.jpg)
On Tap Podcast
On Tap is the podcast that celebrates the heart and soul of blue-collar working class culture. We'll be hosting some amazing folks from the blue-collar world and beyond. Listen in as we chat with industry legends, unsung heroes, and experts in their fields. Their stories, experiences, and insights will inspire and entertain you. Comedy is our secret sauce. Kody & Sam have a knack for turning everyday work stories into side-splitting anecdotes. Prepare for laughter, hilarious work-related mishaps, and a good dose of humor to brighten your day. Whether you're clocking in for your shift or winding down after a hard day's work, "On Tap" is your go-to podcast for a dose of blue-collar pride, a taste of the finest brews, a good laugh, and a fresh take on the world's current events. Subscribe now and be part of the working-class revolution!
On Tap Podcast
Beyond the Pipes: The Hidden Truth About Plumbing
Ever wondered what plumbers really think when they walk into your home? Reid and Tyler—a master plumber and his apprentice—pull back the curtain on the modern plumbing industry with startling honesty. Their conversation reveals how the business of fixing your pipes has transformed into a sales-driven enterprise where technicians are monitored by AI, evaluated on upselling metrics, and incentivized to find problems you never knew existed.
The duo shares jaw-dropping stories from the field—including floating cat turds in a flooded basement, accidental sewage spills, and discovering that modest-looking homeowners sometimes have multimillion-dollar incomes. They explain why some plumbers intentionally remain "apprentices" despite years of experience, how commission structures can influence recommendations, and why the guy who shows up to fix your toilet might actually be more of a salesman than a technician.
Beyond the war stories, they provide valuable knowledge every homeowner should possess: understanding your water quality could save thousands in premature appliance replacements; knowing where your main water shutoff valve is located could prevent catastrophic damage; and realizing that white crusty buildup on your fixtures signals problems throughout your entire plumbing system.
Whether you're a homeowner wanting to protect yourself from unnecessary repairs or simply curious about the realities of blue-collar work, this candid conversation delivers both entertainment and practical wisdom. You'll never look at your plumber—or your plumbing—the same way again.
Subscribe to hear more unfiltered conversations with skilled tradespeople who keep our modern world functioning behind the scenes. Leave a review to help others discover these vital perspectives from the people who literally keep the shit flowing downhill.
0:14 Welcome to Blue Collar Happy Hour
3:52 Apprentice vs. Master Plumbers
16:29 AI in the Plumbing Industry
35:16 Service Plumbing and Sales Tactics
49:11 Plumber Stereotypes and Uniforms
1:13:57 Nightmare Service Calls
1:31:32 Hard Water and Household Systems
56:46 The Truth About Plumbing Commissions
1:05:13 Commercial vs. Residential Plumbing
Check out our sticker packs at OnTapWithTheBoiz.com
All right boys. Welcome back to another episode of the on tap podcast. Today we have a wonderful edition of the blue collar happy hour. We got a couple of plumbers in here. We actually haven't seen their cracks yet, but we assume and we're going to take their word for it that they are really plumbers. You got me Cody Sam and our two plumbers in the building, mr Reed and T-Cav. Yes, sir, regular Welcome boys. So you're both plumbers. Is there different? Like categorization of plumbing, of plumbers, is there?
Speaker 1:like you have to start at a rookie and work your way up to a veteran. Like what's the steps?
Speaker 2:Well, there's obviously like an apprenticeship and a journeyman and then a master. Know there's three main steps to it, but there are like drain cleaners, you know. So they'll work for a plumbing company they're not plumbers yeah, they're not plumbers. They're drain cleaners.
Speaker 4:They're not plumbers so, like plumbers, know their place though, like correct.
Speaker 1:I ain't no fucking drain cleaner yeah, do they call themselves plumbers, the drain cleaners?
Speaker 2:I don't know, do they?
Speaker 1:like if someone were to ask do they say I'm a?
Speaker 3:drain cleaner, which I can't imagine. That's like people give a lot of flack to doctors.
Speaker 1:Uh, when they say like oh yeah, I'm a doctor, and they're like dude, you're a, you're a chiropractor yeah, yeah like you're a dentist it's kind or like, how like.
Speaker 2:Uh, I know mitch would know better than me but they talk about linemen. There's like the low wire linemen, like the low, like low voltage, low voltage, or it's like internet lines but, they call themselves linemen, but they're not actually linemen.
Speaker 4:I've heard him rant about that. Yeah, it's the same sort of concept, you know one thing that I love about this episode today is, first of all, you know, these are two of my bros, so it's always a pleasure to get to sit next to the homies here. But we actually have an apprentice and we have his fucking master, the leader, the man in charge here too. Like I can't imagine the dynamic. We have two bros that see each other every day. You get to teach Tyler your trade Every day.
Speaker 4:And I just love that for you guys. The chemistry between you is best friend chemistry.
Speaker 2:You can tell you talk every day. Yeah, it's definitely like me and Rita both said to each other. You know they switch Like a lot of plumbing companies will switch workers out. You'll have a journeyman or a master and an apprentice with them and they'll switch workers out. You'll have an apprentice for a month and and they'll switch workers out. You'll have an apprentice for a month and they'll switch a different apprentice with the journeyman or whatever. Me and Reed have been together for about eight months now and we've definitely came to the conclusion when we get separated, we're going to be very, very bored at work.
Speaker 1:Have you guys had your first fight yet?
Speaker 2:No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1:You've been together for eight months.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't say fight, no, just the way we do things. I would say yeah.
Speaker 1:A little different order of operations.
Speaker 4:Nothing like a fight, though.
Speaker 2:No, I guess the first month is like.
Speaker 3:We're both too understanding, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the first month of working with anyone, regardless of what trade you are who the apprentice is, you kind of have to figure out each other's role. Sure, yeah, you are who the apprentice is. You kind of have to figure out each other's role, sure, you know. Yeah, so any job, if you're teaching someone anything, you kind of have to, you know, figure out what each other is good at.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the fights don't come till after the year mark probably yeah, you're still in the honeymoon phase, yeah, so in. In every single trade there's been a little peak of AI and a little bit of technology that's crept into all these different fields. Is there any AI or any technology that's creeping into the plumbing space that would lead you to believe that a robot is going to be able to replace your job?
Speaker 3:I? No, I don't think that's possible.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think that's possible. No, I don't think so.
Speaker 3:But, as far as AI goes, there's this app we pulled the mic up to your face. There's this app, or technology that we are kind of getting into. It's called Zilla, okay, and they record everything that you say to a customer.
Speaker 1:Oh interesting. It's like a body cam for a plumber, yep it is Does they record video or just audio?
Speaker 3:right, just audio.
Speaker 1:I think it's just audio damn I feel like video is not far off, if they're recording your conversation well, it's for a sales tactic oh, sales tactic really okay we know some plumbers and with different companies that they record video audio in the van seriously so you're watched 24, 7, yeah, and I suppose they're tracking where you're at how long you're there to see also like your efficiency numbers correct yeah but the zilla thing is more um so like.
Speaker 2:When you go into a home, when you introduce yourself and talk to a customer, it records every word you say and every word they say, and when you're done at that call it will tell you don't say this word, you use this, this word, where you should use this word this is all automatic, correct.
Speaker 1:It's all ai correcting your speech.
Speaker 3:It's all for sales, it will also paraphrase like you.
Speaker 1:Like you spent too long explaining this thing. Yep, you should have just said this in the job notes.
Speaker 3:It'll paraphrase for you what this tech did, what he said, what he offered, how it went wow ai is getting freaking, freaky yeah, and luckily the company we work for they offer it.
Speaker 2:But you don't have to have it. So some companies require it. Some companies have a recording on you as you're driving the van audio and video, and when you go into the home, you a recording on you as you're driving the van, audio and video, and when you go into the home you're recorded as well. So you're the whole day you're at work, you're, every single thing you do is recorded. So thankfully the company we work for don't enforce that. But if you want to become a better salesman and you want to use that Zilla or whatever, you can, but they're not going to force you.
Speaker 1:They treat it as a self-improvement thing not you're forced to do it for the company exactly, yeah yeah, okay. So that, wow, that's insane, I'd never okay. So how much of, would you say? The plumbing industry is selling new products and actually fixing water stuff water stuff. I like, you know like I'm just trying to be as broad as I can.
Speaker 3:I guess I mean so yeah, go ahead say it again I like, how much how much of it is sales and how much of it is actually doing the work in service work, which is so the company we work at is, I would say, 60% is sales and 40% is doing the work and getting it done Wow.
Speaker 1:That's actually crazy. That's way less than I would have thought In the plumbing world.
Speaker 3:There's hotels being brought.
Speaker 2:Hotels being built, factories being made to where that's like commercial.
Speaker 3:Yeah, commercial, no sales, because they already got their contracts which I don't know anything about.
Speaker 4:That's more of like the union plumber, I assume.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like you're just there to do your job. You're nine tofive and head up. You don't have to talk to anyone. You can have your headphones in all day, whatever. But if you're a service plumber, you're talking to people all the time and you can be the best plumber in the world. But if you're not a good talker, yeah Well, because it's relation, relationship relationships versus transactional.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah wow, that's crazy actually. I, I guess I just assumed that it was just so cut and dry like, yep, this is the problem, bring you right to the problem, you fix the problem, you're out of there. But and that's obviously the business isn't made on service calls, it's made on selling them new stuff.
Speaker 3:Right, you know, like I would imagine, that's where the real money is. The first thing you said, bring me to the problem. That's my mindset.
Speaker 1:Yeah, bring me to the problem.
Speaker 3:Show me what's wrong. If I see something super major, I'll bring it up. If you don't want to do it, great, but I'm not here to sell you nothing. If you don't want it, right, I to fix the problem okay.
Speaker 1:So I mean, let's get right into some stereotypes of plumbing here. Obviously, the main one that comes to mind plumbers crack. Is there any sort of like shielding that the company provides you so that when you're in someone's home and you're bent over at a faucet, you're bent over at a toilet, you're in a shower drain, you're not showing crack?
Speaker 3:I think that comes down to the man that's servicing you honestly definitely I mean, everyone could tell if you got crack I've personally never been serviced by.
Speaker 4:I got some crack I got some crack you ever bent down. It comes up my back a long ways, dude you get a little bit of wind you, he's got that long crack.
Speaker 3:So we, as us, where we work, we have uniforms we've got to wear, we've got to tuck in.
Speaker 1:Do they purposely make the pants sit up higher on your waist?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, they sit up a little higher, do they really yeah?
Speaker 1:So they're trying to mitigate the stereotype. It's good to see that there's improvement Well actually the company we work for.
Speaker 2:Since me and Reed are installers, we can get by with a little more, so typically, if you are a salesman, they want your pants to be pressed Like they want the crease down your thigh crease down your calf and shirt tucked in. No stains on your white shirt and if you walk into the shop in the morning before you go do your calls and you have a caulking stain on your pants or something, you will get yelled at.
Speaker 2:But me and Reed can get away with a little more, since we're not the salesmen typically we're the installers. So if the salesman sells something, we go install it. We have to deal with the customers a little less than they do. So if we're dirty, dirty, they still yell at us, but we can use the excuse. As you know, we're the one doing it.
Speaker 1:We're gonna get dirty are the salesmen's plumbers themselves as well. Are they going to? Look at a problem barely barely yeah if someone calls and say like hey, my faucet's super leaky. Would a salesman go out there?
Speaker 2:yes, oh, okay, yeah, so the the difference is, if me and if reed and I have nothing to do in a day and a salesman has nothing to do in a day and someone calls and says their water heater is leaking, they're going to send the salesman there before us because that's probably more profitable, because they're, they're more of a yapper.
Speaker 1:They're more of a seller, so you're gonna try to get more product correct a new, a new faucet all together rather than put the band-aid on.
Speaker 3:Yeah they go there for a faucet. They're trying to build a twenty thousand dollar ticket yeah, they're not going there for the faucet.
Speaker 2:Whatever, it's right, or?
Speaker 1:wrong yeah, dude I dread making calls to plumbers when anything happens at my house, because I know that if it's, if it's enough, where I'm calling someone I for sure can't do it, yep, and if I'm calling someone officially, no one I know can also do it. And uh, you know, to be honest with you, I realize why they pay good money because I had a super old house was built in like early 1900s when I was in college and I had to redo the the plumbing underneath on the second level, like on in the basement, and like get the little little copper cutter out. It was all copper and like solder in a piece but like it would, did you blow.
Speaker 1:I don't even know what that means, that's I probably did it wrong. Oh yeah, yeah, so I, so I soldered it together, I know because it then then it started breaking solder joints all over the whole basement because it like heated up everything you know. I'm like heating up one part and it blows lines all over Dude.
Speaker 4:So you're just kind of like freaking out Like what the fuck have I done?
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, and I definitely. I'm sure this isn't what you're supposed to do, but I'm like you can do that for materials.
Speaker 4:Okay, someone had told me, like you're not supposed to connect different materials.
Speaker 1:You got to replace everything. I'm like, absolutely not, I'm not replacing everything. I made it work.
Speaker 2:Well, if you had that salesman come to your house, he would say listen, man this is going to be 30 grand.
Speaker 2:You got to get everything done here, probably the right way to do it. That's the difference between those salesmen and reed and I is reed and I are more of a problem solver, like if someone's toilet is running and we get a service call to go check out the toilet, we go to the toilet and we want to fix the toilet, because that's where their issue is, to where if a salesman gets called out there, they're gonna check the toilet and they're gonna check the water heater they're gonna check the water softener, they're gonna check the drain lines and they're going to try to build that ticket as big as they can, because they say like not only did I fix the issue in your toilet, but I did notice, correct this, this, this
Speaker 3:this, this, and it's honestly no shame on them.
Speaker 2:I believe because that's how they make their living. That and are they?
Speaker 1:commission based correct. They are. Oh okay, yep, so that's why they're trying to run it up. Yep, exactly, dang, so you just got. You just got a card like a car salesman in your house fixing water lines 100.
Speaker 4:That's exactly what it is and that scares the fuck out of me, because until I had friends that were car salesmen, I didn't realize how fucked up it was like I lived my life so naive, I didn't realize, especially now that I'm in sales myself like everyone's out to just make their buck, and I respect it. But you gotta watch yourself because you will get fucked if you don't exactly, and that's the pressure behind doing it when it's not needed or you're just trying to make a buck.
Speaker 3:That's the sole purpose. That's wrong man dude.
Speaker 4:I've been in those situations where, like, let's say, I bid a job a little higher than I I probably should have, we won it and I feel fucking guilty and I remember talking to my dad like I just feel wrong about he's fuck that yeah, they could have got more quotes, that they went for it.
Speaker 2:That's how they are exactly. That's where.
Speaker 3:That's where we differ a little bit me and reed versus that's what I got instilled in me when I started working where we work. So that's one question.
Speaker 4:I have for you because, growing up with you, I know your background, where, when you first got out of high school, you started with a small outfit out of our town and you were working with master plumbers that have been in the industry for plus 20 years, I could assume at that point. And so when you at step one with master plumbers that have been in the industry for plus 20 years, I could assume at that point.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and so you. When you at step one, you were learning from masters that have spent more than half of their life in it. Do you think that you got more of an upper hand in that situation? Or do you think Tyler has more of an upper hand working with somebody who also has experience under their belt, but is a friend, someone he's comfortable asking these questions, even if it seems dumb?
Speaker 3:That helps a lot. I feel like I could have had the upper hand, but I was just so young At that point. I still didn't know what I wanted to do, so you weren't trying to absorb it. Yeah, exactly, I was doing it for a paycheck when I first started, actually here in Pine City.
Speaker 4:And, if you don't mind me saying this, I remember, so this would have been like 2017. I remember you telling me that you were getting 17 an hour and being like 14 holy fuck, I can't imagine getting that.
Speaker 2:I'm getting paid like 825 at the pizza hut, thinking like I would fucking kill someone
Speaker 4:for 14 right now we'd go to the casino. I'd be like you can spend $60,000 on the blackjack table. I don't think you got $20,000 to gamble.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it was different times back then.
Speaker 1:Do you think that plumbing has made millionaires, like, do you think there's these OGs in the industry? That?
Speaker 4:are just stacking money like crazy yeah in the industry that are just stacking money like crazy.
Speaker 1:Can you now, as someone just getting into it now, like let's say, there's an 18-year-old apprentice out there watching this Do you think that there's a realm where they can make a lot of money?
Speaker 3:Yes, go to the bigger companies and do what we're doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you go to any bigger company like a well-known company, not like a small town company, and you prove yourself, you're going to do well and the difference is you can be great at sales or you can be great at installing. Either way you're going to make money because all those bigger companies have a commission base, even for the installers they have a commission base. So you know the installers they have a commission base. So you know, the faster you get the job done, you get a percentage of that. So most plumbing, most good plumbers or good salesmen are on the commission base. But you can be hourly if you want to. Oh, you get to choose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so once, you once you get out on your own. You get to choose if you want to be on hourly or if you want to be on commission. If you know you're good and you know you can get shit done quick, then it's smarter for you to go on commission, because you know, if a job gets sold for seven thousand dollars and I'll just make up a random number you know you can get eight percent on it by installing it and you know you can beat that time of four hours, you can get it done in two. You make 8% on that, and if you get sent home for the rest of the day it doesn't matter. You made your 8% on that or go do another one.
Speaker 2:So salesmen and installers can both be on commission. Or if an installer wants to be on hourly or a salesman beyond hourly, you can do that as well, or a salesman beyond hourly.
Speaker 1:You can do that as well. Damn how long, or I guess. What's the pay gap between an apprentice and a master, that's a complicated question that is Is it significant?
Speaker 2:Residential? No, I don't know.
Speaker 3:Should we?
Speaker 1:No TCAP's, like is it? What do you make?
Speaker 2:hourly. It is hourly. Yes, you're about to have your first fight. Yeah, hourly. Yes, there's a big difference hourly.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah. But your commission is roughly the same.
Speaker 3:Like I, like we were talking about earlier. When I first started, I was making $14 an hour. That was around this area, not in the cities. You go to the cities, you make double that approximately.
Speaker 2:Yeah, starting out pretty much yeah.
Speaker 3:And as a licensed guy meaning journeyman or master you'd make double than what you make in the cities as an apprentice. Okay, Sure.
Speaker 4:So the the extra cause you have to take classes, you have to pass a test to become a journeyman and master. So you, at least you're getting compensated for the work you've done in the experience of you've had.
Speaker 3:it's worth progressing and that's how I feel. Percentage based or commission has kind of wrecked a lot of people, including including myself.
Speaker 4:Sure, because you don't have as much of a drive to get that dollar an hour Right.
Speaker 2:Exactly yeah. If everyone was on hourly, everyone would want to be a journeyman, right. But if, when everyone's on percentage, there's no really drive to become a journeyman because you don't have to, to make you don't have to.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so if you never take the journeyman test, you can be like a 15 year apprentice we have those, yeah, we have those, whatever, yeah, we have apprentices that make six figures, that just won't take their journeyman test and apprentices making six figures.
Speaker 2:That are salesmen that do a damn good job at what they do, but they are still apprentices yeah, because they know if they get their journeyman, unless they're hourly they're not, their pay really isn't going to change.
Speaker 1:Yeah so well, okay. So if someone was dead set on from the time they start being a plumber, like I'm going to be a journeyman, how long from the time you're an apprentice till you can be a journeyman? Is it based off hours? Four years?
Speaker 3:or 7,000 hours, okay. And you can only log $1,750 a year, which equals 7,000 hours, okay.
Speaker 2:So four years Dang, okay, so yeah if you're looking at becoming a union plumber or an hourly plumber, it is 100% all day worth it to get your journeyman's or your master's. It's kind of like when a nurse becomes an RN. Yeah, Like that's like their golden ticket, Like if you're a journeyman you can get a job wherever you want and you're pretty much going to get cause you can go anywhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you can go be residential, you can go be commercial and you're going to get minimum 40, 45 an hour period. It's your golden ticket. But if you're residential, 40, 45 an hour period, it's your golden ticket.
Speaker 4:But if you're residential commission based, that's where, if you don't want to get your journeyman, you can kind of get you can, you'll get by, and I can assume that an older man in the trade is probably looking more towards the dollar an hour versus the salary you know you get some years and you know you're not moving as quick that's just it yeah everyone older in the in the company and other companies that I know, they prefer the dollar sure they want that consistency.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes total sense.
Speaker 3:It's a it's a security net. You know, you know you're gonna be making now, um, residential to commercial.
Speaker 1:Is it like a totally different animal? Like obviously it's treated much differently? Yep, but uh, is it like? Is it almost? Does it almost feel like a different industry? Like is it a different way of doing the whole entire job? Yes, where at?
Speaker 3:least to me, where I'm at very, I think I'm a very good plumber. But if I went to commercial it would be a whole different ball game. There's different things you got to do way more complicated a lot of code and shit.
Speaker 4:I assume that you don't deal with no we deal.
Speaker 2:We deal with code, but commercial yeah, it's way more, yeah, everything is.
Speaker 2:I feel it's different. So everything in like a residential home is pretty much going to be the same code. Like you know, you have a shower. Shower drain it has to be two inch. Everyone knows that it's a house. But to where you're in somewhere, a commercial building, where there's going to be six urinals in a row, you have to figure out the fixture units of those urinals, what size the pipe needs to be. That's where it gets more like, because reed here has taken his. He took his master's test.
Speaker 2:Hasn't gotten his results back on it yet but last week he was, he was going through, we was in the van and he was reading me the questions and things out of the code book for the like, the commercial part of it, and I was like, oh my god, this is the most confusing shit. Everyone says plumbers are like oh, shit flows downhill, can't be that hard. But when you get in that code book and you're reading the commercial code, it is a math equation it is very hard to figure out versus a two-bathroom home. You know you're like oh, I know this pipe has to be three inch, I know this pipe has to be two inch. But when you're in a building, a factory, with tons of drains, and all that.
Speaker 3:Hundred bathrooms a hundred to figure out what size water main you need to service those hundred bathrooms. You need to count everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes total sense. Yeah, I mean, that sounds like it would suck. You just literally got to memorize the code. I'm sure it changes all the time too.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I think. I wish I knew more on that, but I think they change it every five or so years do you have to retake?
Speaker 1:your test? No, how do you get? How do they know that you're up to the new code? You need to do just the continuing education.
Speaker 3:Oh okay, yeah, yep and for us, for as plumbers, it's pretty light compared to some of the trades I hear you don't think I do 16 every two years as a licensed guy Apprentice. You need to do two hours a year.
Speaker 1:Dang.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's not bad at all, it's not bad, but those days that you got to sit down in the classroom when you're used to go, go, go.
Speaker 4:Yeah, especially someone that wasn't a guy that enjoyed school to start with. I can only imagine. But I want to get into the nitty gritty. I know why the people are here and I don't want to bring you into some flashbacks, some war times, but I can only assume you've run into some pretty nasty stuff in your days of plumbing. Is there anything that kind of hits you as like this was the worst day? I can't believe I did this.
Speaker 2:Walk off the job type day one of those.
Speaker 4:You go home, you're just staring straight at the road and it's like why do I even do?
Speaker 2:this no radio on the drive home type day.
Speaker 4:Have you ever had a situation and this is it could be. When you guys are together, you guys could have separate stories, but have you ever had a situation and this is it could be.
Speaker 2:when you guys are together, you guys could have separate stories, but I know Reid has one pretty good story about a flooded basement.
Speaker 3:When I first got my own van I was pretty new to the company. Two or three months in two years plumbing I go to this lady's house in the cities. I can't remember where, and I walk in and there's boxes stacked everywhere, just like a hoarder's house. Okay, I've always been taught not to judge a book by its cover, so I I'm trying not to and she points me in the direction of a base in the, in her basement, and she doesn't go first. I go first.
Speaker 4:That's already a red flag you got to follow the trail through the house.
Speaker 3:Oh, yes, and right. When you walk in you hear birds squawking in cages and that's another red flag to me. Birds, birds, yeah, bird people are weird One. Cool, I like a good parrot, but more than that, no. And if you walk in it smells like urine, pneumonia, cats. I walk in the basement and there's two inches of water and just floating cat turds everywhere, just still water. Yep. And now I'm realizing why she let me go first, because it was bad.
Speaker 1:It was bad. Was this a clogged drain, I'm assuming, or what?
Speaker 3:So this was a water main coming into her basement broke open, there's a leak and on top of the water main, before I even knew, there was clothes everywhere on top of this water main and I didn't even know where the water main was at that point because there's so many fucking, fucking clothes.
Speaker 3:Oh god, dude, I'm just getting sick thinking about it and at the time I had I don't have nice boots anymore because they're worn out, but I had nice boots, waterproof boots, I I went down there, I treaded in it and I took one. Look, I saw the cat shit everywhere where I was going to have to work Floating.
Speaker 3:And at that time my boss prior he told me if you're ever in a situation like this, just be respectful and just say you got to go grab a tool. So I said I got to go grab a tool. I walked out and hit the gas.
Speaker 1:And you just left.
Speaker 3:I left.
Speaker 1:Did you have to?
Speaker 3:And I felt so bad, I really did.
Speaker 4:So she called you in because the water was starting to build Because the main was broke. Yeah, oh my God, so do you think it had been sitting for a while, or all the turds were just on the floor and now it broke.
Speaker 3:No, the turds had been sitting for a while.
Speaker 1:They have been. Did you touch one?
Speaker 3:Was it hard? No, I haven't touched those type of turds, oh God. If anyone knows me, they know I don't like cats. Okay, I do like cats, just I don't want to own one. Yeah.
Speaker 4:You definitely don't want to wait around in their shit, not for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've heard a lot of plumbers say that there's two kinds of cats there's a good cat and there's a live cat.
Speaker 4:Yes, Dude, I hate all these cats.
Speaker 2:Slender we had one job we were at as a three and we were repairing a sewer stack, so the main stack, where your tub, your lav, your toilet, everything, all drains in the main stack Shit. We had to fix that. So everything ends up in this stack. So we cut everything apart and we specifically told the homeowner do not use the bathroom. We have everything taken apart down here and luckily the toilet was probably 20 feet away from the stack where we were working and we were just working, working on the stack, whatever Another day at work, and then we hear a thump, like the sound of a toilet flushing.
Speaker 4:You know what it sounds like.
Speaker 2:And when it's coming through a three-inch pipe it echoes. You hear it. You hear it hit that 90, you, you hear it, drop it and the splash of the water hit that 90 and me and reed both. It was like a movie scene we both looked right at each other and locked eyes and then we were like where's a bucket?
Speaker 2:where's a bucket? We're searching around for a bucket and we couldn't find a bucket and we weren't worried about it landing on us because we knew it had 20 feet of run to get to us, so we had probably about five to ten Mississippis before it got to us. And we couldn't find a bucket. So we just backed up and we were just like well, here it comes.
Speaker 2:Guess we're getting the mop, though, and we watched it, you know, come out of the pipe, toilet paper, everything just splashed on the ground, they straight up went. Number two no it was a number, it was a girl, so it was a number one okay, it was a cute number one.
Speaker 1:They don't poop, they don't girls don't poop, you know so but either way, it's gross.
Speaker 2:We're not worried about the fact of it landing on us we knew it wasn't gonna land on us but it's the fact of we have to clean that up. Yeah, what I mean.
Speaker 1:So it happened, we cleaned it up and then, uh, it happened again about three hours later she flushed again, and that time Did you have to go up and be like hey, quit using the toilet. I should have.
Speaker 2:That time we had a bucket and we were able to catch it, but we had a discussion in the van on the way home. We were like next time we're working on a stack we're going to go to the toilet and turn the water off to the toilet, so this doesn't happen again, the water was off, but we didn't flush the toilet. Yeah, so when?
Speaker 3:the water's off. You get one flush per toilet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the tank has water in it, exactly yeah.
Speaker 3:So we're going to flush it, turn the water off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is actually so in my line of work, when I do real estate photography, this is always a big thing with doing like Airbnbs or like vacation homes or when they're someone's going to sell it and you go to take photos of it. There is this a very common thing, where photographers will use the bathroom but if they've shut off the water, there's been so many cases of people that's like I don't know what to do, like I can't flush. Yeah, these guys take a dump in this empty toilet. You got to go get a bucket of water from somewhere to get this thing to flush.
Speaker 3:So you know you can do that well, now I know because of this. Yeah, a lot of people don't know that, dude I actually just learned that recently.
Speaker 1:Shout out he taught me it of all people I'd imagine he's been in some sticky situations with some empty toilets.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, dude, especially with him being my old landlord, he'd be fixing my toilet. I'll do some work on that old girl every time I fucking get a phone call god bless, dude.
Speaker 4:that is the thing, and I guess that kind of leads into my next question, like is it fucking annoying being the only plumber? Now you got t-cab in the mix but, like I know, so many of our friends call you for everything, get you to come in, dad, and he still brings this up. He had Reed come all the way over to his house to help him fix something and it took him five seconds total. It was something so simple. Like, I guess, fuck all that bullshit. My question is is it fucking annoying having people call you all the time?
Speaker 3:Not at all. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I love that shit. It makes annoying having people call you all the time. Not at all I appreciate it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I love that shit. It makes me feel useful that I'm gonna clip that and keep that, because as soon as I buy a house, you're gonna regret the fuck out of that reed, will you come to my inspection?
Speaker 1:please be looking at it. Yeah, so uh, cash, this is gonna run you about 10 grand do you?
Speaker 4:do you take financing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Actually, yeah, yeah, we're supposed to offer that. Well, it's just more. I mean, I'm not mad about it. It's another opportunity to make money, whatever get a side job.
Speaker 4:We have to pay your friends Fuck.
Speaker 2:A little bit, maybe 10% on top. I'll give you a brew, give you a couple of beers.
Speaker 4:Is it?
Speaker 1:more annoying to drive somewhere super far to get something that's super easy to do or somewhere close that you're spending hours and hours and hours on Super far for something minuscule. Because now you're wasting time, wasting time.
Speaker 3:I feel like to the customer, whoever it is.
Speaker 1:Well, I suppose, especially if a big part of your pay is commission, that's a lot less that you're able to get done if you're driving for a long time.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep. So a huge thing is when we get a call, a service call, when the homeowner calls our office, they have to give a description of what's going on. So they have to say, hey, I'm looking for a water softener Quote my water heater is leaking my toilet. I'm looking for a water softener quote my water heater is leaking, my toilet won't flush, or something like that. So if Reed and I have no installs to do and there's nothing to do, sometimes they'll send us on service calls and we will get a call and we'll read in the job notes.
Speaker 2:In the description it says toilet runs intermediately or something. And me and Reed and I know it's either a toilet flapper or a fill valve and both of those aren't expensive fixes and it'll be 55 minutes away. You know it'll be a drive away and I'm on hourly so it doesn't affect me too much, but reed is on commission. So right when we see the description, we know it's a toilet flapper and how much it's going to cost, and reed will be like, fuck, I have to go here for a flapper. I know we, we know what it's going to be and it's.
Speaker 4:I mean, it's kind of more of an annoyance, but it's whatever that's where you got upsell bud, that's where you got, that's where they want you to upsell you know, all the pipes in this house are fucked, yeah yeah, that's a, that's a huge part of it is.
Speaker 2:You know, you gotta keep that, uh, that conversion rate up. They want you to sell stuff.
Speaker 1:So have you guys had to unclog any nasty drains more?
Speaker 3:just toilets.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we have like a little at what point is a toilet clogged enough where you gotta call a plumber?
Speaker 3:it's like, hey, there's some shit going down, so literally I don't know what medications, but I've in my experience, older people take certain medications and they're just rock hard shits okay, and they just don't go down you need a pain medication.
Speaker 1:Yes, pain medication, yeah, and I don't know they won't shit forever, but I I know that to be true, and uh, we so.
Speaker 3:We have a six foot auger. That's all we carry with us, which is a toilet auger. If it's anything past that, we call a drain cleaner in because a six footer yep, which is basically the size.
Speaker 1:You're fishing out shit that's deeper than six feet. Well, that's the basically the size of the trap okay, toilet yeah and probably two feet past that.
Speaker 3:Okay, so in the main drain at that point or the toilet drain. If it's past that, we don't deal with it.
Speaker 1:Yes, like hey, you're gonna have to fish out this rock, so that's a that's a thing.
Speaker 2:So we were talking about drain cleaners. You know, if we can, we don't really deal with nasty stuff like that. Um, so if, if reed and I get a call, do a toilet that's not flushing and it's not too nice of a place and we know it's a clogged drain, we take advantage of that we take advantage of it.
Speaker 2:We're like, yeah, we'll get a drain tech out here and we kind of call it at that because we know what it is Damn. And at that point it's like, yeah, we can put a toilet in, but it's not going to fix anything yeah, I love that they dress it up and call them a drain tech as well yeah, we're all techs. That's a bad job and and it's uh, it's so sometimes they at least get paid well I don't know so
Speaker 3:if they're good, if they're good at if they're good at selling, if they're good at fishing shit out of the getting cross leads yeah, we have a drain tech that uh, so we're also supposed to look at the HVAC system and the electrical system and if we see anything wrong with it, we're supposed to get an electrician out there or an HVAC guy.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, Imagine this You're 60 years old, you've been on this pain medication, you haven't shit. In three weeks you drop a rock-solid turd. It gets stuck seven feet down the drain. You got to have this drain tech come out. And then they tell you well, not only is your toilet clogged with this rock hard turd and you got all these problems. But listen, buddy, you got to redo your hvac, you got to redo your whole electric.
Speaker 2:That's what they want us to do. But the initiative behind that is whether you're hourly or commission. If you're're at a home, let's say you're just doing a simple water heater install every other day, you know, and you see that the furnace is old. And the homeowner said yeah, the furnace is kind of wonky, you know, it kicks on every now and then.
Speaker 4:That's your cue, that's your cue.
Speaker 2:And if you get an HVAC guy out there to sell a furnace, you get a percentage of that. Oh, because you gave you. Teed it up, cross lead, whether, whether you are hourly or commission based so that's where you, just that's where the salesmen get really cut throat someone's listening to this like that.
Speaker 1:I just got a new water heater and then no, no, a lot of people are and I get it.
Speaker 3:That's not.
Speaker 1:I don't, I don't believe that's us none of that is cheap is cheap is really what it comes down to. There's nothing in that whole realm that's cheap.
Speaker 2:No, and if you, like you said, about the drain cleaners making money, like, a drain cleaner that just drains, that cleans drains, isn't going to make a lot of money.
Speaker 1:But if you're good at talking, we have a drain cleaner and he makes well into six figures, and it's just because he is he drain cleaner and he makes a well into six figures, and it's just because he gives so much other cross.
Speaker 2:He's just good at talking, you know. He's just good at. I know his furnace is old. So even if you're not a good plumber and you're not a good drain cleaner, you can still make well into six figures that's kind of a cool business model, though, and I do want to say that there's a difference between the snakes out there yeah, and making, oh, it's just like any industry.
Speaker 3:Yeah, totally, if you're actually looking out for them.
Speaker 1:There's a big difference between that and just setting up a lead yeah, totally, because there is times when you go into someone's house it's like okay, this is genuinely messed up, like I would get checked you're right 100 like you might not be thinking about it now, but it's worth having someone at least look at it.
Speaker 3:I feel like in our company the people above us weed those people out pretty quick.
Speaker 2:They do, they weed out the con men pretty well. Sometimes there's a couple that might get a little job. That might not be done but it's not super often.
Speaker 2:It's a tough game because you want good salesmen but you don't want the bad reputation that a con salesman gives you it's a fine line, but at that point you do have to see where it sounds bad, but you do have to see where they're coming from as well. A salesman might have a wife and daddy wants a new side by side and two new, two newborn at home. You know, and and they need to.
Speaker 4:They need to pay their bills and they see water.
Speaker 2:That water heater that's 12 years old. It works fine. But they know that they got to make the payment and they got to buy diapers that week, so they might kind of push that a little more yeah, but I could see there's also around it's like might not be replaced right now, but it will need to be replaced at some point don't trust this motherfucker.
Speaker 4:Yeah, he's played these fucking games. That's how I kind of feel commission or percentage base salaries yeah, that's where it gets tricky.
Speaker 3:It's all perception it can, it really is a person real quick oh, I believe it.
Speaker 4:Oh, dude I. I deal with it all the time, even just with simple masonry bids where it's like they brought me in for their chimney. But I noticed the facade had some issues.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly yep, and you're gonna take that because it has an issue. But there are salesmen that it doesn't have an issue and they're like this is fucked yeah, and they try to sell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, right before we started, I told you guys about my water softener conundrum. I had someone come out and just look at my water softener and it was. I knew it was a simple thing. It was just one little thing that wasn't letting it regenerate. But they were basically telling me I needed a whole new water softener. I was like well, I mean, you're quoting me 10 times what it would cost for me to go get one from Menards and just do it myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So that's our biggest rebuttal.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Which I sort of agree with you totally can.
Speaker 1:But for what I eat it for? I could just get oh, I bet they are, but I mean, I'm not running that much through it it.
Speaker 2:so the only thing that helps my conscience in that is I I think reed feels the same way is if, if we go to a home and and one specific item, like on the water heater, is broken and we can fix that item for 300, we'll write a quote to fix that item for 300, but we will also write a quote to replace the water heater you know, along with it with it, so we'll say, hey, we can fix it and it might get some more time out of it, but we can just put a new one into.
Speaker 2:It's up to you to where the salesman side of it is more of push that new one instead of fixing what's wrong with it yeah or me, and you were happy. Yeah. And if they go with that new water heater, sure, but we, we don't feel guilty. Static at that point, yeah, but we don't feel guilty because we weren't like this shit's fucked, you need a new one now, so this question kind of leads into this topic.
Speaker 4:I was wondering do you guys ever have heartbreakers where like you realize, old people this this. Their shit's fucked you. They made it pretty clear they don't have the money to do it and you're just sitting there like, oh my God, I want to do it for free.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that does happen.
Speaker 4:It just kills you, and that must be a tough part of the industry.
Speaker 3:That is, and that's what's driving me, and probably you, to opening our own shit here eventually.
Speaker 2:That's the number one factor I would say yeah, because I don't know you do have to make money and there is a difference between like I know old guy plumbers that don't make any money because something will be broken and they'll have a 30-cent washer in their tool bin and they know that's going to fix it and they do it and they make their 80 bucks and then they go out to lunch. So there is a fine line between like being stupid and like, yeah, not making any money, you know.
Speaker 2:But yeah you do have to make money at a certain point. So that that's where that fine line kind of goes back and forth.
Speaker 1:You know, you guys know what I mean so, with some of these snaky salesmen that you guys have seen in your time that you've been in the industry, what's the biggest ticket that you've seen someone ride up dollar amount wise we, we, just, we just did one.
Speaker 2:For what?
Speaker 3:45 or something, wasn't sneaky they actually needed it, but the biggest ticket was 46 000.
Speaker 1:Yeah, damn that is insane.
Speaker 3:All right, now um, or I mean that's not insane when you think about plumbing. Do they finance that, are they?
Speaker 1:financing $45,000?
Speaker 3:I can't remember if they did I think they did.
Speaker 2:They financed it yeah.
Speaker 3:But most of the re-pipes we do like whole house re-pipes draining the waters most of the time they they finance it but sometimes you that story you know.
Speaker 2:The saying you don't judge a book by its cover is definitely true. Yeah, like we went to a home where, where we re-piped the water for the house, it was all. It was an old well, so the the well was, you know, tons of iron. They had no softener, so there was literally a needle hole oh, that's a good story there was a needle hole through the water line, so they had like no water pressure.
Speaker 2:It was a farmer that owned the home and he built it himself, he plumbed it himself, he did everything himself, and and you could tell some hack plumbing jobs and, to be honest, it wasn't that bad. No, like the guy did for not knowing, not being a plumber, he did a pretty decent job, damn good job. But there was, like you, 50 cats outside litter boxes everywhere.
Speaker 3:Just a farm.
Speaker 2:It was a farm and it looked like they barely got by. So this lady it was like a $40,000 ticket and her husband was away, he was in Arizona, and she was like I didn't tell him about this, I'm just going to do it. All new faucets, all new water.
Speaker 3:And me and Reed are like they're going to get divorced when he comes home, you know, like this is a big deal.
Speaker 4:And this was his work.
Speaker 2:Yes, this was his work, so we do all this work and it looked really good. Me and Reed worked super hard. It looked beautiful and we were done and all that and she was really happy with us and she financed it just like anyone would. You know it's $40,000. Whether you're rich or not, you're going to finance that period, Especially at 0% financing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially at 0% financing. If it's 0%, borrow the money from someone else.
Speaker 2:So, anyways, we get the job done, and then the woman goes to pay on our financing app and she goes to type in her yearly income and, honest to God I would say they made 40 000 a year like I would say they made it by and that was insane. Concrete floors, like you know, not a nice place. Six million dollars a year is what they is what they made, and it was like never in a million years would I ever think that they made that much money.
Speaker 1:But that's the thing the people that live modestly are usually the people that got it like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she said we own tons of rental properties in arizona and texas and all this stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, little do we know, but yeah, and everything in that.
Speaker 2:You know, like I said, it was a, it was a farmhouse, it was as farmhouse as a farmhouse can be.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, that's crazy. Six milli and you got cats right then, and there honestly, yeah, it definitely.
Speaker 3:I another a second lesson for don't judge your book by its cover oh, 100.
Speaker 1:Actually, when I sold cars it was a very similar situation happened right when I first started. There was this guy that walked in. I mean the guy could have been homeless, stained up clothes. He comes in, I would assume maybe a farmer, whatever blue collar dude. Um, everyone basically was like I'm not taking this guy. You see him walking around on the lot. I'm not taking this guy someone's like, all right, I'll go out and help him. He ends up buying like three cars I've seen paid cash all videos, just like that boom, like yeah, you're saying I want this one, this one, this one, this is for me, this for my wife, this for my daughter, whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like okay yeah, done the other salesman probably like shit. Yeah, they're like damn it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so I learned a brutal lesson that day, like I from. From that, like first week that I was there, I was like all right, yeah, I'm you. You as much as you think you can tell how someone has it, you definitely cannot, you definitely cannot, absolutely not, and then on the young age on the flip side.
Speaker 1:I would imagine you guys probably go into a lot of really nice houses and these people don't get approved for finance. Yeah, yeah, right because they're leveraged to the max, like they have all of their money wrapped up in a bank they can't get approved for seven grand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've. We've had that before right.
Speaker 1:When you're like dude, you live in a $500,000 house. Yeah, how can you not?
Speaker 3:they put all their money towards that.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's a very very real thing oh yeah, because I can't tell you how many times again when I sold carpets I'll get this guy would come in in a loaded up truck, brand new thing would probably be 70 grand and yeah, dude, can't get approved for a new one. Yeah sorry, buddy, you're keeping this thing, I guess that is nothing anyone can get in debt yeah, dean, for sure, shout out dean yeah, you know I.
Speaker 4:I just have to point out that I want to thank plumbers for guys like you, because I just had the ability to go take an amazing piss in indoor plumbing and you know you should thank a plumber every day.
Speaker 3:For those of you that are listening, thank a plumber well, I appreciate that, but I also want to say I don't know who you rent this from, but you had a couple issues in that toilet definitely write us up a ticket.
Speaker 1:We'll give it to the landlord.
Speaker 4:Need to be looked at, dude so that's one thing with selling brick. Everywhere I go, I'm like that chimney needs to be replaced. When you go into places, do you break things down in your head Like, oh, that water softener is fucked.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yes.
Speaker 3:We're actually required to test the water no matter what, no matter what. So we test the water for hardness, chlorine, iron if you're on a well, stuff like that. So we're required to do that in every household that we enter in, and a lot of times a softener is not working or they need a softener. But at what point do you offer this?
Speaker 2:It's hard to bring that up when you're there to fix the kitchen sink.
Speaker 1:Right, You're there because they're like hey, listen, I didn't call you for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't care about that. Some people, some people go for it and some people are like why the fuck are you in my mechanical room?
Speaker 1:you're here to fix my kitchen sink what are you doing down here? Do you have to explain it? Let's, I have to, so sometimes.
Speaker 2:Sometimes that happens in a bad case we're told we're not supposed to say this is my job, this is what I have to do. Yeah, but in some cases if a homeowner is mad, you know, and they're, they're not on your vibe. Yeah, sometimes you once in a while you got to play the card. Listen, I'm just here to do my job. What would the zilla?
Speaker 1:app say if you said oh, the zilla app I would say fire this guy right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, yeah so on.
Speaker 4:Your guys's day-to-day is there like a certain menial task that you find yourself doing a lot that you just fucking hate. You know whether it's replacing a water heater, what it is that's gravy I I mean.
Speaker 3:So we're installers, as, as he said earlier, everything. As an installer, I don't like the sales aspect of it. What would you say? I would say the shitty part about, I would say tune-ups, which is another discussion. If you're not a salesman, tune-ups suck, tune-ups suck. So we sell memberships A lot of big companies do Like a monthly subscription yep, you will come out and check up your check on your stuff. Find that stuff around here unless it's connecticut yeah, that's rich people's stuff not even rich people, it's just it's city stuff, which is fine.
Speaker 3:I agree with those. But we have to write up everything that we find wrong in the house. A simple shutoff of it turns a little bit, but it's hard.
Speaker 2:Like it works, but it's hard to turn.
Speaker 1:We're supposed to write it up, Put it on the quote it's genius from the company's standpoint, because this is the way you pick up on the small stuff Absolutely, and this is how they sell the jobs I mean that's got to be a massive source of leads. It's these monthly subscriptions?
Speaker 3:absolutely, yeah, we had. We have 8 000 subscriptions.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, between the, the tri-brand electric hvac and plumbing, wow 8 000, the cheapest is just plumbing is 12 dollars a month yeah, that's actually not bad, and someone comes out every single month and checks on it Every year. Oh, once a year they come on and check on it. So the thing about the.
Speaker 2:I don't 100% disagree with the subscription thing At all. Not at all, because you get 10% off installs and 20% off service work. So if you're going to even get something as simple as a new water heater, that pays for itself pretty it does pay for itself immediately and you know everything is your kitchen drain plugs up. You can get it cleaned for 20 or something. So it's. It does kind of pay for itself.
Speaker 4:But you have to expect once a year a plumber is going to come to your house and try to sell you fifteen thousand dollars do you find plumbing being similar to masonry, whereas, like if somebody's, you know, let's talk brick for a masonry, whereas if somebody's, let's talk brick for a second? If somebody's top three courses are fucked up and their crown's cracked and we know water's working its way down there.
Speaker 3:The rest of the chimney will be fucked sooner than later at this point, and that's what helped him switching from masonry to plumbing. So you understand the concept.
Speaker 4:He understood it already it's it's bad right now but it's gonna get worse and it's going to get worse quickly and so like, almost with this membership, having someone checking one time a year, it could save you some serious fucking.
Speaker 2:It could like a huge. So to go eye to eye with the masonry world, you see an old Chicago chimney with a cracked crown. You know that's a moneymaker. Oh yeah, you're good at selling that.
Speaker 4:You've done it a hundred times.
Speaker 2:But so to a plumber standpoint it would be. Reed and I just had this. Last week we went to a homeowner and her water heater was leaking after four years. Now the only thing that's going to make that water heater leak after four years is hard water. So she did have a water softener but it wasn't working. So the hardness of the water deteriorates, the softener and it will make it leak prematurely.
Speaker 4:So she wasn't having any of our shit.
Speaker 2:She wasn't happy with us because we were trying to sell her a softener because her water heater was going bad.
Speaker 4:She's like why do I?
Speaker 2:need a softener. My water heater is going bad and we were like, well, it's because it's not working and the water is hard. She didn't want to grasp that concept, but that would be the same thing Like if you have hard water, it's hard on your faucets, it's hard on your water heater, it's hard on your shower, everything in the home. So if a softener isn't working and you want to save the life of everything that has water touching it in your entire home Including you, including- you and your skin and everything a softener is the answer to that.
Speaker 2:So to answer your question, that's like the three-course old Chicago chimney rebuild is a water softener, that's not working.
Speaker 4:You can display them the big picture of what the inevitable is.
Speaker 2:What I did to her is the union that attaches to the water heater was all rusty and it was only three years old and it looked like it was 50 years old because the softener wasn't working. And I showed her, I took the part off and I was like, look, this is three years old and it looks like it's destroyed. It's because your softener's not working. Now most customers this is going to work because they're more understanding. She wasn't having any of our shit, so she was like yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, but in the Kanye words.
Speaker 2:You know she was Jewish, she was.
Speaker 4:Jewish. I said it.
Speaker 2:It's done, I said it, but yeah, she wasn't having any of our stuff, but nine times out of ten.
Speaker 4:She was busy rubbing her panties Nine times out of ten.
Speaker 2:That's your golden ticket. No way.
Speaker 4:Damn. Yeah, I forgot about that already. This has opened my eyes up.
Speaker 1:I never saw plumbing like this. To be honest with you, I have learned so much.
Speaker 4:One thing that I'm really curious about and I hope this helps other people because it's going to help me do you have a tip that you can give the listeners? Something that everyone should know, that the average man doesn't, that can make their lives a little easier? Just something you should. If you're listening to this podcast, you're gonna walk away with something that might help you for the rest of your life I would say number one know where your main shut off is, and make sure it works, make sure it works number two, or for me at least hardness in the water.
Speaker 3:What's in your water. What's in your water determines how long your plumbing in your home is going to last.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like a great-.
Speaker 3:Down to your faucets, water piping, water heater. It determines a lot, so like if your water is really bad. You should get a very high-end filtration device of some sort, absolutely, it doesn't even have to be high-end, just something.
Speaker 2:Just so like. Here's an example let's say you own a home. You live there for 10 years. Everything works great, no problem. You shower every day. Look at the shower head, it's fine. And then, let's say, a year goes by and you start noticing a bunch of white crusty stuff on your shower head, like where the water comes out.
Speaker 4:That's a sign that your water softener is not working, because that white crusty stuff is calcium and my entire shower head is literally white yeah, so that means you have hard water tell scrat to get on that.
Speaker 3:You have.
Speaker 2:You have, you know, two guys yeah, you have hard water and your softener isn't working and, like I said before, that's hard on everything that water touches, including you and your entire house even your soap.
Speaker 3:You guys know that if you have a water softener, you'll you will use half the soap you use currently.
Speaker 2:It won't it won't set up. Yeah, if you have really hard water and you're it takes a lot more to set up it'll take twice as much soap to set up on your body.
Speaker 4:Spoken like a salesman I like yeah, see that's the stuff I don't buy, because that's facts yeah, seriously though like it was dry your skin out hard water so when I, where I grew up, my parents have no water softener and they have the best water I've ever drank and they're on a well right yeah yeah, it's amazing water you come across that every once in a while.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's amazing dude, then I lived at my grandparents. They have a full system, the hardest water I've ever dealt with. It's like a whole different substance that you're dealing with. And now where I live right now, it's about right in the middle, so I've seen all the spectrums.
Speaker 2:Every city is different. Here in Pine City we have horseshit water.
Speaker 3:Yeah, horseshit.
Speaker 2:Horseshit Rune baby.
Speaker 3:Including PFAS.
Speaker 2:Yeah, including PFAS and a little example. Is so anything over-?
Speaker 3:What's PFAS? Forever Chemicals, forever Chemicals. Yeah, you've heard of them, right yeah?
Speaker 2:So like hardness in your water. What is it? Anything over? Is it four or seven grains hard?
Speaker 3:Anything over three.
Speaker 2:they consider hard Anything over three they say you should have a softener for Anything over 11 grains. Hard is considered extreme hardness water. Pine city has 25 grains hard water holy our water.
Speaker 4:That's the shit you're drinking over at nickels dude yeah, and he's right, by the water tower.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my water my.
Speaker 2:So the shutoff valves in my in my apartment. I lived at my apartment for a year and they're already seized. They don't move. So if a leak were to happen, I can't shut my water off because the water is so hard. They already seized everything up, whoa so, depending on what was that?
Speaker 2:20 something 25 yeah so depending on where you live. Like I know, minneapolis has pre-treated water, so by the time the water enters your home it's usually like four grains hard. It's pretty good but if you live in like brooklyn park, they have really hard water. Or every city, every water tower has a different, different water like hardness.
Speaker 3:I love hearing this guy talk because, dude, you're like the jedi mask dude, make me so proud of you. I'm literally about to tear up. This is amazing, do you?
Speaker 4:guys, do you? Oh, my god, dude, I totally forgot my question.
Speaker 1:I pulled a Cody dude. Oh my god, it's probably from that P-Foss in the water.
Speaker 4:I lost it. I'm fucking dying dude.
Speaker 1:It's all those microplastics. It is, I remember.
Speaker 4:Do you guys have any opinion On fluoride in the water?
Speaker 3:That's the P-Foss. I don't know much about it, I just know. No, fluoride in the water is the best. That's what, bobby.
Speaker 4:Kennedy said, and I'll believe it until I die. Oh, Bobby.
Speaker 3:Kennedy no, yeah, like I said, I don't have much opinion. I just know fluoride is better.
Speaker 4:Fuck fluoride.
Speaker 2:Fuck. Fluoride. Lowers that T dude. Now one question we always ask it does.
Speaker 3:I did not. Okay, I'm going to add that one to that. I can't afford it.
Speaker 1:I just heard this recently actually, and Taylor and I got into a big argument over this because she talks to the doctors at her work and they say fluoride is perfectly fine, where does she work? I'm not going to say it, but she works at a hospital, actually at a clinic that's attached to a hospital.
Speaker 3:What's that called?
Speaker 1:So, anyways, she was saying that they're saying the fluoride perfectly fine, perfectly normal. They recommend that you have a certain amount of fluoride because it prevents cavities in your mouth and dental health outweighs the health benefits or the health disadvantages that you get from consuming it. But I'd heard back in the day when fluoride first was introduced into the water supply, it was actually a byproduct of aluminum manufacturing and they were trying to figure out, like what the hell do we do with all this stuff? And they figured out like oh, prevents cavity oh, they found money.
Speaker 1:They found a way to make money off of it pretty much, ah makes sense pretty much, pretty much yeah yeah, it's hard to deny dude.
Speaker 4:Everything's about getting that buck baby heard that.
Speaker 1:But hey, we got good teeth. Now I don dude, did you?
Speaker 3:grow up on fluoride City water?
Speaker 1:No, I've always lived on well.
Speaker 3:I don't even think Pine City has fluoride in their water?
Speaker 1:I'm sure they do, do they? I don't even know. I don't even know.
Speaker 4:We got that hard fucking water. We got to talk to a smart guy.
Speaker 1:Where's TK? Tk went to the bathroom.
Speaker 4:You grew up on was crazy, though it smelled like blood, like it's, oh it's. I mean, there's so much iron like you have the orange bathtub.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, yes, yeah, like the bathtub was white at some point, but it's orange garden hose oh yeah, but there's nothing more refreshing on an 80 degree day than ice, cold iron water.
Speaker 4:Oh good dude, I slammed hose water like I, especially before. It was like a meme thing. That was something I could really relate to once I got older and sat on social media, because that was one of my favorite things in the world was turning that little bitch on and fucking slurping her off.
Speaker 1:Imagine how much nasty shit that picks up coming through that hose after it's been sitting there for weeks.
Speaker 3:And what is that hose made out of?
Speaker 1:Yeah right, PFAS.
Speaker 3:Plastic.
Speaker 1:You're just drinking microplastics, everything's made with forever chemicals. Yeah, that's going to be our generation's asbestos. I think, Absolutely. It's going to be plastics. We put plastics in everything. I think our generation is dealing with everything. Yeah, I feel like we got the asbestos, we got the lead.
Speaker 2:We got the asbestos, we got the lead, we got the plastics.
Speaker 3:Don't touch those papers.
Speaker 1:That's why we need RFK. Baby Boys. I think that's a good place to wrap this thing up. Is there anything that you guys want to add? Hell of a time.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much for coming out?
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you very much for having us. Is there anything you want to add before we dip out of here?
Speaker 2:If you need any work done, you can hit up me or Reed. We'll put a heater in your house softener, absolutely it doesn't matter, we'll be there. Have a case of beer for us.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, and they won't even show any crack if you don't want them to.
Speaker 4:So one thing before we go. I know that you guys don't work directly with a lot of different trades, but is there a trade you want to call out to just say fuck you to them, Fuck you, electricians, are pussies.
Speaker 2:HVAC you are too. Hvac is nerds and electricians are pussies.
Speaker 1:We can end it on that All right now. We got to get an electrician on.
Speaker 3:Fucking right.
Speaker 1:No, don't do that, we'll see you later.
