Home Blog Page 50

Tips About Toilet Training

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

I have just unblocked our toilet because my toddler unwove a new toilet paper roll and tried to flush it down the toilet. Just as well her mum is a plumber and had a plunger on hand to fix the problem!

 

Since having Magdalene, my husband and I decided to start toilet training Esther because we knew she was ready and since my husband had paternity leave, could assist with getting Esther to the toilet or potty and/or cleaning up the accidents while I looked after Magdalene.

 

We started the process with a potty. It’s only taken a couple of weeks for her to be more adventurous by using the toilet but needs help climbing the ladder to get onto the seat.

 

Yesterday I didn’t position her far enough on the toilet seat so we (or rather she) created a Niagara Falls effect with wee cascading down the toddler seat and ladder. I can tell you that I have never used so much Bosisto’s Lavender Spray and Eucalyptus cleaner in one go!!

 

The mess I was greeted with.
The mess I was greeted with.

Today, while I was busy with Magdalene, Esther decided to climb the ladder herself to use the toilet but missed getting it into the bowl and created another water feature around the toilet pan. Because she is a clean freak like her mum, she used 3/4 of a roll of toilet paper to clean the mess, gave up when she couldn’t flush anymore because the toilet was blocked and took herself promptly to sleep.

 

After putting down Magdalene, I found 1 poo in the potty in our ensuite so cleaned that up, then went to the main bathroom and found another poo in the potty and the blocked toilet with soggy toilet paper mess on the floor.

 

You would think after being a plumber for over 6 years I would be used to ‘poo and wee’ but let me tell you…. I’m not. Even if it is from my own flesh and blood.

 

Aside from the few accidents, Esther has been fabulous with the whole process and a lot of it has to do with waiting until she was ready to give it a go and giving her lots and LOTS of praise when she would use the potty and/or toilet.

 

When you’re a mother, you often compare how children aged the same age as your own reach various capabilities. You then start to worry when your own hasn’t reached the stage others have.

 

I remember going to the Southbank Markets and being told to start toilet training Esther when she was 18 months old. Esther didn’t even walk until she was 20 months so I knew that forcing her to use a toilet when she couldn’t stand on her own two feet was not a wise option for me.

 

The next advice given was to get Esther toilet trained before the baby arrived so that I would only be changing one nappy. So I gave it a go in October when Esther was a little over two and by the third day with the house reeking of whizz and me sick and tired of bending over in my pregnant state to clean the floor, enough was enough. Nappies weren’t really an extra chore when I was washing the floor multiple times during the day!

 

I’m no pro on the subject of toilet training as there are so many theories and so much advice online about how to go about it, but sometimes you just have to go with your own common sense and gut feeling of when to start and how to go about it. In my case, I did just that and it’s been a much better transition.

On my own but never alone

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

This week is the first week on my own with my baby and toddler. So far, everything is going good. I’ve been able to get chores done and despite the fact that my time is now run by a toddler and newborn, I haven’t felt stressed.  I’ve been able to juggle my attention to both daughters – while Magdalene sleeps, I spend some quality time reading books to Esther and etc.

Part of me worried about how I would cope with two children while still maintaining my blog and so far I have been able to keep the blogging going. I may have done a blogging cardinal sin last week by posting two sponsored posts within two days, but the posts have been in the pipeline for the last month and I just wanted to get them up and live before my husband went back to work (in case it would be another month before I could write them up).

I’ve had some great advice recently from readers about my blog posts and how to interact with readers on my Facebook page. I didn’t realize blogging was such a big business. In fact, so I can learn more about it and be a better blogger, I have booked myself to go to the Problogger Conference in September on the Gold Coast. I also want to meet some of the bloggers that I read and have become inspired by.

There aren’t many plumbing blogs like mine and I actually have more female readers than male plumber readers. The reason for this is that I can see is that social media and blogging for plumbers is a new era and an area that most plumbers aren’t familiar with (but are starting to). Secondly, women are generally more inclined to read a blog than men. No matter what age or sex, I appreciate all my readers and thankful that you have stopped by. If you ever want to contact me, please interact with me via Facebook, Twitter OR the Contact page on this blog. I have been told that comments sections can attract trolls and hackers. At least with Facebook, Twitter and my Contact page, the comments and accounts can be immediately deleted. I don’t want to delete my blog.

I have so many goals for my blog now that I have read other blogs. One thing I do though is compare readers and Facebook likes with other blogs, but blogging is a journey and no one gets immediate  likers or readers overnight. It takes time and it’s a journey. I’m a bit impatient though. So I will continue to write posts, and not worry about how many times its been shared or ‘liked’.

One thing that I am going to admit to doing is enjoy and savour every moment with my family and not feel guilty if I haven’t uploaded a blog post. I look at Esther and can’t believe how grown up she is. She was my first baby and the time has flown so fast. I am savoring every cuddle with Magdalene and enjoying her newborn smell and tiny form. I feel so blessed to have two daughters and a husband who adores all three of us.

So, The Plumbette might be a bit haphazard with blog posts over the next couple of months as I settle into a routine with two children (is there such a word as ‘routine’ when you have two children?) But I know that my decision is an important one.  I know that I can really increase my blog posts when the girls are in school, but for now, while they are little, I’m going to enjoy every moment with them. Time is short and memories need to be made so that these special times aren’t forgotten.

 

“The bud of a rose is just as beautiful as the full bloom. Appreciate what you have at the moment.” Anonymous

Bosisto’s Lavender Spray Review & Giveaway – Urine Smell Eradicator

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0
Can of Bosisto's Lavender Spray in our tool bag ready for smelly jobs
Can of Bosisto’s Lavender Spray in our tool bag ready for smelly jobs

Urine is a potent smell. If urine is left to fester in a toilet or urinal (or on the floor in some cases), the smell can become overpowering and repulsive.

I recently read the status of someone on Facebook (a mother of boys!!) who asked what other mum’s used to get rid of the urine smell from their toilet. No amount of cleaning with commercial cleaners would get rid of the smell.

As a plumber, I come across the smell of urine and effluent a lot. Urinals would have to be the worst smelling fixtures of the lot as they are used by straight shooters, wall aimers or floor drippers and when all three are combined, it delivers a horrible smell. Urine does seep into tile grout and if it doesn’t get cleaned straight away can continue to leave a stink in the bathroom or toilet room.

My suggestion in ridding the smell of urine is using Eucalyptus Oil from Bosisto’s.  Eucalyptus oil is great for eliminating smells and is a natural antibacterial cleaner and deoderiser. While I don’t have a urine smell issue in my household, I find the Eucalyptus oil more pleasing to the nose than commercial cleaners and use it to clean my bathrooms and kitchen bench top surfaces.

Bosisto’s also has a Lavender range. I actually won a Bosisto’s Lavender pack on a blog giveaway a month before I gave birth to my daughter. In the last months of my pregnancy, I had terrible insomnia and our house was starting to smell stuffy due to the wet weather and our dog deciding to play in the rain and reek of ‘wet dog’.

I have always loved the smell of lavender, so when I saw a particular blog I follow offer a giveaway of Bosisto’s Lavender range, I entered because I really wanted to try it out.

I won the giveaway and was so impressed with the Lavender range that I asked if I could do a review and similar giveaway on my own blog.

The Lavender Spray is FANTASTIC. It is Lavender Oil in a spray can! The spray can be used in bedrooms, on pet bedding, rubbish bins and anywhere that is musty or has a pong.  I sprayed the Lavender in all of our bedrooms to promote a better sleep for myself and for my toddler. I’ve sprayed it in my nursery so my newborn daughter will sleep. I have also put a can of Lavender Spray in our work tool bag so that if Dad and I come across any really smelly jobs (like the urinal cartridge jobs which I love so much!!) we can spray Bosisto’s Lavender spray in the bathroom to eliminate that putrid festering urine smell.

The Lavender oil is great to have in the first aid kit as it can be used as an antiseptic for minor cuts and abrasions. It can ease pain and itching from insect bites and can be added to your washing to remove unwanted odours. I used the Lavender oil in my washing and it worked really well on our towels which can start to smell when they don’t dry in humid weather.

The Bosisto’s Lavender and Eucalyptus oils and sprays are The Plumbette’s go to product for cleaning around the house – especially the bathroom and toilet. The Bosisto’s range is available at Woolworths, Independent Supermarkets and local pharmacies.

Here is the fun bit. I have 3 Bosisto’s Lavender Oil and Spray Packs to give away like the pack that I won.

In order to enter the giveaway all you need to do is

 

 

  • Like The Plumbette Facebook page(if you’re not on Facebook, just say so in your email response as below) But I will check this.
  • Like the Bosisto’s Facebook page
  • Use the Contact Form and answer ‘which room in your house would benefit from using Bosisto’s Lavender Spray and why?’ in 50 words or less. Please note the word count. Some entries to a previous give away had more than 50 words and were deemed illegible so please count your words!
  • In your email please state your name and address for postage should you win the prize.

 

 

Disclaimer: I won a Lavender Prize Pack from Your Cheeky Monkey Blog and was provided with another pack to try and review.  All opinions are honest and my own.  I only promote products on my blog that I use personally and wish to endorse.

 

 

Terms and Conditions

These terms shall apply to all giveaways and competitions run on this site, www.theplumbette.com.au

1.            This is a game of skill. Each valid entry to be judged on creativity and originality, not by chance.

2.            There are three prizes of Lavender Oil Spray & Oil Packs total prize worth $119.55.

3.            Entries open from Friday 15th March 2013 10pm Brisbane Time to Thursday 28th March 2013 10pm Brisbane Time.

4.            Prize is not transferable or changeable

5.            Prizes sent out by FGB Natural Products will not be replaced in the event they are stolen, lost or damaged in transit. The Plumbette cannot be held responsible for missing prizes.

6.            Additional entries if you share on Facebook or Twitter, but you must email a second or third valid entry answering the question in 50 words or less. Also please leave how you shared in the email.

7.            A valid email address must be included in your entry

8.            Entry into any giveaway or competition is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions

9.            Entrants must be Australian residents and aged 18 or over

10.          The winner will be notified by email and has 5 days to reply and claim the prize. The winner will also be announced on Facebook. This giveaway is not endorsed by Facebook.

11.          The decision on the winners are final and no dialogue will be entered into otherwise.

12.          These terms and conditions are subject to change at any time without notice

A Tool Bag made to Last – Beehive Tool Bag Review

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Working in the rain can be difficult for a plumber. Yeah, we should be used to working in the wet, but rain can put projects on hold and can cause damage to tools and other items that are exposed to the wet on the back of the ute.

 

An issue that my dad and I have found when working in the rain is preventing new fixtures that are in boxes get damaged by the wet weather and ensuring tool bags and buckets are covered so that they don’t fill with water.

 

Our tools need to be accessible on the truck and we have always had them in an open tool bag that would need to be wrapped in a black rubbish bag to prevent rain filling it to the brim when driving around in wet weather. It was always a pain in the butt to re-wrap the open tool bag with a rubbish bag.

 

My issue was finding a bag that would have a cover to prevent rain filling the bag and cause rust to form on tools, yet be durable and big enough to hold all our tools and not fall apart when left on the back of the truck in both wet and dry weather.

 

It wasn’t until I was on the Australian Made website that I came across Beehive Tool Bags which is an Australian owned company that makes tool bags for all types of tradies and can custom make a tool bag specifically for your trade or need.

 

My discovery of Beehive Tool Bags was the answer I was looking for and Sean Kerlin, the Manager of Beehive Tool Bags sent me a sample of one of their most popular tool bag which is the Side Pocket Double Reinforced Base tool bag.

The Side Pocket Double Base Tool Bag on the back of our truck
The Side Pocket Double Base Tool Bag on the back of our truck

 

My dad couldn’t put our tools in the bag fast enough when it arrived and with the constant wet weather that we have experienced in Brisbane over the past month, it was the perfect time to put the bag to good use.

 

I’ll be honest, my dad was skeptical about the durability of the bag in wet weather but since using the bag for a month and having heavy rain in Brisbane for nearly the whole month of February and beginning of March, the bag looks as good as the day it was sent to us.

 

There are plenty of pockets to house every tool and I’m impressed to say that the flap that goes over the top of the bag keeps all our tools dry and protected from the wet weather.

This particular bag is mainly sold to the miners where they are exposed to water and dust. Since Beehive Tool Bags started manufacturing tool bags 14 years ago, the Side Pocket Double Reinforced Base tool bag has been (and continues to be) one of their most sought after products.

 

The bags are manufactured in Australia using Australian PVC materials which supports jobs in Australia and you can trust that the product is superior and of good quality.

Our tools placed in the tool bag, protected from the rain.
Our tools placed in the tool bag, protected from the rain.

 

Sean advises that the main selling point of their bags is their strength and durability. I know tool bags can get a hammering whether they are on the back of a ute or carried around and generally ‘chucked’ on a construction site. The safe working load for the Beehive Tool Bags is 15kg due to Occupational Health and Safety, but the bags have been tested to hold over 100kg in weight without failing or breaking. Beehive Tool Bags also provide a 2 year workmanship warranty and abide by the ACCC 2010 warranties.

 

What I love about Beehive Tool Bags is that they can be custom made to your liking. They can have lockable zips, smart phone holders, document pouches, customer names and logos printed on the side or flaps and can be made in different colours. Nothing is too hard. It was even suggested that when I get my own custom made tool bag, I could add a baby bottle holder should I need to feed my daughter when out and about.

 

My favourite tool bag designs are the pink and purple ‘ladies tradies’ tool bags. With more women entering a trade, there is a growing need to cater tool bags for women and when they are manufactured out of the colours of pink and purple, I think they are a winner.

Overall, I am impressed with Beehive Toolbags and believe that plumbers should give the bags a go. Sean made the perfect choice in sending the Side Pocket Double Reinforced Base tool bag as the tool bag to cater for plumbers.

 

If you are interested in purchasing a tool bag or getting one custom designed and manufactured for yourself, head to http://www.beehivevinyl.com.au. Trade prices for the bags are available to trades with their own business name.

 

The bags truly live up to their name ‘Made Tuff for Tuff Work’ and if you should decide to purchase one, you will certainly get your money’s worth out of it.

 

*Disclaimer, as mentioned in this blog post I received the Side Pocket Double Reinforced Base tool bag to review and give feedback as a tool bag for plumbers.

World Plumbing Day 11th March

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Today is World Plumbing Day.  It seems like we a have a ‘day’ for everything these days (sorry, pardon the pun!) which is another excuse to throw on a function and celebrate the world of… whatever and today it’s plumbing.

 

I’m not trying to be sarcastic but I can’t keep up with all these different days since we just had International Women’s Day on Friday. Can you believe we also have a World Toilet day on the 19th of November?

What is World Plumbing Day? Here is the exact wording from the World Plumbing Day website.

“World Plumbing Day is an international event on March 11 initiated by the World Plumbing Council celebrating the important role plumbing plays in the health and safety of modern society.”

 

I have always written about how important it is to use a licensed plumber when installing plumbing. If there was no running water or sewerage, there would be no such vocation as being a plumber. And plumbing is a necessary need that ensures everybody’s waste is taken away safely and fresh water is supplied easily with no contamination. This is why plumbing is a licensed trade.

 

So to all plumbers in Australia and around the world, Happy Plumbing Day! You may not have received breakfast in bed or a card to say thank you for being a plumber, but you can be assured that what you do keeps our society safe from diseases and ill health.

 

International Women’s Day – Celebrating Choices given to Women

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0
female tradie

Today is International Women’s Day and this time of year always holds some significance to me because it was the time I received my provisional plumbing license. Ironically I got my license the day before International Women’s Day 3 years ago and I have  just received the paperwork from the Plumbing Council to pay for another year’s license fee.

 

I remember going to a function for female plumbers and apprentices run by the Plumbing Council three years ago for International Women’s Day and it put me off future International Women’s Day functions. Simply put, despite the fact that I’m a female plumber, I don’t believe all plumbers should be female nor should the construction industry be predominantly run by women. I think it’s great that women have more opportunities to choose a career in any field they wish but I don’t believe women should rule the world.

 

What International Women’s Day should represent (and what it is supposed to represent) is a celebration of not only what women have achieved in the past, but the opportunities that continue to open up for them in the future.

 

I believe I have the best of both worlds. I enjoy the couple of days a week that I work as a plumber and I love the time that I spend being a wife, mother and home maker. Being a home maker is such an important role and its value to the household should never be taken for granted.  Being a parent is one of the hardest jobs in the world but it can be the most rewarding if you invest quality time with your children.

 

Since having my second daughter, I have had a bit of time to reflect on the type of mother I want to be and how I can balance this with my work pursuits. Some women tend to view or do the opposite – pursue their own careers and work out how their children and family can fit around them. I don’t agree with this or think this is right. Children are a blessing from God and a responsibility. Blessings also require good stewardship. I believe children need to be viewed in this light.

 

I am enjoying every moment with my daughters (not the temper tantrums from my two year old!). They are only little for so long and now is the time that they want and need my attention the most. I know that I can ramp up my business’s when they go to school, but working for myself and my family business means I will always be there for my children should they need me and I won’t miss out on important milestones in their life.

 

It all comes down to choices, and it seems that women are getting more of these as each year passes by. The choices made now though, need to be ones that we don’t regret in the future.

When NOT to call a Plumber

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Have you ever called a plumber only to find that they are unable to fix a problem for you and you have been caught out paying a call out fee?

 

Some plumbers charge a call out fee if this occurs because you have called them out to look at a problem and get their expertise or advice. Some plumbers choose not to charge and are generally rewarded with business from the same customer later on.

 

But when should you NOT call a plumber? Here are some examples of when to call a plumber and when you may require an electrician OR you may need to get a new appliance altogether.

 

  1. Dishwashers. If your dishwasher is over 3 years old and stops working – so water doesn’t drain away, or it constantly gets stuck in a cycle and stops, don’t call a plumber. It will be the appliance itself where the main electronic board of the appliance needs to be replaced. Plumbers only install water to the dishwasher and attach the waste to the sink trap. Plumbers can’t make the appliance work or fiddle with the electrics of the appliance. It will void the warranty and plumbers don’t have the knowledge or skills to fix this issue. Your options – if you are in this situation is to organize an appliance serviceman to fix the appliance OR buy a new appliance. In some instances, it is cheaper to buy a new appliance. The same principle can be applied to washing machines and grey water pumps.
  2. Septic Tanks are a specialized field in plumbing and plumbers are required to have a specific license to service and install septic tanks. So if you live on property where you have a septic tank installed and you have issues, ensure your plumber has the correct license. You must call a plumber with a Septic Tank Endorsed Plumbing License. Same applies for Solar Hot water units. To check if a plumber has the specific license, ask them on the phone.
  3. Hot water units. Generally, a hot water unit will last up to 10 years. A plumber will be able to advise if it needs to be replaced OR if a valve is faulty only and replace the valve. If your hot water unit is under 5 years old and you have water coming through your hot water tap, but it isn’t cold, it may be that the element needs to be replaced and in this instance, an electrician is required.
  4. If your home has been recently built or renovated and an issue occurs with the toilet or there’s a leak on a fixture, within the first 12 months after the renovation, ring the original builder you engaged for the building works so they can ring their plumber as the work will covered under warranty.

The above circumstances are the most common times where I have found customers have been caught out ringing a plumber to fix jobs they are unable to fix. If in doubt, and you want to avoid a call out fee, talk to your plumber on the phone about the issue and what their charging policy is if they are unable to fix the problem. Please remember though that if you do call a plumber and they are UNABLE to fix the problem, even though you explained it on the phone, they are in their right to charge a fee for their time. When you want advice from a doctor or lawyer, you pay a fee and the same applies to plumbers. When you require advice about their field of knowledge, expect to pay a fee.

Working for Multi-Cultural Clients

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Clients are what keeps a business in business and when work is slow, beggars can’t be choosers in the types of clients that ring for assistance. Working in Australia which is a multi-cultural society, means that clients will come from a range of different backgrounds and ethnicities and this can sometimes bring opportunities to learn about a different culture, but it can also harbor conflict and difficulties.

 

If you talk to any tradesman, and without being racist, I mean the majority of Caucasian tradies; they agree that working for Asian and Indian clients can often be the worst customers to work for. The reasons include because they often don’t pay their bills, want illegal installations to be done or barter your price down because they say you are too expensive.

 

 

I have come across clients like these in both commercial and domestic jobs and it takes wisdom and patience to work alongside such clients or making a decision to walk away from a job to save your integrity and sanity.

 

The way to handle such clients is to be firm and upfront about costs and payment terms. Trades also need to understand that bartering for a cheaper price, while not done in Australia, is customary in other countries for goods and services. Also, tradespeople need to explain to clients that what happens in India and Asia (and any other country for that matter!), can’t be done in Australia because of strict laws and standards. Third world countries –even their first-world districts don’t have the same safety standards and laws as first world Australia.

 

At the end of the day, if a client’s requests aren’t acceptable, don’t pursue the job. Walk away!

 

I remember one job my dad was asked to quote on a few years ago when we focused on commercial work. It was an Indian restaurant in New Farm Brisbane and the client wanted to pay all the tradies cash to do the job. When my dad found this out and was advised that the gas appliances were being imported directly from India without Australian approval, he walked away. Sadly, some of the other trades that were asked to quote on the job (who needed the work) thought it was a great job thinking that if they were paid cash, there would be no issues with payment. But anything not done in writing and hidden from the Australian Tax Office has significant consequences. The tradies weren’t paid and the restaurant went belly-up before it opened.

 

Not all multi-cultural clients are difficult to work with, but majority have their own ideas on how tradespeople should work or charge. The best way to assist is not to avoid these clients altogether because that would be racist. Instead be upfront about your costs and offer a discount ONLY if you are able to, write a contract before you do the work if you are worried about being paid, do the work according to Australian Standards to cover yourself and remember that if you do a good job for them, they will recommend you within their own ethnic communities which means you will get more customers and more work.

 

 

Check before you Dig to avoid Water Leaks

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Weekends are always the worst and most common times when you come across a water leak or blocked drain at your house. It’s always a pain in the butt to try and find a plumber that will firstly want to come out on a weekend (and usually it’s a Sunday afternoon!) and when you do find one, the call out fee is usually a minimum of $250 plus labour. I don’t blame plumbers for charging a higher rate on weekends because they are being called away from their downtime which is valuable time spent with their family.

Consumers often complain about the extra charged for out of hours work, but keep in mind that employees who work out of hours generally get paid double time or triple time, so the same principle can be applied to trades – even if they are blue collar workers.

With that said, you can avoid calling a plumber on a weekend if you want to avoid paying a larger bill by organizing them to come on a Monday. Some jobs, like blocked drains need to be attended to straight away because you can’t use any fixtures in the house because they back up. But some water leaks can be avoided or managed by simply turning off the water meter and organizing a plumber to fix the leak first thing Monday morning.

A job I attended to today was a perfect example of a water leak that could have been avoided, but the client was smart enough to know that he could turn the water off to his house and organise a plumber to fix the leak on Monday.

The client had been digging in the garden to plant a new tree and poked a hole into the 15mm water main running from the meter to the house. The client turned off the water meter and dug around the pipe to expose the hole, so all the plumber had to do was fix the leak. It only took 20 minutes to fix the pipe and the client avoided paying a weekend call out fee.

The leak could have been avoided if he had seen that the water meter was directly in line with where he was digging to plant his new palm tree, but he explained that he didn’t expect the copper pipe to be so shallow in the ground.

My husband has done the same thing trying to plant trees in our back garden, but instead of a water pipe, he has cracked what he thought was our 100mm sewer pipe, but it was only a storm water pipe. Thankfully he’s married to someone who could fix it straight away. I’m still waiting for him to pay me my call out fee though!!

So to avoid breaking pipes in the ground whether they be water, storm water or sewer pipes here are a few things to check before you dig (for residential only):

For water, check where your water meter is and where the first front hose tap is located on the house. Generally the water line will run directly to the first hose tap so you know that it is best to avoid digging in that area.

For sewer and storm water pipes, check your house drainage plan which will detail where the main lines run outside of your house.

For larger commercial jobs where excavation works need to be done, plumbers must call ‘dial before you dig’ to ensure there aren’t Telstra cables or other services running under ground. There are also technicians that are able to use machines to detect how far services or pipes are in the ground to avoid digging them up.

At the end of the day, if you do break a pipe, it’s generally an easy fix. To save money, dig around the broken pipe so it is exposed and there is easy access. You will avoid paying the plumber to dig it up and your plumber will love you for making their job that much easier.

Crap Customer Service Kills Business

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0
female plumber on site showing her boss the problem

Not long ago I wrote a post about No Show Tradies. Even as a tradeswoman, I struggle to find good tradies. Ones that will show up on time, do what they say they will do and charge me accordingly. Customer service is SO important in this day and age when people are looking to save money. It is what keeps a business trading.

 

An example where I have been let down with customer service is with a computer technician. A different kind of trade, but never-the-less a business that provides a service.

 

I have had issues with my computer for over a year now but have slowly waited for it to die a long death, backing up every file I save on an external hard-drive till it dies completely altogether.

 

A year ago when the issues started, I got our normal company computer technician out to fix various issues with my computer. I was charged over $600 and the issues that I wanted rectified were never fixed and I paid him because he updated the virus settings on my computer and did basic maintenance. I’m not one to NOT pay my bills. I was happy that he had fixed other areas of my computer, but not at all happy that he didn’t fix the original problems that I had outlined to him in the first place. When I asked him about it, he said, the issues weren’t really issues because I could use other points on the computer and made me think that I was making an issue out of nothing.

 

Due to this incident, I decided to find a different technician and a week ago the on button to my computer tower broke which meant I couldn’t turn the computer on. I rang a new technician who was able to fit me in that afternoon and got my computer going so that I could use it for work and blogging, but he advised that it was time to invest in a new computer because it would be ridiculous spending money on an old computer. He didn’t charge me for coming out, but because of his genuine advice and sincerity, I have decided to give all my computer maintenance work to him and although he is a bit dearer per hour than my last technician, but he is more efficient and HONEST.

 

I don’t mind paying a bit extra if I am going to get the service and my issues are going to get resolved.

 

Last Friday afternoon, my dad and I had a predicament where we had to replace a hot water unit on Saturday morning which was of course Australia Day and fell on a long weekend. We needed an electrician to hook up the new unit. We called our list of preferred electricians –  one didn’t want to work and was rude to my dad on the phone for possibly asking him to work on a long weekend, our back up didn’t answer his phone all Friday afternoon, so as a last resort I phoned an old friend who had just started his own business to see if he was interested in helping us out.

 

Firstly, he already had two jobs booked that morning, but he was able to squeeze our job in between the two booked jobs. The real test was to see if he would actually show up on Saturday morning – and he did – 10 minutes early to the time we had agreed he’d aim for.

 

I love a tradesperson that is eager to do work no matter what the size or difficulty of the job. If I had it my way, I would want to do easy jobs all the time because they are quick to do and it is easy money!

 

Anyway, I want to sing this electrician’s service highly because he has only started his business since getting fully qualified to run it and we need to support young business’s because they are the tradies of the future.

 

The details for this electrician is Bright Solutions Electrical, and the manager and owner is Stewart Cowan. Check out his website and give his Facebook page a like if you are looking for a reliable electrician in Brisbane. I love Facebook because liking a page is virtually having a business card saved into your iphone or smartphone (providing you use facebook on your mobile!)

 

Bright Solutions Electrical got us out of trouble on a weekend where it was difficult to find a tradesperson to assist us. Trades that go out of their way to assist you are like gold and need to be remembered and used often. The other great thing about Bright Solutions Electrical is that their charging was excellent.  Other trades would double their rate due to coming out on a long weekend or class working on a Saturday as double pay

Word of mouth advertising which is free advertising is a direct result of good customer service. If our customer service is crap, it will slowly kill a business.

Provide service that is above expectation, you will not only win loyalty, but you will gain new business just through word-of-mouth and recommendations from your loyal clients. We will be using Bright Solutions Electrical now for all our electrical needs because of the good service and I am happy to endorse his service to our clients. It’s just like what Julia Morgan a famous American Architect quoted ‘Never turn a job down because it’s too small; you don’t know where it could lead.’

 

 

 

BENT-OVER Silicone Nozzles Review and Give-Away

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Applying silicone on any job can be a nightmare, especially if it needs to be applied in a hard-to-reach area. Truth be told, I hate silicone. Can’t stand the smell and if you’re not used to applying it, you can get it everywhere and you can really mess up a job if you don’t apply it evenly. Who knows why women decide to get implants with the stuff? I can’t stand it on my hands, let alone have it floating in my bosom!

 

Anyway, I was really excited to be contacted from the designer and creator of Bent-Over Silicone Nozzles to test their product and write a review. The Bent-Over Silicone Nozzles were designed by a plumber Alex John from Victoria to provide a solution for plumbers (and DIY Jack and Jill of all trades) when applying silicone in hard-to-reach places.

silicone nozzle only

 

The features of these nozzles are:

  • They can attach to any standard tube of silicone
  • The tubes can freely move and explore different directions with the use of the two ball joint feature
  • The length of the nozzles can be extended by adding more ball joints
  • The nozzles are durable and can be cut into different lengths
  • The nozzles can be reused again, by taking each joint apart and unlodging the dried up silicone
  • The nozzles are Australian designed and manufactured which means you are getting a quality product and supporting an Australian business.

 

Dad and I used the nozzles in various job scenarios including providing a water seal behind shower tap flanges to sealing a joint in a stack where the access was limited.

silicone nozzle in action

The only criticism I have of the nozzles is that once  they are taken apart, they do need a hammer to be ‘clicked’ into place and if you’re on a job and your hammer is on the truck, it would be convenient if the joints could be reconnected by hand. In future, to avoid this problem, I will have several different lengths of the flexible joints ready for when they are needed on a job.

 

The nozzles are well made and there has been no compromise on quality due to having the nozzles manufactured in Australia. The nozzles can be purchased online at http://www.bentoversiliconenozzles.com/  for $6.60 for a 2 pack of the flexible, extendable, reusable silicone nozzles.

 

Every plumber should have these nozzles on their truck! I highly recommend them for sealing behind semi-recessed basins where often the cabinet maker has cut the basin in too close to the mirror or wall so there is little space to angle the silicone tube to apply a decent bead of silicone for sealing. The same application can be done for toilet pans. In fact, you can use the nozzles for every silicone application whether it’s a tight spot or you just need to seal an easily accessed area.

 

Plumbers around Australia are singing praises for this great product, and so is The Plumbette.

 

If you would like to get your hands on a pack of these silicone nozzles, Bent-Over Silicone Nozzles have generously supplied me with 3 prizes – each prize has 2 packs of the nozzles and 1 $20 Bunnings voucher. Jacol Plumbing Pty Ltd has generously donated 3 x $20 Bunnings vouchers that can be used to purchase silicone so you can try these nozzles out! The terms and conditions have slightly changed below so please read carefully on how to enter.

 

Bentover silicone Nozzle Prize Packs

To enter all you need to do is

 

 

Disclaimer: I was provided with 2 packs of Bentover Silicone Nozzles for this review and 3 sets of prizes for the give-away, but all opinions are honest and my own. Jacol Plumbing Pty Ltd has provided the $20 Bunnings vouchers for each prize pack.

 

Terms and Conditions

These terms shall apply to all giveaways and competitions run on this site, www.theplumbette.com.au

  1. This is a game of skill. Each valid entry to be judged on creativity and originality, not by chance.
  2. There are three prizes of 2 packs of Bentover Silicone Nozzles total prize worth $69.80.
  3. Entries open from Tuesday 22nd January 2013 10pm Brisbane Time to Thursday 31st January 2013 10pm Brisbane Time.
  4. Prize is not transferable or changeable
  5. Prizes sent out by Jacol Plumbing Pty Ltd will not be replaced in the event they are stolen, lost or damaged in transit.
  6. Additional entries if you share on Facebook or Twitter, but you must email a second or third valid entry answering the question in 50 words or less. Also please leave how you shared in the email.
  7. A valid email address must be included in your entry
  8. Entry into any giveaway or competition is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions
  9. Entrants must be Australian residents and aged 18 or over
  10. The winner will be notified by email and has 5 days to reply and claim the prize. The winner will also be announced on Facebook. This giveaway is not endorsed by Facebook.
  11. The decision on the winners are final and no dialogue will be entered into otherwise.
  12. These terms and conditions are subject to change at anytime without notice

 

 

The Limp and the Waddling Plumbers!

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Dad and I have been in the swing of work since Boxing Day last year which is much earlier than we anticipated going back because as you know, my dad had a hip replacement operation 7 weeks ago and I am 34 weeks pregnant. I have joked to our clients that when we come out, it will be the lame and the knocked up plumbers arriving at their door!

 

But truth be told my Dad is doing FABULOUSLY with his new hip. He has a slight limp which is to be expected but we have been able to install toilet suites and do basic plumbing maintenance jobs. I have to be careful bending over and I have to watch getting too hot especially with the heat spell that we have been experiencing. I have benefited from being active though, and I really enjoy talking to our clients and assisting them with their plumbing needs.

 

Our work hasn’t been without drama though. We have had one brand new toilet cistern that once installed was working well, but when the client used it, the cistern wouldn’t cut off and the only way to fix it was to jiggle the buttons to stop it running. In the end, we had to return and install a new cistern and take away the faulty cistern.

 

Also our Italian toilets that I wrote about last week, one of them had a slight drip on the waste which would only happen on the 10th flush. My dad spent over 4 hours on the toilet suite trying to work out where the water was coming from. Other plumbers have advised that they have had issues with the same toilet suites. We still don’t know if we’ve fixed the problem and have advised the client to keep a watch on it and call us at the end of the week to advise if the leak has stopped.

 

There are times when as a plumber, problems are out of our control and it can be a faulty fixture or badly manufactured item that can be the root of our problems! Sometimes the client can blame the plumber because of the issues, but plumbers don’t manufacture the fixtures or fittings. Both clients in the above situations didn’t blame us at all, but when we did commercial work, tenants would always blame the plumber because their Zip unit wouldn’t work or their grey water pump would block up.

 

At the end of the day, it’s a matter of conscience and good customer service to fix a faulty job even if it’s not our fault. It means we keep our good reputation and the client can trust us with jobs in the future.

 

Another way of earning trust with a client and repeat business is explaining how to fix a problem in the future that they don’t require a license to do themselves. For example, another loyal client had gotten her husband to replace the push up plug and waste in their basin. Unfortunately, it leaked when her husband installed it and this lovely client had to ring me and ask if I could fix it for her.

 

The pop up plug and wastes do tend to get stuck after a while and can often need replacing every couple of years. All that was needed was silicone to be smeared in two places on the plug and waste and strength to tighten it into place. We explained to the client why her husband’s installation failed and drew a diagram of what would need to be done in the future when they would need to replace the rest of the plug and wastes in the other bathrooms. Should they have any issues, they know they can ring us too.

 

I must stress that plumbing is a licensed trade and most (if not really all) plumbing installations require a licensed plumber to do them. With that said, simple jobs like replacing a plug and waste or tap washers can be done by a client to save money. More often than not though, we are called after the husband has had a go and their installation has failed. It just proves that plumbers are a skilled trade and their experience and knowledge shouldn’t be taken lightly.

 

Next week I will be having my first give-away on this blog and a review of a product that will save plumbers, other trades and even DIY handymen/women a lot of hassle when installing silicone. The product is Australian made and owned, designed by a plumber in Victoria. Stay tuned next week for the review and details on the give-away!

Let your Plumber do the dirty work for you! Choosing a Toilet Suite

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
1

Last week, dad and I had one of those days where a job that should have been fairly simple, became hard and laboursome and it was because the client supplied their own new toilet suites.

 

It may sound tempting to supply your own new toilet suite and just pay a plumber labour to install it, but there are certain measurements and features of toilet pans that need to be taken into consideration when buying a replacement toilet suite.

 

Firstly, the brand of toilet suite needs to be a reputable brand. I’ve written before that if you choose a European branded toilet suite, you will have issues in the future in getting parts to fix them and the parts themselves can be very pricey. The toilet suites we were supplied with last week were made in Italy. I didn’t recognize the brand and wasn’t impressed with how we had to ‘guess’ how to put in the toilet pan with no measurements as no paperwork was supplied in the boxes.

 

Secondly, when you buy a new toilet pan you MUST know the measurement of the toilet waste from the wall if it’s an ‘s’ trap (waste goes through the floor) or height of waste if it’s a ‘p’ trap (waste comes through the wall). All toilet pans require a different measurement and because the plumber has to work with the existing waste, you need to ensure that the pan you buy will suit.

 

Back at the client’s place, the length from the waste to the wall was 180mm. The pan and pan bracket collar supplied would only reach a maximum of 165mm. Because the existing waste had an offset pan connector already installed, we needed to alter the waste and get a different pan connector to make the pan work to the existing waste. The cost to get this ‘Universal’ pan connector was an extra $50 per fitting plus our time in going to the supplier to get this fitting.

 

Thirdly, because there were no measurements or instructions with the toilet suites, it took time to slowly and methodically work out how to install them. This toilet was close coupled (toilet cistern sits on the toilet pan so you don’t see a flush pipe) and had a concealed waste which means the back edge of the toilet pan must fit flush with the back wall.

 

The first toilet suite we installed took 2.5 hours, the second one took just over 1.5 hours.

 

If the client had supplied a toilet suite that suited the existing waste and was a well known brand – like Caroma which can be purchased from Reece or Tradelink, we wouldn’t have been there as long and there would have been no need to purchase a $50 Universal pan connector per toilet suite.

 

Installing foreign and unfamiliar taps and fixtures with little instructions increases costs with labour as the plumber has to ring up the manufacturer to get information or has to guess by themselves on how to install the item correctly. It’s important to ensure that these items have a Watermark sticker on them which means they are approved to be installed in Australia. If you allow your plumber to supply the toilets for you, (once he or she has viewed the existing waste and toilet suites) this can ensure that these issues are avoided and prevents a high installation bill.

 

Alternatively, if you are a client still wanting to supply your own toilet suite, get the plumber to check that what you are going to purchase will work with your existing toilet waste. If you are super keen to purchase a particular toilet suite that is foreign due to design and style, discuss with your plumber whether the toilet waste can be offset and the time and costs involved in altering the services to suit the new toilet suite. Often the time and cost of installation will deter the purchase of the foreign toilet suite.

The Plumbette’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2013

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

And here I am again (and so are you), at the beginning of a New Year contemplating goals for the year ahead.

 

I do make New Year’s resolutions but I like to call them goals that I’d like to achieve in a fixed year time frame. I believe it’s important to have goals because they are something to focus towards and as the saying goes “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

 

I think the problem with why so many people dislike making resolutions is because they make resolutions they can’t keep. Often the resolution is too high to attain in the first place. Resolutions aren’t meant to put extra pressure on an already busy schedule. Resolutions or goals need to be achievable and the only way to do this is by setting small goals that will enable you to achieve the big goal you wish to achieve.

 

For me, I have a fair few goals that I want to achieve this year and as I was making my list I forgot (well nearly) that I had one BIG EXCITING interruption to my year that will probably delay my goals being achieved.  I can’t wait for our baby number 2 to arrive, but in writing my list of goals, I did not allow for the arrival of my baby! The bump is there, but the brain has been elsewhere!! So I changed my list and cut it short because who knows how I will cope with a second child. I might handle it fabulously or I might find it difficult. I don’t want to add pressure to myself either way so here are my goals (in no particular order):

 

  1. Set up a schedule for my blog posts – this will be difficult until I get into a routine with the second bub and this will also need to be adjusted as we all know (well parents anyway!) babies like to change their routine to keep you on your feet!

 

  1. Increase my readership on my plumbing blog. I would love to have over 100 likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter by the end of the year.

 

 

  1. Invest in quality friendships and relationships. I am a people person. I love meeting people and connecting with a large group of friends, but the problem with this is that I have missed out on true intimacy with close friends. There have been moments last year where I felt lonely. My husband and I have reached out to a number of people and we haven’t had love and support reciprocated back. Rather than be bitter, we are looking forward to investing time into quality friendships this year.  I recently read this quote ‘Don’t make an effort for people who don’t make an effort for you… Respect, value, honour & love yourself enough to not waste your time & energy on those who don’t appreciate it…’ and it resonated with me. I look forward to socialising with all my friends, but I have made a list of close friends that I will schedule phone calls, coffee catch-ups and regular contact with.

 

 

  1. Being involved in an activity or ministry that serves others. I have a few ideas but don’t want to concrete anything in until I have our baby. I don’t like organizing something that I can’t commit to.

 

  1. Be a fun mum to my kids and organise a date night once a month with my husband.

 

  1. Edit my book and get it ready for publishing.

 

  1. Maintain my relationship with God through praying daily and reading my bible.

 

 

I have various financial and health goals that I would like to see come into fruition in 2013, but with a newborn, I don’t want to be frugal and not enjoy life with our children, nor do I want to bust my butt to lose weight unhealthily in a short time frame to get my body back to it’s pre-baby weight. Both would be ideal, but are not essential goals to achieve this year. I just want to enjoy the new addition to our family, keep up to date with what is going on in the plumbing world (possibly returning to work in 6 months) and enjoy life! If I can keep these three goals, everything else above is a bonus! The undercurrent that threads all these goals together is God. God has to be apart of everything I do because if He’s not, then I’m wasting my time. If you’re unsure of what goals you want to achieve this year, why not pray and ask God what He desires for you?

 

 

 

The Plumbette’s Top 5 Plumbing Blog Posts for 2012

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
15

I started this blog a year ago purely for my own enjoyment. I love writing about some of the jobs and funny moments in plumbing that my dad and I  come across in our line of work. My readership in one year has grown from approximately 2 people (my mum and dad) to nearly over 300 per week. My website has over1000 hits per month which excites me because it means that my writing is interesting and secondly that the discipline of writing each week is worth it!

 

When I told some friends that I was going to start a blog, I had criticism about how I was going to make money from it (which I don’t) and when I did start writing it I was quizzed on how many readers I had (which at the time was not many) but I could see the potential of a blog like mine becoming a success.  I’m passionate about writing and about what I do and I’m not afraid to speak my mind or talk about issues relating to the plumbing industry. What these certain friends didn’t realize is that I have had criticism throughout my whole career as a plumber so it really didn’t bother me that they didn’t fully support my endeavor.

 

As a result of my blog I have been mentioned in Men’s Health Magazine, The Dux Hotline Newsletter, QWeekend and in the December/January 2012 Master Plumbers Magazine (page 9).  If you are a Master Plumber checking out my blog for the first time, welcome! I hope you stay and continue to read each week and relate to what I have to say! Feel free to follow me through Twitter or Facebook as this is what I use to let readers know when a new blog article has been posted up.

 

This year, my top 5 posts have related to plumbing and… sex. They do say sex sells, but I didn’t anticipate the spike in hit numbers on my site from those articles. Other articles that also got high readership ratings were explaining plumbing pricing, whether women should be tradies and plumbing firms that have gone under in 2012.

 

So my top 5 posts for 2012 were:

 

Plumbing Fittings with Sexual References

Tafe & sex

Why do Plumbers have a call out fee?

Hastie Group won’t be the last to go under

Should Women be Tradies

With Christmas around the corner and the New Year fastly approaching, I am going to take a weeks break to spend time with my family and organise myself for the New Year. My first two posts in the New Year will have give-aways and you must be a Plumbette Facebook liker or Twitter follower to participate in the give-aways. One give-away will be cash which for most of you couldn’t come at a better time after spending money on Christmas and New Years. If only our bills had a Christmas Holiday too!!

 

Thank you to all my readers and clients who read my blog and interact with me via email or Facebook. I love writing about what I do. My comments section is getting sorted out and should hopefully be up and running in the New Year.  I pray and hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year for 2013. I look forward to seeing what 2013 has in store for The Plumbette!

 

*If you are a business that would like be reviewed on my blog in 2013, please feel free to contact me via email or the contact form on this blog. I can’t guarantee I will review every product or business that requests this and you need to be prepared for my honest opinion relating to your product or service. But I am happy to endorse products and services that I find work and will benefit my readers. If you wish to advertise on my page, feel free to contact me via the two options stated above too.

Plumbing Advice and Quoting

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Lately I have enjoyed receiving enquiries on my blog in relation to plumbing issues that have affected you, my readers. I know that some of you want reassurance that what your plumber has advised you is correct. Your local plumber is the best person to seek advice from as they know the local council plumbing laws that must be abided by in your area (ensure that your local plumber is licensed and has a gold BSA license!!). But I’m also happy to give you advice and I have a lot of colleagues and plumbing engineers who have had extensive experience (some 30+ years) in the industry who I can ask if I don’t have the answers for you.

 

As a plumber I love giving advice but what really irks me is when I am asked for advice on how to fix a plumbing problem, I problem solve and explain a design to the customer of how to get the problem fixed, then the customer hawks my design to other plumbers to get a cheaper price. It’s unethical and wrong. It’s using someone’s expertise for your free gain. I know I’m not alone when I say that it makes me mad, because I know other plumbers and trades are affected by this behaviour too.  Sadly in hard economic times, you can’t trust people to do the right thing by you.

 

Its just the way business goes unfortunately.  But it’s not right. I know that quoting is free. But what if it wasn’t? What if every job request that asked for a quote required a fee for the plumber’s time in working out the price? It means that each plumber hasn’t wasted their time on quoting and their skills and knowledge are acknowledged. It also means only serious customer’s will request quotes. Time is money, and no one wants to work with time wasters.

 

On commercial jobs, variations are a NIGHTMARE! They are the biggest time wasters when quoting on jobs because the client or designer has decided to choose a different fixture or add another or completely change the design. Architects and Hydraulic Engineers get PAID to design a project – even if they haven’t been to site and their design won’t work. There are only a few hydraulic consultants in Brisbane that I recommend using because of their extensive expertise in the industry and they go to site to ensure their designs will work. Sometimes, variations will come into play when using these consultants – often due to unforeseen circumstances, but their variation costs are minimal compared to a consultant who hasn’t been to site and has drawn pipes that need to be installed through a main beam of a building or air conditioning duct!! If you want to know who these companies are, feel free to email me and I will advise you who to use.

 

I don’t want to rant, but I do want to bring up this issue. I’d love to hear how other business’s get around this issue of having their advice and price hawked around or if they just accept it for what it is?

Do you think charging for quotes is a good idea or bad idea?

Plumbing Cufflinks

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
3

I love being creative and being a girl I LOVE wearing jewellery!  I collect some interesting items when I work and I try to recycle what I can to make cufflinks and various other jewellery. Just to clarify I collect the relatively CLEAN stuff. Not used pan rubbers or anything that could have been covered in effluent!!

 

Ebay Sep 2012 241The jobs where a client asks us to replace their old hob set taps to a brand new set OR reconfigure to a basin mixer are usually the best jobs to collect items from because generally the taps are well worn, but the hot and cold buttons that screw into the top of the handles can be in fairly good condition. Unfortunately in most cases they can no longer fit into other taps, so I keep them, get my husband to grind their backs down flat and then attach them to stainless steel cufflink backs. I sell my cufflinks on my Made It store through my Styled by Bec business. I would have sold them under my Plumbette name, but I already had a store open through Styled by Bec and chose to sell them under that name.

 

I have HEAPS of ideas on how to convert old plumbing fittings and fixtures into art – whether it be jewellery or homewares, but I don’t have a big enough house to store all the parts, nor do I have the time at present to do it. But the cufflinks are a fairly easy project. The only hard part is collecting them and usually the buttons are one of a kind so they are hard to come across over and over again.  Most of the buttons do have indentations from wear and tear but this adds to their ‘retro, recycled vintage’ appeal.

 

If you are a late Christmas shopper, feel free to check out my Made It store here. At present, I have a 25% off sale on all my stock to make way for new items in the New Year.

Common Sense Plumbing

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0
when your tap won't turn off

Plumbing as a trade not only involves following by-laws to ensure all installations abide by the National Standards, it also includes using common sense and working out the most economic option for a client when fixing a plumbing issue.

 

I recently quoted on replacing a leaking hot water unit to a domestic household. The old hot water unit was a Saxon coil-line tank that had started leaking from the bottom and was completely rusted out. I explained to the client that the hot water unit needed to be replaced and went about getting her a quote.

 

Recent laws have changed as to what type of hot water unit you can replace and old one with and I have mentioned this previously on my blog. The electric hot water system phase-out started in 2010 and the basic nuts and bolts of the law is if a domestic household needed to replace their existing hot water unit, they would need to replace it with a Heat Pump, Solar Hot water unit or Gas Hot Water unit. All new houses being built would need to install one of these options automatically.

 

The only exclusion to the rule is if the existing house does not have a natural gas feed. In this case, the client would not be forced to install a greener option, but could opt to install an electric hot water unit.

 

Back to my client, I asked her if she had a gas line to her house, which she didn’t. She was the sole occupant of the house and after seeing where the hot water unit was situated, realized that her only option would be to install a 125Lt electric hot water unit due to the space between her property and the neighbors.

 

Ebay Sep 2012 178She lived in a western suburb in Brisbane where the houses were practically built next to each other and there was no side gate access to her property. The hot water unit was positioned in an alcove next to the main bathroom of the house. There was no way we could have installed LPG gas bottles to install a gas hot water unit, nor was there anyway that we could install a Heat Pump because of the limited space and access to the property. There was no natural gas main in the street either, so I knew that we were still abiding by the law by installing this option for her.

 

The reason I have written about this particular job is to explain to plumbers and consumers that it’s important to understand exceptions to plumbing laws and to apply them when needed. In most cases, I advise clients to install an LPG gas hot water unit or natural gas unit if they already have a natural gas meter. I have heard through clients that heat pumps are failing after so many years of installation. If you are a client that has a faulty heat pump, ensure you speak to the manufacturer straight away to get the issue resolved.

 

If you do get into the situation of having to replace your old hot water unit, look at all the legal options and work out the most economical and practical option for you and the plumber.

Misconceptions about Plumbing

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

On the weekend I had to pick up a baby capsule and adaptor bracket that I bought on eBay to suit a new pram I have purchased that will seat a toddler and baby.

 

The lady I bought them off recognized me as the plumber from the QWeekend article written up in September. She asked how I was coping being pregnant and doing my duties as a plumber because I wouldn’t be able to touch the ‘poo’ stuff.

 

I explained that I didn’t unblock drains and her immediate response was “Well what do you do?” I smiled because it is a common misconception that plumbers get covered in poop and whizz all day, but while the effluent is a by-hazard of the job, generally most plumbers don’t get covered in it – in fact they try to avoid it where possible!

 

Unblocking drains has become a slightly specialized field as the jet-rodder machines can start from $15,000 upwards. Dad and I don’t get enough calls to warrant the need to purchase such a machine and therefore, have two reliable plumbers that do have the equipment and we get them to service our clients when needed.

 

So what do I do? Working with my Dad, we mainly specialize in domestic and commercial maintenance plumbing work so anything from fixing leaking toilets and taps to replacing them when they can’t be fixed. We also replace hot water units, fix water leaks from pipes whether they are in the walls or the ground, install new bathrooms and kitchens (piping in the walls and then fixtures after tiling has been done). A lot of the work is ‘clean’ and while sometimes it may seem easy, other times, dad and I really need to work together in problem solving why a particular plumbing issue occurs.

 

We do sometimes get our hands covered in other people’s poop. Especially if we are disconnecting toilets and replacing the connections for the new toilet pan. Sometimes my hands get covered in green slime (urine that has congealed and discoloured over time) when replacing toilet seats or unhinging them to get better access to fixing a toilet cistern. We go through LOADS of bottles of Dettol Hand Sanitizer and ensure that we always clean our hands after each and every job. Sometimes we do it twice. I sometimes do it three times for extra measure!!

 

It’s important to realize that plumbers are an essential service to the construction industry and the community. It’s equally important for plumbers to realize their worth too. If both consumers and plumbers understood how incredibly important holding a plumbing license is, we wouldn’t have so many plumbers pricing themselves cheaply in the marketplace and ultimately going broke because they have undervalued their skills and service.

 

I don’t underestimate my value or my dad’s. Our rates are our rates and if people choose to use a cheaper plumber they can, but I know that our rates are on par to what should be charged and in fact could even be a little higher due to our point of difference – my dad’s incredible 37 years of plumbing expertise and the fact that I am a female plumber. I don’t have enough fingers on my hand to count the number of times stay at home mums have rung us just because they want a female plumber at their house. For dad and I, we aren’t in the business of getting rich. We just charge enough to cover our expenses and wages.

 

At the moment while my dad is recuperating from a hip replacement and I am growing a baby (and a double chin and wobbly thighs!!), we haven’t been working, but the calls have come through and I am incredibly grateful to have a plumber on standby to assist us when needed. And with the heat wave that has hit Brisbane this week, it’s been a nice coincidence that both dad and I are temporarily out of action!

 

 

 

Plumbing Vandalism

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

Plumbing vandalism is a common problem that some maintenance plumbers have to deal with. The vandalism generally occurs in public toilets at Universities, fast-food restaurants and parks. The vandalism can range from people using their own faeces to graffiti the bathroom, or doing a number 2 in the cistern causing the cistern to be un-operable and the most common problem in a lot of Universities and/or public toilets where overseas students congregate is broken toilet pans due to patrons standing on the pan and toilet seat to do their business.

IMG00101-20121119-1153 broken toilet

 

We recently had to attend to a broken toilet pan on the Southside of Brisbane due to a person standing on the rim of the pan to do their business. It is very dangerous to stand on a pan because the rim is narrow and if your leg gets caught on the ceramic shards when you fall, not only do you risk cutting open your leg, you also risk infection from whatever bacteria is lurking in the pan. It’s also a form of vandalism as it becomes a costly maintenance exercise for the owner of the premises because the toilet pan needs to be replaced in order for it to be fixed.

When Jacol Plumbing was heavily involved in commercial work, we installed a lot of toilet facilities to Universities and English Teaching campuses all overBrisbane. One particular English Teaching campus got so fed up with the toilet pans being constantly broken (due to the overseas students negligently ignoring the signs on the doors on how to sit on the pan!), they installed stainless steel toilet pans which are more durable than ceramic bowl ones, but more costly to supply. There have been no problems since.

Education may be the key to overcoming this common problem in public toilets where there are Asian and African congregations, but unfortunately you can’t make a person sit on a toilet, nor can you have cameras inside toilet cubicles to deter patrons from mis-using a toilet. If you do a quick search on Google, you can find terrible injuries caused by people standing on the toilet and then falling onto the shards of ceramic pan causing horrific cuts to their bottom and upper thighs.

Squatting over a pan rather than standing or hovering over a hole is a much easier and hygienic way to go to the toilet. (I know because I’ve done the whole toilet thing in Africa!) If you own a premises or intend to open a business that provides public toilets where your main clientele are from overseas, install stainless steel pans OR install toilet pans that are cheap to supply and install and can easily be bought off the shelf.

Have you ever come across plumbing vandalism in a public toilet?

 

 

 

An Exhausted and Emotionally Drained Plumbette – a looong post

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

I know I’m not the only one that experiences chaotic weeks. We all experience them. This week has been especially draining for me and I have felt a range of different emotions and have been erratically typing them as my status on Facebook, and then trying to refocus on the job at hand. I have felt a rollercoaster of emotions including anxiety, bitterness, powerlessness, fed-upness (I know, it’s not a word!) and complete exhaustion.

 

I am 26 weeks pregnant this week and the heat and exhaustion have started to wane on my body. Monday was supposed to be our (dad and mine) last working day before his hip replacement operation on Wednesday. Monday was my mum’s birthday too and we only had part of the morning booked. But the phone call’s came through for more work and the afternoon soon filled up.

 

I felt pregnant on Monday. I felt heavy and tired because I hadn’t been sleeping (still not – it’s 3am while I’m writing this post!). I don’t function very well without sleep and when combined with heat and manual work… I was glad that Monday was my last full working day because I started to realize my limits.

 

Tuesday, I found myself with a sick husband at home who had a fever and the shakes. I told my husband to take the day off work to get better because I was needing him to be my anchor for all that was going to take place on Wednesday. He stayed home, but I had to go to work to fix a job that didn’t go quite to plan the day before. Around lunchtime I took my daughter to the shops to get some errands done – put a claim into Medicare, buy some sandals because my feet were starting to swell and get some Christmas shopping out of the way. I only got part way through my list when my toddler decided to crack it and I didn’t have the patience or tolerance to put up with a screaming toddler in a shopping centre.

 

On Wednesday, not only was my dad booked in for a hip replacement at the Mater Private hospital, my Grandpa (my mum’s dad) was scheduled for a day procedure at the Wesley hospital to put his heart back into the right rhythm. My mum was torn between being at two places at one time so got up at the crack of dawn to pick up my grandparents, dropped dad off to the Mater for his op and then sat and waited with my grandparents at the Wesley to find out when my Grandpa would go in for his procedure.

 

After my daughter had her day sleep, I left home, to sit with my Grandma in the waiting room so that my mum could go back to the Mater and see my dad in recovery after his operation. The doctor told my mum (who then texted me) to say the operation went well and my dad was in recovery. On the way to driving to see my Grandma, my mum then rang me to say that the heart procedure for my Grandpa’s heart hadn’t gone well and that his heart rate was too low and he would possibly need a pacemaker installed. Because my Grandma is deaf and doesn’t have a mobile phone, I would have to explain this to Grandma or try and find her in the hospital because a nurse was on her way to the waiting area to take her to see Grandpa and explain what was going on.

 

I got a park at the bottom of the hill at the Wesley. Can I just say walking up that hill holding a toddler nearly put me in labour!! I had to hold onto the rail at the top to gasp for breath but I just wanted to get into the hospital to find Grandma and make sure she was ok.

 

My Grandma was still sitting in the waiting room, completely oblivious to the world around her. The moment I reached my Grandma, the nurse saw me and said “You must be Rebecca, come with me.”

 

My Grandpa’s heart was successfully put back into rhythm but because his heart rate was so low, the doctor recommended he get a pace maker installed. My Grandparents don’t have private health insurance, but they have money put aside so that they can pay to have procedures done privately to avoid waiting on the public system. But what was meant to be a day procedure turned hairy because my Grandpa now needed a pacemaker which was going to cost between $20,000-$40,000 to get done at theWesley Private Hospital. Money they didn’t have.

 

When my mum was told this on her mobile while visiting my dad, she went rank on the phone and explained that my Grandparents didn’t have that type of money and would need to be transferred to the public system. It was arranged for my Grandpa to be transferred to the Princess Alexandra (PA) hospital by ambulance where he would be monitored in the MAPU unit as to whether he would definitely need a pacemaker.

 

I explained this to my Grandparents, then made a list with my Grandpa of what he would need in hospital as it was likely he’d be at the PA hospital for a couple of nights. By this time it was approximately 1:30pm and my Grandma hadn’t had any lunch, so I took her to get something to eat and then was told my Grandpa had been loaded into an ambulance and was on his way to the PA hospital.

 

I drove Grandma to her place to pack a bag for Grandpa and so she could freshen up because I wasn’t sure how long we would be at the PA hospital for. At this time I got an email from my mum saying my dad had been transferred to ICU (intensive care unit) because his recovery wasn’t going so well after his hip operation and his core body temperature had dropped to 34 degrees and he had low blood pressure too. In that moment I thought ‘what the hell is going on here???’ I got my husband to leave work early and dropped my daughter off to him, then went straight to the PA hospital where we hit peak hour traffic.

 

Thankfully my brother, Andrew, had left his work early on the Gold Coast and met with my Grandpa in the Emergency Department at the PA hospital. I was relieved that someone was with my Grandpa. Andrew was great at explaining to me what room Grandpa was being transferred to and waited for me to arrive with Grandma.

 

By the time we found the room, it was 6pm and Andrew left to check on mum and dad’s house and feed their dog, Penny, who had been locked up in their house since 4am that morning! I stayed with Grandma until 8:30pm when Andrew arrived back and took Grandma home and stayed the night at her place to keep her company, while I was able to drive home and completely collapse into bed at 9:30pm.

 

All through this ordeal I was still taking mobile phone calls for plumbing jobs and getting my stand-by plumber to attend to them for me, with a two year old toddler who had been interrupted from her routine. I was still feeling tired from lack of sleep and the drama that unfolded from what should have been two normal operations.

 

You show your true colours when chaos knocks on your doorstep. Through out the ordeal I felt peaceful, but the walking, driving, constant text messaging two and forth to mum, being the translator between my grandparents and the nurses with a two-year-old toddler testing her boundaries throughout the ordeal meant my emotional batteries were being tested.

 

As of now – Saturday morning, my dad was finally transferred out of ICU into his own room and the x-rays show that the hip is where it needs to be and now my dad just has to heal from his operation.

 

My Grandpa is still in the PA hospital and is likely to get a pacemaker installed in the next couple of days.

 

The driving won’t stop until both men are out of hospital. In the meantime I have received a letter from the Plumbing Council advising they are going to audit our business as part of the new national Form 4 Notifiable Works laws that started on the 1st of November this year. We have only done a few jobs that have warranted the need to lodge a Form 4. Of course, it had to be done right when our family is dealing with health complications, but we’ve got nothing to hide. Bring it on.

Notifiable Work

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

On the 1st November 2012, Notifiable Work laws came into place for all plumbers. What does this mean for consumers? It means that certain maintenance jobs will incur a $35 fee for the plumber to lodge a Form 4 advising the Plumbing Council of the type of works that have been conducted on a consumer’s property. A certificate will be sent to the client once it has been lodged and paid.

 

Notifiable Work fees will only be incurred on the following types of jobs – these are just some common examples from the list that can be found:

  • Works necessary for extending, altering, replacing or removing existing water supply piping
  • Installation of hot water units
  • Installing, replacing or removing temperature control valves that are installed on hot water units

For a full comprehensive list of what is notifiable work check out www.hpw.qld.gov.au/notifiablework or http://www.mpaq.com.au

 

Work that is NOT notifiable and doesn’t require a fee to be paid include

 

  • Changing tap washers
  • Replacing inlet valves and washers in toilet cisterns
  • Replacing Shower roses and/or connecting hoses
  • Unblocking drains

 

I have lodged Form 4’s with the Plumbing Council and I have had no issues with the system in place. The only hurdle is recognizing what needs to be lodged and what doesn’t. I prefer to lodge a form for a job done if I am unsure to avoid a hefty fine!

 

If you are a consumer/client I recommend that you need to keep your copy of the Form 4 in a file so that if the time comes to selling your home, you can produce these forms as proof that you have used a licensed plumber. There are many Handyman DIY bathroom and kitchen renovators that are disconnecting and altering their own plumbing without using a licensed plumber. Not only is it illegal, altering plumbing can cause future problems if the by-laws aren’t properly followed.

 

As a safe guard to prevent yourself from buying a lovely renovated house that may have been done by a DIY renovator, ask the seller for a copy of the Form 4’s that would have been lodged to the council. If the seller can’t produce them and your solicitor is unable to find any records of lodgement for the works done on the house, don’t buy it OR offer a low price taking into account that you may have plumbing problems in the future.

1...49505152Page 50 of 52