Ramblin Randy
New Member
I don't want to be here but Mom is in her 70's and has hired a junior plumber to do elaborate work on the family summer cabin down by the creek and things are a mess. Last winter the main water line into the cabin froze and needed repair. We only use the cabin 8 months out of the year and then winterize the whole deal.
I am in no way an expert, but Mr Junior Plumber has two huge strikes against him, he's using Sharkbites in the wrong place, and he's just making stuff up as he goes along to cover his mistakes:
1) He used Sharkbites on an exterior exposed feeder line that will see wild fluxuations in temps in the spring and fall. It has been my research that Sharkbites have value and they have their time and place but in the end they work via a rubber gasket that will in time eventually fail. The main house is 200 yards up hill and any leaks at the cabin could cause the main well pump up the hill to fail if undetected. ( yes we will insulate and wrap this pipe with heat tape but the inlet will still see a lot of temp swings over time )
2) He is making things up as he goes and this scares me. On the failed copper inlet line some prior bozo installed a copper grounding line and clamp onto the upper copper pipe. But the copper pipe does not touch the ground, as half way down it is attatched to a ball valve and below this valve is nothing but plastic pipe. I am not a plumber... but I did install my 2000 watt home solar power system and understand the need for solid grounding. Who ever installed the ground clamp originally, they were grounding the metal plumbing of the cabin to basically 2 feet of plastic pipe that connects underground to 200 yards of more underground plastic pipe. Am I crazy, does this clamp really have a purpose that I don't understand ??? So... since there was a clamp on the previous setup, our junior plumber bought a new one and added it to his efforts in matching glory. We've just grounded the cabin to a plastic pipe..!
Once he was done his repair / assembly... he informs me he messed up and installed the ball valve upside down and that the small drain cap was installed in the wrong manner. As we were walking down the hill to the cabin he begins comptemplating that it really didn't matter if the drain cap was above or below the ball valve. On his own... he decides all is fine and says quote "I guess it's really just preference which way it goes". Am I asking too much for a man doing a job to know which end is up or down...? Maybe it doesn't matter, but man I wish Mom would have hired a professional plumber to do the job.
So here I sit worrying that the whole sha-bang is going to explode 5 years from now. Are my cares justified...? I'm a person who likes to see a job done well
Thank you,
Ramblin Randy
"If a job is to begun, never leave it till it's done.
Be the labor great or small do it well or not at all".
I am in no way an expert, but Mr Junior Plumber has two huge strikes against him, he's using Sharkbites in the wrong place, and he's just making stuff up as he goes along to cover his mistakes:
1) He used Sharkbites on an exterior exposed feeder line that will see wild fluxuations in temps in the spring and fall. It has been my research that Sharkbites have value and they have their time and place but in the end they work via a rubber gasket that will in time eventually fail. The main house is 200 yards up hill and any leaks at the cabin could cause the main well pump up the hill to fail if undetected. ( yes we will insulate and wrap this pipe with heat tape but the inlet will still see a lot of temp swings over time )
2) He is making things up as he goes and this scares me. On the failed copper inlet line some prior bozo installed a copper grounding line and clamp onto the upper copper pipe. But the copper pipe does not touch the ground, as half way down it is attatched to a ball valve and below this valve is nothing but plastic pipe. I am not a plumber... but I did install my 2000 watt home solar power system and understand the need for solid grounding. Who ever installed the ground clamp originally, they were grounding the metal plumbing of the cabin to basically 2 feet of plastic pipe that connects underground to 200 yards of more underground plastic pipe. Am I crazy, does this clamp really have a purpose that I don't understand ??? So... since there was a clamp on the previous setup, our junior plumber bought a new one and added it to his efforts in matching glory. We've just grounded the cabin to a plastic pipe..!
Once he was done his repair / assembly... he informs me he messed up and installed the ball valve upside down and that the small drain cap was installed in the wrong manner. As we were walking down the hill to the cabin he begins comptemplating that it really didn't matter if the drain cap was above or below the ball valve. On his own... he decides all is fine and says quote "I guess it's really just preference which way it goes". Am I asking too much for a man doing a job to know which end is up or down...? Maybe it doesn't matter, but man I wish Mom would have hired a professional plumber to do the job.
So here I sit worrying that the whole sha-bang is going to explode 5 years from now. Are my cares justified...? I'm a person who likes to see a job done well
Thank you,
Ramblin Randy
"If a job is to begun, never leave it till it's done.
Be the labor great or small do it well or not at all".
