# Sh#t bath



## rwh (Dec 17, 2014)

Not much going here. Anyone have a memorable story of a day gone wrong? One I remember is a tie in on a multi story apt building with ground floor restaurant build outs. Put up "do not use" signs on restrooms. Surprisingly, someone used one anyway.


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## moonapprentice (Aug 23, 2012)

Had a 3 a.m. tie in at a big assisted living center. As I was pretty new, my boss was soldering tees and ball valves. We both went around covering up smoke alarms with blue painters tape. I learned after that, that tape is not the way to go! 3 a.m. , smoke alarms go off, really really loud, every single room door opens with elderly people in there pajamas walking around saying "what's going on, what's going on?" Probably at least 50 people. Alarms weren't turned back off until fire dept. arrived 35 minutes later. Longest 35 minutes I've lived. It was pretty crazy and a memory and learning lesson we both will never forget.


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## Eddy k (Jan 30, 2015)

I have cleared out a building (same thing, smoke detectors) on our local Air Force base, yes it sucks.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

A GC I do work for was building himself a mother in law/ father in law quarters on his daughters property. I go to the main house and turn off the water and the only person there is the 20 year old granddaughter saying she's leaving and doesn't need sinks or toilets. As I'm cutting the sewer for tie in water starts coming out of the pipe, not much but enough to know the septic is full. I dig more for fresh dirt, have the pipe open and measuring for the fitting I'm installing and hear the unmistakable sound in the pipe of a toilet flush and water coming right at me. I jumped out of the pit super quick and saw water and paper fill my work area. Luckily it wasn't a deuce, but had to clear more dirt for my tie in. The girl was so apologetic, she said when she was going to the bathroom she was saying to herself, don't flush, don't flush. But when she stood up force of habit took over.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

While living in Denver, 
we had a rental property that needed a new line cut in and
we told the tennants not to use the bathrooms.... 

This one lady must have been totally psyco and said she paid rent and would flush the toilet any damn time she wanted to.. she actually yelled at us from her doorstep :blink:
that did not go over good with the land lord or with me. I have never had dealt with someone totally bonkers like this before... the owner said she had been trouble ever since she moved in...

I made the cut as fast as possible with no issues but the lady took this whole situation personally and did flush the toilet a few minutes after the work was completed with no warning to any of us....

I heard from the landlord that someone gave the ladys car a " key job "a few days down the road and the landlord evicted her at the end of the month.


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## plumberkc (Jun 23, 2011)

Almost had one of those days last week. Replacing a water heater & PRV, after turning off water I went back a few minutes later to snug it up and realized the shutoff was bad. Went out to the curb stop and it was full of water. After 20 min of pumping the water still hadn't gone down. I decide to reach in and locate the meter and shutoff the main under water. Went into the basement an opened the main shutoff and nothing come out. Just before cutting into the main like I thought I should go back and and make sure there were not two meters in the same pit even though it would be unusual around here. Actually turned on the neighbors water to verify I had turned off the water to the wrong house. Eventually found the right meter down lower in the pit and got it turned off. 

I've also had a sewer line replacement, nobody was home but the housekeepers who of coarse didn't speak English. I tried to be very clear in telling them not to use any drains. They failed to comprehend or care of what I was asking because as soon as I cut into the line they dumped a bucket of suds down the line. 

My worst day as a plumber comes from my first attempt at a kitchen sink clog. I accessed a cleanout from a finished basement and picked up some roots by going too far. Bringing back those roots through a 2" line was one of the worst things I've had to do. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GAN (Jul 10, 2012)

Had a 2" water service replacement in an area where we were re-routing some services, installing turbo-flow meters, installing 30 or so separate 3/4" meters to individual units. Called JULIE, all located.

Started digging, me just watching to make sure the operator had a uniform elevation. When Ka Boom, sounded like a cannon going off, green smoke coming out of the ditch. The operator freaked. When he pulled his bucket up, one tooth off the 24" bucket was blown off. The whole area went dark. A bank president came out with a guard and started bi***ing. Told him to get lost and off the job, that the location company failed to find this line. Amerin Power came out, the area had been changed they couldn't find where to disconnect it at. Took then about 2 hours to find a disconnect. Turns out we hit a 7,200V primary, knocked about three blocks out, traffic signals, etc.

After 3 or 4 hours they had it fixed then we could get back in the ditch and finish a long day.

Bad enough, but the next week while on the other side of the development, the location company did the same thing and we hit it again.............


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

One of my first exposures to the plumbing world was just before 9th grade. For the summer I was working for my dad at a farm turned into upscale shopping area complete with the New England charm bullshint. The owner owned and built his empire from plumbing. (Great man! Self made man! He was an *******, but a caring one who I respected, and when he passed it broke my heart.)

Anyway, as a young grunt labor I was sent with one of the plumbers one morning to help replace a "soil pipe". Ok, figured I'd be digging up a pipe in soil. Before I left I gave my dad some cash to order some awesome azz ribs from this new restaurant that just opened up for lunch.

Got to the job, and instead of grabbing a shovel I was lead down into an old, nice basement. The plumber said "see this old pipe? I'm going to snap it here and here. (About 4' between) and I need you in the middle supporting this hub right here with your shoulder and after my last snap bend your knees and lower it down. They were told not to use the facilities so it shouldn't be bad."

Well... They did. I was covered in shet, pizz, tp and gallons upon gallons from both sides. I might as well of gone swimming in a septic tank... About the same!

Well, my lunch tasted like **** and couldn't go home to take a shower for another eight hours. I rode home in the back of the truck that day.

Plumbers are azz holes!


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## PLUMB TIME (Feb 2, 2009)

Disconnected an ejector pump at the clamps, full pit. Went to plug in sawzall and plugged ejector back in by mistake. Not good.


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## yaacovp (Aug 18, 2016)

Can't think of anything memorable offhand that happened to me. Can think of something that happened to a good client of mine. His kitchen line was backed up. He went down to the hallway a floor below where there is a clean out. Now the line runs into a 4" so we're talking about a ton of water. The cleanout is chest height. Well, he opened that bad boy up and the rest is history.


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## WashingtonPlung (Jul 25, 2016)

I have been battling a floor urinal in a school for a little bit now. Can't get my 1/4 or 3/8 cable through it. Even with a drop head or an spade head. Well while snaking it one day I decide to try a different head and go to remove the retrieval head. 

On a k-50 they have a little wire that holds the cutting heads and the tool to remove heads from cable. I unclip the wire and the removal tool falls into the urinal and down the drain. At this point i'm pissed that i added something to the clog. I eventually got the tool back with a retrieval head. But shortly after that I kicked the cable again. went to bend it back and the cable finally snapped. 

I'm just glad it didn't break in the drain.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

WashingtonPlung said:


> I have been battling a floor urinal in a school for a little bit now. Can't get my 1/4 or 3/8 cable through it. Even with a drop head or an spade head. Well while snaking it one day I decide to try a different head and go to remove the retrieval head.
> 
> On a k-50 they have a little wire that holds the cutting heads and the tool to remove heads from cable. I unclip the wire and the removal tool falls into the urinal and down the drain. At this point i'm pissed that i added something to the clog. I eventually got the tool back with a retrieval head. But shortly after that I kicked the cable again. went to bend it back and the cable finally snapped.
> 
> I'm just glad it didn't break in the drain.


Gotta love urnals! I had a floor mount give me the same kind of trouble once. I think the trap was deformed in some way. I don't like doing this without a bucket to drain it into, but suck out all the water you can and dump a gallon of hydrochloric acid down there and let it sit for an hour or so. Make sure there is plenty of ventilation first. Suck out what acid you can and start flushing with lots of water. Obviously if there is an object in there this won't cure it, but it may get rid of enough crap to dislodge it enough for retrieval. If that doesn't work, it's hammer time!


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

PLUMB TIME said:


> Disconnected an ejector pump at the clamps, full pit. Went to plug in sawzall and plugged ejector back in by mistake. Not good.


Holy sh+t!


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

dhal22 said:


> Holy sh+t!



No, more like $hit shower..................LMFAO......bet his wife didnt let him in the house for a week...:laughing:


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## GAN (Jul 10, 2012)

WashingtonPlung said:


> On a k-50 they have a little wire that holds the cutting heads and the tool to remove heads from cable.
> 
> I'm just glad it didn't break in the drain.



OOOHHH a K-50 story. You reminded me of a drain call I was on at a bakery. I pulled the trap and started through, hit a fitting and it took my a couple of tries to get it around it. Going well for a minute or so I thought. Then a lady came running into the bakery shouting "stop, stop". I complied and asked what was wrong.

Seems backed up to the bakery was a dentist office. While a patient was in the chair, they started hearing the noise of the cable in the drain. All of a sudden the cable came out of their sink through the trap (don't know how it made it) and out the sink and started flopping around the room. All while a patient was in the chair.

Must have scared the be jeebers out of them............


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

GAN said:


> OOOHHH a K-50 story. You reminded me of a drain call I was on at a bakery. I pulled the trap and started through, hit a fitting and it took my a couple of tries to get it around it. Going well for a minute or so I thought. Then a lady came running into the bakery shouting "stop, stop". I complied and asked what was wrong.
> 
> Seems backed up to the bakery was a dentist office. While a patient was in the chair, they started hearing the noise of the cable in the drain. All of a sudden the cable came out of their sink through the trap (don't know how it made it) and out the sink and started flopping around the room. All while a patient was in the chair.
> 
> Must have scared the be jeebers out of them............


LOL..thats a better story than being covered in $hit... good thing the patient wasnt a lawyer...


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## CT-18 (Jun 27, 2016)

Boss/owner told us to change a 2" gas valve on the fly in a maintenance closet in a 4 story office building. The fumes went up the elevator shaft and they started to evacuate the building. I forget what the charge was from the fire department for us causing the problem.


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

CT-18 said:


> Boss/owner told us to change a 2" gas valve on the fly in a maintenance closet in a 4 story office building. The fumes went up the elevator shaft and they started to evacuate the building. I forget what the charge was from the fire department for us causing the problem.


whatever it was it wasnt enough to do something so stupid....maybe on a rooftop where the gas could vent off and not get concentrated enough to cause an explosion or get yourself burned up to a crisp..one little spark from anything and you would have been done...1/2 or even up to a 1 inch valve maybe in a ventilated area..2 inch your lucky to be here...
and thats not a personal dig on you..your boss is an a$$hole for even suggesting that...


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

GAN said:


> OOOHHH a K-50 story. You reminded me of a drain call I was on at a bakery. I pulled the trap and started through, hit a fitting and it took my a couple of tries to get it around it. Going well for a minute or so I thought. Then a lady came running into the bakery shouting "stop, stop". I complied and asked what was wrong.
> 
> Seems backed up to the bakery was a dentist office. While a patient was in the chair, they started hearing the noise of the cable in the drain. All of a sudden the cable came out of their sink through the trap (don't know how it made it) and out the sink and started flopping around the room. All while a patient was in the chair.
> 
> Must have scared the be jeebers out of them............


That beats my BTB story! Mine was with a Vee though.

POS old house turned into five section eight apartments. I had never been there before but was given a key to a vacant unit for a backed up lav. This place was swarming with fleas so I didn't bother looking too hard and just went to town. Shot my cable out about 15' or so and when pulling it back found the tell tale grocery bag on my cable.

Found my way to the neighboring unit where I was greeted by a nasty looking junkie. Her bathroom was trashed, not sure how much was due to my cable, but black cable marks everywhere. I replace the trap and finished up in flea town. Tenant was so stoned I doubt she would've ever notice the damage and I never heard a word about it.


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## WashingtonPlung (Jul 25, 2016)

WashingtonPlung said:


> I have been battling a floor urinal in a school for a little bit now. Can't get my 1/4 or 3/8 cable through it. Even with a drop head or an spade head. Well while snaking it one day I decide to try a different head and go to remove the retrieval head.
> 
> On a k-50 they have a little wire that holds the cutting heads and the tool to remove heads from cable. I unclip the wire and the removal tool falls into the urinal and down the drain. At this point i'm pissed that i added something to the clog. I eventually got the tool back with a retrieval head. But shortly after that I kicked the cable again. went to bend it back and the cable finally snapped.
> 
> I'm just glad it didn't break in the drain.


Finally unclogged it. And it was a plunger  But hey atleast it worked.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

WashingtonPlung said:


> Finally unclogged it. And it was a plunger  But hey atleast it worked.


No warranty I hope. Sometimes that's all that works.

One company around me calls a plunger an "M-22" and charges $400+. They claim it prevents disgruntled customers *****ing about their bill. Understandable with what they charge.


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