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I guess I'm lucky to live where I live. All of us neighbors chip in to help each other. I have a landscaper, a garage door service person, a financial advisor, a contractor, a car mechanic next to me, so we always help our neighbors out.
 
I guess I'm lucky to live where I live. All of us neighbors chip in to help each other. I have a landscaper, a garage door service person, a financial advisor, a contractor, a car mechanic next to me, so we always help our neighbors out.
I bet y’all’s stuff stays broke 🤣
 
I was thinking elderly people might have a hard time with plumbing if they can't bend or can't grip things well. I know I have to get more help with stuff bc I lack the coordination and hand strength.

There are very few people in my area who will help others. Most people will just steal whatever they can. You can't trust people to come in without stealing.
 
I was thinking elderly people might have a hard time with plumbing if they can't bend or can't grip things well. I know I have to get more help with stuff bc I lack the coordination and hand strength.

There are very few people in my area who will help others. Most people will just steal whatever they can. You can't trust people to come in without stealing.
Many years ago, 1981, I was working as a contractor for a couple of weeks at a paper mill in the small town of Newton Falls, New York in the Adirondack mountains.

At the start of the project, I needed to coordinate some equipment to be installed on one of the rewinding machines. I needed a couple of millwrights and their boss. When I went to the bosses office I found out that a couple of the millwrights were out at widow Jones‘s house, fixing a plumbing leak. Apparently they took care of all the widows in town and most of their needs. My guess is they were related somehow to either employees or former employees.

This was a small town that took care of each other.
 
Many years ago, 1981, I was working as a contractor for a couple of weeks at a paper mill in the small town of Newton Falls, New York in the Adirondack mountains.

At the start of the project, I needed to coordinate some equipment to be installed on one of the rewinding machines. I needed a couple of millwrights and their boss. When I went to the bosses office I found out that a couple of the millwrights were out at widow Jones‘s house, fixing a plumbing leak. Apparently they took care of all the widows in town and most of their needs. My guess is they were related somehow to either employees or former employees.

This was a small town that took care of each other.
Then one day the house is sold and I get called to correct all the mistakes the home inspector finds ✌️
 
Then one day the house is sold and I get called to correct all the mistakes the home inspector finds ✌️
That may be in some cases, but likely not here.

Ever been in a paper mill? Ever worked in a paper mill? Ever met a millwright IN a paper mill? They have various specialties in a plant, some mechanical, some plumbing and hydraulics, and some electrical and controls. They know what they are doing. I worked in paper mills in NY (Newton Falls Paper), OH (Champion Paper), ID (Potlatch Paper), MI (Kimberly-Clark) and the far north of Quebec (Canadian International.) You immediately learn a lot of respect for this group of men keeping multi-million dollars of production equipment running smoothly. They can handle any problem in widow Jone's house. Had you lived in this north country town, you'd be at the mill too...;)

Don't know if they still do that kind of thing in many places, helping the locals. This place was a small town and very remote; probably all the local trades were moonlighters whose full time job was in the mill. Newton Falls Paper Mill was closed in 2000 after purchase by Appleton Papers and the work consolidated in Wisconsin. It briefly was opened again with new ownership 2007-2011, but closed again due to declining need for this paper; their specialty at that mill was the thin coated paper used in Time and Sports Illustrated etc. At its peak, the paper mill built numerous Sears style houses, stores, and recreational halls, along with a public water supply, two churches, post office, school house and a hotel for its workers and guests. Who did this construction work? The locals who then worked in the mill.

Yeah, I think they could fix widow Jone's home and satisfy a home inspector (who may also have been a millwright, just saying...) They took care of each other. Knowing the way these guys worked, anyone who did something stupid for Widow Jones, or didn't do the job correctly would get a dressing down from the boss.

https://blogs.northcountrypublicrad...hotos-from-inside-a-north-country-paper-mill/
 
That may be in some cases, but likely not here.

Ever been in a paper mill? Ever worked in a paper mill? Ever met a millwright IN a paper mill? They have various specialties in a plant, some mechanical, some plumbing and hydraulics, and some electrical and controls. They know what they are doing. I worked in paper mills in NY (Newton Falls Paper), OH (Champion Paper), ID (Potlatch Paper), MI (Kimberly-Clark) and the far north of Quebec (Canadian International.) You immediately learn a lot of respect for this group of men keeping multi-million dollars of production equipment running smoothly. They can handle any problem in widow Jone's house. Had you lived in this north country town, you'd be at the mill too...;)

Don't know if they still do that kind of thing in many places, helping the locals. This place was a small town and very remote; probably all the local trades were moonlighters whose full time job was in the mill. Newton Falls Paper Mill was closed in 2000 after purchase by Appleton Papers and the work consolidated in Wisconsin. It briefly was opened again with new ownership 2007-2011, but closed again due to declining need for this paper; their specialty at that mill was the thin coated paper used in Time and Sports Illustrated etc. At its peak, the paper mill built numerous Sears style houses, stores, and recreational halls, along with a public water supply, two churches, post office, school house and a hotel for its workers and guests. Who did this construction work? The locals who then worked in the mill.

Yeah, I think they could fix widow Jone's home and satisfy a home inspector (who may also have been a millwright, just saying...) They took care of each other. Knowing the way these guys worked, anyone who did something stupid for Widow Jones, or didn't do the job correctly would get a dressing down from the boss.

https://blogs.northcountrypublicrad...hotos-from-inside-a-north-country-paper-mill/
Yes, we have had several paper mills and shipyards here. They screw up more plumbing than they repair. I’ve worked on the plumbing inside the paper mills.

I’ve found 2” valves used as couplings in kitchen sink drains under houses.

I’ve found shower risers made out of 6” nipples and couplings.

Basically anything they steal from the shipyard or paper mill to do side work.

I’ve had more calls than I can count of people helping neighbors and friends only to flood their house and have no insurance to replace what was damaged. Free help is not always free.
 
We used to have a paper mill in town. It had some sort of chemical treatment that made the entire town stink. I'm in a small town but people here were raised to take whatever they could get and only help themselves-- even if it meant stealing from their neighbors. The church people are actually the worst about it. They go to church to pretend to be good pious people to cover the fact that they are scumbags. There are only a few actually nice and helpful people left in town. And its not a new thing. My late friend Cordell used tell me about the people in this town who would grift/steal all the time back in the 30s 40s and 50s.

The quality of work probably differs based on location though. Some small towns are nice and friendly and others (like mine) are drug-infested hellholes.

Another thread mentioned accordion drains. I found a picture of the one my friend used (against my advice) before the mice chewed it. You can already see the crud buildup in it just from a couple days worth of use.
newvaniyplumbingmarch3-2021.jpg
 
Preacher story:

So I had a preacher call that was getting granite counters in his bathrooms. A total of 3 lavatories.

He needed me to install his original drop in lavatories after the granite was installed. The granite installer was to remove the existing lavatories and leave them for me to reinstall.

So the granite guys didn’t get finished on time for me to do the installs.

Before the granite guy left he installed one of the lavatories so they would have a sink to use.

The next day I go to install the lavatories and the preacher says that I only need to do two…..one is already installed. The hallway bath was done.

So I install the two master lavatories and note on my invoice that the granite guy installed the hallway lavatory.

6 months later the Preacher calls and says the hall bath lavatory I installed is leaking and ruined his cabinet and the sink moves around on the granite.

I pull invoice and read it. I call him back and tell him that I’ll be glad to correct the issue but I’ll have to charge him because I didn’t install that lavatory, the granite installer did.

The preacher goes crazy and starts yelling. I tell him to calm down and to read the description of work on his invoice. He keeps yelling and says he doesn’t have the receipt.

I hang up. I make a copy of the invoice and take it by his house. He lived 2 miles away…..

He refused to even look at the invoice.

I call him a crook and a cheat to his face and walk off.
 
My friend got screwed over by a preacher. His grandparents recommended the guy to renovate the bathroom. The guy put up a couple of pieces of drywall (not the waterproof kind) around the shower, installed window trim with nails that rusted, didn't finish drywall in the rest of the bathroom, Didn't caulk around the drywall, didn't do anything other than put up maybe 3 sheets of drywall plus window trim & called it a day. Still had over $1k worth of work to do but refused to do any more. Couldn't sue because people would burn his house down for trying to sue a preacher here. There were mushrooms growing out of the drywall gap. My friend had put on some paneling to try to protect the drywall but it peeled away somewhat.
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Wonder why my sump pumps don't work? Both of them looked like this, guess I should check them more often, it hasn't rained for a few years, and there's always something else to do. [Yes, they are in a swamp]. In addition, the magnet at the top of the float had completely rusted away, but that was a relatively easy fix. Not sure I could ever get parts, but the pumps are since discontinued, so looking at new 1/3HP pumps if anyone has recommendations. 8*)

IMG_0001.jpeg
 

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