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- May 23, 2015
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- Heating Engineer (Has GSR)
Plumbers on this site give out way too much information to DIYers.
Gas related issues are put to a stop immediately.
The people who request information obviously don't like plumbers, or consider the plumbing game to be simple and within their capabilities.
They get stuck on an issue, come on here, and every man and his dog offers them free advice.
Not only that, walk, talk and instruct them through the job.
The poster thinks it great getting free advice from professionals and doing the job and paying nothing for the help or advice.
Would you guy's go to someones house and give free advice on how they could do their own plumbing, tell them where and how to run their pipe work, how to plumb into stacks, how to connect pans...the list goes on.
Maybe time for a re-think on advice to DIY'ers, who need to be walked through the plumbing process and using this site as a freebie.
Gas related issues are put to a stop immediately.
The people who request information obviously don't like plumbers, or consider the plumbing game to be simple and within their capabilities.
They get stuck on an issue, come on here, and every man and his dog offers them free advice.
Not only that, walk, talk and instruct them through the job.
The poster thinks it great getting free advice from professionals and doing the job and paying nothing for the help or advice.
Would you guy's go to someones house and give free advice on how they could do their own plumbing, tell them where and how to run their pipe work, how to plumb into stacks, how to connect pans...the list goes on.
Maybe time for a re-think on advice to DIY'ers, who need to be walked through the plumbing process and using this site as a freebie.
It does start getting a bit ridiculous when a diyer keeps coming on asking really basic questions like - is their soil pipe fittings solvent weld, or push fit.
The person asking how to redo the air in their "Megaflo" and searching for a schrader valve, is another example of a diyer out of their depth.
I give advice sometimes to people I meet, or work for, if it is some small job they fancy doing. I avoid saying much to people that are attempting work that I even find difficult enough, or anything dangerous. Anyone that is fairly wealthy, I will not help, except advice on how to change a tap washer, etc, as they are just being greedy not wanting to let others earn a little
The person asking how to redo the air in their "Megaflo" and searching for a schrader valve, is another example of a diyer out of their depth.
I give advice sometimes to people I meet, or work for, if it is some small job they fancy doing. I avoid saying much to people that are attempting work that I even find difficult enough, or anything dangerous. Anyone that is fairly wealthy, I will not help, except advice on how to change a tap washer, etc, as they are just being greedy not wanting to let others earn a little
M
Masood
I wouldn't normally subscribe to this point of view but in the case of plumduff I agree 100%. Playing with soil/waste pipework when he/she really doesn't have a clue. We should not be assisting with that. We work to standards and regs without thinking about it, so we assume that others are familiar with them, but we have no way of knowing that he/she is going to comply with building regs or even notifying the work...
There was someone a while back who also had zero clue but openly admitted to using the forum to talk her through jobs as she ran a handyman service. That really did boil my weewee.
I'm on the fence.
Forums are for helping people, but then there's the other side of the coin. Can quickly suss the weewee, thanks Mas, takers and the likes of plumduff who will probably come a real cropper.
The real problem is that plumbing is seen as easy, people don't know their limitations and people don't like to be told they are trying to exceed their limitations.
After all, there is the option to ignore.
Forums are for helping people, but then there's the other side of the coin. Can quickly suss the weewee, thanks Mas, takers and the likes of plumduff who will probably come a real cropper.
The real problem is that plumbing is seen as easy, people don't know their limitations and people don't like to be told they are trying to exceed their limitations.
After all, there is the option to ignore.
At time of posting there are 9 members on line and over 300 guests. Informed comment and honest opinion will keep this forum alive. The person in question, will struggle on information given to date, even if they can comprehend it.
Advise to employ gas safe or G3 will get proper respect, if not seen as attempt to protect trade.
If some DIY takes a week to do a day's plumbing it's not competition.
Advise to employ gas safe or G3 will get proper respect, if not seen as attempt to protect trade.
If some DIY takes a week to do a day's plumbing it's not competition.
M
Masood
These two sums it up for me. Thanks lads, was struggling to put my thoughts into words... We should be happy to give advice until we can see that the person will struggle even with our help. At that point a gentle push in the direction of getting a professional in would be taken as honest advice rather than protectionism. Except gas & G3, obviously, but even then, a brief explanation as to why it's a no-no to have a go themselves helps people realise we're not just trying to make money for nothing. Trades do have a bit of reputational damage to repair. Mostly I think this forum gets it spot-on.
Agreed, forums are for learning. I have spent a fair amount of time on motorbike forums over the years. Its how I learnt to strip and rebuild an engine. People took the time to explain to me what needed to be done, gave really helpful tips, advised the best place to buy the required tools etc. This was mostly from people in the trade themselves who are just trying to help out an enthusiast. I wasn't on the forum trying to save money because I couldn't afford to take it to a mechanic, I did it out of a genuine interest in the engine and wanting that sense of achievement when it fired up after I had rebuilt it.
There will be people like this with plumbing, people who have the time and inclination to want to do the work themselves. Being part of this forum you have the option to either help them or ignore the thread completely. Within a few replies you can tell if the person is worth spending the time on or not generally.
There will be people like this with plumbing, people who have the time and inclination to want to do the work themselves. Being part of this forum you have the option to either help them or ignore the thread completely. Within a few replies you can tell if the person is worth spending the time on or not generally.
Agreed, forums are for learning. I have spent a fair amount of time on motorbike forums over the years. Its how I learnt to strip and rebuild an engine. People took the time to explain to me what needed to be done, gave really helpful tips, advised the best place to buy the required tools etc. This was mostly from people in the trade themselves who are just trying to help out an enthusiast. I wasn't on the forum trying to save money because I couldn't afford to take it to a mechanic, I did it out of a genuine interest in the engine and wanting that sense of achievement when it fired up after I had rebuilt it.
There will be people like this with plumbing, people who have the time and inclination to want to do the work themselves. Being part of this forum you have the option to either help them or ignore the thread completely. Within a few replies you can tell if the person is worth spending the time on or not generally.
There will be people like this with plumbing, people who have the time and inclination to want to do the work themselves. Being part of this forum you have the option to either help them or ignore the thread completely. Within a few replies you can tell if the person is worth spending the time on or not generally.
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