All Forum Posts by: David Doyle

Colleen

I reccomend Speakman shower heads.

The trick is ,to remove the black rubber water saver insert inside the connector side of the shower head.

Please understand,,,a good showerhead does not increase pressure ,,,,however a clogged showerhead will definately reduce pressure

DD

David 

You need to consult a local family owned plumbing contractor,maybe a father and son team.Get a video inspection done and have them burn you a CD.

You will then know the condition of your sewer line from the house to the street.

Then have them install a "2 way access clean out fitting"in the front yard of the property,,they will install a 4" cap to grade so you can access the main sewer line..When this is done you can cable the drain line forwards or backwards should you have a clog in the future,If your drain line is in good condition without heavy root intrusion,a technician can clear that line in 10 minutes time.

Stay away from handymen with plumbing issues.They are learning to be plumbers on your dime,,,,

Best Regards

DD in Los Angeles

Dear Monica

Its probably a water heater issue

Change out the water heater and see what happens

DD

Dear Catherine

Please shoot us a couple I phone photos here so we can see whats  going on and diagnose,,,

DD

Marcus start of by getting at least 3 bids from licensed plumbers that can pull permits

Try father and son teams .Get a reffeal from a local plumber supply house that sells to contractor only.You may not have to pay 6K

Dave Doyle

Mike 

Are you talking about $4.50 and hour or $45.00 and hour?People are slinging burgers at McDonalds for more than $4.50 per hour,,,

Here in S Calif ,any legitimate contractor in any of the trades is breaking even at 175.00 to 200.00 per hour without a net profit of 8-10%That would bring us up to about $225 to 260.00 per hour in billing numbers,,,,

Wanting to give you a bit of advice if you might accept it Mike,,,,I would go to several local established plumbing supply houses that sell to only licensed contractors and ask for a couple referals for some licensed plumbers maybe father and son teams who have good attitudes,have nice clean trucks ,are cordial and pay their supply house bills on time,,,you cant go wrong with these guys,these guys are serious and the run a legitimate above board business,,,

These are the folks you want to invite to bid on your rehab projects.Hire them and guess what ,,if they like you and u have a "meeting of the minds" they are going to introduce and reccomend other tradesmen in different crafts of the same level of competence and reputation,,,,DD

Sorry Billy I meant to write " flood your house"

DD

Thank you Billy

About the $200 per hour

Please understand,taht does not mean the plumber bills $200 per hour and puts it in his pocket.What that means is in S California that is what "an above ground contractor" who is operating legally paying his taxes licenses,bonds,insurances,gasoloine,marketing ,cell phone,websites and all of the 35 sundry overhead items a legitimate competitive contractor must pay to keep the lights on and trucks on the road.This rate includes a modest 8 to 10% net profit goal.McDonalds targets and gets a 25% net profit .Surely a competent plumbing,HVAC or electrical contractor deserves to make and keep 10 cents for every dollar he takes in ,,dont you agree Billy.

The other issue is we work in a open market,,,No ,,I dont get every job I bid on,,and dont expect to,,,.I would be a very rich man if I got every job I bid on and left quotes.

And one of the contractors first lessons is,,you dont want to- get every job you bid on,,,some clients are very unreasonable about prices and what to expect for their money.

I believe in making money,,but I also believe in giving people their moneys worth. If I make a mistake on a job and my name is on it,,I will go back and correct that work and even loose money on it to keep my good reputation,,,,

Any Mojo can throw a couple rusty pipewrenchs,a propane torch and a couple 5 gallon buckets full of fittings in the back off a run down pick up truck,,,and bingo ,,,call himself an "instant plumber" with no liability insurance ,no plumbers license ,no bond ,and oh yeah,,,no physical address,,,and that fella will work for beer money and a box of chicken wings,,,,but theres a catch,,,if that guy screws up and flood for hose or God forbid ,,,leaves a gas pipe loose and blows the roof off your house,,,[yeah,ive seen it,,] you're probably going to have a hard time finding him,,,OH yeah by the way its impossible for these guys to pull plumbing permits for your job,,,you see you need a contractors license and workmans comp to pull those pesky ,,,these guys are on every street corner in Los Angeles,,,and yes,,,the charge and work for a Hell of alot less than $200 an hour,,,

I hope this sheds some light on the subject Billy,and Im happy you like my posts,,,I really do want to help people here on BP

Dave Doyle

Los Angeles

George you may want to consider having a local drain cleaning company with a good reputation do a video camera inspection of these suspect drain lines

You may have a foreign object in a line or broken pipe ,out of alignment.Sometimes the earth moves settles and throws pipe out of whack,,,kind of like a broken arm

DD

George please scan and e mail me a simple scratch drawing of the layout,,,,along with pipe sizes ,,,

Top view and side view

Lets see whats going on happy to help

DD