I hate plumbing work

[Land Owner]

^^^ and why they pay you the big bucks...or should. Hazardous Duty.

There is NO doubt about it. We are capable, as engineers and scientists, of cleaning human wastewater BETTER than the groundwater that is withdrawn for potable water use. The Public WILL NOT get past the stigma that treated wastewater was once human wastewater, EVEN THOUGH every drop of water on this planet has been through a digestive system MANY TIMES.

Septic tanks, treatment plant discharge, et al, is RECHARGE for the potable water system. Matter, including water, is neither created nor destroyed. Ground dwelling bacteria EAT WASTE for breakfast and eliminate its hazards. Do not try to educate the Public. They WILL NOT hear the message.

[Mal Paso]

Professionally, I draw the line now at "used water". I found a knit scarf in a drain once but most of the time when people call for a drain cleaning they really need a backhoe so I try to stay on my side of the p-trap.

[alamogunr]

"A man has to know his limitations." We had our house built in 1969. We've always had trouble with 2 toilets. After spending about $300 total having a plumber use a snake to clear the obstructions, I bought one for myself and haven't had to pay anyone since. I've also learned that the transition fitting could be the problem. Only certain fittings are approved for vertical to horizontal transition from a toilet. I will gladly pay for this situation to be corrected.

[imashooter2]

Ouch guys i have been a plumber for 44 years you get use to it.

Not a plumber myself, but have a friend who is. His best story is breaking the sewer pipe in the elevator shaft of an apartment building in Philadelphia. Of course they had gone through the building and told everyone that they were going to work and please don’t flush…

Says he had the pipe open and was working when he heard it coming. "All I could do was turn my back and stand in the corner."

[.429&H110]

I worked for a small town plumber who promised me:
If you cut yourself on porcelain you will die of infection.
Porcelain makes nasty razor sharp shards quickly.
You can bolt a bowl down to the floor and stand on it, but if you tap it it will shatter.
Porcelain pilot is a well-paying job, these days, worth every dollar.

[lightman]

I'm another that hates working on plumbing. Every would be simple job requires multiple trips to Lowes.

[DocSavage]

I've had my house 35+ years and for 30 years every 18 months like clock work had to call a plumber to clear the line to the street. Get a call one day from my wife house next door has sewerage from my house going into his cellar. After considerable time and money turned out tha the 2 houses and small building around my house were the problem. Being on the end of
the line I got to pay for clearing the line to the street. My house was built mid 1800s and the building around my house were tied to a single line to the street and owned by the family that owned my house.

After finding out the problem spent $10,000 to capoff the line and reroute my line to the street. The other 2 houses and the building next door had to do same don't know what they spent.

[Geezer in NH]

Son and I dig the septic tank cover every 2 years so the pumper guy can get at it to pump the tank.

Pumping every two years save replacing the leech field every 5 or 6. $250.00 every two years way cheaper than $10,000 for a new leach field. I call it the rural sewer cost.

[Randy Bohannon]

While visiting in-laws young Son about 3 years old had been playing with a basket of plastic fruit and managed to drop a fake apple in their toilet and flush it. So the toilet would be real slow and overfill and flood the bathroom. So Father in law pulls the toilet takes it outside puts it on a bench. For months everyone tried to figure out what was causing the problem . Mother in law puts a hose in the bowl and the water is enough to show the bobbing fake red plastic apple is bouncing around enough to see it. She turns the water off the plastic apple falls to the flange which it won’t pass grab it with a pair of pliers and pulls it out. That Son is still reminded of that Fromm time to time as his kids grow up, two girls it’s gonna happen.

[Froogal]

I'm another that hates working on plumbing. Every would be simple job requires multiple trips to Lowes.

BINGO!!! Makes no difference just how big your supply of fittings and other parts is, you will ALWAYS need one little part that you do not have.

[Hannibal]

BINGO!!! Makes no difference just how big your supply of fittings and other parts is, you will ALWAYS need one little part that you do not have.

I used to live in a rural area and it was an hour one way to get plumbing parts. I bought extra fittings every time and kept what I didn't need in a large box. Once in a while I'd get lucky and wouldn't have to make a trip at all. Having those extra fittings around was cheap insurance against multiple trips. A bit off topic but if I needed auto parts and there was more than one possible match I got one of each and returned the stuff I didn't need the next time I had to make a trip. You wind up with all kinds of stuff you don't necessarily need laying around 'just in case'. I don't miss that particular part of rural living at all.

[ulav8r]

My daughter can plug up a toilet without putting anything that doesn't belong in it. Had her learn to use a plunger by the time she was 10 to 12. She has gotten a plunger or two as Christmas gifts.

[jonp]

I once removed a cleanout at my parents' house many years ago, they have long since passed.
Anyway, the kitchen sink was blocked up, already ran a hose into the vent to flush it loose, but that failed, my mom yelled to shut off the water as the trap blew out and flooded the kitchen.
Back to the cleanout. Well....what an interesting experience I never want to go thru again!
With the cleanout removed I witnessed a steady drip...drip...drip of water. Thought about it a bit then I came up with a brilliant idea!
I had my work truck with me, so I went out and retrieved my fish tape for running cable.
I ran that tape up the pipe and jiggled it a bit, all of the sudden all hell broke loose.
I gasped with my mouth wide open, and it hit me square in the face.
It seems a squirrel climbed into the vent and died there.
I was spitting out pieces of bone, fur and all kinds of nastiness I cannot begin to describe.
To make a long story short, no I'm not especially fond of plumbing.

I did something similar at a girlfriends house. It was my first and only introduction to a bladder infection i hope to never repeat and i have cut 2 fingers off with a chainsaw.

[jonp]

BINGO!!! Makes no difference just how big your supply of fittings and other parts is, you will ALWAYS need one little part that you do not have.

Pro Tip: buy everything you might think you need even if your not sure then return the unused. Hard learned lesson from someone that lived miles from a plumbing place. Also, buy two of the common things if your budget allows it to save a trip.
At my hunting camp i have enough spare parts in my shed to run all new gas lines with fittings if i have to and the tools to do it

[Pipefitter]

My daughter can plug up a toilet without putting anything that doesn't belong in it. Had her learn to use a plunger by the time she was 10 to 12. She has gotten a plunger or two as Christmas gifts.

Time to get a pogo stick and replace the rubber tip with a plunger,,, I get the funniest looks when I pull that out of the truck to clear a plugged drain.

[Walks]

When I was 8-9yrs old, My (Mother's) Grandfather dropped his glasses into the toilet at our house. The next day I was out on the back lawn with My Dad trying to get the glasses out of the dismounted toilet. My small hands finally did the job.

I learned to swear that day. Had never heard My Dad swear until then or ever again.
And I haven't learned any new swear words to add to those I learned that day and
I'm 68yrs old, spent 4yrs in the U.S. Navy and 4yrs working construction.

[Froogal]

Pro Tip: buy everything you might think you need even if your not sure then return the unused. Hard learned lesson from someone that lived miles from a plumbing place. Also, buy two of the common things if your budget allows it to save a trip.
At my hunting camp i have enough spare parts in my shed to run all new gas lines with fittings if i have to and the tools to do it

No. I never return any unused pieces. Eventually, those pieces WILL be needed.

I ALWAYS keep at least 2 kits for replacing toilet tank parts. Good thing too, because one toilet developed issues late last Christmas eve. I shut off the water and we went to bed. Guess what I did early on Christmas morning? If I hadn't had the foresight to have repair parts on hand, that particular toilet would have been out of commision for several days.

[skrapyard628]

Ive got no problems doing plumbing work. Spent time working for a guy that restored houses that were over 100yrs old. We upgraded all the electrical and plumbing in them so Ive seen a bit. The funniest didnt involve me, but the scrap guy that was carousing the area.

We already had problems with him trying to take materials out of the garage, smashing the concrete off fence posts and leaving the mess in the driveway...etc. Well, I had just cut out all of the 6" cast soil pipe and replaced it with PVC.

I neatly stacked all the pipe at the end of the driveway and we waited until we saw our "favorite" scrapper come by to try and nab it. Did I mention a lot of the pipe segments still had a bit of waste still in them? Well, the guy was chucking pieces of it into the back of his truck when one that was a little more full than the others gave him a deluge of brown stinky water. A LOT of choice words in spanish came out of his mouth as he flailed around ripping his now soiled shirt off. He saw me and another worker laughing our butts off while watching this so he flipped us the bird, got in his truck, and left.

Never saw him back there at that job site again.

[Wild Bill 7]

My neighbor was mowing his yard last week and chopped off a pipe that capped for his house water. I think it used to be foe his sprinkler system that is not in use anymore. I was doing some reloading in my garage I heard an awful sound and some choice words, he comes over and wants to borrow the tool to turn off the water. Got the water off and got out my supply of pvc connections, elbows and assorted inserts I found a sleeve that was the right size but no cap. So he went to Lowes to get a cap and I got the pipe ready and we got it fixed. He was so thankful cause he didn’t have to call a plumber at that time in the evening. Worked out good for him and I’m glad to have helped him out.

[Geezer in NH]

My friend owns his plumbing company. He has 3 crews besides himself and helper. He HATES plumbing wants to do something else so for the past 15 years or so he overprices bids by 50% and they keep accepting them so he can't Quit.