More and more, day after day, I’m getting calls from people trying to fix their own plumbing and running into the same unforeseeable things that we professionals do.
Only we expect the unexpected and come prepared. Repairs rarely go the way the YouTube videos go.
A call this morning illustrates my point.
An exasperated lady calls and asks how soon we can get a plumber to her house.
I ask what the problem is
She says she has a stuck Delta cartridge in her tub and shower valve.
I ask, how do you know it’s stuck?
Only we expect the unexpected and come prepared. Repairs rarely go the way the YouTube videos go.
A call this morning illustrates my point.
An exasperated lady calls and asks how soon we can get a plumber to her house.
I ask what the problem is
She says she has a stuck Delta cartridge in her tub and shower valve.
I ask, how do you know it’s stuck?
She replies her husband has been trying to get it out for 2 hours.
I said, I’m sorry ma’am but he has already worked on it, I don’t know what he’s done, he may have damaged the valve body and if I touch it I take over responsibility for it. For all I know he’s taken a hammer and screwdriver to it.
No way any smart plumber would get involved now.
I recommended installing a complete new tub valve.
She didn’t want to hear that and thanked me and hung up.
Their water is off to the whole house at this point and it can’t be turned back on until the repair is made.
There are no isolation valves on tubs or showers. It’s usually the woman of the house calling me after her stubborn husband refused to call a plumber and tore into the plumbing. She is at her wits end and calls for help.
No plumber will touch it after anyone has torn it apart for liability reasons. Plumbing repairs are the most difficult of all household repairs.
I said, I’m sorry ma’am but he has already worked on it, I don’t know what he’s done, he may have damaged the valve body and if I touch it I take over responsibility for it. For all I know he’s taken a hammer and screwdriver to it.
No way any smart plumber would get involved now.
I recommended installing a complete new tub valve.
She didn’t want to hear that and thanked me and hung up.
Their water is off to the whole house at this point and it can’t be turned back on until the repair is made.
There are no isolation valves on tubs or showers. It’s usually the woman of the house calling me after her stubborn husband refused to call a plumber and tore into the plumbing. She is at her wits end and calls for help.
No plumber will touch it after anyone has torn it apart for liability reasons. Plumbing repairs are the most difficult of all household repairs.
If not done right you could flood out your house or burn it down trying to solder a pipe in the wall.
And you need dozens of specialty tools which you won’t use again for 10 years.
It’s not worth it.
You wouldn’t try to fix your own car or operate on yourself.
Plumbing is as complicated as those things, believe it or not. That is why you should hire an expert like Village Plumbing.
