Call a plumber!!

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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:05 pm

So I'm wondering if anyone else is plagued with a similar issue as mine. I will always try and fix something myself before calling a professional. Now I know this may not seem too bad of a problem to have but except for a couple rare occasions I usually end up having a professional fix it right after I muck it up.

Case in point my faucet for my water hose has been leaking. As usual my wife suggest I call a plumber. Do I? Hell no how hard could it be to fix it? So I head off to the local hardware store to collect the necessary parts. My first trip cost me $119. Ok that's not bad probably cheaper than a plumber right? I asked for some tips and the nice fellow at the hardware store assured me anyone can do it so no problem for a handy man like me right? WRONG! I proceeded to snap the old copper pipe with my manly muscles removing it. Now I had a big problem as I had to leave the water off. Once again my wife full of confidence in me suggest I call a plumber. Do I? Hell no it's the weekend it will cost me a fortune. So I go inside and cut a large access panel in the wall to get a better look at the situation. I'll save everyone the play by play but it takes 4 more trips to the hardware store and about $200 more. So I think I finally have it fixed. I turn on the water and installed a pond in our study. I mess with it for a couple more hours and my wife walks in telling me she called a plumber and he will be here in an hour.

It took him a half hour and it cost $150. So I managed to spend a day and a half further breaking my faucet and spending an extra $300. I would like to say I have learned my lesson but I know next time something breaks I'll be back at it with my wrench in hand.

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:26 pm

I consider myself a pretty good handyman and problem-solver. But one area where I learned years ago to draw the line is plumbing.....

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:52 pm

Same here. Wires and such, I can handle. When it comes to plumbing, I let the professionals handle that.

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:52 pm

Its for sure my weakest skill unless it's PVC then pretty much any idiot can do it. The problem is my house is only 3 years old and they use this PEX stuff now since there is a huge problem with copper being stollen on new construction. If I would have opened up the wall and seen cooper I would have conceded then but the PEX stuff just looks like PVC. Problem is it goes together with special connectors and these stupid little clamp things. It seems easy until you start doing it. Of course that's the story of my life.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:34 am

I have a wonderful handy man who fixes things correctly rather than Mr. M L F mucking them up. Mr. M L F says the handy man is worth the $10/hr I pay him

Elite Baiter Joined: 19 Jun 2011 Posts: 1066

I think you learned an even more valuable lesson in this: Your wife is always right. Very Happy

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:29 am

^^^Don't tell her that! Mrs. Bravo usually is right but I hate to admit it. The male ego is a hard thing to ignore.

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

I do almost all of my plumbing work. I will call him in when it comes to running the snake through but everything else he will tell me to fix myself.

EDIT: I have PVC all the way in from the meter so it is mostly idiot proof.

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:08 pm

Lesson learned and I need to put my hourly rates up. Razz

Baiting Guru Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 2531 Location: AU

should have called me bravo. I could have made it worse for you
or just stood there drinking beer watching

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:56 am

bravo95 wrote:

unless it's PVC then pretty much any idiot can do it.

In fact, even I can work with PVC.

But if it involves flaring, solder, or a torch I call the plumber.

You need to take your wife out for a nice dinner.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:16 am

bravo95 wrote:

So I think I finally have it fixed. I turn on the water and installed a pond in our study.

That cracked me up!

*ahem*

Sorry about your study...

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:22 am

^^All dry now Smile

Today I completed the drywall repair and it does not look that great but not horible either. Luckily we keep a book case in front of the area so no one will know and I won't have to look at my failure everyday.

Thanks for the offer to help Master I'll call you next time I have a problem with my toilet and we will see if we can get it to flush the wrong way like yours.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:10 am

bravo95 wrote:

Luckily we keep a book case in front of the area

The answer to many of life's little problems..

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:09 pm

My plumber fractured the iron main while digging out a hole to reset the downstairs toilet.
The gasman that came to install a new line from the main to the gas cooker broke one l joint in a water pipe and flooded the loft, had to drain the central heating system to deal with that leak, in doing so he dislodged the overflow pipe from the central heating header tank which didn't declare itself until two days later when the heating had run a few times and filled the tank up, in an attempt to deal with this leak I sat on the loft floor to discover the water had got into the bathroom light fitting below, but it was luckily only a mild shock.
The emergency plumber said he'd be out in three days time.....

To recover from all this I went on a short break,
the washing machine at the apartment flooded the foyer area, the car broke down and the washing line collapsed.

Other than that, I'm fine.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:06 pm

Wow suddenly my problems do not seem to bad. Just goes to show you there's always someone worst off. My cousins in West Virginia don't even have to worry about indoor plumbing at all Smile

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

Chief, that sounds like a huge mess.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:11 pm

@IG, wanna buy some lucky white heather?

Trophy Videos · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:09 am

Great story, bravo. LMAO.
Good thing I'm now too old, weak, and crippled to even think about crawling under the kitchen sink and doing that kind of stuff. But I can break lots of other cool stuff. As long as their is no beefy yanking, cutting, and dangerous tools involved, I'll go for it. Sadly, i have no nice wife to save my ass. Laughing

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:31 am

Great story Bravo but there are times when you have to do it yourself.

Last summer I noticed a little bit of moisture in the garage. I figured that the source must have been a leaking sprinkler control valve as its dripping on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately the thing is glued to the PVC manifold and the manual gate valve does not work. I remove and replace both.

The control valve is no longer leaking but the leak in the garage is much worse and I have a week of training 3 thousand miles away.

I call my insurance company who in turn calls a plumber. I leave a check for the deductible in the garage made out to the plumber along with the bypass codes for the alarm.

The plumber calls me and says he wants another $450 from me to move the water heater so that he can jack hammer the foundation in the garage but he needs approval from the insurance company. I tell him that the water heater is 8 feet from the leak but to go ahead.

The plumber calls back to say that he can't do it because the air conditioning unit is in the way. It might be $2,800 to move it but he does not know as he does not do air conditioning. The insurance company will not pay for air conditioning units to be moved if its a water leak. They will pay for the removing of the concrete though.

He says that that his ultrasonic leak detector shows that its in the concrete under the water heater and the A/C unit. I tell the plumber it makes no sense, there should be no plumbing in the concrete but to simply get it done, I will pay for the repairs when I get back.

I get back and nothing has been done. There's a note from the plumber telling me that my check has been shredded. A call to the insurance company gets me nothing so I get my old analog ultrasonic leak detector out. I find out that the leak is behind some drywall.

I remove two A/C return ducts and punch a few holes in the drywall and find that its a leaking cap on a water hammer riser.

I soldered on a new $5 cap, replaced the wet insulation, installed new drywall, painted it, replaced the ducts and insulated before I called the insurance company. I reminded them that it was their responsibility to mitigate the damages and that if they were to deny my claim they would have to do so in writing.