# worse plumbing ever thread



## Plumb26 (May 18, 2013)

I'll start. Let's see if you can top this jewel.


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## Plumb26 (May 18, 2013)

I tried rotating my pictures but this tablet won't let me.


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

There is a thread called "hall of shame" I can't figure out how to link it from my phone app but it appears in search.


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## budders (May 19, 2013)

Wow im guessing they said f it its in a crawl space


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

budders said:


> Wow im guessing they said f it its in a crawl space


The inspector won't go down and look at it?

We'll maybe in this case if it even was inspected.

My inspectors do go in most of the time.


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## Plumb26 (May 18, 2013)

MTDUNN said:


> The inspector won't go down and look at it?
> 
> We'll maybe in this case if it even was inspected.
> 
> My inspectors do go in most of the time.


Either the previous home owner did the work or some handyman did it. The new owner bought the home off the internet for $25,000. Hope she has enough room in her budget for the fix.


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

Plumb26 said:


> Either the previous home owner did the work or some handyman did it. The new owner bought the home off the internet for $25,000. Hope she has enough room in her budget for the fix.


If any of the other work is as bad as the plumbing, she may have bought a moneypit


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

I find it very fulfilling to see the work of people that purchased my "How To Plumb" book... :thumbup:


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

I dizzy


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## Pacificpipes (Oct 1, 2013)

What the hell is that screen cleanout looking thing for


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Pacificpipes said:


> What the hell is that screen cleanout looking thing for


Uh Yea...

That is a special liquid separating pressure relief valve for drains....:laughing:


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## AKdaplumba (Jan 12, 2010)

Pacificpipes said:


> What the hell is that screen cleanout looking thing for


It's a strainer


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

AKdaplumba said:


> It's a strainer


 Probably keeping rats out


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## Plumb26 (May 18, 2013)

Pacificpipes said:


> What the hell is that screen cleanout looking thing for


I guess the drain was slow and someone cleaned it out. They likely saw this as a way to cover the cleanout and prevent backups. When you run the washer, water spews out of that strainer like crazy. Very creative yard sprinkler?


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## Plumb26 (May 18, 2013)

MTDUNN said:


> Probably keeping rats out


It's one of those strainers people put over the kitchen strainer to catch food in their 
sink


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## 89plumbum (May 14, 2011)

Strain the main drain!


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

Plumb26 said:


> It's one of those strainers people put over the kitchen strainer to catch food in their sink



I know what it is. I'm guessing why they put it there!!


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

3" ball valve on the building drain and a very special hanger. :thumbup:


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## Keefer w (Jan 26, 2012)

It's ok, her brother works at Lowes.


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

plbgbiz said:


> 3" ball valve on the building drain and a very special hanger. :thumbup:


Dat there is funny. I don't care who you are, dat's funny. :laughing:


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Roof drain? Whatever works. Get'er Done! haha. I laugh every time I drive by this gem. :laughing:


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## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

Louisiana swing joint!


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Plumberman said:


> Louisiana swing joint!


Joint is the key word here. They must've been high. ha


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## Andrew G (May 27, 2013)

plbgbiz said:


> 3" ball valve on the building drain and a very special hanger. :thumbup:


Here's a beautiful 3" no hub mop sink 'ptrap'. very nicely done, very creative..


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Andrew G said:


> Here's a beautiful 3" no hub mop sink 'ptrap'. very nicely done, very creative..


Wow. That's all I can say about that mess. Definitely points for creativity.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

The way I'm holding it is how this santee and 90° were originally installed. Its an 1-1/2 drain coming off a lav that increases to 2" on the vertical. This was in-between floors and surrounded by framing so I couldn't get a pic of it in place. The upstream side was the 90°. The water flowed thru the Santee and then made a sharp turn to go down. Such a dumb way to run it. The drain had 20 years of algae and sludge build up from an A/C drain connected to the lav's vent in the attic. The lav was rarely, if ever, used which was why the algae built up so bad. Here's a look at it from the bottom: 










The right side of the santee on its back facing down was a useless vent that was routed back up thru the walls and tied into the other end of the vent above the lavs in the attic. I was the third guy to this job to figure out why the cable kept going up towards the attic no matter if we ran it from the lav trap arm or from the useless vent in the attic. I had to cut open the wall to figure this mess out. We replaced about 12' of drain.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

The 2 pics of the leaky pipe was a "repair" done with ABS connected with some glue to lead pipe in a wall behind a dishwasher from where the lead broke originally...30 years ago...and leaking for about that long, too.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Water lines for a fiberglass shower stall feeding a POS trailer style faucet. This is in a very wealthy part of Houston. This is the outside wall I had to open up to repair the leaks. Supply flex hoses, CPVC, and galvanized pipe.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

3/8" copper T&P drain going into a water heater pan drain, also 3/8" all going into a hole drilled into a vent in an attic. Do you think it will leak thru the ceiling if, or when that water heater leaks?


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

plbgbiz said:


> 3" ball valve on the building drain and a very special hanger. :thumbup:


So not just a valve on a drain but embedding it in concrete? Man. It as though they thought long and hard about how to make it worse.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Plumb26 said:


> I'll start. Let's see if you can top this jewel.


Its like the "How-to" guide for the worst plumbing. Was any plumbing working in that house? If so I can't see how. I assume you gave a bid for a complete drain and waterline re-pipe? It may be newer Pex but I wouldn't trust any plumbing there. I'm sure it smelled awesome in that crawl space.


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## Plumb26 (May 18, 2013)

Best Darn Sewer said:


> Its like the gold mine of the worst plumbing. Was any plumbing working in that house? If so I can't see how. I assume you gave a bid for a complete drain and waterline re-pipe? It may be newer Pex but I wouldn't trust any plumbing there. I'm sure it smelled awesome in that crawl space.


I have r options from $10,000 down to the bare minimum $7400. It's a shame I didn't get photos of the run shower surround that was "modified" to fit over the existing tile surround. That's what amplified the rot below.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Plumb26 said:


> I have r options from $10,000 down to the bare minimum $7400. It's a shame I didn't get photos of the run shower surround that was "modified" to fit over the existing tile surround. That's what amplified the rot below.


Lordy.


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Found this in a student rental today. That's the laundry draining into the sump then being pumped into the stack via the metal vent pipe....

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> Found this in a student rental today. That's the laundry draining into the sump then being pumped into the stack via the metal vent pipe....
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


I saved this one. Man...


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## Lja1821 (Jul 27, 2013)

Unclog1776 said:


> View attachment 28607
> 
> 
> Found this in a student rental today. That's the laundry draining into the sump then being pumped into the stack via the metal vent pipe....
> ...


Priceless..


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

The best part is the guy called and wanted us to camera his sewer because the kids who rent the place said there was a sewer gas smell.... On the phone he said "I poured water in all my traps I don't know what could be causing this" and yes he is the genius who put that together

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> The best part is the guy called and wanted us to camera his sewer because the kids who rent the place said there was a sewer gas smell.... On the phone he said "I poured water in all my traps I don't know what could be causing this" and yes he is the genius who put that together
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


I can't believe he would admit that. Obviously he didn't realize the stupidity of it.


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## plumbdik (Aug 6, 2013)

Andrew G said:


> Here's a beautiful 3" no hub mop sink 'ptrap'. very nicely done, very creative..
> 
> View attachment 28594



Amazing how much harder they work to do it the wrong way.


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Hack work done with PVC is one thing but that is the handyman special there

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

I seriously wonder how they come up with this ****, even when I knew very little about plumbing I still knew not to do things like that.

If your going to be dumb you better be tough...


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Can we start a new thread about "ideas" customers have voiced over the years because I can go on an on with that

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

Plumberman said:


> I seriously wonder how they come up with this ****, even when I knew very little about plumbing I still knew not to do things like that. If your going to be dumb you better be tough...


Like I said once before. Looks like Gary Busey wrote that code book. 

If he can eat the road with his face, he's tough


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## Andrew G (May 27, 2013)

Unclog1776 said:


> Hack work done with PVC is one thing but that is the handyman special there
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


When I looked in the ceiling I just had to stare at it for a bit. That goes into the wtf file. That file's getting bigger..


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## alberteh (Feb 26, 2012)

!

!

!


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

...


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

plbgbiz said:


> ...


This belongs in the WTF is that thread if there is one


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Here's one for the WTF file. I just stared at this for a few minutes trying to make out just why this was done. By the way, the water heater was a Bradford White from '98...but that unitrol and burner plate is from a 2010 model. 









Not shockingly, this was a home warranty call.


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

Best Darn Sewer said:


> Here's one for the WTF file. I just stared at this for a few minutes trying to make out just why this was done. By the way, the water heater was a Bradford White from '98...but that unitrol and burner plate is from a 2010 model. Not shockingly, this was a home warranty call.


Bet it only needed a thermocouple originally. So the DYI or handyman got this assembly at a plumbing supply that sells to homeowners and non plumbers. Jammed it in the best he can. The original petcock would not stop leaking when he drained it for the new GCV because he doesn't know how to airlock the water heater. And installed that drain contraption. 

It's all elementary Watson! 

Edit: did they approve this mess?


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

MTDUNN said:


> Bet it only needed a thermocouple originally. So the DYI or handyman got this assembly at a plumbing supply that sells to homeowners and non plumbers. Jammed it in the best he can. The original petcock would not stop leaking when he drained it for the new GCV because he doesn't know how to airlock the water heater. And installed that drain contraption.
> 
> It's all elementary Watson!
> 
> Edit: did they approve this mess?


Haha. Yup. That's exactly how I assumed it all went down, but being it was a landlord/tenant issue on top of all that I didn't get the real story. The other water heater in the attic was in similar condition. No, the repairs were not covered and I told the LL all I can do is replace them...for a nominal fee. I can't remember if he just bought the house or what. He said he'd get back to me. That was a year and a half ago.


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## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

I would hate to see what's going on in there today


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Best Darn Sewer said:


> Here's one for the WTF file. I just stared at this for a few minutes trying to make out just why this was done. By the way, the water heater was a Bradford White from '98...but that unitrol and burner plate is from a 2010 model.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Is there a problem with the "FVIR Upgrade" I did? :laughing:

That has "Negligent Homicide" written all over it! :whistling2:


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

Redwood said:


> Is there a problem with the "FVIR Upgrade" I did? :laughing:
> 
> That has "Negligent Homicide" written all over it! :whistling2:


I should have known it was you, Aniwon! Haha. All I can do is shake my head. Houston has an abundance of plumbers and plenty of work. With that comes a lot of fly-by-night guys, as I'm sure every service plumber here is fully aware of, so the quality varies a lot. I am always amazed that more people AREN'T injured due to dangerously rigged plumbing. I've seen dresser couplings used to connect a 1-1/2" poly gas lines to Galv 2" underground surrounded by pool return lines. Just ridiculous. I know I am just preaching to the choir here. We have all seen our fair share.


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