A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DOMESTIC PLUMBER…
Article appeared in Professional Builder, March 2008
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A day in the life of a domestic plumber…. |
Having set up on his own only nine months ago Mark Jennings who runs his plumbing business MJS Plumbing in and around the Cannock area in the West Midlands goes through a typical day including the mandatory ‘emergency’ call out! | 7.15 am | Time to get up…It’s gonna be a long day | |
| 8.00 am | Arrive at plumbing merchants, need to order eight radiators for a job at the end of the week. Need to get in early to arrange delivery. | |
| 9.00 am | Arrive at first job – on time!!! Need to fit a new radiator and replace existing pipe work to bathroom taps. Crack on with draining down, worst part of the job, some systems can take a while. | |
| 9.15 am | Time to start radiator and taps. Radiator brackets hung into place, radiator now back on the wall. Pipework needs to be altered slightly as my customer has not only had a new radiator but has changed its location slightly. | |
| 10.30 am | Pipework complete, time to start the taps and refill the system. | |
| True to form the mobile has rang for an emergency call out for a leak in a kitchen. | ||
| Thankfully refilling the system went smooth this time – no air locks in the system, I’ve got to say it’s the most annoying part of the job. Time to clear away, first job of the day complete. | ||
| 12.30 pm | Arrive at emergency call out. Located leaking wasting pipe, fixed and on my way within half an hour. Might get chance to have some lunch! | |
| 1.45 pm | Arrive at third job of the day. New kitchen sink to be fitted into a new work surface and a washing machine to be plumbed up in the garage. Thankfully the home owner is in so ‘good chance of getting a cuppa.’ | |
| 4.45 pm | Just enough time to get in have a quick bite for tea and then back out for the quote that came in over the weekend. | |
| 5.45 pm | Liaise with customer regarding a new bathroom suite. Explain that where she would like new shower fitting cannot be done. She lives in a dorma bungalow and the roof is too low. We discuss many of the other options which she is happy with. | |
| 6.30 pm | Arrive home time to sit down and relax - I wish. | |
| Need to get these quotes typed up and sent off. Back to the plumbing merchant’s price list to work out prices for supplies. | ||
| 7.30 pm | Job done. Time to sit back and relax. Actually must make sure I have all the supplies for tomorrow’s job – full bathroom installation. | |
| Who says a plumbers life is easy. Roll on the weekend so we can pop to the pub for a beer or two. |