# The "I bet, I am faster then you thread"



## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

Sorry, The headline was just to get you in here faster 

BUT - We all are REALLY good on certain types of plumbing, For example, I used to fly through nailing and installing forced hot water slant fin baseboard.

I also liked roughing copper and was really fast at it , to bad the copper days are gone :-(

So basically, I am asking:

"What do you excel at?"

I am curious............


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## muck (Oct 10, 2008)

copper--- upper ruffs and finish work


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

i'm slow at new construction when i get the chance to do a remodel. i used to be fast when it's what i did and now when i do it i just get bummed out thinking "i'd be done by now if i still had my chops". now 95% of what i do is service. i'm real fast at changing a moen positemp shower cartridge. i can usually get them done in less than an hour. 







paul


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

rocksteady said:


> i'm slow at new construction when i get the chance to do a remodel. i used to be fast when it's what i did and now when i do it i just get bummed out thinking "i'd be done by now if i still had my chops". now 95% of what i do is service. i'm real fast at changing a moen positemp shower cartridge. i can usually get them done in less than an hour.
> 
> 
> paul


Paul. 

I used to be fast at these things , Not no more, so yea, I am just burnt from all the years of the GO GO GOGOGOG GO!!!!


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## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

Drains under slab. Have all my numbers ready when I get to the site. Paint some lines , dig, set strings, and rock-n-roll.


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

Never fast with anything I do. As a matter of fact, my end result is what means more. The thread "My Work" I told the HO I never done a body spray setup, and I was concerned because of all the stone going in I did not want any leaks, banging pipes, or cross connections. So HO said take all the time I need. When I got done, she was tickled pink! The bathroom never had any pressure at all before. Now you dont even need soap! The force of the body sprays will blast the dirt from you! And yes, there is no noticable pressure drop when the shower runs, I flushed the toiulet and turned the tub on! She was amazed! Could not stop thanking me. That means a lot. 

Then there was the fiberon deck we built. I know, its not plumbing related, but it took us twice as long to install it then it should had as it was our first. The supplier was nervouse because he had just started selling this stuff. When we finished the deck and the pergalo he came and took a look. He went back and called the manufacturer. They sent a rep out who took pix and said it was so perfect that they were going to use our deck in their catalog. 

Long to short, take your time, its cheaper to do it right the first time around!


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I excel at finding the cleanest ****ter in the joint. Usually one that's out of the way, and quiet. I really cherish my bowel movements.


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

I can change out an arreator in about 22.76 seconds


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## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

I'm really fast getting the check. Pretty slow and methodical doing the work though. Goes faster when you just do it once.


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> I can change out an arreator in about 22.76 seconds


Better watch that speed changing, get it cross threaded and...............


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## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> I can change out an arreator in about 22.76 seconds


Video or it didn't happen:laughing:


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## PipemanNYC (Nov 21, 2008)

hi im almost at 100..


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

seriously, you give me a set of plans, for an average 2 bath 1500 sq ft home, and i promise you, i could rough in 2 of them in 8 hrs with a decent helper.


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

Top to bottom including the basement?


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## richfield (Oct 29, 2008)

People get too worked up on time! Plumbers come up to me and ask "how long does it take you to do _______, because I can do it in ______". I just say "I see you've never heard the story about The Tortoise and the Hare" once they sink this in I say that I only do a job once. One journeyman plumber I was talking to in a group of about a dozen of professionals from other trades was gloating about how he could "do the job, screw up, rip it out and do it again before I did it the first time". I said congrats. nobody said anything and those tradesman still laugh about that guy.


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## para1 (Jun 17, 2008)

ROCKSTARPLUMBER said:


> seriously, you give me a set of plans, for an average 2 bath 1500 sq ft home, and i promise you, i could rough in both of them in 8 hrs with a decent helper.


 
Yeah, but what will you be doing in that 8 hours???:laughing:


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## ROCKSTARPLUMBER (Dec 14, 2008)

******* said:


> Top to bottom including the basement?


 No basements in Fl, I am talking about a block or monolithic slab. i will be cuttin, and a gluin, while the helper is a digging and fetchin.:thumbup:


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

Pex or copper for domestic?


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## muck (Oct 10, 2008)

I can finish a super walmart in 5 months. start to finish by myself blindfolded


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

I can spend all my money at a super wal mart in 5 minutes


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## Plumboob (Dec 7, 2008)

I ran 40% of the copper piping to the suites in the new Texas Stadium opening next year, after months of doing that i'm like Dirty Harry with a torch.


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

Actually, I thought I was fast until I saw ToUtahNow's responses in my other thread were his guys are running all day.

Never mind, I am slow as hell


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

im pretty quick w/ new construction. like its hard.
the other day i roughed in the dwv for a three bath, laundry, laundry sink,and kitchen, all individually vented fixtures in 5.5 hours. about 450' of pipe and drill time. is that good?


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

ya , that fast enough for me


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Is that no-hub or service weight?


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

jjbex said:


> Is that no-hub or service weight?


 im no superman. just pvc.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I know, I was just goofin':laughing: That is some runnin' and gunnin'. You would be a good bungalow buster here. Was all the writing on the pipe oriented the same?


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

jjbex said:


> I know, I was just goofin':laughing: That is some runnin' and gunnin'. You would be a good bungalow buster here. Was all the writing on the pipe oriented the same?


 ABSOLUTELY. been doin it that way my whole career. i was told it shows respect to the inspector. and i think it looks good.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

It also inspires respect from the h/o and other trades. I was in subdivisions where all the trades were pretty much apprentices under a foreman, and our work was the best looking of all the trades. The purple primer was barely visible, everything plumb and square, no drips on the solder. Even though we were just bungalow busters, we still had pride in our work.


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

thats the key, nice, uniform, and clean. ive had illinois inspectors accuse me of using a purple marker around joints, until i showed them how i did it.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Sweet, did you take the exam at Savoy? I was nervous and still got a 89. I screwed up my cast iron, the snappers were brand new and hadn't been oiled, I got a crooked cut and lost some points.


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

no. 
i was a plumber in st. louis and we worked in the by-state area. i tested in peoria, ill.
i was one of the few guys whose water test held on pvc dwv, i let the primer dry before i applied the glue.


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

Is that an automatic flunk if your pvc blows apart?


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## pzmember (Sep 20, 2008)

jjbex said:


> Is that an automatic flunk if your pvc blows apart?


 at that time i believe it was not. but that was 10 years ago when i tested for journeyman.


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## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

jjbex said:


> Is that an automatic flunk if your pvc blows apart?


 They have about 80 psi there at the hall in Savoy. Do that Pvc project first.


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## Blackhawks16 (Jan 16, 2009)

I have always been considered a fast plumber, but never one of the "rocket plumbers." In my experience those really fast guys have people going back and fixing or redoing a lot of their work, I make sure no one has to touch my work once it is in and that everything is neat and clean to the eye and that every joint is mechanically sound. I produce good times with my math ability and having a lot of take-offs etched in my head, and I am fast at reading prints and laying out. I refuse to use the shortcuts a lot of guys do just to keep a job, those people should take more pride in what they do as a profession.


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