Contractor Sighting

[fma_fanatic]

Monday I hired a contractor to fix a problem we were having with a toilet in our house. Tuesday, I was playing a game of just how high can FMA_Fanatic's (and possibly DaDairyDruid's) blood pressure can rise. Here's what happened:

The toilet on the first floor was leaking when flushed, resulting in water dripping down to the basement. I suspected that wax ring was wearing away and needed to be replaced.

I hired a contractor I found through a third party service that pre-screens the companies. The owner of the company sent out worker who got one bolt off the toilet, found he couldn't get the other one off and told SO he had to go out to his truck. The worker came back and showed hubby he couldn't get bolt off, saying that the flange was most likely broken and would have to leave and reschedule. Hubby calls to tell me the problem, and I wait to get a call from the worker.

The owner of company called me two hours after the worker had showed up at our home and said that worker did not want to work on job due to feces in the toilet and urine on the floor.

I informed owner that the urine was most likely water from the toilet where it was leaking, and the "feces" was from the hard water we have, causing limescale and calcium build up that looks brown, something that has been there since before we bought the house. We went back and forth for a bit, where I asked the owner if it was such an issue, why doesn't the worker just say he doesn't want to do the job and get it over with. The owner says that's not the issue, but I'm done with it and I end the conversation as I'm at work and I honestly wanted to tell this guy exactly how I felt, but I have to maintain a professional appearance.

The owner told SO the same thing when SO called to find out what the problem was after I called SO to let him know and that I didn't want contractor to do work on the problem now.

I ended up hiring the UPS driver at our work to come over and do the job. He was able to get the toilet fixed in under an hour at one fourth the cost of the job the contractor wanted. The only problem he had? Getting the rusted bolt off and dropping one of the bolts down the drain. And oh yeah, the flange wasn't broken at all. Just a very worn wax ring.

Talk about..ugh..

I put up a review on the site where the contractor was recommended and received a call from their customer service and satisfaction department. They weren't very happy with this contractors antics either.

[MaggieTheCat]

Ugh, what a jerk. You'd think that if you're in an area that has hard water, he'd be used to seeing the brown gunk in the toilet. I remember the first time I visited my husband (boyfriend, at the time) and used his bathroom, I just about screamed. The toilet is pretty gunked up with brown hard water stains. But that's all they are. I come from an area with no hard water so I'd never seen anything like it. It's pretty common around here, though, there's a ton of lime in the ground. At least you got the problem fixed in the end!

[Midorikawa]

I keep hearing stories like this. this is why I like to do my own work, rather than pay someone else. As much as I hate doing plumbing, it's better than paying some chucklehead to pull that stunt. I'm sorry you had to go through that.

[LillFilly]

In all his experience, you'd think he'd by now know the difference between water and limescale from urine and feces!

Sounds like he just wanted to go home early, since he didn't talk to you BEFORE beginning the work.

[Imogene]

In all his experience,

What experience? If he didn't know the difference...?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

It blows my mind just how few tools these people carry with them. If my job was such I had to pull bolts out of toilets, I'd carry a bolt cutter AND a dremell. I've dealt with stuck bolts on toilets. How hard is it ito allow for that possiblility if that is your job?

Note: if you can use nylon instead of metal bolts, do it. Nylon bolts do not corrode and stick.

And sort of off topic, but you can get that discoloration off with a pumice like you'd use on your feet and a bottle of vinegar or lemon juice. Pour the vinegar or juice into the bowl. Wallpaper the inside of the bowl with toilet paper and make sure it gets soaked with the acidic water you just created in the bowl. Let it sit for around half an hour to an hour or so. This will loosen and soften the deposits.

Flush away the paper and scrub the mineral deposits off with the pumice. Pumice is harder than the deposits, but it is softer than porcelain and won't scratch your toilet. It will, however, crumble away like a crayon eventually.

[fma_fanatic]

I've seen the pumice stone solution before, but never with using vinegar. Does it matter which kind and how much, as in big bottle or little bottle?

[Chromatix]

I suspect a little bottle would do. Remember the entire trap contains only a couple of pints of water.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Honestly, I hardly measure anything. I buy distilled white vinegar in gallon jugs and just dump a few good "glugs" into the bowl. Probably a small bottle would be fine. Yoiu just want to acidify the water some.

The reason I buy distilled white vinegar is because it is cheap and does not have Mother of Vinegar in the bottom of the jug. I use it for cleaning. Mother tends to streak when you use it for cleaning glass. It does not matter, really, though. vinegar is vinegar.

[BrenDAnn]

We have hard water here (what a pain in the rear) and we have one tried and true solution--Sno Bol. Yes, you read that right. Sno Bol cleaner. Put it in, let it soak for several hours, scrub with your average scrub brush, and flush. Simple and easy. Granted, you'll probably have to do the pumice technique for the higher-up stains, but, for the most part, Sno Bol WORKS!

[draftermatt]

So a guy who apparently works on or around toilets, and presumably other types of plumbing was afraid of some apparent urine and feces?

For the love of Pete (my dead dog not the saint). The last time I had a toilet leaking we took the toilet off, to find the wax ring didn't need replacing at all. No there was a blockage in the pipes.

Which led to me slowly and carefully twisting the clean out off while holding a bucket, standing on a ladder.

Highlight to read.

It didn't matter how slow or careful I twisted either. That thing was so backed up that it threw the cap off, and I got a shower of poo water, all over my clothes, my ladder, my basement floor, and the coup de grace, in my mouth. Yet I still do my own plumbing work. Odd huh?

[Legal Eagle]

Lets assume he was dealing with urine & feces. He is a plumber dealing with bathrooms, he was told the job consisted of a toilet. That is his job, he would have long goves if he had to put his hand in the toilet bowl and normal gloves for dealing with the outside. That excuse doesn't fly, he wasn't able to get the job done and didn't want to admit it.

A plumber who refuses to deal with dirty toilets? he's not going to last long

[RecoveringKinkoid]

And it ain't like those guys don't get paid. They make more money than I or most of you will ever see.

[Ironclad Alibi]

There are only two things that need to known in order to be a plumber.

1. Water flows downhill.

2. It ain't all water.

That guy never learned #2.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

That guy never learned #2.

Or that his job involved same.