Sources for Learning How to Do Plumbing

[WorldPeace]

Due to COVID, plumbers have been in high demand and the quotes I've gotten are pretty expensive. It looks like it'll cost about $3k to do about 1-2 days worth of work. I know that if I do it myself, it'll take ten times as long, but I figure that it might be worth it to save that much money.

As a result, I am thinking about installing my own water softener. If so, I'm going to have to repipe my domestic water lines as well as a few areas of my sewer drainage. For the domestic water lines, I was going to use Pex.

I purchased Plumbing 101 by PHCC. I'm wondering if people can refer to other good books/textbooks to refer to as well as specific online sources.

Thanks!

 

[Breplum]

Peter Hemp's "Plumbing a House". He also wrote a book before that called "The Straight Poop" if you can find it.
Frankly, I recommend you finding a local, semi-retired plumber (like me) maybe on Yelp or Nextdoor and work with them.
You will save yourself considerable grief and time even if you just use them for layout and consultation.
There is a lot to getting it all right, lots of tools and pitfalls and one off project may not be worth the strain.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

We had an apprentice who signed up for a year just so he could learn enough to work on his own properties.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Peter Hemp's "Plumbing a House". He also wrote a book before that called "The Straight Poop" if you can find it.
Frankly, I recommend you finding a local, semi-retired plumber (like me) maybe on Yelp or Nextdoor and work with them.
You will save yourself considerable grief and time even if you just use them for layout and consultation.
There is a lot to getting it all right, lots of tools and pitfalls and one off project may not be worth the strain.

I'm kinda like Breplum sorta semi retired , even a DIY homeowner needs some back up (heck I need back up especially a strong back even with a weak mind) this site offers great help . Depending on the project , age of home ect tools needed skill and amount of labor, plus amount of time to have no plumbing can be an issue. But good to have a local plumber to help on jobs but I think knowledge and doing some things is invaluable to a homeowner unless they have no time and lotta money.
Tuttles I got in this trade in back ward manner. at 30 I left machine shop and cold turkey got in plumbing new homes with a friend after a year and a half we left and started a company of our own. 3 years later on my own . Off and on self employed total of 15 years , then went union and it was everything but residential, school, hospital, refinery, power house. OK a little off topic the DIY topic

 

[Sylvan]

YIKES . A licensed master plumber who is insured is willing to work for just $3,000 for two days seems very low to me

Tuesday I was water Jetting 4 - 3 " leader lines and snaked a 4" main sewer working alone and it took a little over an hour and I charged him $1,100 (Discounted from last year by $200)

Hiring someone who has NO insurance regardless of their so called qualification is a major lawsuit looking to happen.

If there is an accident where they get hurt and they do not have insurance they SUE YOU Incase they create some damage the insurance carrier may not pay a claim

One of my accounts hired one of my employees without going though my office and on a Saturday he fell off her ladder and broke his arm and severely sprained his ankle.

The CRAZY LADY called me asking if

"I would be so kind as to say he was working on the job and use my insurance to cover his injury"?

I called the mechanic said he was FIRED but I would be more then happy to help in a 3 party lawsuit for $2,800 a day

His injuries were covered by her own homers insurance, the building department placed a violation on her home as "someone" notified them about non licensed plumbing work being performed and because it was her ladder he fell from it was an easy case to win

Never loan any tool to anyone working in your home

I wonder how many of those who say use a non insured or non licensed plumber would also think it is ok to allow a self taught doctor to work on their family?

My top employee was making $175 per hr now he owns 49% of one of my companies rather then being an employee.

My other lead mechanic rather then being paid be the hour we agreed $10,000 a month would be fair to both of us

The helpers get paid $25 per hr and I carry over $10,000,000 in liability insurance .

In life you normally get what you pay for

 

[Sylvan]

We had an apprentice who signed up for a year just so he could learn enough to work on his own properties.

I had a guy working for me in 1982 and he decided plumbing was not for him so in 1984 so he resigned and we party under good terms

He went into the real estate market and as he bought houses to flip he hired my company

We are now working for his sons as he retired and moved out of state.

YOU CANNOT train a ONE YEAR OLD baby to use a toilet how the hell can anyone even consider being a decent apprentice in less the 5 years?


Welcome to Plumbers Local 1 of New York City

Plumbers protect the health of the nation and the highly skilled members of Local 1 are no different. We specialize in both commercial and residential work, and also in medical gas certification and back-flow testing. We work on everything from stadiums to your residential home and small business. Our contractors are available 24-hours a day for all your plumbing needs.

We encourage you to peruse our website to learn more About Us. If you are a contractor, we want you to contact us and we can send a member of our team to evaluate your upcoming project. What separates us from everyone else is our skill and training. Our apprentices go through a rigorous 5-year program on their way to becoming experienced journeymen, but the training doesn't end there. We continue to provide training so that there is no project too small or complex that we cannot fulfill on-time and budget for you!

Contact Us today to learn how you can employ our highly skilled workforce or to become a member of Plumbers Local 1!

 

[Sylvan]

Did you now if you hired a non insured person who gets hurt on your job they can sue you and they will win in most cases.

Did you also know f they are not licensed and depending on the area you live you can have a violation paced on your property?

Some master plumber who is insured and is willing to work for just $3.000 for two days is working really cheap as NJ is like NY not a cheap place to live

Tuesday working alone I water jetted 4- 3" leader lines and snaked out 1- 4" main sewer . It took me a little over an hours as I am 74 years old so I gave the account a $200.00 discount from last year and charged him only $1,100

My top mechanic was being paid $175 per hr ad I decided to give him 49% of one of my companies in lieu of an hourly rate

Our lead mechanic we offered him $10,000 a month to start and see how much he can get accomplished

Unlike other plumbing companies we offer commercial, industrial, commercial and residential , new work and repair and of course all types of sewer and drain cleaning and heating and boiler installations along with inspections and expert witness advice

In life you normally get what you pay for

I used to have signs on my vans "WE FIX WHAT YOUR HUSBAND TRIED TO REPAIR"

 

[Sylvan]

Union apprentices at Local 1 start at $14 an hour and make more than $50 per hour after completing a five-year apprenticeship and passing a test to advance to journeyman plumber status, Mr. Murphy said. Experienced plumbers can make $200,000 a year, he said — but that typically means many hours on the job.Mar 24, 2014 <<<<<< THIS WAS IN 2014
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/...apprentices at Local 1,many hours on the job.

Apr 26, 2021 — How much does a Plumber at UA Local 1 make? ... Plumber salaries at UA Local 1 can range from $132,559-$141,355


GREAT to be a "CITY " Employee

https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/05/13/meet-nychas-overtime-king-a-315000-plumber/

 

[Jeff H Young]

ok

Union apprentices at Local 1 start at $14 an hour and make more than $50 per hour after completing a five-year apprenticeship and passing a test to advance to journeyman plumber status, Mr. Murphy said. Experienced plumbers can make $200,000 a year, he said — but that typically means many hours on the job.Mar 24, 2014 <<<<<< THIS WAS IN 2014

Apr 26, 2021 — How much does a Plumber at UA Local 1 make? ... Plumber salaries at UA Local 1 can range from $132,559-$141,355


GREAT to be a "CITY " Employee

https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/05/13/meet-nychas-overtime-king-a-315000-plumber/

damn local 1 sounds cheap sylvan is that a reduced wage for repair work or sewer wage?
we are over that from Santa Barbara to San Diego Kern county , LA , orange , Riverside , Ventura and San Bernardino. probably bigger than those most of those tiny east coast states. Northern California local 38 , 342, 393 pay over 60 an hour up north over 50 an hour in South this is for journeyman steam fitters , welders or plumbers. we get on jobs with overtime my foreman made 150 k 2 years ago. guys I know that travel around make 100 k work 8 mos .
but not making your kinda money you built a heck of a business and it aint easy . I guess its all union with wages like that you cant find non union any cheaper 14 bucks an hour jeez that's exactly min wage here . I think we cut our first year to 40 or 45 percent journey wage so from like 52 journeyman 21 to 25 an hour UA LU 1 needs to step it up
admire your success Brother , wish at times my path was different mainly that I never served the the apprenticeship and deeply respect those that completed . but there are other great paths to plumbing and piping trades and highly skilled men that did it other ways.

 

[Sylvan]

Jeff the local I went to was local plumbers local 2 and served my 5 year 10,000 hour apprenticeship and 744 hours of class room studies

In 1974 a class A journeymen made $8.75 per hr and to take the 4 part masters exams we had to have 10 years documented time W 2 forms

The big money happens when you get the master plumbers and master fire suppression licenses BUT you can no longer be working with your hands if your a union contractor

As a master plumber my hourly rate over over $350 per hr without even having to do manual labor

The water Jetting which I do once in a while averages over $500 per hr


I realized as I was approaching 45 I needed another way to make a living so I went into the expert witness gig so I would have a viable choice if I wanted to do physical work or just do boiler inspections, gas inspections and work on law suits

This is not counting fringe benefits, annuity, health care etc.

"Union apprentices at Local 1 start at $14 an hour and make more than $50 per hour after completing a five-year apprenticeship and passing a test to advance to journeyman plumber status, Mr. Murphy said. Experienced plumbers can make $200,000 a year, he said — but that typically means many hours on the job. Mar 24, 2014" <<< AS of 2014

My NON Union top mechanic made even more as I a was paying one guy $175 per hr and a new guy I am paying him $10,000 a month as a lead mechanic NOT including OT

Even though I and not working more then 1 - 3 days a month I am able to still take a salary from both my companies and the expert witness has nothing to do with either of my companies

 

[Jeff H Young]

Jeff the local I went to was local plumbers local 2 and served my 5 year 10,000 hour apprenticeship and 744 hours of class room studies

In 1974 a class A journeymen made $8.75 per hr and to take the 4 part masters exams we had to have 10 years documented time W 2 forms

The big money happens when you get the master plumbers and master fire suppression licenses BUT you can no longer be working with your hands if your a union contractor

As a master plumber my hourly rate over over $350 per hr without even having to do manual labor

The water Jetting which I do once in a while averages over $500 per hr


I realized as I was approaching 45 I needed another way to make a living so I went into the expert witness gig so I would have a viable choice if I wanted to do physical work or just do boiler inspections, gas inspections and work on law suits

This is not counting fringe benefits, annuity, health care etc.

"Union apprentices at Local 1 start at $14 an hour and make more than $50 per hour after completing a five-year apprenticeship and passing a test to advance to journeyman plumber status, Mr. Murphy said. Experienced plumbers can make $200,000 a year, he said — but that typically means many hours on the job. Mar 24, 2014" <<< AS of 2014

My NON Union top mechanic made even more as I a was paying one guy $175 per hr and a new guy I am paying him $10,000 a month as a lead mechanic NOT including OT

Even though I and not working more then 1 - 3 days a month I am able to still take a salary from both my companies and the expert witness has nothing to do with either of my companies

Quite a career Sylvan! Not the big money which is great but the wealth of knowledge and experience and going through what's gotta be a top apprenticeship program and seeing all kinds of cool big city work. didn't see that the wages posted were from years ago still seem a little low even 6 years ago but . pretty interesting . really like your contributions !

 

[Sylvan]

Thank you.

Plumbing now is not as much fun as we have OSHA and new gas regulations constantly changing to the plumbing ,fire suppression codes as well as the mechanical code.

Corruption is rampant with zero accountability as we have the best polititions money can buy

Before a journeyman had to weld, braze, solder, work with Pyrex ,Duriron , thread, groove .lead wipe ,lead burn, caulk joints and today its propress and Mega press etc so less skills are

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

This cartoon sums up this whole thread.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Thank you.

Plumbing now is not as much fun as we have OSHA and new gas regulations constantly changing to the plumbing ,fire suppression codes as well as the mechanical code.

Corruption is rampant with zero accountability as we have the best polititions money can buy

Before a journeyman had to weld, braze, solder, work with Pyrex ,Duriron , thread, groove .lead wipe ,lead burn, caulk joints and today its propress and Mega press etc so less skills are

Yea but that just means more to learn, look at your niche in expert witness . all this regulation is confusion but confusion turns to cash, a well trained tradesman combined with business , financial or other skill can do lots . more than one way to skin a cat and provide a living . We got a lot of dumb people doing the work that don't know what they are doing, and equally dumb higher up the ladder running and managing business so I think we are a country of wide open opportunity , not just piping and plumbing but all over!

 

[Sylvan]

The problem with FAKE news being spread like manure, it poisons the jury pool.

I am on this case suing NYC and the cluster houses

When the fake newscasters have no idea what they are spewing they either make things up or copy from another idiot who is also a liar and pass misinformation along like gospel

Here are examples of liars being paid to broadcast feces

The more you read the more apparent the liars are exposed

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/12/07/bronx-fire-children-burned/

MORE BS

https://nypost.com/2016/12/08/baby-...were-sleeping-next-to-radiator-that-exploded/


and

https://www.amny.com/news/bronx-radiator-explosion-de-blasio-vows-thorough-investigation-1-12720756/

Notice one says "Mother was out of the apartment at the time" another liar states "Both parents were home "


https://abc7ny.com/children-burned-apartment-in-hunts-point-the-bronx/1644053/

Another moron reporter said "High pressure steam caused the explosion"

I wonder what the idiot thinks is "high pressure"?

Actually most steam boilers operate under 3 PSI and there are high limits, operating controls and of course the pop safety set for 15 PSI

Shame these prophylactics never bothered to ask a plumber what may caused this

When I went to the police property room the first thing I checked was the angle valve and found it partially open


Steam valves on radiators ONE PIPE system must be fully open or fully closed as partially open will not allow the condensate to flow back to the boiler during the off cycle and this causes hydraulic shockwaves which COULD blow the air vent to fall off .

IF you look up "Two toddlers die in hunts point" One paper says the parents were homeless and also stated "the father was asleep and did not hear the children screaming"

Another liar said "the father home alone was playing video games" IF someone is HOMELESS Where did they have the video game?

When has anyone seen a radiator EXPLODE? When was the last time a brass steam valve "explode"

https://www.google.com/search?q=cas...lkgEGNTYuMi4xmAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz


No wonder the Bronx Jury has no idea what the hell is going on and gives the store away for lawsuits

UPDATE

Father is incarcerated on drug charges in another state (New England) and the mother is in Florida in rehab


Sometimes an unscrupulous associate in a law firm will pass along an "exclusive" finding to help sway the potential jury pool and other lying news spinners will also report on this crap being spread

 

[Sylvan]

I was just hired for 7 more cases in less them a month. See the virus does create work as people stay home and have nothing to do so they BURN themselves and then call 1 800 I am hurt

 

[Jeff H Young]

Im not liking a lot going on but if you keep fighting I still see opportunity . all these bills and infrastructure creates jobs but can be questionable at what cost? gotta figure a way to break a piece off.