plumbing pics

Supply House Rick

...must have been dizzy by the time it made it to the sewer! I think it's time for plumbing inspections in Copake!
Rick

singh

Local talent

Can't help it, I have to share these with you.
Rumors have it, the guy who did this is in jail,
but not for the crimes evident in these photos.

Cosmo_3

say what you want

At least he used the purple primer.......


Cosmo Valavanis

Dependable P.H.C. Inc.

Andrew Hagen (ALH)

Jail

is where he belongs. Must have spent more time sniffing the glue than looking for the right fittings. He'll be easy to spot. Just look for the guy with purple rings around his nostrils. ;-)

-Andrew

Sweet_3

Was there an inspection pulled on this??

Dave Stroman

Oh, my god! I hope he did not get paid. Wonder if he drew arrows inside the piping so the little turdies knew which way to go.

Dave in Denver

ScottMP

I did'nt

even know they made 3" wye's like that, uh, is it a wye ??

Thats classic work. They should hang the pictures at Home Despot. See folks, anyone can do it !!

I am sure the house went up for sale soon after he was done.

Scott

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

RoosterBoy

you gota love the venting on that :-)

Weezbo

i just burnt 24 hrs+ daylight and even in my condition it

no looky good*~/:)

thats some heck of a workmanlike manner to avoid if st all possible:) joe homeowner probably got the "Deal " of a lifetime on that job i half expected to see a standard 8X16 proped against the tru the roof vent ...(for alignement purposes ):)

Unknown

This is your drain on drugs.

That's not a 3" wye Scott. It's a WHY?

He used double clean-out fittings. We use to use them for city sewer work. They can only be used lying on their backs with the C.O. branch lookin straight up. They allow you to snake both ways from the branch. I find it amazing that this guy couldn't seem to get anything right. Not one fitting worth saving here.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John Boyer

Local, how local?

Oh my!!!!


Robert O'Connor/NJ

Nick_16

Now, now...

Give some credit to homeowners. Some people do things right and know what they are doing.

Larry Weingarten

C'mon!

You guys is missing the point. This is meant to be GAS LINE! :~O
Yours, Larry

WPH2205

Every time I think I've seen it all, a job like this one comes along. I've got to say that one ranks in my top 10 of the worst jobs I have ever seen. And I'm only looking at pictures. It's got to be worse when you see it in real life.

Carl PE

Sweet

I think that same guy might have done the restaurant down the block here. He didn't use the purple primer on it, though.. must have ran out.

Nice joints on the copper in #7, too.

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Eewww

That's gross, but it probably worked just fine.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

singh

probably not, in my neck of the woods in ny, no lic. needed and it is common to see the gc also part time as building inspector.
I think that may change soon though our area is hot now and many new homes being built, from 250,00 to as much as 6 mil more than half of those are second homes.
this property is a weekend house on a old farm with acerage, what you see is the guest house.

Plumdog_2

purple primer

hey what the heck I see one fitting with no primer. Good thing I ain't the Inspector cause I'd make him cut that one out and do it over.
Next week I'm gonna take pictures of a motor home furnace that was installed inside of a "house" and left to vent directly into an ingenious 3 inch single wall hood affair.
You hillbillies in new york state ain't got nothin when it comes to riggin stuff up so ya ain't gotta pay no plummer.

Constantin

Fascinating...

... with so much effort put into obviously botching the job, you wonder just how much easier it would hav been to do the job right in the first place. All the pipes were accessible, the joist bays open, i.e. it would have been trivial to maximize the interior space and save time by doing it right.

... as should be expected, nothing is vented here, but with a sawzall and a long blade, this butchery can be put to rest quickly or extracted and donated as a sculpture to the local plumbing school hall of shame. Trouble is, with all those dips, sags, and bends, you'll likely encounter all sorts of exciting stuff in the piping (yech!)

Sweet_3

that's true

so much room to work, why not do it right the first time or atleast make an attempt, some people's ethic's just blow my mind.

Sweet_3

I just wish the inspector's

who enforce the purple primer would hold up their end of the deal and inspect job's on a level playing field. imho

leo g_13

C'mon Singh,

tell the truth, you used the paint program to "doctor" these photo's!!!! LMAO!!

I never realized that fittings could be twisted this way!

Oh well, I guess you learn something new evewry day!

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

singh

how many of you plumbers out there use purple primer. I don't, have'nt been called on it yet, and I don't look like Barney when I go home.
stupid code if you ask me, under ground ok, but if you want to check for leaks fill it up with water, purple primer don't mean you got a good joint connection, look at those pics again, I bet they all leak with a 10' of static water column.

ScottMP

exactly !!!

Well said.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Wayco Wayne

The pic

that made me LOL was the vent through the roof. Holy crap!!! WW

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

John Boyer

sweet

Do you really think that work was inspected? I think not. As far as purple primer is concerned, it is code. The only way to insure that plastic doesn't leak is to prepare it with primer. I belive using clear (although not to code) should be allowed in limited applications such as finish work. A sure fire way to get a leak is not to prime. Anyone that claims they never had a leak on non-primed work either doesn't do too much work or doesn't test.

Robert O'Connor/NJ

Constantin

Interesting...

I ran some telco conduit between houses once and used 1" CPVC conduit primed and connected using the primer and glue (I wanted it to stay dry). Later on, I used the same process to build a kitchen drain on the boat. I didn't think using the purple primer was that big a deal... on the other hand, I had perfect access, clean conditions, etc. when using the stuff.

With the attention to detail that some folk here have, the lack of access in most homes, the contortions required to reach a particular spot, etc. I can see why the purple primer would be spread liberally on anyone who uses it a lot in less than ideal conditions. And considering the aversion that most people have to barney, I can understand why they don't want to look like him either.

The solution may be as simple as long nitrile gloves combined with the usual coveralls.

ScottMP

Constantine

Its not the primer here thats the issuie ( although it is Nasty stuff ). Its the code that some must follow that states you have to use the purple primer so the inpsector can tell the joint had primer on it. The clear primer works fine.

How much of an issuie is it that tradesman still don't use primer ??

For a solid joint the two surface must be softened to allow the glue to make a tight bond.

Scott

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Plumdog_2

joking

I only meant to joke about the primer because it is slathered all over the place. The codes also stipulate that the pipe ends must be cut sqaure and burrs removed, and that the pipe be fully seated into and aligned with the socket of the fitting, with no stress at the joint. The photos are a poster case of horrible plumbing; but hey, you gotta chuckle when you see them.

Dave Yates (PAH)

According to the mfgrs

the clear primer actually does a better job because it's not been diluted with dye. Purple primer is retarded IMHO. With a consistancy thinner than water, it's tough to keep your work neat as a pin and God forbid you spill the damn stuff on anything. When I asked the mfg what we should do if spilled, they said the only thing that works is to dilute the stain - immediately - with clear primer!



To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

singh

Let me clear things up.. ; )
I also only use clear primer.
Tough to fit together w/o .
I also use hevy duty or cold weather glue.
The thin stuff takes way to long to stiffen up without holding
the connections for what seems way too long for me.

Sweet_3

I think the only reason

for inspectors wanting the purple stuff is so they can see that primer was actually used. I agree 10 ft. of head will put that question to rest.

Dave Yates (PAH)

lazy

Anyone who cares to investigate solvent-weld joints can tell at a glance if clear primer was utilized by checking the lettering or markings just outside the glue-joint itself. But, that requires actually doing a wee bit of work.

The guy who was the plumbing inspector when I did my own house arrived unannounced and entered my property without permission. I was in the process of glueing together vent lines in the attic and heard him loudly ask where the plumber was hiding. So, I climbed down the ladder - all the while wondering why he was there. Now, up until that day, we'd only used clear primer and had dozens of recent inspections & never once did we ever get flagged. Same for the other plumbing contractors in our township.

He asked what primer I'd used & I offered him the can in my hand that had "BOCA approved" in bold lettering (we were BOCA at the time instead of the new PA state-wide uninformed code). "I don't know why you dummies can't be bothered to read the code book", he said. "Purple primer is the only primer approved for use." I ignored the dummy comment and pointed out the other inspections we'd had - including one just a day prior by one of his own department inspectors all had utilized clear primer. I also noted that I had read the code book and it did mention any local governing body was allowed to permit the use of clear primer. "Tough", he said "You're going to tear out all of this plumbing and start over." I guess he forgot whose house he was in!

It got pretty ugly following that and he tried to put a stop work order on the job. He picked the wrong hill on which to stage a show-down. He was a classic abuser of the powers granted plumbing inspectors. BTW, not one joint in my own plumbing system has purple primer. So long as the rules are consistant and consistantly applied for all, I have no problem going with the flow.

A few months later, we had a commercial installation in progress and I assigned one of our newest Journeymen to handle the underground drainage. Very tight time-line by the GC, so time was of the essence. Gave our guy his $$$ to pick up the license since the site was close to the twp offices. Lois & I were at her father's funeral & I'd lined up the day's work in advance so we could be undisturbed. When our guy went to pick up his Journeyman's license, this inspector refused to give it to him and threw all of my mechanics off of the job site because there wasn't a card-carrying Journeyman on site.

Following my eight-page letter detailing his abuses (it was a very long list) to the township officials, he was demoted during an executive session and just barely held onto his job. Long & short of it? He's not the inspector anymore and is only allowed to inspect if the other inspectors are away.

Speaking of ten feet of head: we now have a new inspector (in another area) who says only a fully calibrated gauge with the tenths of Lbs written out on the dial face (simple slash-marks between the Lb markings will not be accepted) is approved. I asked if a ten-foot tall piece of pipe filled with water to overflowing at the very tip-top of the stack would suffice? Nope.

The newly adopted PA Uninformed Code has more loopholes than the IRS code and is rife for abuse by any individual who wants to throw around authority. Given that it took eight years to pass this code, you'd think they'd have geared up to train inspectors. Not a chance. They're about 8,000 shy of what's needed and new inspectors are popping up like whack-a-moles in a county fair game - without any training. They've got a grace period of two years to "learn" the code - during which time, we get to help train them. D'OH! The confusion and peculiarities of code amendments between township lines is a thousand times worse than it was before. Mechanical contractors in my area, as one, have stopped obtaining permits unless we're working where we can't avoid them.

Meanwhile, no enforcement is taken beyond governing those who carry a plumbing license. Everyone else gets a free ride! So, the character who did the most excellent plumbing as shown above would not be fined or prosecuted and no one would make an effort to force him (or her) to get that replaced.



To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Sweet_3

Right, you hit it dead on the head.

Between discrepency's of state, county and city code requirements, good ole boy acceptions to the rule and inspectors attitudes on a given day it's a never ending crap shoot of what will and wont be passed. Not to mention the fact that if anything catostrophic were to go wrong with an code approved install ,the administrative authority holds NO liability. It's a sham. Did I hear MONEY!!

rick in Alaska

ugly plumbing

In my neck of the woods (lower Kenai peninsula), plumbing like this is not uncommon at all. The only difference is that we use abs piping instead of pvc. The most common drainage fitting sold at the local hardware store is a 4" san tee, and is commonly found mounted on it's back with s-trap drains tying right in to it.
I have people saying that they really don't care if it is code or not because we don't have any codes in force here. what I usually tell them is that we do have codes here, it's just that they are not usually enforced because there is only one inspector to cover all of our area. And by area, I mean he has something like a 2 t 3 hundred mile radius to cover by himself. I am not sure of the exact count, but if you eliminate Anchorage, there is something like 6 or 7 inspectors for the entire state of Alaska. Huge territory. We will see our inspector about once a month when he comes through. Unless there is a big commercial project going on, he usually just drives around looking for houses being built, and stops in for an inspection. Not many people being stopped.
Well, work like what you are looking at here is what keeps me in business doing repairs. One of these days we might have more enforcement, but not in the near future. I guess I'll have to just keep on repairing and educating.
Rick in Alaska

tls_9

If....

you'd said this was in west central pa, i would have thought my father in law did that!

He can be very scary when he gets out his tools.

tom

Al Corelli

Purple Primer

I think that guy may be out of prison and painting cars for GM.

Looks like he got purple primer on my new truck.

(at least he missed the Z06 and the Harley.)

Constantin

I hear you Dave!

So much of a good relationship between the triangle of inspectors, tradespeople, and homeowners is that everyone has done their homework, behaves professionally, etc. In an ideal world, everyone would be qualified before they do any work, have lots of hands-on experience, and be screened psychologically to ensure that the unfit are either retrained or put into positions of no harm.

Trouble is, only law-enforcement makes even a cursory attempt at figuring out who wants to be a Napoleon... I am happy to note that you were able to pick your fights carefully so that you could have a big impact on the career of the abusers that tormented you.

As for the debate of clear vs. purple primer, I wasn't aware of any strength differences. I learn something new here every day! When I was building drains and the like, the purple primer was advertised as the only material to make transitions between different types of plastic, IIRC.

Besides, it would be trivial to put in a UV-activated dye instead of purple dye that shows up beautifully under black light and not at all under normal lighting conditions. Then, you'd not even have to look carefully or risk looking like Barney at the end of the day. However, you'd be the talk of the town at the local discotheque if you didn't get it all off of you.

Mitch_4

C'mon guys..its not a drain system..its a

security system...the last picture clearly shows it block access to would be thieves. The non straight joints show that someone tried, and the system held..if a thief is successful in penetrating the ssytem...they get covered in s**t for their effortd. Very ingenious I thought.

Michal

the answer is simple

The guy sat in that truck and spilled some primer while sniffing it, thats why he had no brain cells to do a decent job. In all Honesty, If you going to do illegal work, at least try to do it Half A## decent.

I though the golden rule was all S##t must flow downhill???, LOL if you achieve that, it will work, LOL
Guess the little arrows he drew inside the pipe work, LMAO

Steamhead

That's one of two golden rules

the other is: Friday's payday!