Maggie’s That "Oh Shit!!" AM phone call

[Nodakplowboy]

Job related, betting some of you have this T-shirt.

Started a bathroom remodel yesterday, nothing major, some sheetrock repairs, filling in Durabond around the new shower, little stuff. Have to wait until 8:30 for the house to empty out, so I'm sipping coffee #2. perusing the web and the phone rings:

"We have water leaking in the bathroom, it's soaked into the basement, the ceiling tiles fell out!! It's all over our new bathroom floor!!"

Heart stops, then crawls into the throat. Belly starts flip flopping. Tell Mrs. Owner to shut the main supply off I'll be right over.

As it turns out, one of the supply valves in the bathroom where I'm working failed. Must be 20 years old, when they shut it off to remove the vanity top, the seal failed to make full contact and sometime last night it started to dribble. Mr. Owner said when he killed the main supply and opened faucets to relieve pressure he could here air being sucked through the valve. I've never seen that before, but these old supply valves are a little more than worthless. I ripped off all the cardboard I'd put down to protect the floor, it's just fine. Basement BR has some moisture in the floor joists and wet rock. Joists will dry, rock ruined. It will be a homeowners insurance claim. I told Mrs. owner to take lots of photos, call the ins. company and put in a claim.

So here I sit with coffee #3 ( to early for a beer), letting the BP and heart rate get under control, waiting for the plumber to make repairs and get out of the way. A rather interesting way to start the day.

I'm getting to old for this shit.

 

[Threadcutter308]

Job related, betting some of you have this T-shirt.

Started a bathroom remodel yesterday, nothing major, some sheetrock repairs, filling in Durabond around the new shower, little stuff. Have to wait until 8:30 for the house to empty out, so I'm sipping coffee #2. perusing the web and the phone rings:

"We have water leaking in the bathroom, it's soaked into the basement, the ceiling tiles fell out!! It's all over our new bathroom floor!!"

Heart stops, then crawls into the throat. Belly starts flip flopping. Tell Mrs. Owner to shut the main supply off I'll be right over.

As it turns out, one of the supply valves in the bathroom where I'm working failed. Must be 20 years old, when they shut it off to remove the vanity top, the seal failed to make full contact and sometime last night it started to dribble. Mr. Owner said when he killed the main supply and opened faucets to relieve pressure he could here air being sucked through the valve. I've never seen that before, but these old supply valves are a little more than worthless. I ripped off all the cardboard I'd put down to protect the floor, it's just fine. Basement BR has some moisture in the floor joists and wet rock. Joists will dry, rock ruined. It will be a homeowners insurance claim. I told Mrs. owner to take lots of photos, call the ins. company and put in a claim.

So here I sit with coffee #3 ( to early for a beer), letting the BP and heart rate get under control, waiting for the plumber to make repairs and get out of the way. A rather interesting way to start the day.

I'm getting to old for this shit.

My T shirt is tattered and has holes in it.......

 

[MtnCreek]

Construction project I was involved in. Utility contractor installs 8" fire and 4" domestic water lines and covers the ends with tape because he's got to come back to them later and valves have them shut off. Some jackass starts turning valves trying to get water at the main building. This turns on the 4" dom line, blowing out a large retaining wall before anyone knows what's going on (large site). Damages were over half million. That makes a cap and thrust block look like a bargain.

When I remodeled my bath, the shower head had a plug screwed in and the supply lines to sinks, toilet had short piece of pex with plugs on them.

 

[oneshot86]

exactly, mtcreek...failsafe
"when they shut it off to remove vanity top", what does that mean? they?

 

[2ndamendfan]

Yea those valves at the faucet and toliets are a pain. I chaulk it up to never being used for 20 years.

 

[bogeybrown]

Damn I can feel the hole starting to form in my gut just imagining that call.

 

[Steel+Killer]

I own a small plumbing company my trade is pipe fitting/plumbing been in the trade since 1994 and my own business since 2001. I always try to tell my guys never ever leave a pipe uncapped I don’t care if nobody is living at the project or not Mr. Murphy will always come along and turn the water back on when you least expect it. Yea the rubber washers in old valves break down and are pretty much useless. Anytime we do a renovation where the valves are 10+ years old we automatically replace the valves regardless if they appear to work or not.

 

[MtnCreek]

I didn't get the call, but made the call. Headed home after work listening to am talk radio where they yell the traffic at you every 15 minutes. Traffic comes on talking about a gas main leaking at such-n-shuch road. I've got a project there. Surely not, but I'll call just to see. Called the super that's a yankee (Ohh Yeah There talking type). He proceeds to tell me that it was them and the gas co is there, but they're waiting on the sewer force main to get fixed before they'll fix the gas. Bastards hit a municipal sewer force main in the same spot. Every couple of minutes high pressure flow of people shit starts going everywhere when the pump station turns on. Fire Dept was there (they show up for broken gas mains) and they called county hazmat. Clusterfuck.

 

[tnichols]

And when a day starts like that, it’s hard to get it to turn around.

 

[bogeybrown]

Only crappy call I got on a project was an addition I was doing for an elderly neighbor:

We'd framed and dried in the new section of roof and the roofer had come out to start replacing the original roof and tying them together so we were off for a few days to get out of his way. I told him that rain was predicted so not to rip off more than he could replace at a time. Sure enough, jackass ripped the whole roof and didn't even get paper down over most of it before quitting for the day. 0300 hours the heavens open and the phone starts. It's literally raining inside the home, so I'm out there in the dark by myself spreading tarps. I ended up sliding off the roof in the rain (fortunately only single story).

I was ready to murder that fucking roofer and told the homeowner to sue his ass for any interior damage we couldn't remediate. A couple of years later the homeowner got a call from someone he'd had the balls to use her as a reference. That little old lady told me that she came unglued and used some language unbefitting a grandmother.

 

[Steel+Killer]

I didn't get the call, but made the call. Headed home after work listening to am talk radio where they yell the traffic at you every 15 minutes. Traffic comes on talking about a gas main leaking at such-n-shuch road. I've got a project there. Surely not, but I'll call just to see. Called the super that's a yankee (Ohh Yeah There talking type). He proceeds to tell me that it was them and the gas co is there, but they're waiting on the sewer force main to get fixed before they'll fix the gas. Bastards hit a municipal sewer force main in the same spot. Every couple of minutes high pressure flow of people shit starts going everywhere when the pump station turns on. Fire Dept was there (they show up for broken gas mains) and they called county hazmat. Clusterfuck.

Wow that sucks I think I might rather hit a main fiber optic line than a force sewer main.......either one is going to make for a real shitty day, but one literally....lol

 

[Gunfighter14e2]

In Fla years ago I was doing a 6" x 3600' ditch with a 100Hp trencher I owned. Had all the locators do their thing an put the chain in the ground. had went about 120' when the engine gov kicked in for just a flash. looked back in the ditch an seen a huge Fiber-optic bundle tore all to shit. Shut the machine off walked to a pay phone but it was dead(wonder why) flagged down a cop an told him to call Bell South. When they came they all came, this was back in the day they had to use microscopes to splice it. I had lots of white trucks out there. The HMFIC comes over an ask if I was the one who cut the cable, yep that was me. He said I would be bankrupt after this to which I replied how you come to that train of thought. You cut that cable did you not, yep that was me who cut the cabel, but do you see any marks within 30' of the ditch? Your people were here marking, Central Locating was here, the power company was here, hell everybody has has shit in the ground in Fal was here locating. You see were I crossed, or was next to, or even close to your fiber, no you do not. The fiber cut is your issue not mine! What the Bell guy an the guy from Central locating did was loose the fiber an started tracking the water line, how I don't know that was not my bag of tricks. The prick from Bell ask if I would un-ditch an unearth 6' both ways in the fiber with the hoe, to which I said if you had not been such a prick I would have been happy to, but now it's 200 bucks, cash! I never seen a guy get that red before. They brought their won hoe which was fine with me. The gut went both ways on that one.

 

[Steel+Killer]

In Fla years ago I was doing a 6" x 3600' ditch with a 100Hp trencher I owned. Had all the locators do their thing an put the chain in the ground. had went about 120' when the engine gov kicked in for just a flash. looked back in the ditch an seen a huge Fiber-optic bundle tore all to shit. Shut the machine off walked to a pay phone but it was dead(wonder why) flagged down a cop an told him to call Bell South. When they came they all came, this was back in the day they had to use microscopes to splice it. I had lots of white trucks out there. The HMFIC comes over an ask if I was the one who cut the cable, yep that was me. He said I would be bankrupt after this to which I replied how you come to that train of thought. You cut that cable did you not, yep that was me who cut the cabel, but do you see any marks within 30' of the ditch? Your people were here marking, Central Locating was here, the power company was here, hell everybody has has shit in the ground in Fal was here locating. You see were I crossed, or was next to, or even close to your fiber, no you do not. The fiber cut is your issue not mine! What the Bell guy an the guy from Central locating did was loose the fiber an started tracking the water line, how I don't know that was not my bag of tricks. The prick from Bell ask if I would un-ditch an unearth 6' both ways in the fiber with the hoe, to which I said if you had not been such a prick I would have been happy to, but now it's 200 bucks, cash! I never seen a guy get that red before. They brought their won hoe which was fine with me. The gut went both ways on that one.

Sorry OP not trying to derail your thread, but that is why I always take pictures of the locator's marks with a tape measure stretched out for reference I hit a service gas line one time (killed the excavator and had it capped in less than 5 minutes) called the gas company and then next thing you know the locator company guy was out there trying to repaint his marks closer to where I hit the gas line. I told him hey nice try trying to cover your ass and put me in the fuck-up zone, but I have already taken pictures showing where your original marks were.

 

[bogeybrown]

Sorry OP not trying to derail your thread, but that is why I always take pictures of the locator's marks with a tape measure stretched out for reference I hit a service gas line one time (killed the excavator and had it capped in less than 5 minutes) called the gas company and then next thing you know the locator company guy was out there trying to repaint his marks closer to where I hit the gas line. I told him hey nice try trying to cover your ass and put me in the fuck-up zone, but I have already taken pictures showing where your original marks were.

That's a great point!

 

[Rthur]

Few years back I send a hired man to check a bin for condition.
Pissing around in the shop.
Five minutes later the Fire Engines come flying down my road.
Second truck stops and asks me where the bin is with the guy trapped.
I'm starting to shit myself.
I'm trying to figure out how this could have happened.
I see my guy coming down the road thank God.
It was at the neighbors just down the road.
Local news guys showed up.
The neighbors had a 75 year old guy running a vac in the bin and the "boss" and truck driver were talking and jacking off.
The vac loosened the corn enough to get him about chest deep.

R

 

[Nodakplowboy]

" Damages were over half million. That makes a cap and thrust block look like a bargain."

That's a big no shit. I'll take a little piddely leak out of a bathroom any day.

exactly, mtcreek...failsafe
"when they shut it off to remove vanity top", what does that mean? they?

"They" would be the owners. Understand, these folks are a contractors dream, good, honest, do it right. But are far as remodeling goes, they are out-of-the-chute rookies, so things aren't going the same way if they had a general calling the shots. I came into the project kinda in the middle. By their consent, I'm calling in all the other trades when the timing is right. Even with a short job like this, timing is everything.

Tomorrow, punch a hole in the roof for the fan vent. Beats working for a living.

 

[reeljob]

I own a Fire Protection company, believe me I feel all your pain. Cold weather=a.m. phone calls. Yep, as stated my tee shirt is full of holes as well.

 

[packratt]

Those washers are one of the reasons I will only use a quarter turn ball valve.

 

[Threadcutter308]

In Fla years ago I was doing a 6" x 3600' ditch with a 100Hp trencher I owned. Had all the locators do their thing an put the chain in the ground. had went about 120' when the engine gov kicked in for just a flash. looked back in the ditch an seen a huge Fiber-optic bundle tore all to shit. Shut the machine off walked to a pay phone but it was dead(wonder why) flagged down a cop an told him to call Bell South. When they came they all came, this was back in the day they had to use microscopes to splice it. I had lots of white trucks out there. The HMFIC comes over an ask if I was the one who cut the cable, yep that was me. He said I would be bankrupt after this to which I replied how you come to that train of thought. You cut that cable did you not, yep that was me who cut the cabel, but do you see any marks within 30' of the ditch? Your people were here marking, Central Locating was here, the power company was here, hell everybody has has shit in the ground in Fal was here locating. You see were I crossed, or was next to, or even close to your fiber, no you do not. The fiber cut is your issue not mine! What the Bell guy an the guy from Central locating did was loose the fiber an started tracking the water line, how I don't know that was not my bag of tricks. The prick from Bell ask if I would un-ditch an unearth 6' both ways in the fiber with the hoe, to which I said if you had not been such a prick I would have been happy to, but now it's 200 bucks, cash! I never seen a guy get that red before. They brought their won hoe which was fine with me. The gut went both ways on that one.

Jesus, that's gotta make you pucker.....at least for a minute or so....

 

[Mtndog05]

Been in commercial building maintenance for nearly 20 yrs. Best one yet was a couple years ago phone rings at 4:30 in the morning, wife who is used to it at this point says now what? I answer the cell to yelling "there's a waterfall from the lobby ceiling". 9 minutes later I pull up to the lobby door where a small stream is making it's way to the street it took 90 seconds to pull the buildings main supply ending the new waterfall and stream. Inch and a half copper supply feeding 6 rooms had let loose at a solder joint. Wow that was a lot of water. If nothing else this job teaches calm under duress.

 

[Mike 556]

Quite a few years ago I got a call from a friend. Built his home a few years prior. Anyway he said he had a friend that was in dire need of a contractor. As a favor I called this fellow and agreed to meet him and check out his project. This guy and his family where vacationing, when they returned home, they opened the front door and discovered that their whole first floor and finished basement was flooded. Turns out the rubber hose to the washer had dry rotted and busted! No one knows for sure how long the water had been running, but from the damage that occurred, it had to be at least a few days. Talk about an O Shit moment, couldn't imagine opening that door after coming home from a nice vacation!
From that day forward, I started to put drains in every laundry room. And anytime I go away for more than a day, I turn the main off. A few precautions could save a major league nightmare.

 

[MtnCreek]

Sorry OP not trying to derail your thread, but that is why I always take pictures of the locator's marks with a tape measure stretched out for reference I hit a service gas line one time (killed the excavator and had it capped in less than 5 minutes) called the gas company and then next thing you know the locator company guy was out there trying to repaint his marks closer to where I hit the gas line. I told him hey nice try trying to cover your ass and put me in the fuck-up zone, but I have already taken pictures showing where your original marks were.

Fiber contractor nailed me once. Got a call fiber line hit in the ROW. Wasn't marked so we're good. Called in the damage and told the foreman to take plenty of pictures. Dumbass took pictures.... after the fiber contractor showed up and marked it. Fuckers even painted / flagged the line over the spoil pile from the excavation. The line was still under control of the installing contractor. I had used the fiber contractor many times when I used to do DOT type work and thought a call to the owner would clear it up. Nope.

 

[Steel+Killer]

Quite a few years ago I got a call from a friend. Built his home a few years prior. Anyway he said he had a friend that was in dire need of a contractor. As a favor I called this fellow and agreed to meet him and check out his project. This guy and his family where vacationing, when they returned home, they opened the front door and discovered that their whole first floor and finished basement was flooded. Turns out the rubber hose to the washer had dry rotted and busted! No one knows for sure how long the water had been running, but from the damage that occurred, it had to be at least a few days. Talk about an O Shit moment, couldn't imagine opening that door after coming home from a nice vacation!
From that day forward, I started to put drains in every laundry room. And anytime I go away for more than a day, I turn the main off. A few precautions could save a major league nightmare.

I do work for a property management company and they require the stainless steel braided supply lines on washing machines, dishwashers, Icemakers, ice machines faucets, toilets etc..... pretty much everything...... for that very reason!

 

[bogeybrown]

For those of y'all in the building trades, I just stumbled across an old show on Amazon Prime called "Real reno's" that chronicles renovations from the point of view of the GC rather than the usual shit from the homeowner view. It's been pretty entertaining watching this guy constantly battling the bullshit and the "behind the scenes" of a project dealing with homeowner changes, impossible architectural plans, cost and time overruns, etc.

I say entertaining because he's dealing with it and I'm not so can sit on the couch and shake my head. I got to see just enough of it in real life to never want to get more serious about it than I did.

 

[Mike 556]

I do work for a property management company and they require the stainless steel braided supply lines on washing machines, dishwashers, Icemakers, ice machines faucets, toilets etc..... pretty much everything...... for that very reason!

Cant agree more, an ounce of prevention. Put them in all the homes I build and all my rentals. I still tell everyone to turn the main off if leaving for an extended time! Murphys law always seems to bite me in the ass!

 

[sjoliat]

Cant agree more, an ounce of prevention. Put them in all the homes I build and all my rentals. I still tell everyone to turn the main off if leaving for an extended time! Murphys law always seems to bite me in the ass!

I've been using the braided stainless since I started doing my own business. Then Murphy taught me a little lesson about toilet supplies that have the plastic connection at the toilet tank - the connector in our masterbath cracked and enough water flooded the bathroom that my wife eventually heard a waterfall down in the basement. Would have been much worse had we been out of town. House was eight years old at the time, now I replace those lines every five years.

 

[vh20]

^^^ I was going to say, braided lines do little good when it's usually the plastic nut that fails. I don't know if you can even find any supply lines that don't have them anymore.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Part of the failure of the plastic wing nut is installers putting pliers to the nut.
They don't need that much torque to seal properly.

For the type that don't have the wings, turn them by hand, keeping the tapered tip aligned with the valve until you feel the seal compress a little. Give it another 1/4-1/2 turn and you're done.

If you doubt that will keep it from leaking, check out the torque specs on aircraft fuel lines. It will surprise you