I wasn't planning to do any plumbing work. I've been procrastinating on installing my Reverse Osmosis unit for 2 1/2 years. About 2 years ago I called on my previous preferred plumber (now no longer in business and not necessarily missed) to install it, and the two plumbers who came out that day refused to install it because a hole needed to be drilled in my formica countertop, and the lead guy said "We are plumbers, and plumbers do not do that." They did install two faucets and new hookups for washing machine and dishwasher that day anyway. But the RO project sat on hold. I tried to get my previous contractor Ronnie to do it, he said he would before finishing the workshop. I dismissed him, and for many good reasons, before that.
It started out with water on top of the lowboy electric water heater, which at first I thought was coming from the piping connected to the water heater expansion tank, and I'd been noticing problems that suggested the expansion tank wasn't working for at least a year or so. That should have been dealt with immediately, a year ago, since expansion tank failures can cause explosion or flooding.
So now seeing water, I called the plumber, same company I called in January and liked very much, but this time they sent Ronnie instead of Ian.
Just after I called, I noticed that the A/C technician had forgotten to replace the drain cleanout cap. It was sucking a bit of air, and that could explain the water. It was dripping from the A/C evaporator coils. There was no sign of water on anything (I checked that before calling the plumber) but apparently water was dripping through the HEPA filter media. That would explain the problem, and after I put the cap back on, and cleaned the top of the water heater, there was no sign of water again.
Anyway, I had called the plumber, and he should check the expansion tank. I explained to him the problems, including the occasionally dripping kitchen faucet (when handle is turned to hot, but not cold). He didn't see how expansion tank could cause overpressure at first. But he did know how to fix the expansion tank. He brought out a bicycle pump and pumped the internal bladder to about 60psi (which he said was the best he could do and about right). He didn't think the water pressure, as such, needed testing, he said he could tell when it was too high and mine wasn't. That seemed a bit slacker, but I agreed with him. This had all been done in about 15 minutes.
Anyway, he said he could only charge me for the service call, $39. I paid cash. It was about 3pm. I then asked about the Reverse Osmosis. He said he could drill the hole, and he could install it this afternoon. He showed me the price in his book, $405. There was another price there too, $330, but he said that was part of a special prepaid program they no longer did. I decided that though $405 sounded high, it was including drilling the hole (which could cost $150 or so just to get the carpenter out) and it could be done RIGHT NOW. So I decided to go for it.
It took only about 45 minutes to install the RO, including drilling the hole. For all the talk about being careful with the formica, using tape, etc, he didn't bother to use tape or any of that. He just got out his big drill and drilled. Wham. At first he though there might be a problem with the water supply coupling. Later he just said it wouldn't be a problem. Finally, before he finished, I asked again, and he explained that the plastic tubing was 1/4 inch and fit the compression fitting just like metal tubing would, so there was no problem.
Then I asked about the refrigerator icemaker hookup. He said he could do that too. He said asked if I needed a price first. No, I said, go ahead and do it. He found he needed an extra extension tube (since one tube wasn't long enough) so he went to the plumbing store, from 4:00 to 4:45. By 5:00 he had the refrigerator hooked up, and brought me the bill for $765 total. $360 was charged for the icemaker hookup. That seems way too much, $765 for less than 2 hours work, relatively easy work (or so he made it seem, fortunately) and I plan to complain to the company.
The work did seem well done, however, except the cleanup (which took me about 40 minutes) of sawdust everywhere. And it was important that it finally got done, a big step forwards.
Fixing the expansion tank and A/C were even more important. It was a good thing I noticed something was amiss this afternoon.
It started out with water on top of the lowboy electric water heater, which at first I thought was coming from the piping connected to the water heater expansion tank, and I'd been noticing problems that suggested the expansion tank wasn't working for at least a year or so. That should have been dealt with immediately, a year ago, since expansion tank failures can cause explosion or flooding.
So now seeing water, I called the plumber, same company I called in January and liked very much, but this time they sent Ronnie instead of Ian.
Just after I called, I noticed that the A/C technician had forgotten to replace the drain cleanout cap. It was sucking a bit of air, and that could explain the water. It was dripping from the A/C evaporator coils. There was no sign of water on anything (I checked that before calling the plumber) but apparently water was dripping through the HEPA filter media. That would explain the problem, and after I put the cap back on, and cleaned the top of the water heater, there was no sign of water again.
Anyway, I had called the plumber, and he should check the expansion tank. I explained to him the problems, including the occasionally dripping kitchen faucet (when handle is turned to hot, but not cold). He didn't see how expansion tank could cause overpressure at first. But he did know how to fix the expansion tank. He brought out a bicycle pump and pumped the internal bladder to about 60psi (which he said was the best he could do and about right). He didn't think the water pressure, as such, needed testing, he said he could tell when it was too high and mine wasn't. That seemed a bit slacker, but I agreed with him. This had all been done in about 15 minutes.
Anyway, he said he could only charge me for the service call, $39. I paid cash. It was about 3pm. I then asked about the Reverse Osmosis. He said he could drill the hole, and he could install it this afternoon. He showed me the price in his book, $405. There was another price there too, $330, but he said that was part of a special prepaid program they no longer did. I decided that though $405 sounded high, it was including drilling the hole (which could cost $150 or so just to get the carpenter out) and it could be done RIGHT NOW. So I decided to go for it.
It took only about 45 minutes to install the RO, including drilling the hole. For all the talk about being careful with the formica, using tape, etc, he didn't bother to use tape or any of that. He just got out his big drill and drilled. Wham. At first he though there might be a problem with the water supply coupling. Later he just said it wouldn't be a problem. Finally, before he finished, I asked again, and he explained that the plastic tubing was 1/4 inch and fit the compression fitting just like metal tubing would, so there was no problem.
Then I asked about the refrigerator icemaker hookup. He said he could do that too. He said asked if I needed a price first. No, I said, go ahead and do it. He found he needed an extra extension tube (since one tube wasn't long enough) so he went to the plumbing store, from 4:00 to 4:45. By 5:00 he had the refrigerator hooked up, and brought me the bill for $765 total. $360 was charged for the icemaker hookup. That seems way too much, $765 for less than 2 hours work, relatively easy work (or so he made it seem, fortunately) and I plan to complain to the company.
The work did seem well done, however, except the cleanup (which took me about 40 minutes) of sawdust everywhere. And it was important that it finally got done, a big step forwards.
Fixing the expansion tank and A/C were even more important. It was a good thing I noticed something was amiss this afternoon.
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