Insulted by plumbing estimate- JT solution

[Average-Joe]

With this excessive heat; I had a pipe break at the water line tie in due to the ground cracking with no recent rain. The plumbing company needed to dig but wanted $395 for a bush removal. A bush! A simple shrub. Sent them packing after getting insulted at their estimate. Found a different plumber

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[ShadowsPapa]

I'd have sent them packing as well - I've dug bigger out by hand, and I've pulled out entire hedges with my old F20 and my trucks,
That thing is tiny - a short time with the correct shovels, maybe a hatchet, and it's gone.

You have enough root there you could probably put it back LOL

We've had similar here with the drought. Ground shrinking and pulling away from buildings breaks water lines and breaks underground wiring going into buildings. Some have lost power due to wire breaks.
In my case, the shop floor has again dropped on the west side as the hill shrinks away so here I go again - if the drought ever ends, I'll be having the floor jacked again.

Frankly, as easy as that shrub was, it should have been included in the digging - no extra charge.
Even at my age and what's going on now I could have dug that thing out in short order just for a beer.
Do those guys know what a shovel is? I have one spade I've taken the angle grinder to and it's damn sharp on the bottom end, A couple stomps on the top of the spade's blade with these size 11s and it would let loose.

 

[chaosjake]

Dude, treesaver!

 

[j.o.y.ride]

drip lines around the house to keep the soil stable

 

[1996XJ]

This is where i come in with the supply and demand comment mixed with a free market capitalism.

 

[Green_Gladiator]

Had a homeowner give us permission to remove a bush to access the A/C condenser for removal. The HOA sent us an invoice for a new tree to be installed with a video attached from a nieghbor of us removing the existing one! .. They considered the condenser an eyesore and by HOA rules needs to be hidden by shrubs! Homeowner paid the invoice ? ....

 

[BLK HOLE]

This is better meant for a winch.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Had a homeowner give us permission to remove a bush to access the A/C condenser for removal. The HOA sent us an invoice for a new tree to be installed with a video attached from a nieghbor of us removing the existing one! .. They considered the condenser an eyesore and by HOA rules needs to be hidden by shrubs! Homeowner paid the invoice ? ....

And I've been told to avoid putting any shrubs around an A/C condenser/heat pump outside unit.
When our current system was put in there was even concern about it being rather close to the deck, so they moved it out a bit.

You hit a reason I refuse to live where there's a hoity-toity elitist bunch of thugs disguised as an HOA. Anyone who tells me I can't fly a US flag, or have to hide a heat pump unit or has to have a certain color and style shingle on my house can go straight to .............

I moved out of one town because the biXXX neighbor behind us would sit on her deck (her house sat a bit higher on a hill and she could see over our tall fence, and she'd watch me dig in the back yard and any little thing she was complaining. I know she was the reason police were in the neighborhood a couple of times.

It's bad enough where we are with the county rules.
HOAs are crap. You get fined if you don't mow often enough (and I don't mean letting it grow to 10" weeds, either) or trim things just right. No way you can change oil in your own driveway in many of those places.
I can't live where people grab their phones and start making a video of things you are doing. Creeps. Oh, they'll wave and say hi neighbor, then run in and call the HOA.

 

[Green_Gladiator]

And I've been told to avoid putting any shrubs around an A/C condenser/heat pump outside unit.
When our current system was put in there was even concern about it being rather close to the deck, so they moved it out a bit.

You hit a reason I refuse to live where there's a hoity-toity elitist bunch of thugs disguised as an HOA. Anyone who tells me I can't fly a US flag, or have to hide a heat pump unit or has to have a certain color and style shingle on my house can go straight to .............

I moved out of one town because the biXXX neighbor behind us would sit on her deck (her house sat a bit higher on a hill and she could see over our tall fence, and she'd watch me dig in the back yard and any little thing she was complaining. I know she was the reason police were in the neighborhood a couple of times.

It's bad enough where we are with the county rules.
HOAs are crap. You get fined if you don't mow often enough (and I don't mean letting it grow to 10" weeds, either) or trim things just right. No way you can change oil in your own driveway in many of those places.
I can't live where people grab their phones and start making a video of things you are doing. Creeps. Oh, they'll wave and say hi neighbor, then run in and call the HOA.

You are correct ... Minimum of 36 inch clearance from any obstructions for proper heat exchange. But hey what do we know. HOA rules negate years of engineering in this scenario lol.

HOA communities have an all out assault on trades in FL - We have technicians who require white magnets on the vans to not see the vehicle lettering or will be towed when parked overnight .. They put all ladders into the garage/backyard nightly and re-mount them prior to heading out to work ... Just ridiculous!

Received phone calls from HOA board members walking the dog in the evening to complain about a work truck parked on the block threatening to tow it asap ... only to find out the tech made a pit stop after work at a friends to chat or his ex-wife's house to see the kids ... Like you said just elitist bunch of thugs! ... God forbid they live next to a tradesman who drives a lettered work van.

Some counties in FL are now implementing similar rules regarding commercial vehicles. Resulting in tradesman having to relocate or change careers .... Its hard enough to get the new generation motivated to twist wrenches and climb ladders, why not create more obstacles for them to consider not learning a trade ... And yes they will waive hello like nothing happened! ?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You are correct ... Minimum of 36 inch clearance from any obstructions for proper heat exchange.

I thought that's what I had been told/learned over the years (I researched and chose our own inside and outside units when this Trane was installed and did a lot of reading)
The thing about bushes, shrubs, whatever - uh, they grow, they leaf out, they close off air movement.

It's just crazy about those vans and ladders. We need people really badly in the trades - and for anyone any good, there's a lot of opportunity. I know of a couple of folks who ended up owning the company they started working for years earlier.
I would bet that many of the people that make the rules and run the HOA have never had any dirt on their hands and likely their only hobby is golf, or watching TV (or gossiping about the neighbors).
They have no life outside of staring at others and making rules for them and worrying about the next guy.

Any HOA would have a cow with my car hauler and bird feeders.
When we lived near that spying witch years ago, our really cool calico cat died of cancer with complications from diabetes. I wrapped her up nicely and placed her in a small box - and waited until midnight to bury her at the edge of our garden. I could just see that #$%@# calling the cops because I was burying something in the back yard.
These days she'd have her cell phone out capturing me on video.

 

[TheGreatCO]

Can confirm, heat pumps are picky. I had 2 installed last year, I had to have 36" on 2 sides and 12" on the 2 other sides. The units could not be closer than 36" to each other. If you don't meet those, the manufacturer won't warranty the units.

Can also confirm HOAs are horrible and don't care about you or your warranties.

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