The crawl space under the bath is 8' by 8' with 30 inch clearance in this old farm house...the septic tanks is 15 feet from outside wall of the old farm house under three wall foundations any one of which could be sagging. Router rooter came and couldn't help, suggested jack hammer work, couldn't do anything with the deteriorating orangeburg. In NJ if you call a plumber and he doesn't have an 8' ceiling with heated basement he wont work there. I know I have used the yellow pages and only 1 out of every 10 plumbing contractors you call even bother calling back much less show up when you tell them the working conditions.
The two plumbers that did show up, one charged me $75.00 to show up and wanted $300.00 to use a remote TV on a snake to diagnose the problem, the other wanted $7500. as the only solution was jack hammer and trench around the house to bypass the problem Yeah I did the job and it worked damn well. I agree I guess I don't know the correct names for all of the plumbing equipment that I used, rented, borrowed, bought. But hell man this isn't rocket science you know, there are only 2 questions you have to answer correctly to be a plumber. Did you get them both right the first time or did you have be tutored?
No understanding nor respect for the trade? Before retiring I was a comptroller for a large Mechanical contractor for 35 years. All the free help I needed was only a phone call away from good men who would have come to my home for free to help me including the ex plumber millionaire owner of the firm, my old boss who wanted to send a crew over, and when I refused he called me and offered on a sunday morning to work with me himself, and to be sure I could easily have afforded to hire the work done, had anyone remotely resembling an honest plumber shown up I damn sure would have.
From the asshole way you write I doubt that you even understand the meaning of the words self reliant, pride, independent. Words your more accustomed to are lie, cheat, steal, gouge, rip off your neighbor and call anyone you cant beat nasty names. I sure have met your kind before Ned, a lot of built up hostility trying hard to feel good about yourself and rationalize why its everyone elses fault your such a loser; calling anyone and everyone names who doesn't want to support your lazy lifestyle.
I know well what Cheap pain in the ass means to you...yes that means anyone who doesn't want to throw money at you because you think you have them over a barrel...god knows how many old women people like you have screwed over the years and feel damn proud of yourselves. You guys sit up nights drooling at the mouth waiting for the call from somebody who grew up in a household where they didn't learn to work with their hands and cant help themselves, especially women. "Oh man another poor sucker I can rip off...I cant wait to dazzle them with my bullshit routine!"
It makes me sick to see the contractors here in NJ literally robbing poor working families and especially elderly widows around here making them pay 2 and 3 even 4 times what the job is worth to ignorant losers like you who are upset because you cant beat some old guy out of his money. Your not in the least bit upset about my solution whether its good or bad or works or doesn't work doesn't matter to you a damn, your pissed because you and guys like you missed out on a likely old sucker you missed a chance to rob his money..and whats worse the old bastard is now telling other people to give it a try for themselves.
Yeah your right I am old, been there done that...a lot of cuts bruises and scars even half a finger missing on these old hands, from my years in the Infantry, union laborer local 472, and walking the steel in bridge building until I finally took advantage of the GI Bill, but despite there being an awful lot of things I don't know comparatively speaking Im not stupid and you and guys like you didnt get to rob my money this time. So Ned you just keep calling me names so everyone here knows exactly what you are all about. Thanks to your willingness to speak your mind and allow others to see you for what you are,, its not just plumbing being discussed here.