# The things I put up with for cheap rent.....



## StabMasterArs0n (Nov 17, 2020)

Galv supply line in the hallway had a pinhole leak. Rusting from the inside out. I've been bugging the landlord for a few weeks on this one. He finally came by over the weekend. And I suggested that he just replace the entire run with pex as it is right there in the hallway. I came home from work and he is there with a "handyman" that has a sheet of sandpaper and a jb weld stick. 

I need to make sure my renter's policy covers water damage.

Before and after pics below.


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## Ed Corrigan (Jul 18, 2019)

HACK!!

Everyone knows you need a double wrap of duck tape to hold er in.

Sandpaper is a nice touch, though.

Sooo.... Shopping for new digs?


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## rjconstructs (Apr 26, 2009)

I have rent house and seeing this is it's just wrong. If that pipe busts during the day when no one is home it will be a mess. This landlord is saving pennies and potentially spending dollars.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

Yep. What's a few fittings and ane a roll of pex cost. 40 bucks.

Compared to a complete flood repair.

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## MarkJames (Nov 25, 2012)

Hackery. Should have used a hose clamp and a piece of rubber.

I am curious whether it stops the leak or not.


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## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

You should have recommended Flex Tape.


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## Kingcarpenter1 (May 5, 2020)

Spit & bubble gum, earwax maybe


Mike


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## StabMasterArs0n (Nov 17, 2020)

MarkJames said:


> Hackery. Should have used a hose clamp and a piece of rubber.
> 
> I am curious whether it stops the leak or not.


I don't think it's going to even stop it. I'll report back later on.


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## G&Co. (Jul 29, 2020)

Buy him one of these and watch him use it:





Water Activated Fiberglass Pipe Repair Wrap | Fernco - US







www.fernco.com




I promise it's worth your cable subscription in entertainment value


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## StabMasterArs0n (Nov 17, 2020)

VinylHanger said:


> Yep. What's a few fittings and ane a roll of pex cost. 40 bucks.
> 
> Compared to a complete flood repair.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


I have a few rolls and a big box of fittings. I fix things inside my place all the time but I draw the line at my walls. He would rather do it himself or hire a home depot parking lot guy.


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## StabMasterArs0n (Nov 17, 2020)

G&Co. said:


> Buy him one of these and watch him use it:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not giving him any ideas because he would consider this a permanent repair.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

Forget that guy - let him destroy his building. It's in a hallway, move your stuff out of the danger zone as much as possible, and letter rip! I hate cheapskates that'll do stuff like this - it never works. By the time they're done monkeying around with it, they spent more money than fixing it right even if it doesn't flood the whole place out and cause massive damage.

The one exception I have to enjoying the schadenfreude is natural gas. I had a landlord at a place the gas oven didn't work. He absolutely refused to fix it. I left, someone else moved in and she needed it working so he "fixed" it by hiring a crackhead to replace it for 20 bucks. About a month later (or so) the house exploded with the new tenant in it. Guy I know 2 blocks down heard it from inside his house, shook his whole house. Called me and told me to go look at it - and his description was spot on. "It looks like the place got hit by a rocket, it's leveled". But he saved a whopping 80 bucks on hiring a legit plumber right? Nevermind the lady in ICU burn unit for 2 months right?

I don't like to mess with gas myself, and it's not because I don't know how to fit pipe, idk what possesses people to hire the local rent-a-drunk to do things like that.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

We as GCs can install and run all the gas piping we want.

However, we can't replace a sink supply line. Or set a toilet. Or replace a faucet. Or install a light fixture.

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## Donquardo (Oct 29, 2015)

One of the carpenters at work has a similarly shabby rental situation. The landlord knocks money off of the rent in exchange for my coworker doing the handyman work. Seems to work well for the two of them.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

VinylHanger said:


> We as GCs can install and run all the gas piping we want.
> 
> However, we can't replace a sink supply line. Or set a toilet. Or replace a faucet. Or install a light fixture.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Also ... seriously??? I thought that was licensed plumber too. Setting a toilet, replacing a sinkk supply line, replacing faucet requires licensed plumber where you're at??? That's absurd. Especially since you can run gas pipe. If ever there was an example of how these regulations have nothing whatsoever to do with safety this is it.

Oh - and it wasn't the new tenant, it was my former neighbors wife that was in the hospital. Found an article. Says "the owner" was replacing the gas stove. "The owner" my left foot. Rent-A-Drunk crackhead that frequented his liquor store, but who's counting?









Crews investigate explosion at Memphis duplex


Police and firefighters responded to an explosion Wednesday afternoon at a duplex in the 1200 block of Harbert Avenue in Memphis.




www.actionnews5.com


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

I agree, absurd. If it's already there the permitted work is done. All you are doing is replacing something existing. Not to hard to detect a leak on a faucet.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

Leo G said:


> I agree, absurd. If it's already there the permitted work is done. All you are doing is replacing something existing. Not to hard to detect a leak on a faucet.


Even if all you're doing is replacing a faucet and there is no permitted work its absurd. The fact they'll let a non-plumber do gas, but not that is mind boggling.


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

Yep.

I didn't realize it until I was working on a commercial building and was up on the roof and smelled gas. Gas piping all over the roof.

Called gas company and they sent a guy over. He checked the manifold and meter and said his job was done.

I asked about the stuff on the roof and he said that was my job and we could check it, and also run new lines, even in a whole house situation.

I asked him if he could check them since I knew not a thing about gas.

He did. Found some loose pipes, tightened them.

I asked again, yep, GCs can run all the pipe and hook appliances up. Sweet.

Nope, still call the gas guys or the gas stove/fireplace guys to get a safety inspection every time. Sometimes my plumber, but he isn't a gas guy and avoids them.

Yep, it is goofy.



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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

VinylHanger said:


> Yep.
> 
> I didn't realize it until I was working on a commercial building and was up on the roof and smelled gas. Gas piping all over the roof.
> 
> ...


I don't necessarily take the utility company guys word for it, they're not the people that deal with permits / inspections. But that doesn't mean he was wrong - he very well might be right, and that's insane. I've done it before, but I REALLY don't like to, and generally avoid it. I know how to do it safely, I soap water down everything when I'm done, and I have a gas sniffer that'll detect levels you can't smell - but I still avoid it like the plague.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

I just want to know if that jb weld has let go yet


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## Pounder (Nov 28, 2020)

VinylHanger said:


> Yep.
> 
> I didn't realize it until I was working on a commercial building and was up on the roof and smelled gas. Gas piping all over the roof.
> 
> ...


It took me 6 months to get a permit for 10' of gas line. The inspector showed up, took a picture of the gauge, waited a timed 15 minuets, then compared the gauge to the picture on his phone. He then released some of the pressure to verify the gauge was working. 
I'm guessing I made around a dollar an hour on that one.


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## Big Johnson (Jun 2, 2017)

I have done all the gas piping on my own homes, pressure test them and turn in an affidavit to the inspector. Use leak tester liquid on the areas that can’t be pressurized. I can crank on a couple pipe wrenches just as well as the next guy.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

Big Johnson said:


> I have done all the gas piping on my own homes, pressure test them and turn in an affidavit to the inspector. Use leak tester liquid on the areas that can’t be pressurized. I can crank on a couple pipe wrenches just as well as the next guy.


I worry about liability a lot more than ability.


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## Fourthgeneration (Jul 25, 2021)

1. Call the landlords mortgage holder....
2. Call the landlords Insurance company........
3. Have it fixed after photos, by a pro, and take it out of next months rent, legal in most states......
4. Move, and remember poor people need places to live, even if they aren't prefect......
5. install a shut off valve with a programmable control that shuts the valve whenever you lock the door/leave.
6. install a sill-cock instead of leaky elbow, for plant watering, washing the dog etc.....
7. Install a shower base connected to the sewer lines..........under the leak.....
8. Don't forget the pressure regulator install, and Anti-Hammer fixture at the end of that water line.........

9. Finally check the water's pH,& lead ppB, if its went acidic, you might be getting some lead of the old service line, if still in service.....

🐶


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

Really. You still don't know how to use the internet.

Just because you make bullet points, it doesn't make your rambling more useful.


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## StabMasterArs0n (Nov 17, 2020)

smalpierre said:


> I just want to know if that jb weld has let go yet


It never really sealed it to begin with. He applied the JB with the water pressure still on.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Shoulda used Flex Seal!!


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## Ed Corrigan (Jul 18, 2019)

Leo G said:


> Shoulda used Flex Seal!!


But Leo,

He used SANDPAPER!!

Shoulda worked.


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## Half-fast Eddie (Aug 21, 2020)

Fourthgeneration said:


> 3. Have it fixed after photos, by a pro, and take it out of next months rent, legal in most states......


I want some of what you’re smoking. You have no clue. For one thing, the pipe is in the hallway … common area … not inside his rental space. He has no right to touch it, and no expectation of reimbursement.


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## Fourthgeneration (Jul 25, 2021)

Half-fast Eddie said:


> I want some of what you’re smoking. You have no clue. For one thing, the pipe is in the hallway … common area … not inside his rental space. He has no right to touch it, and no expectation of reimbursement.


Here if the landlord fails to repair the rental, the tenants can have it done and deduct the costs

Surely he pays for his share of the common areas........ Parking lot maintenance, yard work...... Hallways aren't?

It is a 2.00 dollar 90 degree elbow, buy one, turn the water off and replace it, hope the pipes aren't as badly corroded. U might need to add an Union fitting and cut a thread....


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## Half-fast Eddie (Aug 21, 2020)

Fourthgeneration said:


> Here if the landlord fails to repair the rental, the tenants can have it done and deduct the costs


I would like to see that in writing. Until then i think its an urban myth. Here is a clip from a legal aid site aimed at helping low income families with LL issues. 








VaLegalAid.org - A guide to free and low cost civil legal information and services in Virginia


VaLegalAid.org can help you find civil legal information and answers to commonly asked questions. VaLegalAid.org also contains information on legal aid and pro bono programs in Virginia where you may receive free legal assistance



www.valegalaid.org




And here is a screen shot from that page. Not that doing the repairs yourself is not an option.


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## Half-fast Eddie (Aug 21, 2020)

Ok, they recently passed a new law. Two critical items: 14 days notice, and you must hire a licensed contractor. And submit an itemized bill.


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