Lanx
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Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Lanx
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there has to be a better not shit my pants way of checking?
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I hear what you're saying, but what's going to happen? If you can't smell gas, there's little to no gas there. If you hold a lighter to the joint and it flares a little, you know there's a little leak. If you smell it, you don't light the lighter, you fix it first. You can always do the soap bubbles instead. I've never found them as helpful as a lighter.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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You're tempting me. I'm going to call a couple more plumbers in the morning and see what they say. I might call back the $1600 guys too. I actually have a pretty good relationship with them and maybe if I offer to run the line they would do it for less.
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You're totally capable. Tell them they just have to come and sign off. Pay them the travel time, and a bit more. Save $1000
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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were you thinking about them to drill through the wood or just have them use the hanger things?
Kiroy
Marine Biologist
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jesus
I had a dude run about a 100ft of line and he had to crawl under my house on dirt and about 2 feet of clearance and I paid like 600 bucks including having the stove connection set up and ready to go (I hadn't put it in yet). I think it was 200 parts 400 labor, took him like 2 hours, maybe three. This is california too. It was through the propane folks though, who've been servicing this property for 2 decades and us personally for a few years now.
Drive time was about 40 minutes each way, but we're near pretty large towns in either direction so there's a lot more competition, which could be the difference. If you got like one other outfit you can call I have a feeling the price will be the same.
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With a suspended ceiling you'd think you'd have to drill, right? Depends on how far below the joists the suspended ceiling hangs, I guess. Hangers would certainly be faster and easier.
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Hateyou
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Well they were only $8-9 a piece. No way would I do that if I was doing a huge project. I actually tried the plastic joins and the crimps, bought the cheaper crimp tool and it was insane, I could not even crimp one of the clamps with it. I even put the crimp in a vice and couldn’t get it to close all the way. Said fuck this and went shark bite route.
Whole Project cost me $600. Got it quoted from installers that put in a whole house humidifier for me, they wanted $2100 more for softener and filter...no thanks. It only took me 20-30 minutes to mount that and run all the lines.
Attog
Blackwing Lair Raider
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Hey, thanks for the support. I think I got it squared away, more or less.
I have a two zone system for basement and main floor. I mostly leave the basement off as it stays warm enough down here. There is a little electric motor/solenoid/thingie that opens and closes each zone, so I assume it is most always open for the main floor and closed for the basement.
I think the electric thing is "engaged' and pumping juice through it in "closed" mode. And because I always leave the basement closed, that little motor thing has electricity running through it 24/7/365. I have a pretty tight utility room down here without a ton of clearance and if you accidentally touch that thing, its pretty hot.
I was going to ask if they make them with reversed polarity so I could get one that took current to be in "open" mode, and if it is even worth messing around with it. Probably not, but I was curious.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Yeah, for a small project the money you save on the sharkbite connectors won't even pay for a decent crimping tool. I love sharkbite stuff but it wouldn't be practical to do them for a whole house. Some people don't seal sharkbites up behind walls and such either just because they do have an o-ring in them which could theoretically fail at some point. I have them at are more than 10 years old though and have never had one leak.
Hateyou
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Fortune has smiled upon me. Last night my sister texted and said that she and her husband are coming to visit for the weekend. Her husband just happens to be a plumber. He's going to bring some tools and fittings and we'll run the line on Saturday and hopefully have my new stove in place to cook for the superbowl on Sunday.
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Hateyou
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I hope all the food and beer is on you. Also lol I didn’t even realize super bowl was this weekend.
Let us know how long it takes so we can figure out how bad that contractor was trying to screw you.
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Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
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I’m sure it sounds funny, but Big Dirk is on point with the lighter (or whatever method of QA you choose to employ). Almost every experience I’ve had with receiving “free” help from professional friends/family has been that they do not approach the job with the same work ethic as they have with their paid jobs. Once I recognized this phenomenon I began insisting on paying them the standard rate and then throwing in something I knew they’d appreciate (beer, food, etc) as an extra thank you to further hedge against making them feel slighted.
I’m not saying your brother in law is like this, but I am recommending you expect him to be like this and check the work in a way that doesn’t make him feel like you’re questioning it. I’ve found the best approach to be blaming my “OCD” (that I don’t have) and “perfectionism” (which I sometimes have). So long as I’m humorous and self deprecating (ex: “You know I’m a dumb ass and don’t know wtf I’m looking at if something goes wrong and you’re not here.”), the pushback is usually no more than a sigh and a “ok but I know my work is perfect.” I love when they double down like that because if we do find a problem or an oopsie their pride is on the line and they go over everything with a fine tooth comb.
Hateyou
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Man I’ve always had the opposite experience with my friends and family. Two of my brother in laws and a gaming friend. Whenever they’ve helped with their profession they want to do a good job, idk if it’s trying to impress me or just have real pride. I’m more likely to brush off a minor mistake they make than I would for a contractor, and they don’t really want to/feel bad if they do make a minor mistake.