Yesterday I had to go fix a leak at a relative’s house.  I let myself in, and I let the dog out (of the cage.)  We were both content listening to the Christmas music that the owners had left on for her.  Things became a little tight when I packed myself into the sink base cabinet, and Lola promptly followed me in there.  I guess this story lacks any substance unless I tell you that Lola is NOT a small, petite lap dog.  She is a good size German Short Haired Pointer.  She is also just a puppy, and VERY curious.  There was a moment we shared under the sink, that I swear was in a bad Steve Guttenberg movie from the 80’s.  It was also uncertain as too whether or not we were both going to be able to back out of the tiny cabinet anytime soon.  Milk bone breath in my face, water dripping in my eyes, just another Thursday at the office.  Apparently this was the week of dog.  I also came face to face with a full grown Doberman Pincher (horse) and a Siberian Husky (wolf-bear) while out to other jobs.   Thankfully, the owners were respectful enough to keep the dogs contained, or locked up somewhere else (even though they both were big babies!)

Please remember, just because YOU are comfortable with your dogs and love them and think they are cute, that doesn’t mean everybody else feels the same way.  If you have someone out to your house to work on something, please keep your dogs contained and out of the way.  We don’t usually need the help of the homeowners, and we NEVER need the help of their dogs.  Yes- to all of you dog owners who do not have kids, us parents try our best to keep this same stance with our children. 

We do like dogs and animals.  We just don’t like to be stuck under kitchen sinks with them or face to face with them during a service call.  Lola is an exception because I know her and trust her, the same cannot  be said for your dog.

Thank you for your understanding!

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Today in Kansas City, a man’s home was almost instantaneously transformed into a breath-taking ice sculpture.   Apparently the city was upgrading some of their water mains, and in the process, forgot to turn off a main valve.  This resulted in a frozen water main which burst, and shot water high into the air.  Unfortunately the man’s home was down wind of the break, and his house became a giant ice cube very quickly.  This story reminded me that we are entering the heart of frozen pipe season (as if the cold air this morning wasn’t reminder enough!).  I wonder if he has a room inside now that will take away all of his powers if he had any?             ….sorry

If you find yourself without water at one or more of your fixtures, you need to take action, quickly.  The first thing you will want to do is see if you can locate the frozen pipe.  It will most likely have frost around it and may show signs of stress in the form of a bulge, if it hasn’t already burst.  When you find the frozen area, make sure you leave the faucet open that has been effected by the ice.  This will ensure that the steam has someplace to go when you start heating it back up.  Inspect the pipe to see if it has already split.  If it has, turn off your water and call a plumber.  Remember, if it is split, it is a ticking time bomb ready to cause extensive damage to your house.  If it is split, it will not leak until it is thawed.  If it appears to be ok, you can proceed to thaw it.  Sticking a heater in the area, or using a hairdryer are the two best ways to accomplish this.  You could also wrap it with heat tape.  Make sure you don’t ever wrap the heat tape back onto itself though, as this could cause it to overheat and start a fire. 

It is always a good idea to keep your garage door closed as much as possible in the winter.  Although it is not advisable, some homes may have water lines in outside walls or even above the garage in the ceiling.  If your garage door is down, you will cut down on the risk of one of your water lines freezing and making your home look like one of the pictures below. 

Also, your hot water lines are in more jeopardy than your cold lines.  Warm and hot water will freeze before cold water.  How many of you believe that??          (You should)

Uncomfortable situations.  As plumbers, we seem to be caught in these predicaments quite often.  This is fine, and we accept this as part of the job description.  Whether it be a physically uncomfortable situation, or an awkward moment, there is never a shortage in this line of work.  Physically, it can be cramming yourself into a 24″ vanity with a divider in the middle, drawers on one side, and a toilet where your legs need to be, trying to reach the faucet…….after lunch. Plumber, contortionist, it’s all the same.  It can also be climbing into a 12″ crawlspace, in dirt amongst the cobwebs, spiders, and the raccoon staring at you over in the corner.  An awkward situation is never far away as we are always walking through people’s bedrooms to the bathroom, opening their cabinets, and walking through the basement.  If you have read one of our earlier posts, it can also include cutting a water line and forgetting to turn the water off! 

Unfortunately, there is another time that becomes uncomfortable very fast.  This is when we hand the customer the invoice and we get the dreaded response of “Wow……..you make good money don’t you?!”  Even with all the experience we have to this reply, and the preparation that goes into a courteous response to it, it always still takes you by surprise.   This reminds me of two things, one, an old plumber joke, and one, old folklore.  

The first is the story of the plumber that went to the doctor’s (or accountant, attorney, dentist etc…) house to fix a leaky faucet.  The plumber fixed it in 15 minutes and handed the doctor the bill for $100.  Outraged, the doctor proclaimed “I’m a neurosurgeon and I don’t even make that much money per hour!!”  The plumber politely replied, “neither did I when I was a surgeon.” 

It is not really known how much of the next story is true or not.  It may simply be a fable to make a point about any service professional, whether it be a doctor, attorney, electrician, web site designer(http://www.mothercupboards.net), or plumber.   The story goes like this: One day, back when Henry Ford had his assembly line rolling cars out at maximum capacity, his plant suddenly encountered a problem.  This problem shut the line down and was costing Ford thousands of dollars per hour while it was down.  He called in the electrical genius Nikola Tesla to see if he could resolve the problem.  After looking around for a few minutes, Tesla casually took out his marker and made a big X on one of the transformers in the plant.  He billed Ford for $10,000.  Mr. Ford had no problem paying the bill, but asked if Tesla would be so kind as to itemize the bill for him.  Tesla agreed and the bill read: $1 charge for putting the X on the wall and $9999 for knowing where to put it.   

The point of all of this is this, if you pay for any type of service, you ARE NOT PAYING FOR JUST THE TIME IT TOOK.  You are paying for all of the knowledge, skills, education and lifetimes worth of experience that the service provider has.  Remember, if a plumber comes out to your house to fix a leak, and it takes him exactly 3 seconds to tighten something down and stop the leak, you may feel silly, and you may be angry about paying for a service call and the very short amount of time it took him.  But remember, he knew how to fix it, you didn’t, THAT is what you are paying for.  On a side note, you can also throw in: his time to get there, gas, truck, insurance, tools, licenses, ongoing education, tool and truck maintenance, business fees, office equipment and supplies, phones, computer, accounting fees and legal fees.  There was a lot more that went into your service call than just the “15 minutes.”  

Thankfully, 99% of people understand all of this, so I guess in a sense, I just spent the last 30 minutes writing to 1% of the people. 

Dumb plumber…….maybe;  uneducated, over-payed guy fixing your pipes, absolutely not.  

One thing that never fails in this industry is the occurances of avoidable accidents.  Ironically, the vast majority of these accidents come from experienced professionals.  This is usually a result of the individual getting a little too “comfortable” with the tools, and not respecting the power that they hold.  Trying to make a deadline and stay on schedule, or trying to wrap up a job can breed impatience, and that results in accidents.   As a plumber, one of the most common tools that we use is the right angle drill, or hole hawg.  This is used mainly on new construction or remodel jobs to make the holes in the floor, joists, studs or ceilings for the pipes to go through. 

Milwaukee right angle drill-hole hawg

This tool harnesses a lot of power, and will go threw almost anything.  Unfortunately for the poor unsuspecting newbie, they are not aware of this power.  I have witnessed many  young men thrown from ladders because they did not utilize a very simple concept, leverage.  I have also witnessed experienced coworkers fall victim to a major hand smashing or finger pinching.  

Whether we are seasoned professionals or weekend DIY’ers, we all need to slow down a bit, and remember to be safe.  I have seen far too many carpenters working with an odd number of digits.   Personally, I am not a big fan of the med center.  They never have good magazines and they always seem annoyed that you are there. 

Below is an example of what not to do with an angle grinder. 

This is a collection of mishaps from the show Home Improvement.  The reason this clip is funny to me is because I have witnessed most of these actually happen in the real world. 

The next time you are trying to tackle a project, take the time to be safe.  The last time I checked, our fingers don’t grow back and that fake terminator eye thing is not real. 

Good Luck!