Caught myself using a regular plunger on a commercial toilet for 3 years

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?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jason1mo ago

Dude, YES. I had almost the exact same thing happen to me like two years ago. I was trying to unclog a nasty kitchen sink in a rental property I manage and I was out there huffing and puffing with a basic red plunger from the grocery store. The thing was basically useless. My buddy who does real plumbing came by to borrow a ladder and laughed his ass off at me. He handed me one of those big black bellows style ones and it was like night and day. I felt so stupid for wasting years of my life fighting with the wrong tool. It's one of those things you just don't know until someone shows you, lol. Makes you wonder how many other simple things we just do the hard way.

paul2331mo ago

Always the simple stuff we overlook until someone finally points it out, right?