2022

 At the end of 2021 some thoughts about plumbing. 

It is hard to come with plumbing news every day, week, month. Plumbing is not entertainment, not politics, not breaking news. It is something simple but very powerful. It is passion, it is day buy day life to keep the today’s standards of living high, it is day by day plumbers life, their families life.

Plumbing is as old as civilization, an old name which has to be treated with respect and decency.

Imagine a world without plumbing. You can because that is before civilization. Please remember and have a plumber for your house because is worth it.

BBP Plumbing Inc wishes you a Happy New Year!

Advertising

 Before the radio, tv, internet advertising how was?

I imagine the best advertising was the good product, the good service, the inspired ideas. Was so simple. 

You had a good product, a good price, I assume not to much wrap, you had a good advertising. Costs, zero. Only your mind.

You had a good service, your customer neighbor, the friends, the relatives, here you are, you had a good advertising. Was only your skills, your mind.

You had an idea, you took developed, you kept. You sold, here you go, you had a good advertising. Your mind.

Now days, the advertising is more and more fake. More irrelevant, irresponsible. 

Do we need advertising today taken from internet or we need ancient advertising? Honestly, we need both but I think we have to try to use the old advertising because is more efficient, exceed our expectations, less cost for us.

This is our point of view after years of advertising in news paper, radio, tv, and last over 10 years without advertising in media. Way better the last 10 years.

BBP Plumbing Inc.

First flushable toilet

 

Inventor of First Flushable Toilet: John Harington gifts the flush toilet to Queen Elizabeth 1

Poop Town

 Poop town. The world has a known sewer system way in the back of the history, about 5,000 years b.c. 

The World cannot be considered modern without a sewer system. Plumbing engineer's mind. So, our question is how to create a new city with buildings, streets, shops to be one of the most expensive in the world and not having developed a sewer system. More than that, the tallest building in the World, has no sewer system. Say what? With apartments, penthouses with millions to be paid to have it with no sewer system at the basement, underground. Oh my, my.

BBP Plumbing Inc

Lavatory sink

 If you didn't know how the fixtures in your bathroom, kitchen looks like and how they are connected with the plumbing we start to present them in few series for you. 

Today lavatory sink.

Plumbing facts

 Plumbing facts

1. More than 28 billion feet (about 5.3 million miles) of copper piping has been installed in buildings in the U.S. since 1963. To put it in perspective, imagine a single long copper tube going around the earth 200 times.
2. Set your hot water heater to no hotter than 125 degrees F. Why? Because it takes water at a temperature of 140 degrees F just seconds to burn your skin. Water at 160 degrees will scald you in just half a second.
3. A typical American home wastes more than 9,000 gallons of water running the faucet while waiting for the water to heat, which means that as much as 15 percent of your annual heating costs are wasted while you heat that extra 9,000 gallons.
4. Albert Einstein is reported to have said that if he had to do it all over again, he’d become a plumber. As a result of this remark, the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union in Washington, DC, made him an honorary member and a New York plumbers’ local gave him a set of gold-plated plumbers tools.

Drum-type drain cleaners vs. Sectional drain cleaning machines

 Drum-type drain cleaners vs. Sectional drain cleaning machines. What’s the difference?

  In the plumbing- sewer- cleaning business two types of machines are available – drum-type and sectional.  Each has advantages.

Drum-type machines have the advantage of being self-contained, fast, and easy to operate.  The entire length of cable is contained in one drum and can be transported in a single trip to the job site.  A variable speed automatic feed, feeding at a rate of up to 20 ft./min, makes it easier for the operator to get the cable to the clog quickly.  It also helps to retract the cable more easily.  A 100 ft. cable can weight 100 lbs. There are different companies which makes those machines. Recommended: Ridgid.

Sectional drain cleaners have the advantage of being lightweight.  The cables are carried separately from the machine as 5, 8, 10, or 15 ft. sections.  No need to carry the weight of 100 ft. of cable when the job only calls for 50 ft.  Once on the job, the cables are feed into the line one section at a time and coupled together as needed.  The open coil design of the sectional cable helps corkscrew the cable down the line, making it easier to clear longer runs.  And if a section is ever damaged, it can easily be uncoupled and replaced. The disadvantage of those is when you have to go inside the house you need a lot of drop clothes to protect the house floor. Recommended" Ridgid. 

European bathrooms

 Some European bathrooms.

Some time happens

 We recently had to repair a sewer line for a residential in the right of way after the ComEd installed a post above the sewer line and they injected foam into the ground to stabilize the post. Unfortunately the foam went into the sewer line and completely stopped the flow into the sewer line. Some time happens. 

 

BBP Plumbing Inc

Did you know?

 Did you know?

The oldest cast iron water pipes date from the 17th century and were installed to distribute water throughout the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles. These amount to some 35 km of pipe, typically 1 m lengths with flanged joints. The extreme age of these pipes make them of considerable historical value. Despite extensive refurbishment in 2008 by Saint-Gobain PAM, 80% remain original.

Did you know?

 Did you know?

PVC was first made 'unintentionally' in 1872 by German chemist Eugen Baumann. He exposed vinyl chloride gas sealed in a tube to sunlight and produced a white solid called PVC. It was not until 1913 when German chemist Friedrich Klatte received the first patent for PVC for his method for the polymerization of vinyl chloride using sunlight. By World War I, Germany was producing a number of flexible and rigid PVC products which were used as a replacement for corrosion-resistant metals.

Summer sky

 Just some summer sky we share with you.

Just another job in the summer

 Just another job for fun. Beautiful summer, customers happy, every day work, fun, fun, fun.

BBP Plumbing Inc

Plumbing costs. Main sewer line and branches cleaning.

 We start to post as regularly as possible the costs of plumbing repairs and installations. Today we will start with probably the most important service in plumbing industry, the cleaning of main sewer line and branches. Also we will make notes to check what the price includes when the contractor is at your door.

So letting begin.

Main sewer line cleaning from outside clean out                     $250.00-$400.00                  

        Note. A full cleaning should be done with at least 4” blade. Some companies includes free camera inspection.

Main sewer line cleaning from inside clean out                        $300.00-$500.00

        Note. Sometimes you have to consider the costs of some parts.

Main sewer line cleaning from pulled toilet                             $350.00-$600.00.

        Note. Consider additional cost for wax ring, toilet water supply and maybe toilet bolts.

Branches drain cleaning                               Kitchen sink drain        $150.00-$250.00

                                                                      Bathtub drain                $150.00-$200.00

                                                                      Lavatory drain              $150.00-$200.00

                                                                      Laundry sink drain       $175.00-$300.00

        Note. Consider additional cost for parts. If the p-traps, j bend and tail piece are chromed and older than 15 years we recommend to change those.

BBP Plumbing Inc

Something else

 This post is about something else. The plumbers are 8, 10 or maybe more ours in the same pants, blue jeans. There is a leant between plumber and blue jeans. Glue, primer, rust and other plumbing stain all over the plumber's jeans. And the interesting thing in 20th may of 1873, Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss got the blue jeans patent. A day to remember. 

 

Google close ideological with fascism?

 BBP Plumbing Statement

Google violates our full rights of opinion. They censured one of our post. They do not mention clearly for what reason. Only general their community guide line policies. Is this the new Nazis system in place? We don't do politics but we consider we have to bring in attention of all our blog visitors this fact. Freedom of expression in reasonable limits is the most important thing in our life.

 

Material costs

     Unfortunately in the last 3 months the prices for the plumbing materials went out through the roof. 

The copper pipes and fittings average cost went up with 40% to 50%

The PVC pipes and fittings average costs went up with 30% to 40%

The valves, brass, chrome average costs went up with 10% to 20%

The robber items, no shear and ho hub couplings average costs went up with 10% to 20%

The water heaters average costs went up with 0% to 10%

So this is the new reality. Estimated cost of labor will go up with 10% to 20%  maybe more in some parts of the country. 

The estimated costs of a new house today, 12th May went up with an average of $36,000.00. This just came out today.

And don't forget the cost of 2"x4" went up from $2.00 to $9.00.

The biggest inflation from 2008.

We exposed to you those numbers. You will like it or not.

BBP Plumbing Inc

Pandemic?

 Getting a permit in last year since pandemic started was a nightmare for all trades. The bureaucracy it hits height levels.  To get a permit takes now generally weeks or months. And the sad part is more and more villages and cities ask for  a bond to be paid even if you work in private property. They return the bond after weeks or even months. This is a real abuse from the local gov who supposals are for people not against. After the citizens of those villages and cities are paying taxes they are charge with high permits fee for small jobs. Lately we paid even $1,000.00 bond for a small job. The insanity is among us. Hiding behind the pandemic doesn't mean to still from private property even if you are a local gov.

BBP Plumbing, Inc

Bathrooms

 Few nice Spanish style bathrooms

BBP Plumbing 

Maze

Follow the exit.

Good luck!

BBP Plumbing Inc

Submarine Toilet Flushing Instruction

Have you ever ask yourself how a toilet is flushed in a submarine? Can be exited, isn't it? Lets see how to use a toilet in a submarine.

 Submarine Toilet Flushing Instructions

How to Use the Submarine Toilet Flushing System:

1. After entering, close door “A”
2. Open waste tap “B” and flush tap “C” with lever “D”, causing door “A” to be blocked.
3. Open cover “E”.
4. Move lever “F” to “use”.
5. Use lavatory “G”.
6. Open waste tap “H” and flushing tap “I”.
7. Move lever “F” to “flush” position (do this more carefully the deeper the submarine is submerged) until compartment “J” is barely filled.
8. Open shut-off valve “K”.
9. Move lever “F” carefully to position “eject”.
   Compartment  “J” is filled through “K” and “L” with air from the 12 ATM system.
10. Move lever “F” carefully to the “air waste” position. In this position, the air flows out of compartment “J” through valve “M” to the floodwater tank and on to the battery compartment through pipe “O”.
11. Lever “F” stays in the “air waste” position when the lavatory is not in use.
12. Close and lock taps “H” and “I”.
13. Close lever “E”.
14. Close taps “B” and “C” with lever “D”.

Note: If these instructions are not followed exactly as above, the contents of the toilet will spill out over and up and down the closet. If you are so careless, you clean it up!

Short stop

Winter is still here. Didn't go. Nope. 

BBP Plumbing Inc

Spring

 The spring is almost here. Like every year we remind you the spring 's rains are around the corner and in the last few years some of the most intensive has some damages for the home owners. Here are some recommendations regarding the plumbing.   

1.Check if the main sewer line is flow free without obstructions. Recommend camera inspection.

2. Check if the sump pump is in good shape not older than 13-15 years. If you are in a flooding area or with some power outrages during storm we recommend to have a backup battery.

3. Are the floor drains in the basement in the utility area flow free? Check by poring water in the drain. 5 gallon bucket should be OK.

Enjoy the Spring and be safe.

BBP Plumbing Inc

 

Some weird bathrooms

 Some weird bathrooms found on internet.

BBP Plumbing Inc

Spring. Corner. Flowers. Plumbing.

 After 50 days of bitter cold weather, finally the temperatures are there for a normal life. The snow is still here but is melting under the high temperatures.

Unfortunately there are a lot of issues in plumbing system for many residentials and commercials. We hope all of you to stay cool and to have as many as possible plumbing issues and we say, Spring we are waiting you.

BBP Plumbing Inc

Cold, cold, cold

 At 0F we had to repair a sewer which was backing up often. After a video camera inspection which we gave us the location of the excavation we proceed in one of the coldest day. The site was in the parking lot.

At the time which we expose the pipe we identified a fiber optic conduit through the hard of the sewer line.

We have some pictures to share with you from the job.

 BBP Plumbing Inc