I love it when Molly puts her paws on the steering wheel and looks out the windshield, lol. Molly’s workin’ again! It’s a leaker mama, great job Steven 👍👍
I wish I had the old radiators in my house instead of the baseboard ones. They are beautiful. The way that tank was installed was shoddy. Definitely the work of a slasher.
You are correct about soldering. It is a dying art. I don't mind soldering, but it looks like crap because I put too much on. I'm happy to see there's some old school plumbers still out there.
Looks like my piping setup. Converted gravity hot water system. Everyone hates them but I love my cast iron radiators! All of them were low hanging. I had it replaced with copper moved up to the ceiling. No more head banging pipes and with smaller piping it gets hot very quick!
I always looked up what the difference was between M and L copper. And you just gave the easiest explanation. Everything I found was technical and complicated.
Thanks for showing us that hacks are alive, well, and making plenty of money. What total slob job that guy had. Using black iron for domestic water on the expansion tank, poor soldered joints, letting dissimilar metals touch each other, using a gas valve for domestic water shut off, creating a huge moment arm by hanging that expansion tank that far back to the fitting? That guy is really REALLY fortunate that tank didn't fill with water, because if it did, his basement would have filled with water too. Its disgusting that someone paid good money to have this crap slopped in there. Great fix. That guy was really smart to address this and have you there to help him!
The problem with hacks is that they know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to do anything right. There's a reason plumbing requires a 5-year apprenticeship and formal schooling to be licensed. Hacks think because they were a helper for a few months that they now have enough experience to install boilers and water heaters on the side and then you get hacked up jobs like this. This is why you don't hire unlicensed people or companies that sub out the work to unlicensed people. They don't know what they're doing and then your home becomes their guinea pig to test out their complete lack of knowledge on. They're cheaper for a reason because you end up paying more down the road. Pay more money, hire a licensed professional, and get it done right, folks.
@@losferwords100 Couldn't agree more. When you get the cheapest bid, 9 times out of 10 you get the cheapest end result. The sad part is when you see people (and I've seen tons of them) that paid the money of a realistic bid, hired the professional they thought was professional, and they end up with a cob job like this. Homeowners are now becoming more educated and actually doing some homework, so at least some of this stuff is mitigated. But it still happens, all the time. Speaking of lowest price, don't get me started on handymen. I think handymen have a place and I respect their profession, but they should stay the hell away from plumbing work. There's a well known Handyman channel on YT and watching his plumbing work is maddening, and of course, all he uses is Sharkbite trash.
@@bullmoosepiper7732 That's another thing. All the new technology and innovations in the trades makes anybody think they can do it. Sharkbites are a perfect example of that. Almost an entirely foolproof product but yet people still install them wrong and they blow off or leak. Sharkbites are the telltale sign of an amateur and/or DIY'er. Handymen love their sharkbites. I've used sharkbites myself as a temporary cap and used them as fixture shut-offs on my own house. I'm just curious to see how long those o-rings will last so I used my own house as a guinea pig. Been 5 years and no problems yet. Still don't have a lot much faith that they'll last more than 10 years. ProPress seems to be the new water connection of choice for contractors. Seeing it more and more out in the wild. But same thing; it's just a glorified sharkbite connection with just an o-ring holding up the seal. I don't see those lasting the test of time either. They've got it for gas piping too, yikes. And now I'm seeing push to connect drain piping, no more glue. I don't know, on one hand I like that the job is being made easier by these innovations but on the other, I don't have much faith in the quality of these innovations over the tried and true ways of doing plumbing. I guess when cast iron was on its way out for PVC, all the old-school guys were saying the same thing about PVC so we'll see. Only time will tell.
@@losferwords100 Good stuff. We are on the same page. The only time I'd use Sharkbite is for an emergency patch until I had the time to get the torch out and properly sweat in a patched copper line. Pro Press is still the new girl on the block and I believe it has its place, particularly when you have to drain down a big building that could take an hour or more to drain. But for residential work? Its attraction is how fast you can throw pipe together and it offers some advantages, but in my opinion, Pro Press joints look bad and the fittings are absolutely outrageous in price. There will never be anything that looks as good as a professionally sweat set of fittings and it is still, in my opinion, the gold standard for connecting copper. It has stood the test of time and passed that test with flying colors. And there are places where a Pro Press simply will not fit. I think it's another tool in the box to have, but I wouldn't make it my main form of connecting. Sharkbites try to make everyone a plumber, and everyone is not a plumber. Cheers to you sir.
@@bullmoosepiper7732 I know they make extensions for ProPress so it can fit into tighter spots but yeah, it's just too expensive. It saves time which will save you money but I don't know about that much money. I'd imagine it'll get a little cheaper over time but I'm not rushing out to get one any time soon. I just got the Milwaukee press tool for PEX just because I work with PEX more than copper these days. Most expensive tool on my truck by a good margin and ProPress is 3x the price. It's indeed outrageous. Guys at the supply house always try to sell me on it. "Most others guys use it!" is like their number one go-to selling point. "That's because most other guys don't know how to solder" is my usual response.
@Patrick Hemken ; @steven lavimoniere; someday, Steve should mount a couple of 'hidden' cameras in the truck, just to see what Miss Molly is up to while he's inside the customer's home/business/building. Heck, for all he knows, she could be operating a 'mobile craps game', roulette wheel, casino - etc...
I am so glad that you solder your joints. Most of them have went to that cramp fittings which I still don't trust. If I have a line where I can't get the water out I use a compression fitting like I seen you used sometimes..
I love the Megalock dope. I do alot of stainless piping and proves tough to make a good seal at times, have tried all brands including the blue block and this product reigns supreme.
Steve I’m a master plumber in Worcester and see these hack boiler installs constantly even with customers I’ve worked for fir years , I ask why I didn’t get the job they said your price was high and I say wel fir that cheap price this is what you get
Just a few tips: -if you have a seized screw fitting, use your blow-torch to heat it and it'll be a lot easier to remove -when soldering copper for Heating use leaded solder and don't quench it with water -you want to heat the thickest part and apply the solder from the opposite side from where you're heating -cut copper pipe with a proper cutting tool. The angle grinder will leave edges that are hard to deburr.
Hey howdy! There was a lot of pipe mess going here and there. Getting the right pipes fitted in the right place should make the customer more comfortable. And you happy with a job done well.
To be technical its aluminum. I work in a school from the 50's and it's everywhere. We still have some paint left. U can leave it uncovered for months and it will never harden Makes u wonder what's in it 🤔
Why not get rid of all of those cast "T" and elbow connections and just replace with copper to reduce the amount of galvanic corrosion in the system? For example the 2" T at 14:00 behind the fitting your working on, with 1" copper on all three sides, with adapters and reducers etc. Just sweat on new 1" copper "T" and remove all those extra fittings? Keep up the good work Steve.
Wow, a day in the life (almost). Thank God my grandad taught me how to sweat pipe. Been a while. Miss Molly sure like working. I haven’t done copper in 20 years. The $$$ is nuts. I’m retired living in Florida. Grew up, up that way. I love the Spring up there. Miss it
That boiler instal actually looks ok , they should've checked their though. Instead of repiping the expansion tank could you have screwed a flange for a split hanger to the top of the boiler and added all thread and a half inch split hanger ? Just wondering. You do great work Steve I am a plumber out of cambridge maryland. I don't know much about boilers. Dad's a plumber to he does boilers , I've always TRIED to learn them but I just haven't got it yet.
Great soldering!! You called it its a dying art Everythings pex pex pex nowadays and I get it pex makes more sense most of the time but at least know how to solder properly if your in the trade. Great video I always appreciate you posting them May God bless you & Molly she is great!!
im a second year and just curious why you wipe the joints right after you apply the solder? is it just to make the joint look nice? because i was taught to wipe the joint after it hardens.
The You here in Asheboro North Carolina was built in 1976. I used to do Maintenance work there. They had a bunch of 1" Cooper Pipe. Everything was worn out there. All of the Faucets dripped. I Quit because I couldn't couldn't fix stuff that was worn out.
you could have have installed a ball valve for the expansion tank, so in the future when it goes bad, you wouldn't have to drain the whole system to replace it. and yes they go bad
Yes soldering is a dying art. I wouldn't but a compression fitting anywhere in my house. Especially those pro press or push on fittings. Not behind my walls. I've been in homes 60 plus years strong and solder joints are still good.
Steve I love watching your videos. Could you take it easy on us Propress guys? I Can solder with the best of them but my time is valuable. if I’m repairing something it’s way easier to use the Propress. Boiler installs on the other hand are to expensive to Propress so, that’s when I Solder. How ya doing mama!
Yup, when in doubt cut it out mama. Guy watching your vids on youtube scored you another customer. At least he can rest assured the job will be done right at the lowest possible price.
