People who don’t know much about plumbing often see it as a kind of problem-solving field. And make no mistake, it is. A labyrinth of pipes, fittings and couplings is often a complicated puzzle for plumbers to solve.
What people might not think about as much is the physical side of plumbing.
You can be the best plumber in the world, but if you don’t have the physical capacity to haul heavy objects or break into hidden spaces, you’re very limited in what you can do.
Let’s talk about some of the scenarios where a plumber’s helper comes in extremely handy. This gives you a better picture of how plumbers work, and what you can expect when they show up at your door.
Water Heater Service
If your water heater is not working properly, it’s likely that your tank has come to the end of its life. Many tanks don’t last more than 10 years or so, and they have to be replaced.
But the water heater tank is one of the biggest and bulkiest appliances at your property, and it’s also one of the heaviest. Draining helps somewhat, but it also takes time. How do professional companies do it?
A professional and efficient plumbing company will have the available manpower to get an old water heater tank out of the house and bring a new one in. While that might involve the use of simple machines or tools, you have to have enough people to maneuver the item upstairs or otherwise into and out of a property.
Toilets
The same goes for toilets or sinks that are made of porcelain, which is a rather heavy material.
If replacement is in order, the plumber is going to have to have probably more than one person to get everything in place. The same goes for buckets full of water and other heavy stuff. It often turns out that plumbing takes some of what old-school people used to call “elbow grease.” In other words, it takes physical work.
Pipe Access
Here’s another place where plumbers rely quite a lot on their helpers or crews.
If a pipe is in the wall, you can cut out a piece of drywall and get access that way. You can even put an access panel for return operations.
If, however, the pipe is under concrete, you’re going to need to break into that space in order to replace or fix the pipe.
That involves quite a bit of muscle. A company might rent or own a jackhammer for this purpose, but they’ll need people to operate it.
Those are some of the scenarios where it actually takes quite a bit of physical muscle to work with plumbing systems. Call Monkey Wrench Pros around Utah for superior plumbing results.