# RESIDENTIAL vs COMMERCIAL



## trout lake (May 9, 2009)

What’s your preference and why?
With me, like a lot in the trade, residential was the kick start. It provided the training ground we all need and taught me how to interact with people in a work/hire environment.
I do mostly commercial/industrial and the thing about that segment of the business is the challenge it provides that residential doesn’t. I do though, always seem to get a residential gig at least once a week ( hvac mostly).
The commercial side is more impersonal. Do the job: send the bill to an office.
I miss the people interaction thing like when you go to an old lady’s house, fix her leaky taps, and she insists you have a cup of tea and a cookie with her before you leave.

How about you?
tl


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## tooslow (Jul 17, 2009)

*com vs res*



trout lake said:


> What’s your preference and why?
> With me, like a lot in the trade, residential was the kick start. It provided the training ground we all need and taught me how to interact with people in a work/hire environment.
> I do mostly commercial/industrial and the thing about that segment of the business is the challenge it provides that residential doesn’t. I do though, always seem to get a residential gig at least once a week ( hvac mostly).
> The commercial side is more impersonal. Do the job: send the bill to an office.
> ...


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Industrial is what I like. Even commercial is getting on my nerves. I like the interaction at industrial, because the money doesn't come out of their pocket, so they aren't trying to chisel.


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## Christina (Jul 14, 2009)

Me personally... I am a people person. I like residential small repair. New Kitchen Sink Faucet, Sewer Service, Sink Service, Replace a Trap, Partial Sewer/Water under the House, Hook up a Heater, Repair the Floor Furnace, Water Heater Replacement... and the customers talk talk talk... I love it!! Fast Pace, never anything the same, Ever Water Heater is different in repair... Commercial/Industrial, It is all the SSDD.

My father on the other hand... 8:00 AM likes more to go hide on the backhoe (Kabota mini), dig his ditch, lay in pipe, call inspector, drink coffee, get inspection, cover ditch, rake dirt, make pretty... 12:00-12:30 (LUNCH) 12:40 REPEAT (except then followed with HOME)


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## Down N Dirty (Mar 12, 2009)

For me I love the residential. I like seeing the new trends in homes and seeing new products that come out. Since we do a lot of $500K+ homes I get to see a lot of the newest items that these people have to have before the Jones' down the street. Also since we have done a lot of new homes over the years we have a nice database of customers that we call upon for service work as well.


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## Bollinger plumber (Apr 3, 2009)

I did residential for 25 yrs in Maryland. When I first started out it was ok because we worked for small contracters who built about 30 to 50 houses a year. We could take our time and do quality work and take pride in what we did. Then we got involved with these large building company where it was all about the money. We had 35 days from pooring footings to having the ho close on the home. we had piece workers coming in slapping stuff together job supers on our ass all the time to hurry up. The products we were putting out were crap. So I left residential and went into commercial. At first is was alright but then the same thing happen. rush rush rush. they were putting up drywall before we would get done doing the plumbing. % different trades working in the same area. So I quit doing that and went into sewer and drain work. I work at my own pace take pride in doing a good job. No inventory to worry about. I like it although I have to work in pretty nasty and unsanitary conditions alot of the times I still prefer it.


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## pauliplumber (Feb 9, 2009)

I've always loved residential service. I've done very little industrial new cont. and some commercial new cont. while working for others. I never really did any res service till I went on my own, and slowly learned as I went along (a lot of painful memories). Now ten years later, I feel I'm one of the best in my area at what I do. There's a lot of homes in my area, so service fits well here. Any decent plumber can do residential service, but few can do it effiecently and profitably.


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

pauliplumber said:


> I've always loved residential service. I've done very little industrial new cont. and some commercial new cont. while working for others. I never really did any res service till I went on my own, and slowly learned as I went along (a lot of painful memories). Now ten years later, I feel I'm one of the best in my area at what I do. There's a lot of homes in my area, so service fits well here. Any decent plumber can do residential service, but few can do it effiecently and profitably.


 I agree and theres a difference between a guy who can actually repair somthing and the guy who just replaces everything. Very few can actually be efficient and profitable...if they can they are in business for themselves. Thank you for this useful post Pauli....I respect you even more now that I've read this one from you.:thumbsup: We see eye to eye here on this one


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## Plumbing Tampa (Sep 16, 2009)

When someone says that they had to call the plumber, what’s the first problem that you assume they are having? In almost all cases, people assume that a toilet broke in someone’s home and a plumber was called to come out and fix it. However, residential plumbing isn’t the only kind of plumbing there is. Commercial plumbing is just important to your daily life as the plumbing in your own home is. You just don’t think about it as much because it’s usually someone else’s responsibility to take care of any problems that arise with it. Still, if the plumbing in the offices and other commercial locations that you use stopped working one day, you’d be in quite a bind.


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## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

Plumbing Tampa said:


> When someone says that they had to call the plumber, what’s the first problem that you assume they are having? In almost all cases, people assume that a toilet broke in someone’s home and a plumber was called to come out and fix it. However, residential plumbing isn’t the only kind of plumbing there is. Commercial plumbing is just important to your daily life as the plumbing in your own home is. You just don’t think about it as much because it’s usually someone else’s responsibility to take care of any problems that arise with it. Still, if the plumbing in the offices and other commercial locations that you use stopped working one day, you’d be in quite a bind.


You said so much, yet so little.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*residential is best*



pauliplumber said:


> I've always loved residential service. I've done very little industrial new cont. and some commercial new cont. while working for others. I never really did any res service till I went on my own, and slowly learned as I went along (a lot of painful memories). Now ten years later, I feel I'm one of the best in my area at what I do. There's a lot of homes in my area, so service fits well here. Any decent plumber can do residential service, but few can do it effiecently and profitably.


 
I too have always loved residential service .

their are many reasons why, the biggest being you never take a loss that can sink your company... I might get abounced check for $800..... and that is really not the end of the world...

Now, If you work all summer long for some skumbag contractor doing new construction work and he simply vanishes from the face of the earth back to Russia, oweing you 40k, 
 that is quite a sad day ....

Now if you work for commercial contractors , it seems the days when the digging and rough work needs to be done down in the mud, 
 your help calls in sick or has a broken down car....they really get a kick out of doing that,,,,

Also I always remember how the commercial contractors love to fight you over that %25 retainage for a year or two.

all these bastards were screamers and expected you to be there laying pipe with the concrete truck pulling up to pour the slab in 5 minutes ...



now the help is all gone, and begging for their jobs back, i say no thanks....

and the contractors call me asking if I am interested in bidding this strip mall......I say no thanks.


Just let me live a simple life..

I make more money this way :thumbup:.


.


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## gladerunner (Jan 24, 2009)

Absolutly prefer commercial work (with the right contractors), people I've worked with for years. I like having tool's in job box and material on jobsite and just showing up to work. So much more productive then running around to several residential job's. Also find I work 8-10 hours a day vs. the 12-14 I used to work jobbing.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Master Mark said:


> all these bastards were screamers and expected you to be there laying pipe with the concrete truck pulling up to pour the slab in 5 minutes ...


Ah, memories... I did that exact kind of thing for years and years when I was a young buck, living out of a suitcase doing commercial and restaurants all over the country. It sucked bad, but I learned a LOT. Learned how to deal with screamers too  - some of the worst & meanest I've ever seen - some you can ignore and some you have to blow it back in their face and some are just under a ton of pressure and you just have to go, go, go, to try to ease their pressure a bit. Some of them just love face-ripping - it's a game to them (see if they can make the newb cry  ).


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

futz said:


> Ah, memories... - some of the worst & meanest I've ever seen - some you can ignore and some you have to blow it back in their face and some are just under a ton of pressure and you just have to go, go, go, to try to ease their pressure a bit. Some of them just love face-ripping - it's a game to them (see if they can make the newb cry  ).


It always seemed that the louder they screamed, the longer it took to get your last draw out of them......they would roar at you while the work was being done ...

but then they would wimper and hide in their work trailer, or run with their tail between thier legs off the job site when you threatend to file that lein on them..
they would move on to their next victims and leave you dealing with
"the corporate office in Cleveland" ..:laughing::laughing:



The residential homes were no better either,
you would send your crew out on the day they 
were screaming for them to show up , 
only to be told when they arrived that
they were not ready for them yet.. just go find something
else to do for a few more days.......

no phone call from them that morning, no apology,
then you fax them a labor bill for 4 guys and the lost day
and they literlally blow a gasket...


then for meanness and spite
you let them sit for a week... becasue you 
are " tied up" on another job now.....
you went and found something else to do like they
told you to......lol...







those were good times.., good times....


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## para1 (Jun 17, 2008)

Here's my memory of new constuction........... being utterly surprised when you get paid on time ...........no thanks........see ya ... don't want ta be ya.:no:


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

Para1 said:


> being utterly surprised when you get paid on time


That's one of the main reasons I quit new construction. It was getting worse and worse.

Other reasons include such things as getting too old to work sixteen hours at a stretch and inspectors who showed up four hours after they were supposed to. Oh, and one more thing: being on the bottom of the food chain. The less you make, the more the general makes, and they are greedy.


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## PipeRain (Sep 14, 2009)

Why can't you do both? I consider myself a residential plumber with a few commercial/industrial accounts.


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## Regulator (Aug 20, 2009)

I liked industrial and institutional service the most. I spent the last twelve years on the tools in service at hospitals and a little less than a year at an electrical power generating plant. Always something new and interesting, not to mention challenging.
I found that I was no longer fixing screw-ups, but improving/replacing obsolete piping and equipment. An incredible amount of backflow prevention as well. Besides water and sanitary, I worked with steam, compressed air, natural gas, medical gasses, reverse osmosis equipment, etc. Some pretty good perks too, like sand-blasting and a machine shop, paint shop, etc. to have access to after hours.
The two drawbacks with hospital work - politics and possibility of contracting some god-awful infection. Got caught up in the first and dodged the second.
Yep, for me it was better than the years in residential and commercial service and construction.


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## markb (Jun 11, 2009)

Never done institutional or industrial, but have a feeling it would be somewhere I would be happy. 

Don't like home renovations. Everyone is cheap and quality is usually poor. 

I like the odd new construction home just to keep things fresh and your brain sharp. One day underground. Two days rough in. One day water. Two days finishing. Pick up the check.

We have recently been working with a realestate investment company in Toronto. They buy old office buildings in prime downtown Toronto locations. We come in, tear everything down and renovate. Fantastic jobs. No engineers. Lots of space and more creative freedom. We do our demo (and collect the copper  ), we design the bathroom, we core our holes, etc. Job box is always there. All we have to do is show up.

I used to like doing restaurants. Driving around for hours. Working like a machine. One day underground. One day above ground. One day finishing. Money was great, but too much time away from home. 

...I also hate using Uponor. Residential or commercial.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

markb said:


> Don't like home renovations. Everyone is cheap and quality is usually poor.


Depends where you live. I do TONS of renovations here. Some are cheap, like you say, but an awful lot of them are very nice, some even "high end". Hated renos when the trend began, but I'm so used to them now that I don't mind them at all anymore. 



> I like the odd new construction home just to keep things fresh and your brain sharp. One day underground. Two days rough in. One day water. Two days finishing. Pick up the check.


How many men? Very small, simple houses? Takes me usually three days to do a typical underground here (I'm a one-man show though), but the digging is ALL sand. Similar for the rest of your times. I haven't seen houses that simple in many years. Land is so freakin expensive that everybody builds the big high-falutin houses around here. Or maybe you have a big crew... or work incredibly fast... 



> I used to like doing restaurants. Driving around for hours. Working like a machine. One day underground. One day above ground. One day finishing. Money was great, but too much time away from home.


Once again, what kind of restaurant can you rough in underground in one day??? I can't imagine such a thing. A Subway sandwich shop maybe (did tons of those), but even those don't go that quick...

I lived in Toronto (Brampton) for a couple years back in 1987/88. Remember Bonanza restaurants? I plumbed em. Ya, that miserably badly managed company that failed almost immediately in Ontario (they lasted a bit longer in other provinces, but I think they're all gone now). I remember watching people walking in to their brand new stores, looking around and saying, "Where's the bar? Screw this place!", and leaving. Hilarious! Ontarians love their beer. Bonanza frantically applied for a liquor license, but it was too late.


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## RollinSoLo (Sep 22, 2009)

I started in commercial but the money is in residential.In commercial it is hit or miss. 
Sadly the commercial market is being overrun with rogue general contractors.Non pays and slow pays and bankruptcies. Gc tend to think you are made of money and free labor.They want you to extend them credit in the form of labor up front in many cases and at the end of the job look for any reason to keep the 10% retainer. 
Know who you are dealing with in Commercial work, I don't care how well financed and connected they are.


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