# Son-in-law did Mother-in-law a favor...by trying to kill her?



## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

The customer had said that her son-in-law installed this 2 years ago. Yes, for two years this has been in her utility room spewing carbon monoxide. She said she had been suffering from horrible headaches, runny nose, and irritated eyes since then but didn't know why. FINALLY, the local gas company had seen it when coming to her home for a different reason and alerted her to the problem. The only reason I can figure that it didn't kill her was because she didn't have enough continual exposure to the carbon monoxide. This is a perfect example as to why hiring a licensed plumber to install a water heater is safer and, in the long run, less expensive. I also had to replace a lead drum trap and waste and overflow that some handy man had rigged up and made worse when trying to, again, "help" her out. Handy men are the most expensive service people out there considering HOs pay them once to rig up plumbing, then we legitimate plumbers come out and charge them a second time to fix it again. Oftentimes it costs them more than if we had been called first to come out because we have to fix the handy man's rigging job on top of making the proper repair. This is of course one of many, many rigged up things I personally have seen. I know all of us on here, especially those of us in repair, have seen this kind of thing hundreds of times yet it never ceases to amaze me how naive people are and how unscrupulous contractors or handy men can be.


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

I just dont believe what I'm seeing


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

We should all print that to show customers how much saving money costs.


It has a shutoff valve from probably the 1940's.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

_ I Love that there is handy men out there ,,, I wish they would do more of these types of installs..._

_This is the largest reason why I am able to charge the prices that I do... because people get constantly screwed by these type of guys ..._

_With out them they my price would be cut in half..._

_It looks good on a customer when something like this happens... simple you get what you pay for..._

_and they got their money worth..._


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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

He almost got away with it. He must really like her.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

OldSchool said:


> I Love that there is handy men out there ,,, I wish they would do more of these types of installs...
> 
> This is the largest reason why I am able to charge the prices that I do... because people get constantly screwed by these type of guys ...
> 
> ...


I agree. She was an 80 year old woman living by herself in the ghetto in a one bath house getting a small SS check each month. She unfortunately trusted the wrong people. I was able to get her financed so she could get all the work done and she said she will use our company from now on. I am just thankful she didn't die before getting this fixed. But yes, handy man work does keep us busy. It's hard to hate on them too much.


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

Wow!


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## JDGA80 (Dec 9, 2012)

Financing a water heater? That's bring broke. Lol


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## jeffreyplumber (Dec 7, 2009)

looking good I love my mother in law too. I wouldnt have used teflon tape on the water lines though!


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## LEAD INGOT (Jul 15, 2009)

Hell, I found this a few years back, and it was installed by a local propane company. As you see it is how I found it. I'm still amazed that no one died.


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

I'm putting these pics in my portfolio to show customers what saving money costs.


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## BigDave (Mar 24, 2012)

Why does everyone assume the son-in-law left this, in that condition 
Possible explanations;
New roof, workers bumped it off.
Repairman in attic bumped it off.
Wind storm knocked it off.
I would have put some screws in it, to hold it better OK.
I do countless WH inspections every day and have found many
vents to be messed up.
My findings are not attempted murder :no:


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

Well he failed to secure the vent with screws. If it was secured then it wouldn't have happened. Rookie mistake.


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

The home I live in now had no vent on the propane heater in the cellar. I had a 1.5" line coming into the house from the well and converted with hose clamps to 3/8 soft copper and that fed the entire house. The velocity and turbulence had that copper so thin I am not sure how it stayed together. I got a deal on the house because the plumbing was F'ed up and no one wanted to pay a plumber to fix it, luckily I know a plumber that works free for me:laughing:

Of course I found out later that he had done all the wiring as well. When the house was burning and we were pulling the ceiling there was wires everywhere that had no junction box and guess wirenuts were to expensive also, wires twisted and taped. That is what started the fire. So I got to plumb my house twice.


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

Thats terrible DS.. I hope the fire didn't get too bad.


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## user2090 (Sep 26, 2009)

Anybody who does that no matter if they claim ignorance or not should be charged with a crime. It can be a misdemeanor, but there needs to be something done. 

Never ceases to amaze me that people don't die because of stupid azz work like that.


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## Hillside (Jan 22, 2010)

Maybe he tried to "off" her


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

I went into a house years ago to fix a water leak and as I got to the bottom of the steps I could feel heat blowing on my arm and it smelled like gas burning. I looked around the new furnace which was a power vent and the pvc had came apart (never was glued). and the 90's at the ceiling were already cracked all to pieces. I flippedthe switch on the furnace and explained to the customer that her furnace could kill her and we would like to get that fixed before we spent any time in the basement. She insisted that because I was not an HVAC guy that I couldn't know what I was talking about and called her son who installed it, we were never invited back


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

deerslayer said:


> I went into a house years ago to fix a water leak and as I got to the bottom of the steps I could feel heat blowing on my arm and it smelled like gas burning. I looked around the new furnace which was a power vent and the pvc had came apart (never was glued). and the 90's at the ceiling were already cracked all to pieces. I flippedthe switch on the furnace and explained to the customer that her furnace could kill her and we would like to get that fixed before we spent any time in the basement. She insisted that because I was not an HVAC guy that I couldn't know what I was talking about and called her son who installed it, we were never invited back


Perhaps you ruined the son's plan??


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

He may very well have succeeded as she just knew he was right


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

JDGA80 said:


> Financing a water heater? That's bring broke. Lol


Actually, I only replaced the vent but the drum trap & waste and overflow replacement was the most expensive. And it took about 4 hours to do. Very tough access. Total job was $1275 after a small discount.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

BigDave said:


> Why does everyone assume the son-in-law left this, in that condition
> Possible explanations;
> New roof, workers bumped it off.
> Repairman in attic bumped it off.
> ...


She actually told me that he left it like that. The vent never went thru the roof to begin with, just cut off right below the roof deck with a bonnet on the roof. There were scorch marks on the roof deck from the previous water heater that the vent WAS connected to. And the vent was not able to even be adjusted to fit the existing heater. It was obvious that he never connected it. I, too, try to give the benefit of the doubt to the installer, regardless of experience level, but this was how he left it.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

LEAD INGOT said:


> Hell, I found this a few years back, and it was installed by a local propane company. As you see it is how I found it. I'm still amazed that no one died.


Jesus...reprehensible.


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## score300 (Feb 1, 2013)

This is ignorance on my part, but are propane fumes deadly? This is not a proper installation regardless, but I was just thinking. You see propane forklifts being operated indoors without issue. Like I said, I'm not justifying the installation just thinking out loud.


LEAD INGOT said:


> Hell, I found this a few years back, and it was installed by a local propane company. As you see it is how I found it. I'm still amazed that no one died.


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

score300 said:


> This is ignorance on my part, but are propane fumes deadly? This is not a proper installation regardless, but I was just thinking. You see propane forklifts being operated indoors without issue. Like I said, I'm not justifying the installation just thinking out loud.


Buildings running propane powered equipment are required to have fresh air makeup to compensate and change the air out often enough. A properly running propane engine will put out mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide and very small amounts of hazardous carbon monoxide and other gases. Most of these forklifts are serviced very regularly in an industrial use situation.

Propane and natural gas water heaters are rarely if ever serviced and if combustion air or venting is off they can produce high ammounts of deadly carbon monoxide.

I won't risk it with my nor anybody else's family.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

score300 said:


> This is ignorance on my part, but are propane fumes deadly? This is not a proper installation regardless, but I was just thinking. You see propane forklifts being operated indoors without issue. Like I said, I'm not justifying the installation just thinking out loud.


 Fans and players have been sick at hockey rinks where they try to save costs on building maintence and improper operation of propane Zamboni.


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## damnplumber (Jan 22, 2012)

you saved a life! Good job.


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