Last Tuesday was the worst day I've had on a jobsite in 10 years

I was working on a kitchen remodel in an old house near downtown Portland and hit a cast iron drain pipe with a framing nailer. Water started spraying everywhere, and I mean everywhere, within seconds. The homeowner was standing right there eating lunch and just stared at me with this look. I had to shut off the main water valve for the whole house, which I found out was buried behind a pile of old paint cans in the basement. Took me like 45 minutes to find a plumber who could come out same day, and he charged me $380 just for the emergency call. The worst part was the homeowner's wife came home and started crying because their hardwood floors got a little wet near the sink. Has anyone else had a plumbing mishap that just snowballed into a total disaster?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandra14611d ago

Read somewhere that a guy in Seattle hit a sprinkler line and flooded three apartments below his job site. $380 sounds steep but at least you didn't have to pay for water damage to a downstairs neighbor's ceiling. Hope the floors dried out okay or that homeowner's insurance covered it.

joseph_west5911d ago

Ngl, $380 is just the idiot tax for not calling 811 before you dig. At least he didn't flood a server room, then it would've been a six figure oopsie.