Have a broken exterior faucet that I'm trying to get repaired ahead of some exterior painting I have scheduled in the coming weeks. (They'll need access to a spigot for the prep work.)

I have today and tomorrow off. Got estimates last week, and ended up scheduling a plumber for today. They were one of the cheapest with some of the best reviews. But they called this morning to say they were tied up elsewhere, and wondering if I could reschedule for Wednesday or Thursday. No can do.

So I began calling around to the other plumbers. Nearly all of them said they were booked for the next week or two.

Finally found a company that said they could squeeze me in to come take a look this afternoon. They're also one of the higher quotes, at a good $50-$75 more than some of the others.

So I guess the old adage is true... "Pick Two: Fast, Good, or Cheap".

The company I originally scheduled with was cheap and reportedly good, but slower than they originally quoted me.

Let's hope this faster and more expensive plumber today is good.

It's not an intensive job, just swapping out an old spigot and attached length of pipe. There's even an access panel, so no wall demo needed. It's just beyond my capabilities since it involves sweating copper pipe.

Sweating a copper pipe is a lot easier than it looks. If you have easy access to the area, and a willingness to try, I'd give it a go.

Watch a couple YouTube vids. Sweating is so easy even I can do it.

You can also try the "easy peasy" shark bite connectors.

About two months ago I had to replace the undersink shut-offs for the cold and hot water. Cut the old ones off, sanded the copper pipe, and then press on the shark bite connector.

cut it, sand I,t inside and out on both connections, add some flux, assemble it, heat it with the torch and when it gets hot enough the solder will suck right in. if there is water in the line roll up a piece of bread and shove it up the pipe. super easy.

I thought the old plumber adage was:
Hot is left, cold is right, shit runs downhill and payday is Friday .

quote:

Originally posted by h2oys:
You can also try the "easy peasy" shark bite connectors.

About two months ago I had to replace the undersink shut-offs for the cold and hot water. Cut the old ones off, sanded the copper pipe, and then press on the shark bite connector.

This. I can screw up the easiest things but I was able to repair a busted copper pipe that led to my outdoor spigot with sharkbite connectors. That was a few years ago and thus far it’s held up just fine.

I think those folks in the trades, are busy, busy, busy. One of my best friends owns a plumbing company. He has two problems.
1. Way too much business.
2. Can't find help. The next generation doesn't want to work that hard. They can make a ton of money as an apprentice. But, no, way to hard.
Mike

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:
I think those folks in the trades, are busy, busy, busy. One of my best friends owns a plumbing company. He has two problems.
1. Way too much business.
2. Can't find help. The next generation doesn't want to work that hard. They can make a ton of money as an apprentice. But, no, way to hard.
Mike

It is hard to find qualified help in any trade these days. Then if you do, they either don't show up half of the time or can't pass a drug test or......

Sharkbites and PEX seems simple enough, if you have easy access. Unfortunately, accessing this pipe required squeezing into an access panel that I could only fit one shoulder into.

Here's the access panel. The pipe connection is about 4 feet back on the right, between the tub and wall.



As a result, I don't really mind paying someone else to do it. Plus, when it comes to stuff like electrical and plumbing, I tend to err on the side of caution. I can do minor stuff like replace a busted outlet cover or swap a shower head, but when you get into internal wiring and pipes, I call the pros.


And I did still manage to get my hands dirty in this job. The spigot in need of replacement was mortared into the exterior brick wall. In the process of removing the old one and installing the new one, the old mortar around the hole cracked.

Plumber said he didn't do mortar work, but could put me in touch with a handyman who could fix it for $100-$150.

Instead, I got a $2.79 bag of mortar and did it myself today.

Broken mortar:


New mortar: