I do commercial plumbing for a few office buildings and a strip mall in Tucson. On Wednesday I finished my 100th service call for 2024 and not one of them has needed me to come back for a fix. That feels huge for me because last year I had 7 callbacks on the first 100 and it bugged me nonstop. I just changed how I double check flanges and flush valves before I walk away. Anyone else track their callback rate or am I just weird about details?
Last month I had one of those days where nothing went right. We were at a 4-story office building near the Target on Route 37, and before 10 AM I got calls about backed-up sinks on floors 2 and 3, plus a main line issue in the basement. Turns out some contractor had flushed concrete washout down the toilets during a renovation a year ago (go figure) and it had finally settled in all the wrong spots. Has anyone else dealt with that kind of cascade failure where everything fails at once?
Used to always cut out the old cast iron flange and replace it with a new PVC one. Took like 45 minutes every time and I hated dealing with the hub on those old pipes. Then a guy I was working with on a job site in Denver showed me how he just uses those twist-n-set repair rings. Honestly never even knew they existed. Now I can fix a broken flange in 10 minutes flat. Saves me so much hassle on those older commercial buildings. Has anyone else made the switch to those repair rings? I still feel like I'm cheating somehow.
They did the standard pump-out and said everything looked fine, but two days later the kitchen flooded because they never scoped the lateral line, has anyone else dealt with lazy pumpers skipping the inspection?
Went to a job in Austin last Tuesday for a tenant complaint about banging pipes. Checked the main water pressure first and it was fine at 60 psi. Then I spent 2 hours opening up access panels looking for loose pipe supports or air chambers that might be shot. Turned out the PRV on the roof was failing and sending surges back down... took me another hour to get up there and confirm it. Has anyone else had a PRV go bad without the pressure gauge showing it?
I ran into a building manager at a supply house in Phoenix last Tuesday who said he'd been skipping annual backflow tests on his 10-unit complex for 3 years. He told me "nobody's ever checked on it" and I had to explain the city fines plus the health risk. Anyone else run into property owners who just ignore these requirements?
Was capping off a 2-inch gas line for a restaurant remodel and the tape just crumbled apart under the threads, almost got a leak that would've shut down the whole block. Has anyone else had dope or pipe dope hold way better than tape on high-pressure gas jobs?
I was working on a small brewery setup in Denver last month and the owner wanted something that could handle heavy rinsing without pooling. I went with a trench drain because the floor slope was tricky and I figured it'd be easier to clean with all that yeast and grain debris. It's been about 6 weeks now and honestly it's working great so far, no backups or standing water. But I'm still second guessing if a floor sink would've been simpler for the mop sink connection. Anyone else dealt with this choice and regret it later?
Last spring I did a rush job on a restaurant remodel downtown and slapped in a new backflow preventer without reading the flow arrow on the body. Thought I knew better since I had done a dozen residential ones. Three days later the health inspector flagged it during a walk through and the plumber who fixed it charged me $250 for labor and I had to buy another unit for $150. The kicker was the original one was fine I just had it flipped around and could have saved the whole thing with a second look. Has anyone else made a silly mistake like this on a commercial job that cost way more than it should have?
I was doing a big commercial kitchen remodel in Austin last spring and the owner wanted to use those plastic push-fit fittings everywhere under the sinks. I told him straight up I didn't trust them for hot water lines that see heavy daily use. But he insisted and I figured I'd see how it played out. Eight months later I went back to fix a different issue and checked all those joints, not a single leak or failure. I still prefer copper or ProPress for my own jobs but I gotta admit these newer fittings held up way better than I expected. Has anyone else seen these hold up long term in high use commercial spots?
I was at a supply house waiting for an order and this inspector was telling the counter guy that something like 40% of the backflow preventers he tests in buildings built before 2000 fail on the first go. He said it's mostly those old double checks that never got maintained. Got me thinking about the property I manage, we have one from 1998 I think. Have any of you guys ran into a lot of failures on older units like that?
I picked up a no-name backflow preventer off Amazon for about $80 thinking I was saving money on a restaurant job in Denver. It worked fine for 2 weeks then failed during a pressure surge and dumped water all over the basement kitchen. The health inspector shut them down for 3 days and I had to replace everything plus fix water damage. Has anyone else had a cheap part blow up on them like this?
Went to a new taproom downtown last night and saw exposed copper lines running above the bar. Looked cool but they had no insulation on the hot water return. That's a 3 degree heat loss per foot easy. Has anyone else walked into a place and spotted code violations in the decor?
I was roughing in a bathroom group at a new office building in downtown Phoenix last week. Got all the drains mocked up and was about to pour the slab when a older plumber walked by. He pointed out I had the vent pipe too close to a support column, said it would have been a nightmare to fix later. I moved it six inches over and it only cost me an hour of work. Anyone else have a guy like that who just happens to roll through and catch stuff before it becomes a big problem?
I run a small plumbing crew in Phoenix and we do a lot of restaurant work. Last month I got talked into buying this motorized flue damper for a 200k BTU water heater at a Chili's we service. The salesman said it'd cut gas usage by 15 percent easy. Cost me 800 bucks installed and after a full month of tracking the meter I barely saw a 2 percent drop. The damn thing kept getting stuck anyway and I had to send a guy out twice to unjam it. I think these things are more marketing than anything for most commercial setups. Has anyone else had luck with these or am I just getting played by supply house hype?
Tbh an old plumber named Dale told me last year that PVC on recirc systems was fine as long as you kept the temp under 140. I had a 3-story apartment building in Denver and used PVC for all the recirc returns. After 6 months a joint let go in the ceiling. Flooded two units. Insurance covered most of it but still cost me $4,200 out of pocket. Anyone else had a 'friend' give them bad advice that ended up costing real money?
I keep seeing guys install commercial dishwashers without arrestors and it drives me nuts. Last month I was at a diner in Cleveland where the pipes were banging so loud during rinse cycles you could hear it in the dining room. The installer told me they skip arrestors because they cost $40 and take 10 minutes to put in. But I've seen a 3-inch copper line blow apart from the hammering over time. That repair cost the restaurant $600 and shut down their kitchen for two days. Has anyone else had to deal with a call back because a client insisted on skipping the arrestor?
I was wrapping up a restroom renovation at that Armitage elementary school off North Avenue when the Cleaver-Brooks unit just locked out on me around 3 PM. Took a good 45 minutes digging through the manual to realize a cheap limit switch had failed and it was a 30 dollar part. Has anyone else had these newer boilers throw codes over something that simple or am I just getting unlucky?
So my uncle who's been doing commercial work since the 80s kept saying tape is for water, gas needs dope. I figured he was just old school and ignored him on a 4 inch gas line job last month. Had a leak at the first fitting I tested. Redid it with pipe dope and it sealed up perfect. 45 minutes of extra work for nothing. Has anyone else had a gas fitting hold with tape for a while or am I just lucky it failed right away?
Got a call about slow floor drains on the 3rd floor. Snaked it for an hour, nothing. Pulled the cleanout and it was bone dry. Turned out a maintenance guy dropped a roll of paper towels down a vent pipe on the roof last month. Had to go floor by floor with a camera to find the blockage. Anyone dealt with a clog that wasn't where you expected?
I was at the Costco on 7th Street last Tuesday doing a supply run and used their restroom. The whole sink area had no floor drain at all, just tile on top of concrete. Water was pooling right by the base of the urinals from people washing up, and it had nowhere to go. Who signs off on a commercial build without a single floor drain in a high traffic bathroom? Has anyone else seen this kind of shortcut and had to deal with the consequences later?
Been doing commercial plumbing for about 8 years now. Last Tuesday I was at a restaurant in Austin fixing a backed up urinal. Old building manager walks up and asks why I'm using a standard plunger. Told him it always worked fine. He just shook his head and handed me a full size commercial plunger with that extra cup flange. First push cleared it instantly. Realized I'd been fighting gravity and air gaps for years on big jobs. The extra rubber on those commercial plungers creates way better seal on 3 inch drains. Felt like an idiot standing there with my basic hardware store tool. Makes me wonder what else I've been cutting corners on without knowing. Anybody else have that moment where you realized your basic tool kit was missing something obvious?
I was on a routine inspection at a downtown Phoenix office tower when the third floor suddenly lost all water pressure. Turns out a contractor had bumped a shutoff valve in the ceiling crawlspace while running new ethernet cables. Had to climb up there with a flashlight and find the right 2 inch gate valve in the dark. Anyone else deal with random valve knocks from non-plumbing trades?
Ngl I was about to call a hydrovac truck for a 1500 gallon grease trap at an old diner downtown. Thing was caked solid after they closed for 6 months. Old plumber walks by as im staring at it, tells me to dump a case of cheap root beer down it and let it sit for 24 hours. Figured what the hell, it beat paying $800 for a pump out. Came back next morning and the stuff had broken up enough to rod through without a hitch. Anyone else ever try something weird like that for a stubborn blockage?