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I work at a union plumbing company in a major metro area and union plumbers make very good money here (100k+). We aren’t losing any business to YouTube. We onl

I work at a union plumbing company in a major metro area and union plumbers make very good money here (100k+). We aren’t losing any business to YouTube. We only do service for commercial businesses, and the house engineer isn’t going out of the way to do any more work than what is absolutely necessary. You will still need a plumber if you do a large remodel or new construction. Good on you for learning how to do more yourself, but this trend has negligible impact on the industry at large.

thisisnico 4y ago
Couldn't agree more.
ryanmccullagh 4y ago
> and the house engineer isn’t going out of the way to do any more work than what is absolutely necessary Most contractors: Doing the absolute minimum necessary and cutting corners
- xyzzy123 4y ago
  If you changed the incentive structure and allocation of risk you might get different results.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- cfors 4y ago
  As somebody that has done both contracting and worked in tech, I hope this comment makes sense. Most homeowners (product managers) want the cheapest (fastest) thing that fixes (delivers) a working home (feature) to them. When given the options those are generally what people choose. Sure some contractors (software engineers) always cut corners, but I believe many take pride in their work and given the option would prefer a solution they take pride in.
- bluSCALE4 4y ago
  I really hate this mentality. I don't understand how people do shoddy work on peoples homes. For example, I drilled through my joist and put in these plastic rings to prevent rattling. 100% any other plumber would have just cut holes and left it at that. I originally planned on getting 1 per hole, but thought, it fits two, why not spend another $30 on material so both sides are covered? It turned out that it more than double the pipes rigidness while surely making the pipes silent for life. With one, I could see them eventually moving/popping off or having slight rattling. With both, you could hang off them and they wouldn't budge.

thisisnico 4y ago

Couldn't agree more.

ryanmccullagh 4y ago

> and the house engineer isn’t going out of the way to do any more work than what is absolutely necessary Most contractors: Doing the absolute minimum necessary and cutting corners

xyzzy123 4y ago
If you changed the incentive structure and allocation of risk you might get different results.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
cfors 4y ago
As somebody that has done both contracting and worked in tech, I hope this comment makes sense. Most homeowners (product managers) want the cheapest (fastest) thing that fixes (delivers) a working home (feature) to them. When given the options those are generally what people choose. Sure some contractors (software engineers) always cut corners, but I believe many take pride in their work and given the option would prefer a solution they take pride in.
bluSCALE4 4y ago
I really hate this mentality. I don't understand how people do shoddy work on peoples homes. For example, I drilled through my joist and put in these plastic rings to prevent rattling. 100% any other plumber would have just cut holes and left it at that. I originally planned on getting 1 per hole, but thought, it fits two, why not spend another $30 on material so both sides are covered? It turned out that it more than double the pipes rigidness while surely making the pipes silent for life. With one, I could see them eventually moving/popping off or having slight rattling. With both, you could hang off them and they wouldn't budge.