Whatcom Sheriff

Rarely does a plumber get involved in politics (yeah rite), but this is important.

Whatcom County desperately needs a new sheriff and Deputy Harris fills the bill nicely. Not because he rides a motorcycle, belongs to the Freemasons (I'll be at the next meeting, I promise), has young children (a stake in the community), on and on and on.

Here is his bio via the Herald:

Name: Steve Harris
Age: 43
Family: wife Lillian; children Brittany, 22, Cole, 11, Emily, 6.
Education: high school graduate; attended junior college (no degree); hundreds of hours of job specific course work and continuing education credits.
Work experience: full-time deputy with Whatcom County Sheriff's Office since January 1998 with last eight years as detective; co-owner of a local business for almost two years; worked in the commercial refrigeration industry.
Civic experience: Scottish-Rite of Freemasonry, Valley of Bellingham executive board, February 2011-present; Scottish-Rite Scholarship Foundation of Washington, assistant director Bellingham, September 2010-present; Public Safety Employees Insurance, Inc. board, January 2010-present; Whatcom County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild president, November 2007-February 2011; Hannegan Speedway (MBMC, Inc.) president, 2009; Hannegan Speedway finance secretary, 2006-07; Whatcom County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild first vice president, 2007; American Motorcycle Association, Washington comp. manager, 2005-07.

http://www.harrisforsheriff.org/

Now do you see why I'm supporting Deputy Harris?

Phone Number Deleted

I killed 360-733-1292 because we got the 360-647-BALL (2255) number. Actually, 1292 woulda died a long time ago if it wasn't for the internet plastering it all over the place.

And, of course, we've been getting calls about the dead number....

On the other hand....

Out of sheer boredom, I read Craigslist the other day. Some local restauranteer was advertising for a plumber to do a side job at a new restaurant. He was willing to trade services, too. Free cheeseburgers for life?

Now that violates how many local, state, and federal laws? No contractor license, one. No workman's comp insurance, two. Undeclared income (feds hate that), three. The list goes on.

If the plumber hurts himself on that job, Mr. Cheeseburger is liable for all medical costs and rehab, regardless of the plumber's status. This tidbit includes any casual labor including the neighbor's kid digging fence posts.

The ad is gone today. Most likely the State called him--the State does monitor the underground economy--and ordered him to pull the ad.

Beyond the legal problems with hiring unlicensed tradesmen is the whole Craigslist thing. There was the home invasion in Seattle where the husband was murdered and the wife was beaten after running an ad in Craigslist selling a diamond ring. This happened last month or so.

Be careful out there. Saving a few bucks on plumbing that lasts decades is not worth the price.

voice mail

Today, I got lambasted by a woman for not returning her voice mail she left for me late Sunday night a few weeks ago.

I didn't see it. It is not there.

Please, if you don't hear from us after leaving a voice mail, call during regular hours.

Be wary of contractors who:

The following is from the State's website.

Be wary of contractors who:

-Provide credentials or references that can’t be verified.
-Offer a special price only if you sign today or use other high-pressure
sales techniques.
-Accept only cash, require large deposits or the entire cost up front or
ask you to make the payment in their name.
-Do not provide a written contract or complete bid.
-Ask you to pick up the building permit. In most instances, the
contractor is required to take out the permits. Permits are your
protection and help ensure that work will meet local building codes.
-Offer exceptionally long warranties.
-Want to do most or all the work on weekends and after-hours.
-Give you an offer that sounds “too good to be true.”

Sewage in the heating duct

A sometimes-customer called me about a leak. I get there and there's water in the main heating duct that runs through his basement. I look all around, follow all those CPVC pipes (some other plumber installed years ago) that are lying on the duct, and crawled back into the crawl space. Coluldn't find a leak.

I go to the truck and cry for a few minutes, then it occurs to me that the drain pipe from the toilet is partially boxed in a make-shift duct that connects to the main duct. Yeah, it looks as strange as it sounds..

I have the customer flush the toilet, while I monitor it from the crawlspace. Sure enough, I hear the toilet water flowing down the heat duct!

I run upstairs and get the low down on the new toilet. Seems that he bought a terrible Kohler toilet from Lowes and had the Lowes sub-contractor install it. Well, the Lowes installer anchored the toilet with wood screws---instead of closet bolts---and used a skinny wax ring. Hacks, the lot of 'em.

Well, that's not the whole problem. As I'm flushing the toilet and laughing at Lowes and my customer for hiring Lowes, the toilet backs up into the tub! A mainline sewer stoppage, too!

This sewer has been a headache for every plumber in town. Last year, I snaked it, jetted it, camera-ed it and tried to get him to replace at least the bad part, but noooooooo.......he said since I got it open, it'll keep.

Yeah, it kept, until it backed up a year later into a Lowes-installed Kohler toilet and sewage poured into his heat ducts!

Long story longer, I cleared the sewer stoppage with blades and a jetter, replaced the crappy Kohler-Lowes toilet, repaired the damage the Lowes installer did, and charged him accordingly.

Lesson learned: you may think you're saving money by cutting corners (going to Lowes and using cheap labor), but water is unforgiving. Don't cheap out on the plumbing.

A house without plumbing is a garage.

Broken sewer

Look closely and you'll see the electrical ground rod dead center through the sewer. This boo-boo happened 20 years ago.