# Whats your favorite job in the trade....



## Proud Plumber (Sep 15, 2008)

What is your favorite aspect of plumbing, besides the check?
Me I enjoy troubleshooting. I get the most satisfaction out of locating a problem and fixing it. I especially like the ones that others had tried to solve before me and were unable to fix it.


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## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

Proud Plumber said:


> What is your favorite aspect of plumbing, besides the check?
> Me I enjoy troubleshooting. I get the most satisfaction out of locating a problem and fixing it. I especially like the ones that others had tried to solve before me and were unable to fix it.


Design and drawing.

Back when I ran new high rise work it was a challenge to layout the stacks to both minimize the chases and maximize the floor plan. It was always a little easier if you could use a starter fitting out of the catalog, a bit more of a challenge if you had to design the fitting and work with the foundry to get it made correctly. There are still architects to this day that will contact me to offer an opinion on someone Else's layout, and I haven't done any new high rise work in 8 years.


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## ILPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

My favorite part is prolly design/build work. It's always per plans when they are drawn after I leave.


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## Ron (Jun 12, 2008)

Meeting new people, some are fun to chat with, some are a little wacked.


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## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

Proud Plumber said:


> What is your favorite aspect of plumbing, besides the check?
> Me I enjoy troubleshooting. I get the most satisfaction out of locating a problem and fixing it. I especially like the ones that others had tried to solve before me and were unable to fix it.


I am in total agreement with ya on that!


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## 22rifle (Jun 14, 2008)

Taking a Sawzall or whatever to a nightmare. Then replacing it with good work. Then seeing the customer's eyes pop when they see the difference.

And working with the customers.

And like has been said, diagnostics.


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## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

22rifle said:


> Taking a Sawzall or whatever to a nightmare. Then replacing it with good work. Then seeing the customer's eyes pop when they see the difference.
> 
> And working with the customers.
> 
> And like has been said, diagnostics.


:thumbup: Agreed


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

The problem solving is what makes me tick. I love walking in to a mess that was installed by fitters or maintenance shop guys and blowing it up and doing some sweet work.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

I like providing solutions to customer’s plumbing issues that others can't. Both for the money and the satisfaction. I like solving problems AND getting paid well.

I like installing things that will out live me(I'm in my mid 20s), unfortunately the pleasure is becoming less frequent in today’s p.o.s. ruled market.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Getting done before an hour is up, then getting the truck into another driveway in that same hour...


doing that 2 to 3 times a day. :thumbsup:


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

I really enjoy making the deposit at the bank. Gives me a wrm and fuzzy feeling to know I can make payroll. :whistling2:


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

I like draincleaning. It's good, hard work and it's immediate satissfaction. Hit the stoppage, water drops. When I do hvac, I ahve to fix the problem then wait for the system to work normally and readjust from there, takes to long for my liking.


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## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

As a service plumber, I like the immediate satsifaction of solving problems. One minute the customer can't use their water, the next minute everything is working better than ever.....and I get paid. Gotta love it.:thumbsup:


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

Does lunch count?


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## plumber666 (Sep 19, 2010)

The rush of opening up a big set of blueprints for the first time for a job that I'll eat, sleep and breathe for the next 6 months to a year.
On a more hands on note, building a big copper meter/prv station, or nice symetrical 3-5 HWT install. I love picking a piping layout that just "fits" the room.
I love the random phone calls I get from controls contractors or former students needing help troubleshooting. It's funny the problems you can help solve from hundreds of miles away with limited information. Nice having these guys call you a f*ing genius, too!


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## PLUMBER_BILL (Oct 23, 2009)

plumber666 said:


> The rush of opening up a big set of blueprints for the first time for a job that I'll eat, sleep and breathe for the next 6 months to a year.
> On a more hands on note, building a big copper meter/prv station, or nice symetrical 3-5 HWT install. I love picking a piping layout that just "fits" the room.
> I love the random phone calls I get from controls contractors or former students needing help troubleshooting. It's funny the problems you can help solve from hundreds of miles away with limited information. Nice having these guys call you a f*ing genius, too!


*Problem is some are called gene-asses, but none of them are on the zone. *


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Proud Plumber said:


> What is your favorite aspect of plumbing, besides the check?
> Me I enjoy troubleshooting. I get the most satisfaction out of locating a problem and fixing it. I especially like the ones that others had tried to solve before me and were unable to fix it.


Yes, those are the fun ones. One in particular comes to mind...

I got called out for a no-heat call on a house hydronic system. I get there and while I'm looking it over the woman blahblahs on about how she had another company there already (fairly reputable company) and the guy (supposedly their hydronic expert) thought it was the mixer valve, but he didn't fix it and left her with no heat still and a $450 bill for doing exactly nothing. She was definitely *not* happy.

By the time I was there for two minutes or less it was real obvious that the circulator was seized. He had "diagnosed" it as good by putting a meter on the power going to it! :laughing::laughing: What a moron! Of course it's pulling power and humming, ya nitwit.  I felt it - it was smokin hot. Pulled out my longest screwdriver and put my ear on it - yup, that pump is seized! 

I didn't have one on the truck, so had to go buy one. Replaced it, adjusted the mixer cuz "the tech" messed it up (it works like new BTW), and boiler temp and collect a whopping $287 and leave with the heat on and the boiler freshly serviced. I now have a new customer for life.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

One of my favorite things to do is when I get a call that customer has 'no hot water.' I love those the most. My mind is thinking about what I might find as I'm driving there.


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## john_mccormack (Feb 27, 2010)

*Diagnostics*

Years ago I got called to an old house in a town center. The kitchen/dining room ceiling had some old, pristine plaster bas-relief that was wet from above. They didn't want the ceiling to be touched (obviously), so I cut a ballvalve and pressure tester into the main, filled 'er back up and then shut the house water off to wait for the pressure equalize.

I used my plumber's math I had learned from the school house, determined the height of the head pressure, measured up to the second floor bathroom wall and removed the vanity. I cut into the wall behind the vanity so as not to create too big a hole. There it was; a pinhole leak on the vanity riser. I couldn't believe my luck, but it made me look like a hero!

Yes, it took some time to wait for the pressure to equalize, but it was worth it. It also happened to be the first time I applied this basic law of plumbing on an actual job.


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## Dun' Right (Sep 27, 2010)

Proud Plumber said:


> What is your favorite aspect of plumbing, besides the check?
> Me I enjoy troubleshooting. I get the most satisfaction out of locating a problem and fixing it. I especially like the ones that others had tried to solve before me and were unable to fix it.



I would have to say mine is, "being the hero". When you turn a "****ty" situation into a good one, and the customer is happy, happy, and truly grateful. It means alot to me. Worth more than money..(to an extent). haha

Work wise, I love knowin that I do a good job. It's a great feeling to work your ass off for a week on a HUGE gas line that spans 1000-2000 feet, put the test on it, and come back the next morning and it's right where you left it. I can't tell you the last time I had a leak. *knock on wood* I know it happens to everybody once in awhile, but the self satisfaction of wet testing a water system, or pressure testing a big cast iron job with a 1000 no hubs, and having no leaks, is AWESOME.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

I like the whole thing.. from start to finnish

Big job or small..... just to know somebody needs me....

On service fixing the problem and making them happy and having a good conversation then collecting

On construction ...getting er done and BSing with the guys,,get to meet a lot of good peps and contacts.

right down to looking at the bank account and saying I couldn't make this kind of money from doing anythingelse

I Love this trade from start to finnish :thumbup:


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

The most satisfying part for me is sharing everything I know with my guys. And often times I learn from them too. Nothing beats knowing I helped someones job go better that day.

Hands on...I love to run steel. Nothing like the smell of cutting oil on a cool fall morning.


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

My favorite part of plumbing is cutting and threading pipe. I could thread pipe all day, every day. I really like using my Ridgid 700 Power Pony.


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## plumbpro (Mar 10, 2010)

I love when doing a rough in and everything goes together like butter and looks great. I hate threading, but I don't have a 700, just a 111-r


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## plumbear (Jun 24, 2010)

I like doing jobs by myself that take other companies two or three guys to do.


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## RealLivePlumber (Jun 22, 2008)

Underground work. 

I love digging them up.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

Drain cleaning. People always praise a drain thats been cleaned, making statements like " Wow its never went down so fat, or I never seen it drain like that in years." Drains get stopped up slowly over time so people do not notice that its slower. So when you clear them and the drain roars down, they are amazed.

As for other plumbing, they expect it to look good and not leak so they do not praise you as much.


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## greenscoutII (Aug 27, 2008)

I like almost every aspect of my chosen trade, but what I like best is running DWV. Sweating copper is also a lot of fun and when done properly, looks great as well. I know darn near everything is done in PEX these days, but it just isn't as satifying as seeing it done in copper.

Speaking of copper, I love delivering a dissertation to apprentices about the need to ream the pipe. So many guys skip this step.


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## JGrif (Jan 19, 2010)

I like the cool places that I have been able to work at...from the everyday residential/commercial service calls to the 6th floor of a building that houses rockets to the peace and quiet of ruffing in a house out on some ranch. I also get a kick out of responding to a situation when I'm not in a work truck, have limited tools and yet still being able to do something to improve the situation.
Going to cut a peice of ABS. or anything for that matter, and having the peice on the ground be the exact length needed. (this happened today...twice!).


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## pauliplumber (Feb 9, 2009)

I can't think of one dam thing :wallbash:.


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## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

RealLivePlumber said:


> Underground work.
> 
> I love digging them up.


 please get profetional help while you still can. Just kidding of coares, I just never liked undergrounds.


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## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

The best ,best ,best thing is installing a toilet seat bidet for a person with a health issue and having them love it. next is installing a toilet seat bidet for anybody and having them love it. 

Other than that I like drain cleaning the best. I tell people if I was a millionaire I still might clean drains just for a hobby.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

saysflushable said:


> The best ,best ,best thing is installing a toilet seat bidet for a person with a health issue and having them love it. next is installing a toilet seat bidet for anybody and having them love it.
> 
> Other than that I like drain cleaning the best. I tell people if I was a millionaire I still might clean drains just for a hobby.


 



:laughing:


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## Proud Plumber (Sep 15, 2008)

Tommy plumber said:


> :laughing:


Never in my entire 23 years of this trade did I ever have a client complain when I removed the flow restrictor from a bidet faucet. In fact that is client that always tells me with a big smile on her face of how happy she is with the water pressure in her house.:whistling2:


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## Ishmael (Dec 9, 2009)

I guess, like many others, problem solving is the best part. But I really love doing boiler installations. What can be better than setting up shop for a day with everything at arm's length; planning the masterpiece that will be.

Combining the two is pretty sweet, too. I once did a remodel on a 2nd floor apartment. The place was heated with convectors and radiators on a monoflow system. In remodeling, I replaced all the radiators and convectors with baseboard. In the bathroom (and the kitchen), I had to use a kickspace heater under the vanity; I used PEX tubing to run from the old 1/2" risers under the subfloor to the kickspace heater. When it was time to fill/purge and fire up the heat, the heater in the bathroom wouldn't get hot; I figured it was air-bound, so I purged it out and kept trying, but it just wouldn't get hot enough for the fan to turn on. There was just too much resistance in the additional length and bends I made to install a kickspace heater on those existing 1/2" feed & return lines.

As I was studying the boiler and the piping (probably installed 50 years ago), I noticed the circulator was on the return. And I got to thinking about Dan Holohan's book *Pumping Away* (basic premise: always install the system circulator downstream of the expansion tank). I moved the circulator from the return up to the supply on the outlet side of the air separator/expansion tank, and it worked! A simple change like that, and now there's enough head pressure to circulate the water through that kickspace heater.


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## Epox (Sep 19, 2010)

When I do replacement installs such as faucets etc. I clean the sink/basin. Make it all look as good as I can. Buff the new faucet etc, nice and shiny. 
Wifey of the place comes in dreading to clean my mess, and finds everything pristine. I went in behind one of a fellow plumbers but to do some unrelated to what he did and found wax smeared all over the commode he had pulled and resealed so I cleaned it emacuatly.
Doing a good job that my peeps expect and have coming to them and at a price that is fair.
Running backhoes and bobcats are prolly my fav of all. ( always wished I could find a way to do that more) .


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Proud Plumber said:


> Never in my entire 23 years of this trade did I ever have a client complain when I removed the flow restrictor from a bidet faucet. In fact that is client that always tells me with a big smile on her face of how happy she is with the water pressure in her house.:whistling2:


Good water pressure is a wonderful thing! :laughing:


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

Ben john said:


> Weekend radio announcer for WSWG-FM, from 1980-1981.
> 
> it was a blast.


How bout an intro?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

PlumbCrazy said:


> How bout an intro?


Mr. John is no longer with us.


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## plumber666 (Sep 19, 2010)

Ishmael said:


> As I was studying the boiler and the piping (probably installed 50 years ago), I noticed the circulator was on the return. And I got to thinking about Dan Holohan's book *Pumping Away* (basic premise: always install the system circulator downstream of the expansion tank). I moved the circulator from the return up to the supply on the outlet side of the air separator/expansion tank, and it worked! A simple change like that, and now there's enough head pressure to circulate the water through that kickspace heater.


That little book rocks, read it 10 years ago and would love to find a copy.


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## braindead (May 29, 2010)

Will said:


> My favorite part of plumbing is cutting and threading pipe. I could thread pipe all day, every day. I really like using my Ridgid 700 Power Pony.


Looks like you missed the good times when this was done manualy. :blink:


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

I like seeing the screwed up ways some people do it. Gives me a good laugh!


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## Ishmael (Dec 9, 2009)

plumber666 said:


> That little book rocks, read it 10 years ago and would love to find a copy.


Go to Dan's web site: www.heatinghelp.com


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## plumber p (Sep 19, 2010)

Working with customers and finding solutions.


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