Sergeant_Crunch Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 So I come home from work for lunch and the plumber is there (told the wife to call one to fix a leak I couldn't get to stop), only problem is the fountain of water spewing forth from the side of my house. Then he tells me that there's a leak at my water meter (which wasn't there when I left that morning). Then he tells me it's going to by $60/hour plus parts and he figured it would take five hours at the least! So, being agitated and decidedly un-rich I politely invite the guy to leave my property and proceed to fix the problems myself. All I have to say is that I got it fixed, the only way I could've gotten any muddier was to enter a mud wrestling competition, thank God for good neighbors (with spare plumbing supplies), and it's a good thing my pay is salaried and not hourly 'cause I had to take the afternoon off to get the crap fixed. No point to all of this really, just needed to vent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritual Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 It's always a good thing to be handy with things like this. I re-built my entire kitchen two years ago, and even though it was still a fairly expensive adventure it was peanuts compared to what it would have cost me to contract someone to do it. A guy at work had his kitchen re-built earlier this year and even though his kitchen is not even half the size of mine his cost probably five times as much as mine. And it's not decidedly better done than mine even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 You asked politely .. whew ... not me, would have stuff a wrench up his arse crack and gave him a good going over. Sounds like you got ahold of one of the worst ones out there. We had some work that needed doing some time back, but I always make a point to watch them when they are doing work. Aggrivates the hell out of them, but I just smile and say 'I like to learn and see what is going on'. Caught them taking a few shortcuts here and there which I pointed out and they of course didn't like. Hey, said I needed the work done, not that I didn't know anything about it ... If they guy is part of the BBB, drop the dime on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supervike Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 It's amazing how easy some of those household fixes can be, if you are willing to invest a little time, a few cuss words, and a few more cuss words...Some stuff, however, is better left to the experts. Plumbing is usually pretty straight forward. Electricity, however gets really confusing, and hurts a bit when you are screwing with it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincegamer Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 My wife really freaks about electricity. I was replacing a chandeliere in my place. When I took the old one off I could see 3 sets of wires going to it. Aha! me thinks. That explains the light switch that does nothing. This is a 3-way light but the idiot just put all the wires together. But when I try to figure out which is the real live wire, the wife gets all upset and insists on calling an electrician (have to turn the switch back on to find the live wire after all). Well, domestic harmony is more important than me standing on a table with my toolbelt so I consent. The new idiot just binds all the wires together again. :heeeellll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritual Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 Electricity is actually something you can do yourself to quite an extent. There's not a whole lot you need to know really, mainly common sense. For some things, though, you need an expert or your insurance won't apply if something happens (at least here). Luckily, my gf's brother is an electrician! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supervike Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 Yeah...I have no problem with basic circuitries...but when you start adding all the ground fault protection, load capabilities, etc. I start to pull out the phone book and look for a qualified person. Basic Telephone Work (of which I've done plenty) is just basic electricity circuitry. Much smaller voltages (48-52vdc), and most always DC rather than AC, but still all the basic concepts apply. The internet is pretty helpful when it comes to DIY projects, but nothing replaces the good old, take it apart and figure it out routines.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted August 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 Electric work is no problem for me (Dad's an electrician, we rewired the house when I was younger). Plumbing's not too bad, just a royal PITA here because I have no idea where the pipes are actually running without tearing apart the walls (which I definitely don't have the cash, time, or patience to do). Carpentry I like to do, but don't have the tools to do it right and would rather feed the figmentia. I can usually figure out most projects, just a matter of time and patience. You can pretty much tell what projects I've had to work on buy looking at the tools I have. When I said "politely" I was putting it nicely :devil: I usually like to watch too, but had to do that work thing for Uncle Sam. @vike, trust me, plenty of cuss words were tossed around, especially when I discovered how bad the lead at the meter was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritual Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 I justified buying a Dremel because I needed to drill some holes where I couldn't reach with an ordinare drill when I was working with my kitchen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted August 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 I flat out told the wife the Dremel was for minis. Didn't even try to blow smoke on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincegamer Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 Got you beat there - my wife already had the dremel when we got married! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted August 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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