing it with a hose and mit.
That OLD toilet was nice and clean when I installed it. I bent and installed a new line. All was good until that phone call.
The leak was at the tank/bowl connection.
The old fella laid the toilet on one side, then the other and that tweaked the OLD gasket.
Problem was, he and I drove to three shops and that gasket wasn't made anymore. New modified gasket, new bolt kit, new tank innards and all was good.
Wasted a lot of my Saturday. The guy realized I didn't cause the problem. He bought the parts, I donated my time.... all was good. That had to be 35 years ago.
I'm now old, so I can tell customers I hurt my back and can't do that anymore.
At a rental, I unplugged an electric stove and fire shot out of the outlet. Tenant was in a wheelchair so I refused to plug it back in. I told her it could start a fire. Landlord got pissed and refused to pay me for the job. I don't care. If it started a fire I don't think the lady in the wheelchair could have escaped. Her life was certainly worth more than the money.
There are more renters out there, landlord don't care.
A lady with a cart 1/2 full of items was ahead of me this morning. I only had a few items in my hand.
She was older than me. She saw what I had and insisted I move ahead of her.
Being compassionate and not wanting to hurt her feelings..... I thanked her and took her up on her offer.
I left the store walking on a cloud. I think I made her day complete.
She was older than me. She saw what I had and insisted I move ahead of her.
Being compassionate and not wanting to hurt her feelings..... I thanked her and took her up on her offer.
I left the store walking on a cloud. I think I made her day complete.
Did she mumble "age before beauty" as you passed her?
At first, I refused, but she insisted. She was nice and I didn't want to argueDid she mumble "age before beauty" as you passed her?
At first, I refused, but she insisted. She was nice and I didn't want to argue
By not arguing, did you show 2 different acts of understanding?
Wow, I never thought of it like that. A twofer. Thanks, I get a day off.
I have a friend who's 83..... acts like 23. He's been driving a relatives Ford Ranger for over a year now because the engine in his Monte Carlo self decomposed.
He called me over 2 1/2 weeks ago because the shifter wasn't working.
Because I was working 24/7....... (Ok, just the 7 part), I had no way to figure out a fix. I did stop by 2 weeks ago and used my endoscope/inspection camera to look around under the dash to find out what was broken. There were a couple screws loose, one actually fell out on the floor at.
The piece that was loose, connects the column to the shifter cable.
Lucky he lives in town. He's been walking three to five blocks to the store to shop.
I finally had time to stop by and get it fixed.
It's an upside down, on your back, one handed operation. A totally miserable position to function. Fortunately he has a pick-a-nic bench which is the same height as the floorboards. I could lay back on it, shimmy into position and be at least a little bit comfortable on my back. 532 attempts and 3 hours later, with one arm up inside the dash positioning the screw, I finally got it in allignment so it could be slowly screwed in. My tiny ratchet could only move back and forth one tooth, or one click at a time... Like 20 clicks per rotation of the screw.
Anyhow, the weather held up and I finished just as the sun dropped over the hill and the chill began. I got down to 25 this morning..... For here, that's not normal... 39 is.
Anyway, he was able to drive to a scheduled doctor's appointment this morning instead of being driven by a friend. He's independent, so like most of us, he hates asking for help. He said it shifts like the truck was new. Yay
It's been hard to shift all the time he's had the truck, so he never knew what it was supposed to feel like.... Those screws have been getting more and more loose for a few years now, but one finally fell out making shifting impossible.
He removed some lower trim pieces but I told him not to put them back until I came back over after recharging my inspection camera. I thought I saw another loose, but unrelated screw when I looked at this a couple weeks ago. The tiny braided wire that makes the PRNDL marker move has snapped, so I might attempt to fix that too so he can see what gear he's in.
So anyway, I had a good day yesterday, and amazingly I'm not real sore like I expected.
This guy makes it seem like a 5 minute fix. It would be if you were 20 inches tall.
He called me over 2 1/2 weeks ago because the shifter wasn't working.
Because I was working 24/7....... (Ok, just the 7 part
), I had no way to figure out a fix. I did stop by 2 weeks ago and used my endoscope/inspection camera to look around under the dash to find out what was broken. There were a couple screws loose, one actually fell out on the floor at.The piece that was loose, connects the column to the shifter cable.
Lucky he lives in town. He's been walking three to five blocks to the store to shop.
I finally had time to stop by and get it fixed.
It's an upside down, on your back, one handed operation. A totally miserable position to function. Fortunately he has a pick-a-nic bench which is the same height as the floorboards. I could lay back on it, shimmy into position and be at least a little bit comfortable on my back. 532 attempts and 3 hours later, with one arm up inside the dash positioning the screw, I finally got it in allignment so it could be slowly screwed in. My tiny ratchet could only move back and forth one tooth, or one click at a time... Like 20 clicks per rotation of the screw.
Anyhow, the weather held up and I finished just as the sun dropped over the hill and the chill began. I got down to 25 this morning..... For here, that's not normal... 39 is.
Anyway, he was able to drive to a scheduled doctor's appointment this morning instead of being driven by a friend. He's independent, so like most of us, he hates asking for help. He said it shifts like the truck was new. Yay
It's been hard to shift all the time he's had the truck, so he never knew what it was supposed to feel like.... Those screws have been getting more and more loose for a few years now, but one finally fell out making shifting impossible.
He removed some lower trim pieces but I told him not to put them back until I came back over after recharging my inspection camera. I thought I saw another loose, but unrelated screw when I looked at this a couple weeks ago. The tiny braided wire that makes the PRNDL marker move has snapped, so I might attempt to fix that too so he can see what gear he's in.
So anyway, I had a good day yesterday, and amazingly I'm not real sore like I expected.
This guy makes it seem like a 5 minute fix. It would be if you were 20 inches tall.
If the repair failed, you would probably be sore, but since YOU ARE THE MAN WITH THE SKILLS AND TENACITY, showing selflessness and giving, your spirit has removed all pain.
…… Nice giving and understanding high 
He's pretty knowledgeable about cars on general, but not so much as a mechanic.If the repair failed, you would probably be sore, but since YOU ARE THE MAN WITH THE SKILLS AND TENACITY, showing selflessness and giving, your spirit has removed all pain.
I'm his only friend with a mechanical McGuyver like brain, so I can't let him suffer. He knows a lot of people, having lived in the area his entire life, but not many real friends. He needs one, so about 10 or so years ago, I sorta volunteered for the roll. Wed known each other casually via a friend of mine that had a car repair shop. He asked one day if I'd help him get his Camaro running. Our end of the summer cruise night was approaching and his baby, the Camaro hadn't been driven for a few years. It's a 70, but cleaner than it was off the showroom floor. It's always got a car cover on it and has never spent a night in his driveway. Garaged for its entire 55 year life. He's the second owner.....for the past 54 years.
Retirement income for him isn't good, so no way would I let him take this to a shop and get a crazy bill. I see him occasionally at the store or just give him a random call and pop over to see what he's been up to.
I can be nice once in a while.
