Bill

Thats right, no joke. Just a tip for all. This did not happen while plumbing, but 4 times I got cocky and let my guard down just for an instant and almost paid the ultimate price. You should always, and I mean always proceed with caution. Think the worst. This way you will be prepared. Act like you expect an accident to happen. Accidents happen so quick, there is no time to react. Last thing any of us need is to explain to a spouse why their spouse is not coming home for dinner.

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Virginia Plumbing Codes
Virginia Department of Licensing


Ones intellect can often be summed up by his own words

Everything in the known universe is governed by "Cause and Effect", there is no getting around it. Think about what you do before you do it.

22rifle

Guys, there's a lot of stuff I am proud of. But the stuff I wrote about on here? Not proud of it at all.

I only tell the stories to help us all be aware and be safe. This stuff can kill you. We think we are pros and we are. But all it takes is one moment of not paying attention to screw up a whole lot of crap, not to mention lives.

These days I am a hard ass on myself for safety. Life is too short.

smellslike$tome

Ok, back to the lighter side. Safety is no joke but I have to tell this story. No one got hurt.

I was as green as you could be (less than 6 months in trade) and I was working in res new con (garden home tract housing). At the time there was no burn ban in the county so the superintendant over the development had his flunkies gather up all the construction debris from each house and then he would burn it so he didn't have to pay to have it hauled off. Well this pile would get pretty big and it would have everything in it not just wood scrap. There would be roofing shingles, plastic bottles, buckets, you name it.
Well invariably he would come torch this stuff off whenever our crew was in the house working. The wind would blow that toxic, roiling, smoke right into the house with us. I got tired of this so one day after the smoke started rolling in I went outside and hooked up a hose to the temp water and started hosing it down to put it out. Well I really only made the smoke worse, ... a lot worse, but I didn't care because nobody could work in there with that fire going 10' from the house. It never seemed too smart to me to burn the debris that close to the house but that's what they did. Anyway within about 2 minutes the super got the news about a lot of smoke down the street. He looks down the street and sees me standing there with a hose aimed at his fire. You could here him screaming from 100 yards away at the top of his lungs. Lots of very unnice things to which I took exception. I was sick of the smoke and was prepared to rumble if need be. There was lots of shouting from both sides. At a certain point I realized that almost everyone else who had been working on the street had assembled to witness what was going on. After the super had sufficeintly vented and went on his way the laughter started. Almost nobody on that street called me by my name from that day forward. From then on I was simply known as the Fire Marshall.

grandpa

If you do have a fire, help is on the way:

threaderman

Excellent!!

Marlin

I almost did it two weeks ago. I soldered a joint close to another pipe which was insulated with that asbestos cardboard stuff. I used a piece of flue pipe and kept the flame from even touching the metal. Five minutes later I smell something burning. I'm looking around and finally I see the insulation smoking in a spot. I grabbed a spray bottle, soak it, took down that section of insulation then just kept an eye on it the rest of the day. I still have no idea how I could have lit the insulation behind the torch, fortunately it was just a lesson to be careful and not a disaster.

Plumberman

Duct insulation is bad as well. The outside will flame up and you can put it out but it will burn on the inside as well withough you even knowing it.... I know from experience

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Chad-LJP 6656-LMG Installer/Brazer
UA Local 659

TheSkinnyGuy

that's right, I keep the spray bottle with me, and if the occasion/location merits it I get some cooling gel as well. I cannot afford to have any fires on ANY of my jobs. Not very professional.

Bollinger plumber

I don't know how many of you work on modular or prefab houses, but if you do watch out for that mesh netting that they use to hold the insulation up under the floor joist. One swipe with a torch and you have a fire going in about one thousand different directions. It happened to me but luckily I was able to rip it out before it spread to far, but you have to be quick.

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http://alsdrainservice.services.offi...m/default.aspx

Only two devining forces have died for you. One is Jesus Christ and the other is the American soldier. One died for your soul the other died for your freedom.

UnclogNH

Two buildings burnt down up here a few winters ago trying to thaw frozen water lines. Both were drunk using propane torches. Both happen during same week.
Only if they were not so DIY drunk and stupid they should have called. My General hot shot would have taken care of it without them burning down their buildings.

Never had a fire I carry a small fire extinguisher with me, wet rag and a spray bottle of water in my soldering box you never know what can happen better to be safe.

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Charging less does not mean more call volume it just means you have to work harder to reach your goals.