Misstakes...?

[Phil]

I was fitting a shower with some of that tounge and groove pvc shower panels (horrible stuff). The panel behind the electric shower was especially difficult and took 2 attempts as there was a spare panel. I got it right in the end and then slid the other vertical panels in and locked it in place. Fitted enclosure.

Last finishing touch was to fit the riser rail, my drill bit snapped and I punched a hole 2 inches away from where I was drilling through the difficult panel and there were no spares.
At that exact moment customer came in to see how I was doing so I paniced and moved something in front of it, sorted now though.

 

[WaterTight]

customers should be banned from their own houses while work

 

[jaybob]

customers should be banned from their own houses while work

agreed 🙂

 

[Guest123]

Sent 2 almost identical quotes to 2 different customers. One was a family friend and her quote was at almost cost price. The other quote was a lot higher. Sent the quotes to the wrong people and the cheaper one was accepted and I lost the friend as she thought I was too dear and trying my luck with her!

Ah well you win some, you lose some but I double check adresses now!

 

[Destroyer2813]

Remember to shut the window your drilling under, stood up crack three inch gash in my head blood everywere

 

[WaterTight]

Oh don't get me started on injuries I didn't think we were including those. I can mutilate myself in my living room so on the job I'm essentially a horror film. I cracked my head on a toilet handle so many times in a row when working behind an adjascent basin I ended up wrapping it in toilet roll and ran gaffa tape round it to soften the inevitable blows. And yes, I forgot to remove it. Customer must have been properly confused.

 

[Anton]

In all the lofts I've been in and floorboards lifted over the years, I have never been through anyone's ceiling.
Yet I've done it 3 times in my own house in 22years. There must be a moral there, just can't think of it at the moment.

 

[Guest123]

. There must be a moral there, just can't think of it at the moment.

Yes, don't tempt fate!

 

[ryanlee]

THese are brilliant!!Had plenty of injuries and plenty of cock ups. One of my best was when we had a contract to install a load of stop taps on an estate of flats that for some reason didnt have any for individual properties. Most of the outside mains taps were knackered so we had to freeze a lot of them. Froze up a 35mm pipe left it about 10 minutes or so, cut pipe, put on the fiitings needed, turned around to get spanners and boom... 35mm ice plug shoots 4m accross kitchen, never seen so much water in my life. tried to hold back water with my hands , no chance. 2 sparks run in, and fairplay to them, didnt stand there laughing but one drilled a hole through external wall and started bailing water out the window and the other wrapped a tea towel onto the end of a broom handle and jammed it in the pipe and between us we managed to stem the flow slighty. By this time there were about 5 people involved. Whilst we held the broom in place a big strapping polish lad got the fittings and stop tap assembled and ready to go on the pipe and on the count of 3 we let go of the broom and the polish lad rammed the fittings( there was a lot of polish swearing ) on whilst 2 people tightened it up. Luckily was ground floor flat. there was about 2 inches of water in every room, had to replace all flooring and redecorate some rooms. Everyone was drenched to the bone but we were laughing about it an hour later. Never known sparkys be so helpful!!

 

[Phil]

THese are brilliant!!Had plenty of injuries and plenty of cock ups. One of my best was when we had a contract to install a load of stop taps on an estate of flats that for some reason didnt have any for individual properties. Most of the outside mains taps were knackered so we had to freeze a lot of them. Froze up a 35mm pipe left it about 10 minutes or so, cut pipe, put on the fiitings needed, turned around to get spanners and boom... 35mm ice plug shoots 4m accross kitchen, never seen so much water in my life. tried to hold back water with my hands , no chance. 2 sparks run in, and fairplay to them, didnt stand there laughing but one drilled a hole through external wall and started bailing water out the window and the other wrapped a tea towel onto the end of a broom handle and jammed it in the pipe and between us we managed to stem the flow slighty. By this time there were about 5 people involved. Whilst we held the broom in place a big strapping polish lad got the fittings and stop tap assembled and ready to go on the pipe and on the count of 3 we let go of the broom and the polish lad rammed the fittings( there was a lot of polish swearing ) on whilst 2 people tightened it up. Luckily was ground floor flat. there was about 2 inches of water in every room, had to replace all flooring and redecorate some rooms. Everyone was drenched to the bone but we were laughing about it an hour later. Never known sparkys be so helpful!!

Funny!

Although I'm curious, "one drilled a hole through external wall and started bailing water out the window"

Do you mean at floor level in a decorated house?

 

[Resolute]

THese are brilliant!!Had plenty of injuries and plenty of cock ups. One of my best was when we had a contract to install a load of stop taps on an estate of flats that for some reason didnt have any for individual properties. Most of the outside mains taps were knackered so we had to freeze a lot of them. Froze up a 35mm pipe left it about 10 minutes or so, cut pipe, put on the fiitings needed, turned around to get spanners and boom... 35mm ice plug shoots 4m accross kitchen, never seen so much water in my life. tried to hold back water with my hands , no chance. 2 sparks run in, and fairplay to them, didnt stand there laughing but one drilled a hole through external wall and started bailing water out the window and the other wrapped a tea towel onto the end of a broom handle and jammed it in the pipe and between us we managed to stem the flow slighty. By this time there were about 5 people involved. Whilst we held the broom in place a big strapping polish lad got the fittings and stop tap assembled and ready to go on the pipe and on the count of 3 we let go of the broom and the polish lad rammed the fittings( there was a lot of polish swearing ) on whilst 2 people tightened it up. Luckily was ground floor flat. there was about 2 inches of water in every room, had to replace all flooring and redecorate some rooms. Everyone was drenched to the bone but we were laughing about it an hour later. Never known sparkys be so helpful!!

Fair play! However as much as we moan about other trades in my experience I've known plumbers, sparks, brickies, plasters etc all pull together when it's really needed - give each other **** all day but in an emergency will all bail each other out!

 

[WaterTight]

except the builders of course

they're down the bank with everyone's money

 

[tamz]

Here is a good one. Not so much a mistake as a learning experience.

I was an apprentice at the time and my tradesman and i were sent to change a 2" stopcock in a school. The stopcock was in a small basement boilerhouse. 2 big solid fuel boilers heating the place nice.
We had a look around outside but couldn't find the main valve so old Bill decides we'd do it live as it would be good experience for me. We shut it down and disconnected a bit pipework "to give us room to work".
He handed me the stilsons and told me to undo the valve. I had about a turn to go on it when it blew off hitting the far wall. 10 bar of pressure from a 2" pipe is a fair bit of water, believe me. He handed me the new valve and told me to open it up and get it on. Thing was because the old valve had blown off it had wasted the threads of the nut and it wouldn't catch.
I messed about with it for a bit until the water was a foot deep on the floor. Don't worry son just cut the old nut off, i'll go get a hacksaw. By the time he came back the water was up over my knees and running into the boilers putting them out. The place was like a turkish bath with the steam.
Billy sticks his head in and threw the hacksaw in my general direction because he couldn't see me for steam and "couldn't swim". Took me about 5 minutes to find it under the water then another minute or 2 to cut the pipe and get the new valve on.
I got it on and stopped the flow but the water was nearly up to my waist and i was like a drowned rat.
Well done son. Come out and have a ***! As we walked up the stairs the fire brigade came in the gates as someone had reported the place on fire. Here thats handy says Billy, Just in time to pump the place out :smile:
Nobody bothered too much. It was just one of those things that happen. Changed days!