Why does it always seem to take 3 trips to make plumbing repairs?
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when you learn how to count yur in fer a surprise....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
hey, ditch....where ya been ?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
It has to do with the same reasoning that makes it possible to buy anybody's 2X4, anybody's wall switch, anybody's drywall compound, anybody's paint.......
But you gotta get just the right size/style/brand pf part for plumbing.
Three trips? That's an excellent day to me.
3 trips to where? I get bent out of shape if I need to make a trip to one of the sheds farther in the back where all the plumbing fittings are stashed.
Are you saying you dont have a supply at home and you actually make a separate trip to a store for parts or lumber <G>
I read a story once about the "3 trip rule".
A guy went to a hardware store to get some stuff to do a plumbing job. Whe he checked out the manager walked by and said "See you soon". The guy asked him what he meant, and the manager said "All plumbing jobs require 3 trips to the store. So you'll be back here shortly."
The guy didn't think much of it. But as he got into the job he realized that he did in fact need something. So he went back to the store to pick up more stuff. When the manager saw him he said "I told you that you'd be back. And you still have one more trip to go".
On the third trip to pick up stuff, the guy went to a different hardware store.
Reminds me of when I had to replace a leaking stop under our kitchen sink. I couldn't really just take the old one off and go get one as our water system would have to be out of commission because the idea was just to pick one up on the way home from work and there were other people at home. So, I go to the big box with a "real good idea" of what I need. I get there and they have like 15 different stops!!!! I think it did take me 3 trips but only because on the 3rd I bought like 4 different stops thinking that one would fit. OK - 4 trips if you include me going back again to return the 3 that weren't the right ones...
Answer to why does it take 3 trips?
a) because I'm not a plumber b) because I hate plumbingc) because I don't know what I'm doingd) all of the above <<-------------------------------BINGO!!!
Yeah, that's me. After 3 trips I go to a different store (or wear a disguise).
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I don't think I know the answer to your question, but I agree with IMERC and Dam Inspector- Three trips is the absolute minimum on a good day. One project recently I had to make like three trips to the local hardware store plus two to a ( not so local) plumbing supply house for parts the hardware store didn't carry. And this was just for a lousy bathroom remodel- only like a 64sq. ft. room! Granted I'm more a carpenter then a plumber but still, for someone who's been in the business for 5 years you'd think I could do better:( Like I said I don't know the answer but I guarantee I've asked the same question plenty of times. Of course when I have a project that requires calling my plumber it seems like he always has the right stuff the first time, which only makes me feel worse. But I suppose that's why he's the plumber and I'm the contractor/ carpenter!
I'm glad to know it's not just me.
Paul
with the price of gas and the wear and tear on trucks this is a no-no for the self employed. It happens to me all the time and it takes dollars out of my pocket, for the life of me I cant figure a solution to the three trip deal. stinky
Tht's why I take a picture of the plumbing area I'm working in and a pic of the part I'm replacing. When I go to the store I can show the dude what I'm doing and what I want to replace. This usually cuts my trips down
Great ideaI am going to use thatThanks
I NEVER make more than 1 trip per job.Let's use a faucet handle repair for example.Here's the secret;STEP 1.
Make a parts list and go to store.STEP 2.
Pick up a pack of felt washers, 4 shut offs, 15' of 1/2", 3/8", 5/8" and 3/4" copper, galv., iron, and pex each., A new disposal, couple different handles, variety of repair kits, sink, 3 of each fitting from the entire aisle, bag of Quickcrete,(hey you never know)and than a snickers at the check out line.STEP 3.
Make repair. STEP 4.
Go to next job. STEP 5.
Make new parts list.STEP 6.
Go to store with new list, return everything not needed from previous repair or not on the new list. Use credit from returns and repeat step 2. One job one trip and the service desk will love you. Reminds me of a funny and true story about returns.Buddy finished up a large trim job. Type with 5 1/4" dentil crowns and the like. He had a full pickup bed left of cut offs and scrap and I do mean scrap, 6" pieces with miters etc... Well he was already jaded from needing an extra 7' piece of casing at some point in the job. When he went and picked up an 8' stick than using the little hand saw station in the millwork aisle he cut it down to like 7' 1/2" to account for the wicked tear out caused by those brutal bent up saws. At check out they insisted on charging him by the foot for the full 8' because of that extra 1/2".His personal jab at the corporate structure was to in turn to now take all that scrap and cram it into 2 shopping carts heaping full. Pushing one cart in front and pulling the other behind him went strait to the store's returns desk, to yes make a return of items purchased unneeded. After some 3 or more managers and an 1 hour later he got his hundred and some bucks back in store credit.His beef was "Hey, look here you sold it to me by the lineal foot, no, no, lineal inch and if I went back there right now and cut a 1" chunk you'd charge me for an entire foot of it. Now there's nothing wrong with this stuff, it isn't broken in anyway, you'd sell it to somebody else by the foot, so there isn't any reason I can't return it by the foot." The miracle he had going for him too was in those departmentalized shopping carts behind the counter, full of others' returns waiting to go back to their place's on the shelves was some home owners 4' chunk of trim they must have picked up for comparison or something.
>>"STEP 2. Pick up a pack of felt washers, 4 shut offs, 15' of 1/2", 3/8", 5/8" and 3/4" copper, galv., iron, and pex each., A new disposal, couple different handles, variety of repair kits, sink, 3 of each fitting from the entire aisle, bag of Quickcrete,(hey you never know)and than a snickers at the check out line."Nope -- never gonna be good enough. You didn't ask for the secret stuff they keep behind the counter -- its the stuff that matches up to the old-style pex.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Like another poster said, buy anything you might remotely need plus a few fernco fittings, plus extras, then when you have go back for a second or third trip you'll have less to buy. Been there, done that more times than I can count.