[TheForge] housekeeping

[paul]

terry l. ridder wrote:
> hello;
>
> On Sat, 21 Oct 2006, kim george wrote:
>
>>
>> Well I've started my semi decadeal shop cleaning and reorganization.
>> Pray for me :-))) I normally wouldn't do it right now but i got a
>> new tool and have to find a spot for it.
>>
>
> i have had to do this several times a year lately. the three grown
> children have all returned home with their respective household items.
> finding room to store basically 3 kitchens worth of pots and pans,
> dishes, etc and 3 tv's, dvd players, vcrs, etc.
>
> then throw in electrical repairs because the mice have decided that the
> insulation on the romex electrical cable to just so yummy to eat. i have
> had to open up several walls to get to the wiring so the garage/shop
> looks like a mini-lowes with a stack of wallboard and lumber. there are
> currently three rooms that have open walls and need to be drywalled by
> the holidays.
>
> i have found several tools that through some miracle have found their
> way home back to the garage. so i have not one but four electric
> sanders, three hand drills, four electric drills, many screwdrivers
> and pliers. my hammers have somehow multipled from one claw and two
> ball-pien hammers to 4 claw hammers and five ball-pien hammers.
>
> then there is this weekend's project, replumbing the house. replacing
> the aging galvanized steel pipe with copper pipe. fixing many of the
> mistakes and cheap shortcuts taken by the original lazy plumbers when
> the house was built.
>
>>
>> Kim George
>>
>>      "Why for you burry me in cold,cold ground?" Taz
>>
>
Where do I start...

'lazy plumber'...

I have been a master plumber for 20+ years, and have been in the trade 
since 1968. In that time it has been my experience that  'mistakes and 
cheap shortcuts' are the result of inexperienced and incompetent  
handymen, untrained hacks that call themselves plumbers and unskilled 
homeowners rather than skilled  and trained craftsmen.  The presence of 
'aging steel pipe' speaks  more to  the age of the home than the 
competence of the installer. Screwed galvanized water pipe and waste 
pipe were still common as little as thirty years ago.

Romex is present because the builder did not want to spend the extra 
money for BX cable, not because some 'lazy electrician' didn't want to 
drag BX though the holes that he had just drilled, the same holes that 
would have easily passed BX in stead of romex.

It may be frustrating to have your children return home after beginning 
lives on their own, but your frustration with the condition of your home 
is no reason to insult honest craftsmen.

paul