How's my plumber doing?

[Augusta]

On to Crew #4

GC from Crew #1 fell from a ladder in the back yard of this home, and cracked his rib. He used his personal insurance to cover himself.

Strikes, 2 and 3 on Crew #3 (ABC Plumbing Company) who were supposed to start and finish on Friday last week, since they are still a no call no show. I don't believe you guys have any idea just how ridiculous it is dealing with plumbing companies in Augusta. Today, I contacted Crew #4 (another well known plumbing company), via their "contact us" section of their well put together web site.

Licensed: check (have a picture of their master plumber license on their website)
In the phone book: check
Insured: check
Bonded: check
4th generation plumbing co (Son, Father, grand father, and great grand father have had this plumbing business)

Email sent to them at 10:23am morning:
**************************************
Dear DEF Plumbing:

I have a tub/shower plumbing issue that I need a professional to take
care of. I had some work done, but he didn't align the
fixtures properly (along with a leak at an elbow). I have 2 bathrooms
on an adjacent wall. Both the vertical and horizontal alignments are
off. I need to have those things corrected. It will involve cutting
the existing copper pipes, sweating a new arrangement, moving the
valve mounts, moving a vent pipe, adding a 2X4 for support for a
shower insert, and attaching the valve wall tub insert . I removed
the entire wall so that everything is easily accessible. I will
handle drywall work. I think we're looking at about 3 to 5 hours of
work. Could I get someone to come out, get an idea of what needs to
be done, and give me a quote? I can meet late in the day today, or
around lunch time tomorrow, or late tomorrow.

Attached are some pictures of what's there.

With kind regards,

P.S. I've been looking for a new plumbing company to handle all work
on my property management business (this home is one of those homes).
Looking forward to a new business relationship.


**************************************

I hope this doesn't come down to me having to DIY this one with instructions from you guys on this thread. I've got about 2 weeks worth of work from the list of things I'm doing myself (laying tile in the kitchen, painting the home, 2 granite lavatory counter tops to install, and other misc things here and there.) If the plumbing isn't taken care of in 2 weeks...I'll have no choice but to do it myself.

 

[Terry]

I'm pulling for you. There must be someone in Georgia that can finish this job.
Haven't we anyone from there that can give us a referral on this?

And Cookie, The accident with Jamie was some years back.
He doesn't paint anymore.
And thank goodness Jamie and I have insurance.
That has been a big help in the last year or so.
No doctor visits for a long time, and now I'm doing my best to break the insurance company.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[SteveW]

No one responded to my prior question so will try one more time:

Take a look at bottom picture on post #78 on this thread and tell me if you see any evidence of solder on the lower joint of the ell. What gives?

 

[Terry]

You can't be positive by the picture, but yes, there may not be solder on that side of the fitting.
Normally a plumber would heat both sides of the fitting when he can, so that the solder pulls in all the way around. Many leaks are because of uneven heating of the fitting and pipe.

 

[Augusta]

No one responded to my prior question so will try one more time:

Take a look at bottom picture on post #78 on this thread and tell me if you see any evidence of solder on the lower joint of the ell. What gives?

From post #78:

1. The awesome sweat job Crew #2 did on the tub spout was leaking inside the wall,...

Joe said he doesn't know why on earth the valves were off center, why they didn't just cut out the 45 on the vent and raise it above the shower insert so as to get a 2X4 in there, and he said it appeared as though there was no flux on the elbow for the tub spout and didn't look like it was sweated...almost like they just forgot to do it.

Terry, on my web site, when you fill out the "contact us" information it goes straight to my cell phone. I respond to my customers within minutes (sometimes less than 60 seconds), unless they are soldiers from Iraq (which happens quite often) then I get to them first thing in the morning (EST time). I didn't get a response to my email to DEF Plumbing co, and I'm willing to bet I won't get a response tomorrow either. I mean, why do plumbers have a "contact us" on their web site, when they completely ignore their customer requests? I went the email route to attach the pictures so that maybe it would save them a trip, or maybe they'd send someone out who would have the experience to handle that sort of thing if even just to give an estimate. Now I doubt they're even checking their email, when they were very adamant about contacting them in that way on their web site.

Categorically, construction workers are incredibly bad in Augusta, with very few exceptions. I promise you, if any one of you professional plumber guys move from the North to Augusta, you'd easily live in a mansion, and have more plumbing business than you'd know what to do with....with just my referrals alone.

What I'm trying to demonstrate here is not just that it's really bad in Augusta, but it's really a crap shoot whether you call a handyman, or a plumber (apprentice). You're going to go through hell either way. Maybe it's just the South. I do appreciate the guidance though.

 

[Cookie]

Well, one, my health insurance DID NOT stipulate on THEIR hours only being to able to use it. It was Blue Shield, and I paid into also Jad. If you get hurt working, and CANNOT WORK, YOU SHOULD NOT USE WORKMANS COMP, if you get hurt NOT working on their dime, then, of course, you don't screw them and use it. Right is right. Workman comp is so different than health insurance. It is your health insurance.

But, in this world reality sets in, at least in mine and in most. Not trying to be argumentative here, but just trying to make a point, it takes alot more than one paycheck to make ends meet, even if you are lucky enough to have a spouse who has one, a job, and you both are frugal. Most people need to make a few extra bucks at least while starting out in life.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Using your health insurance is not screwing anyone. If you are paying something into it, then, my word, use it. Don't be a fool.

If you want to know the cost of expenses, medical care, boy o boy, mine are huge. But, I don't expect anyone, to pay for them, other than me. But, I expect to be able to use my insurance if I get hurt during the hours I am not working their 40 hours. Insurance is NOT just for their 40 hours you are working for them.

That is silly.

I dont mean to be rude.

 

[Basement_Lurker]

Wow, this thread has it all! A ghost story, healthcare/insurance debate, and a comedy picture show (handyman plumbers attempting to install a simple tub/shower unit).

Awesome!

 

[Cookie]

And a man in a suit with a dog's head!
Much much better than those other boring, very boring plumbers sites.

 

[Terry]

And web site designer problems.
When I read Augusta's comment about plumbers not responding to the email contact page, I checked the new website that I use for my phone book ads.
The brand new web site email doesn't work. I'm kicking myself now for not testing the thing. And yes, I spent quite a bit of money, and now I have a brand new web site that doesn't forward email from customers. At least I have the web site that I did, and that web site still works.

Here is the new non-working web site www.terryloveplumbing.com

So they can phone me, but not email me on that site. How stupid is that.
Thanks Augusta for your comment. Dooh!
It made me check.

 

[Redwood]

The brand new web site email doesn't work. I'm kicking myself now for not testing the thing. And yes, I spent quite a bit of money, and now I have a brand new web site that doesn't forward email from customers.

Terry it looks like the captcha flash needs to be enabled on the contact form.

 

[Augusta]

And web site designer problems.
When I read Augusta's comment about plumbers not responding to the email contact page, I checked the new website that I use for my phone book ads.
The brand new web site email doesn't work. I'm kicking myself now for not testing the thing. And yes, I spent quite a bit of money, and now I have a brand new web site that doesn't forward email from customers. At least I have the web site that I did, and that web site still works.

Here is the new non-working web site www.terryloveplumbing.com

So they can phone me, but not email me on that site. How stupid is that.
Thanks Augusta for your comment. Dooh!
It made me check.

Not quite the same thing as with Crew #4's web site. With your form it just won't send. With DEF Plumbing co's web site, they just aren't checking and/or responding to their email. At least with you I know it didn't go through, at which time I'd pick up the phone.

I wanted to send an email to the plumbing co for the "high maintenance" hypothesizers, so that you'd see exactly what they saw. So much for that. I'll be calling DEF Plumbing Co this morning to arrange an appointment to give me a quote.

With the time I've put into calling and dealing with different workers, I very well could have done this plumbing job myself.

As for your captcha, you may have captcha enabled. Likely, the problem is either
a. GD and FreeType libraries are not installed on your server
b. wp-contents/uploads/wpcf7_captcha folder does not exist or is not writeable

I've been working with Wordpress and other CMS sites for years (and as a developer). Your web developer should have at least tested it before, or at the moment they went live with it. Rookie mistake.

P.S. If I had known, I would have gladly traded you a new web site (second to none) in exchange for you to fix the plumbing in both baths. Free airfare round trip, food, lodging, and web development.

 

[Augusta]

I Called Crew #4, (DEF Plumbing co) at 9:31am on Tuesday since I didn't get an answer to my email from Monday morning. Gal answering the phone said that she didn't get the email, and maybe it went to her spam folder. Gal said she'd take my name and number and that the master plumber could get to me on Thursday. "Thursday?" I asked. Thursday to do the work or Thursday to give an estimate? She said, "Thursday to give an estimate, but maybe he can squeeze you in on Wednesday." I asked if someone would be calling me back yesterday to let me know when the appointment will be, and she said that someone will call me (yesterday) to set it up. She also said the Master Plumber is the one who does all the quotes, which was different from the last plumbing co who sent a journeyman out to do the quote.

Can you guess what happened next? No call back yesterday. No appointment.

I wonder if you Master Plumbers even know about all of the lost business and drama your workers put potential customers through?

 

[Nukeman]

I sure hope that you figure something out before you get to XYZ plumbing..geesh.

The sad thing is this should be a very simple job. Hopefully, you'll start having better luck.

 

[Augusta]

I sure hope that you figure something out before you get to XYZ plumbing..geesh.

I had planned on rotating back to ABC(2), DEF(2), ... kind of like how meteorologists do with the hurricane names.

Due to chic drama, my communication was delayed in contacting DEF Plumber. I abandoned the email route. After I called, I finally got an appointment setup (2 phone calls after that). Plumber met me at the house. Plumber was a really nice guy. I told him about my plumber that I had been using for several years (I made sure to not mention his name), but after his Journeyman quit (I don't think he had anyone else with that kind of experience) that his remaining guys were killing me on number of hours on the job. I mean, it doesn't take 4 hours to swap out a thermocouple (with no issues)..just a simple swap out. The plumber knew who I was talking about, which was strange. We have like what, a hundred plumbers in Augusta?" I told him I really like the guy, he's fun to be around, but his workers just aren't cutting it. He agreed.

So the plumber said he'd take out that 3" vent right at the 45, reduce it to a 2". Then I said, you know we've got another full bath using that vent...is it to code going from 3" to 2" back to 3" up towards the ceiling? He said he'd check his book later this evening and give me a call back. I then asked how much per hour he was, and he said $95. Then I asked him how long it would take to cut out, redo, straighten, both showers, add the 2X4 to attach the tub insert, move the vent pipe. He said about 3 hours. I told him he'd be my hero if he can knock it out. He said he'd do it Thursday or Friday this week. Will call me back tonight to let me know which day he was going to do it.

This master plumber said he IS the one who will be doing this work. If he can knock this out, I wanted to post his work back here, get some comments, and finally be done with this (I started this bathroom work on October 8th).

 

[Augusta]

Today should be it.

Anyway, Master Plumber called at 7:13am this morning. Said he'll be at the house at 10:00am this morning and knock it out. Will post those photos back to see what you guys think. He's going to fix the trim that's touching in the other bath, and redo the whole arrangement in the master bath. Hopefully this will be it.

 

[Jadnashua]

I'm not saying your insurance WON'T pay if you get hurt on the job, but workman's comp SHOULD pay for it, with no co-pays, etc., i.e., no out of pocket costs to you AT ALL. It should also not count against your lifetime limit, if your policy has one.

 

[Augusta]

Not quite but almost.

Bitter chics aside, plumber didn't deliver. Looks like he did about an hours worth of work and left. Is this really that hard? I wasn't there so as to stay out of their way. The elbow at the tub spout is still not soldered. I know they aren't done, but I just don't get why this has to drag out. Does everything look good so far (reduced the vent pipe from 3" to 2" back to 3", moved valve, tub spout, and shower head to center)? I swear I felt some water on one of the joints they soldered when I was feeling around the joints last night.

 

[Cookie]

Augusta, not sure if realize that the office workers follow orders and directives from their employers who make the rules, and the office workers just do and say what they are told to, this can be anything, ie... we didn't get the email, and so on. The office workers take alot of the brunt of irate and unreasonable customers, and the employers get the big money and the glory. If this is a RE job, if I was you, I would hand it over to those more experienced and watch how it would be handled. If not, if you are new, you might not get a second chance at another. I have been there and honestly, just trying to help.

 

[Basement_Lurker]

This install is beyond ridiculous. You are paying good money to have this done properly, and the guys can't even do a simple valve installation. The "pros" are using a cheapo DIY threaded valve body instead of providing one with solder connections...what a joke, and a little bit of extra work could have easily seen that valve body installed into proper wood backing.

 

[Ballvalve]

The threads dont matter but the galvanized strap on copper makes them awfully ignorant.