Why I hate small jobs in a nutshell

[cr0ft]

Phone rings - 'Hi, can you come and replace our bath taps, we want a bath/shower mixer thingy. We also have a leak under our kitchen sink. How much will it be?'

Me - 'Usually £60 plus VAT for the first hour which is normally enough to sort both of those out.'

I get there with the apprentice. Turns out to be the original taps on an old cast iron bath. The brass backing nuts have seized onto the cast iron bath so well that nothing, and I mean nothing is getting them off. Only option is to angle grind off the taps and knock them through as there is no room to get the angle grinder underneath the bath. I explain to the customer that there is a good chance this could damage the bath. Customer understandably doesn't want to risk it as they are having the bathroom replaced next year.

Thus no pay there today.

Leaking kitchen sink waste, cheap imported sink with non-standard fittings underneath, has been bodged already. No standard pipe or trap can be inserted into the leaking outlet to repair the leak. Tried some plumbers gold, not very confident it is going to stop the leak so didn't charge any labour at all this evening.

Potentially out of this I may have a sink replacement and a bathroom install but there's a good chance I've wasted 2 hours completely tonight. All for what would have been probably £30 profit normally!

 

[gassafe]

I feel your pain... It's a struggle making profit from all these little jobs... Plus the custards don't ever expect to pay much for 'little jobs'

 

[WaterTight]

True, true. But - as a man who is busy and only deals with small jobs - I can assure you that most aren't like that. Taking the rough with the smooth on small jobs means 3-5 complete pain in the arses/non-starters a week out of 4-6 jobs a day in my experience.

 

[cr0ft]

The only reason I still do them is for the chance that they lead to bigger jobs tbh. Hopefully this one will.

 

[cr0ft]

True, true. But - as a man who is busy and only deals with small jobs - I can assure you that most aren't like that. Taking the rough with the smooth on small jobs means 3-5 complete pain in the arses/non-starters a week out of 4-6 jobs a day in my experience.

Yeah true. It's only the 2nd time it would have taken more than the first hour to replace bath taps to be fair. I reckon I will get a budget bathroom install job out of it too so isn't really that bad.

 

[gassafe]

Plus one small airlock or stuck drain off means it buggers up your 6 small jobs a day cuz your stuck on the first! I find them difficult to book in / estimate time in the diary etc

 

[Leo21]

Plus one small airlock or stuck drain off means it buggers up your 6 small jobs a day cuz your stuck on the first! I find them difficult to book in / estimate time in the diary etc

This is why I'll take servicing over repairs any day.

 

[Ermintrude]

This is why I'll take servicing over repairs any day.

Size up the repair... If it sounds like a new boiler off u go if it's a new thermocouple go, if it's a new prv on a wb HELL NO! Small non gas repairs send apprentice. If he's there all day it's cost u 30p.

 

[cr0ft]

Yeah. The only reason I am taking them at the moment is to show the apprentice as many different small jobs as possible before he starts going out on his own.

 

[helpsy]

Croft
I had the same problem with taps/backnuts seized and in the end I went off to Screwfix and got an adaptor for my impact driver to 1/4" and went to car parts and bought an impact socket. Sorted that problem right out and no sweating and straining!

 

[Leo21]

Size up the repair... If it sounds like a new boiler off u go if it's a new thermocouple go, if it's a new prv on a wb HELL NO! Small non gas repairs send apprentice. If he's there all day it's cost u 30p.

I ask loads of questions before I do breakdowns, if it's to young I'm not that bothered. If they say its ten years old (which normally translates to twenty) I'm all over it with hints on the phone, ooh that's quite old for a combi you know.

 

[cr0ft]

Croft
I had the same problem with taps/backnuts seized and in the end I went off to Screwfix and got an adaptor for my impact driver to 1/4" and went to car parts and bought an impact socket. Sorted that problem right out and no sweating and straining!

Let's take a rewind! A picture paints 1000 words. Can I see the bits you bought?

Always happy to find ways to make a job easier. Cheers.

 

[Leo21]

Croft
I had the same problem with taps/backnuts seized and in the end I went off to Screwfix and got an adaptor for my impact driver to 1/4" and went to car parts and bought an impact socket. Sorted that problem right out and no sweating and straining!

That sounds awesome. Patent it.

 

[cr0ft]

I want to see the bits he bought and from where. I am going to buy them.

 

[gassafe]

Don't even bother with the armeg tap spanner.... Piece of crap... I know a lot of forum users seem to have a love of them, but there carp...

 

[gassafe]

I want to see the bits he bought and from where. I am going to buy them.

Would have to cut all the pipework away first to even put all that gear on the tap back nuts... Then if by some miracle you fit an impact gun under the bath lol, it still won't undo.... You gotta then re pipe & charge bugger all for failing in your attempt...

I too hate small jobs... If its such a small job lady, you do it yourself...

 

[Ermintrude]

Don't even bother with the armeg tap spanner.... Piece of crap... I know a lot of forum users seem to have a love of them, but there carp...

I have a new unused set in van. U just dampened my fire

 

[TBServices]

I have a new unused set in van. U just dampened my fire

He's wrong. Just relit the fire.

 

[WaterTight]

what you want is a box tap spanner which bends into an elbow halfway down and then extends to half a meter for huge leverage. does such a thing exist?

 

[Leo21]

I've always found with cast baths a box spanner and a blow lamp shifts them. The blow lamp melts the boss white or whatever gunk they used. As it cools it gets tighter, just re heat.

 

[mfgs]

Lots of small jobs in a day can be very profitable though, 5 under 1 hour fixes and I earn more than if I price myself for a full day somewhere. It can work out very well, but you can also get some that are a real pain.

 

[Leo21]

They're also not as hard graft as installs.

 

[helpsy]

Gassafe there was no need to cut any pipework as I was able to get enough clearance.

 

[jase158]

yeah, I am curious too, bought a dewalt impact driver from screwfix last week, can I use it to blast nuts off or is this dangerous??

 

[Killy Bing]

i just cut one side with my fein. back nut isn't so tight then......

 

[helpsy]

yeah, I am curious too, bought a dewalt impact driver from screwfix last week, can I use it to blast nuts off or is this dangerous??

If I can get the picture off of my phone, I would post on here....or I can email to someone who can then post it on here.

 

[solutions]

yeah, I am curious too, bought a dewalt impact driver from screwfix last week, can I use it to blast nuts off or is this dangerous??

Blast your nuts off as much as you like, just be carefull you dont go blind.

 

[cr0ft]

i just cut one side with my fein. back nut isn't so tight then......

This one was an old brass back nut. I've used the Fein before to cut plastic ones that are tight but does it cut brass ones?

 

[WaterTight]

i use my bosch multi-tool to cut of close-coupling wc bolts all the time.going through a backnut would take longer but presumably do-able. oh so much fun though.

 

[Ermintrude]

I smash bath, taps off in seconds

 

[Phil]

This one was an old brass back nut. I've used the Fein before to cut plastic ones that are tight but does it cut brass ones?

Yes...bi-metal blade and a case of just hacking at the nut in whatever place it will fit into and then spiting the nut with a chisel.

 

[WHPES]

I tend to have a backlog of small jobs which I can do in between larger ones or whilst waiting for stuff to be delivered so you aren't non-productive. Yes some small jobs can be a pain but I give them an hourly rate and tell them it will probably be so long but at worst can be so long etc. Thats the rate, take it or leave it......

 

[cr0ft]

Yes...bi-metal blade and a case of just hacking at the nut in whatever place it will fit into and then spiting the nut with a chisel.

Interesting. I grudge paying full price for Fein blades. Luckily I have the old style Fein that accepts cheap blades off Ebay. Got 40 wood blades for it on Ebay for £60recently. Will look for bi-metal blades on there too. Cheers.

 

[mickie]

you think 60 is cheap, me too, i lost 95% of my work from a company today by a man who is doing jobs like this for £35.. he must live in a mud hut.. i hate the north east..

 

[kay-jay]

i love jobbing, much more money for much less effort.
ok so occasionally you get a pain in the bum job, but you will win far more than you lose.