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but I don't like some of the things they do very much at all. I know this handyman type guy. As far as I can tell it's a full time thing for him and he appears to want to serve his customers well. In other words, he's not someone who does this "on the side". He's a very nice guy who tries to keep a clean, professional, appearance.
I forget how I met him initially but he has called me a few times over the years to come price work. I have never actually done any work for him.
Yesterday I get a call from him needing "plumbing advice". Are you serious!? This is over the line! I listen patiently to him explain how he twisted off a sweat type hose bibb at a customers house in an attempt to replace it. I listened to how he subsequently had to cut the wall open on the inside in order to repair what he had done. He wants to know if there was a better way to have done this specifically whether or not the valve could have been sweated off outside and a new one sweated on. At this point I begin to speak. I don't open up on this guy. He's not an evil person, he's just trying to feed his family like the rest of us. I also did not pull any punches. In a very calm and measured way I explain that he should not have done what he did because in this state any repair of any piping system done under contract is only to be done by a certified professional. I explain that though he probably did not realize it he had in fact broken the law. I go on to explain that sweating copper is potentially very dangerous work and that he could easily burn down someone's house. To his credit he did not get defensive but seemed to be unaware that he did anything wrong. At this point he explained that he hadn't used a torch, rather he had simply used sharkbites. I asked him if they had been left access via a panel or if they had been sealed up in the wall. Of course they had been sealed up. I explained that that was a very bad idea and that although sharkbites, imo, had their place in the plumbing universe that this was certainly not one of them. I told him that I have previously encountered this exact scenario in which the sharkbite started leaking sometime after the repair and had caused damage to the wall. I explained that I do in fact occasionally use sharkbites but only if they are accessible and would cause no damage should they ever begin to leak.
He ended up charging the customer $425.00 and reported that the job took about 5 hours. I explained that the price, if in fact I would have had to cut the wall inside, was about right but would not have included any sharkbites and should have been completed in well under 2 hours.
I have no idea whether my little lecture had any affect or not. I did not want to hammer the guy. In my view he is not a scam artist but at the same time he has no business doing what he is apparantly doing. I expect that I may not ever hear from him again but who knows. He may just go right on making plumbing "repairs".
I forget how I met him initially but he has called me a few times over the years to come price work. I have never actually done any work for him.
Yesterday I get a call from him needing "plumbing advice". Are you serious!? This is over the line! I listen patiently to him explain how he twisted off a sweat type hose bibb at a customers house in an attempt to replace it. I listened to how he subsequently had to cut the wall open on the inside in order to repair what he had done. He wants to know if there was a better way to have done this specifically whether or not the valve could have been sweated off outside and a new one sweated on. At this point I begin to speak. I don't open up on this guy. He's not an evil person, he's just trying to feed his family like the rest of us. I also did not pull any punches. In a very calm and measured way I explain that he should not have done what he did because in this state any repair of any piping system done under contract is only to be done by a certified professional. I explain that though he probably did not realize it he had in fact broken the law. I go on to explain that sweating copper is potentially very dangerous work and that he could easily burn down someone's house. To his credit he did not get defensive but seemed to be unaware that he did anything wrong. At this point he explained that he hadn't used a torch, rather he had simply used sharkbites. I asked him if they had been left access via a panel or if they had been sealed up in the wall. Of course they had been sealed up. I explained that that was a very bad idea and that although sharkbites, imo, had their place in the plumbing universe that this was certainly not one of them. I told him that I have previously encountered this exact scenario in which the sharkbite started leaking sometime after the repair and had caused damage to the wall. I explained that I do in fact occasionally use sharkbites but only if they are accessible and would cause no damage should they ever begin to leak.
He ended up charging the customer $425.00 and reported that the job took about 5 hours. I explained that the price, if in fact I would have had to cut the wall inside, was about right but would not have included any sharkbites and should have been completed in well under 2 hours.
I have no idea whether my little lecture had any affect or not. I did not want to hammer the guy. In my view he is not a scam artist but at the same time he has no business doing what he is apparantly doing. I expect that I may not ever hear from him again but who knows. He may just go right on making plumbing "repairs".
, R-342. 
