# chrome fittings for blown flushometer rough



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I posted a while back about blown roughs on a remodel, the roughs were too close to center, the building was about 20-30 years old. When I demoed out the fixtures, I didn't realize how close the centers were. When I went to install the flushometers, I couldn't squeeze the tailpiece in enough. How the installing chimptards made it work, I don't know. This is what I came up with.


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

I bet those fittings weren't cheap. It looks good!


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I did that on 3 toilets and two urinals. I think it averaged out to 25 a fitting, between the 1" and the 3/4". The hardest part was spinning the 45's on the 90's without scratching them.


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

Rag and channel locks?

I've had a few strap wrenches and they never really work that well.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I think I used a long nipple screwed into the st. 90 to hold that, and then a coupling and long nipple screwed onto the st. 45 to spin it onto the st. 90. Then the the st. 90 was spun onto the stub out.


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

Nice Jeff....:thumbsup:


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Airgap said:


> Nice Jeff....:thumbsup:


I try. I was at this plant all week. I came out for two days worth of work and just stayed. They kept giving me more stuff to do. I wish I could take more pictures, but picture taking is not allowed. I took those pics because that building is outside of the secure perimeter.
I replaced a water heater in the instrument maintenance shop. It was on top of a mezzanine, so I had a harness and retractable on. There was a furnace up there, it was hot, there was duct work, steam, gas, air, plus hot and cold pipes, and no pipe racks, everything was everywhere. The IM guys had put the last heater up there in January of 91, and used stainless instrument tubing to pipe it. 
I yanked it out and had to horse it over a 1' tall parapet wall onto a pallet on a forklift. The new one came up the same way, I was fighting the retractable the whole time. When I installed the copper pipe, there was nothing to anchor it to, or measure from. I sweat one joint at a time, so I could keep it square. I installed an expansion tank and vacuum relief valve. All the guys kept saying how nice it looked and how glad they were to have it done right.
Stuff like that makes a monstrous PITA worth it.


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

I know you work in nukes from time to time. If you ever run into a welder out of local 10 that goes by "OZ" that's my brother. He works a lot of outages all over.

He's a hoot, you'd like him...


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Airgap said:


> I know you work in nukes from time to time. If you ever run into a welder out of local 10 that goes by "OZ" that's my brother. He works a lot of outages all over.
> 
> He's a hoot, you'd like him...


Unfortunately, I don't get to hang out in the "sweat decks" i.e. horribly overcrowded break rooms anymore. All of my work at the nukes is non-outage work. I work for GC's who have the maintenance contract, not the outage work. I used to love the outages because they were like high school reunions, literally. At one of them there were 6 guys from graduating class. But I always made new friends and met old ones. For me, the work was easy. I thought bungalow busting was harder.


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## gilbertjeffrey (Mar 6, 2011)

nice work, but, I have to ask, those are 4 1/4" tiles, nothing special, why not fix the f up and have it proper? Were the chrome fittings in stock? I woulda broke the tiles, moved the stub out and retiled. my 2 cents.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Work at these places doesn't go like that. You (the plumber) don't do anything you aren't told to do. I pointed out the problem and told them what I thought the proper fix was. The answer was no. The budget for that job didn't include enough to break tile, and get in the wall to move the pipes over. I was told to deal with it, so I did.


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## phishfood (Nov 18, 2012)

This is what happens when you give me the wrong cut sheet.


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

Looks good, you could have saved any money buy using brass or galvanized ftg's and spray painted them chrome.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

If two chrome fittings cost 50 bucks, how much are you saving by having to go out and buy chrome paint, paint the fittings and let them dry? Besides galvanized fittings between copper and brass is a guaranteed problem with the water around here. 
I don't install stuff to last 1 year. Most of our customers are long term.


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

422 plumber said:


> If two chrome fittings cost 50 bucks, how much are you saving by having to go out and buy chrome paint, paint the fittings and let them dry? Besides galvanized fittings between copper and brass is a guaranteed problem with the water around here.
> I don't install stuff to last 1 year. Most of our customers are long term.


Ok so brass ftg and chrome paint, it dries in about 3 minutes. and it wouldn't cost more. And last more then a yr. I see your point It was just a sug. I have chrome paint on the van now that I've used it before. It comes in handy


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Michaelcookplum said:


> Ok so brass ftg and chrome paint, it dries in about 3 minutes. and it wouldn't cost more. And last more then a yr. I see your point It was just a sug. I have chrome paint on the van now that I've used it before. It comes in handy


Hey, if it works for you, great! It might be something to do at a one shot deal, like a job that they bring you in to cut somebodies throat, and there's no money to do it right.


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

No money? Like your job right...no money to do if right. Not enough money to cut out a 12x12 tile space to fix it right but let me guess, they paid you for those $25 ftg right? My whole point was if there wasn't enough money in "the budget" to fix it right, why not just buy brass and paint it chrome. I'm sure it would have gotten approval by whomever and you would have saved a couple bucks. 

Just going off what you said pro


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

How long did it take for the supply house to order you 4 at ell and 4 st 45's all chromed out? supply houses and probably Home Depot stock brass ftg's and chrome paint. if it were me and they told me no money to fix it right, I would have fixed it in a cost effective manor. Not $200 worth of ftg. But


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## theplumbinator (Sep 6, 2012)

Michaelcookplum said:


> Ok so brass ftg and chrome paint, it dries in about 3 minutes. and it wouldn't cost more. And last more then a yr. I see your point It was just a sug. I have chrome paint on the van now that I've used it before. It comes in handy


As soon as the janitor sprays some harsh cleaning solution on that spraypaint they would be yellow brass color again. What he did looks good I call it "creative plumbing" some guys have that God given artistic ability to take a s*it sandwich and turn it into PB&J. Looks great to me considering what he had to work with. Just my $.02 I always found 45 deg el's pleasing to the eye anyway. 

UA motto: " we do it once cause we do it right" 

and I added this part " you do it nice cause you do it twice"


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Michaelcookplum said:


> No money? Like your job right...no money to do if right. Not enough money to cut out a 12x12 tile space to fix it right but let me guess, they paid you for those $25 ftg right? My whole point was if there wasn't enough money in "the budget" to fix it right, why not just buy brass and paint it chrome. I'm sure it would have gotten approval by whomever and you would have saved a couple bucks.
> 
> Just going off what you said pro


Please read my posts. I don't decide the budget or the scope of work. I work for the GC. I tell them the problem and here's what we need to do to fix it. I don't open the wall or patch it. Other trades would do that, so it's a significant money issue. There is also a time issue. I was told to come up with something else. I did, in a cost effective, lifetime manner. I fail to see your problem with that. I ordered the fittings through Amazon, they were shipped to my house, I didn't have to run and get them. I posted this on here while it was going on and someone suggested the paint, I brought it up to the GC and he was emphatic, no! 
This GC has a longterm presence at the plant, and they aren't going to jeopardize it for a quick fix. I appreciate you want to do it cheap, but if the customer doesn't want cheap, and I don't want cheap, why don't you just accept my thanks for your suggestion and let it go?


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## James420 (Nov 14, 2012)

422 plumber said:


> Please read my posts. I don't decide the budget or the scope of work. I work for the GC. I tell them the problem and here's what we need to do to fix it. I don't open the wall or patch it. Other trades would do that, so it's a significant money issue. There is also a time issue. I was told to come up with something else. I did, in a cost effective, lifetime manner. I fail to see your problem with that. I ordered the fittings through Amazon, they were shipped to my house, I didn't have to run and get them. I posted this on here while it was going on and someone suggested the paint, I brought it up to the GC and he was emphatic, no!
> This GC has a longterm presence at the plant, and they aren't going to jeopardize it for a quick fix. I appreciate you want to do it cheap, but if the customer doesn't want cheap, and I don't want cheap, why don't you just accept my thanks for your suggestion and let it go?


From what you posted, to me you did it like a craftsmen should do it.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

I thought it looked pretty damn good. I am a perfectionist and I'm impressed. A plumber would know the rough-in was messed up but who cares considering the correction. We don't live in a perfect world.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

Looks great 422. 

Making lemonade from the lemons.


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