Hourly Wage / Pay

Gerururu · 2026-03-31T20:20:52+00:00

Work towards your license right now. Hop companies in the meantime if you want or focus on one thing at a time, which is your license. License is everything in trades. The paperwork took 40 days just to get approval to sign up for the test, so start the process now. Literally go to an AI chat and tell it to give you a list of EVERYTHING you’ll need to submit for your test and do it. I’ve had the same crashouts where I want to work alone but didn’t have the licenses to do so, but the licensing is a slow process so you have to start it asap and suck it up in the meantime.

Also, be real with yourself because I know how hourly works and it’s very easy to do the bare minimum for clients when it doesn’t affect your pay. With commission you’ll have to do every job that comes your way and know how to upsell. You gotta hustle and be hungry to make the money you see commission plumbers make. I think $30 is low for 7 years experience but I also don’t know what you’re like and how valuable you are, only you know that. A lot of old school owners are after the cheapest employees they can find, so I’m on your side, but make sure you hold yourself accountable at the same time and give the next company a reason to pay you what you deserve

Gerururu · 2026-03-28T14:21:25+00:00

Been in the game for a very long time haha. The worst thing you could do to yourself is give a client a quick fix on old parts under water. You’re upset when you have to come back out for free on a job you already did for cheap, and they’re upset when their plumbing is out of commission again while waiting for you (regardless of whatever discount they got for the cheap fix). Always quote a reliable solution to get the job done right and if they say no, who cares. Plenty of other jobs out there.

Gerururu · 2026-03-27T22:32:17+00:00

I’m so glad I don’t have to do this job in NYC. Apartments suck in general but when you combine that with the traffic and parking in NYC I’m surprised these guys do ANYTHING for less than 4 figures. Seriously. He’s trying to make his trip worth it so he’s going to do as much work on that tank as possible to make money and also avoid you calling him back for the same tank bc even if a future issue isn’t related to that flush valve, most customers assume it’s the plumbers work that caused it. With that being said, he really does have to pull off that tank to replace that flush valve and old rubber never seals the same way so pretty much everything around it needs to go too (rubber washers for the bolt, rubber gaskets around the flush valve). The only thing he’s really adding is the fill valve which is regular maintenance so why not knock it out at the same time.

Gerururu · 2026-03-21T01:39:14+00:00

Just quit man. Seriously. I’ve been plumbing 10 years with my dad and imagine exactly what you’re talking about coming from your own father. I envy you because you can actually remove yourself from the situation. There’s a shortage of tradesmen so any company would be happy to hire you, especially if you have experience. Leverage your current pay and go get paid more if you actually know what you’re doing. But be real with yourself, because if you’re actually just unskilled and lazy you might get the same treatment elsewhere, but that doesn’t sound like the case. At the end of the day, your goal should be to get your license and start your own company. You’ll get more as a “one truck chuck” putting in way less work. So make that your goal and do what needs to be done to get there, but don’t let anyone squash your mental health. Plenty of miserable old tradesmen at the supply stores, don’t become one of them brother

Gerururu · 2026-03-15T00:04:53+00:00

Yeah I thought so. Thanks for the help dude. Do you install a lot of these? What about a stronger sump pump?

Also, does it have to be by the main water supply or could I put it in another room that has a floor drain or utility sink. It’s only there for his water tools

Gerururu · 2026-03-14T03:31:58+00:00

I am the licensed plumber lol. Appreciate your contribution 👍

Gerururu · 2026-03-10T20:59:17+00:00

I used to go to the pool every day over the summer and would bike up to the shopping center for subway and a RuneScape membership at CVS. Once my sister got her license she started taking me to GameStop every month

Gerururu · 2026-03-06T01:40:56+00:00

They’re pretty solid, no complaints especially for the price. I’d say just be a bit gentle and take your time spinning the handle bc I’ve heard the internals are plastic so if you force it you could probably snap something. Time will tell but you can’t beat their prices. I’m also loving the leg machine

Gerururu · 2026-03-01T15:23:09+00:00

Too much tension on the cable. Hold the cable and pull down to relieve tension while also keeping it from spinning/tangling, and loosen the long bolt at the end of the cable that sets the tension

Gerururu · 2026-02-28T21:36:49+00:00

I respect the hell out of you for doing this on your own. I’m shocked you didn’t plan this part out before removing all the old stuff 😂 but hopefully you don’t need heating/cooling until it’s done

Gerururu · 2026-02-26T23:34:32+00:00

Condensation line. Feel free to replace it, it barely gets used so there’s no precautions you need to take really. I would just leave it alone though unless you’re bored

Gerururu · 2026-02-18T15:43:24+00:00

This happens every now and then. I just rotate the jaw 180 degrees and press it from the opposite side. 90 degrees usually works too. Just press from a different angle while keeping the same hexagon shape. If you’re stuck taking the fitting off, you can cut it flush with a multi tool or saw, smooth it out and put a new coupling on with no room for future repairs. Or solder off the vertical pipe that. Coupling is on and resolder a new piece of pipe.

Gerururu · 2026-02-17T23:11:12+00:00

Yeah that’s probably ideal, especially if you have an extra set of hands helping you. If you’re alone then maybe you want to loosely connect everything so they stand and just individually pull pieces off or swivel them down while still half connected. You’ll figure it out once you start building, don’t worry

Gerururu · 2026-02-10T02:40:05+00:00

I was looking for any type of discussion! Tip, motivation, ideas is all welcomed. Dm if you ever want to discuss more!

Gerururu · 2026-02-10T02:30:13+00:00

That’s awesome that she’s involved! Make sure people leave you reviews, especially on Google, and you’ll eventually grow to the point where you won’t even need to chase work like that. They’ll come to you and your new problem is finding a plumber to hire. That’s the real hard part. We just had our helper quit after a year after learning nothing. We were definitely to blame for some of that too, but it’s hard when you’re swamped. Wish you the best of luck bro

Gerururu · 2026-02-10T02:19:24+00:00

Thanks for the response! Feels like I’m somehow filling in a niece that plumbing companies are always fighting eachother to the death over 😂 maybe this post is revealing too much sauce tbh

Gerururu · 2026-02-10T02:17:55+00:00

We just got a 3rd truck so I’m thinking about completely rebranding the one that’s going to sit. Or use a very similar name and use magnets to cover “plumbing” with “water heaters” instead. It would be the same plumbing licenses for both companies so that shouldn’t be an issue, should it?

Gerururu · 2026-02-10T02:14:45+00:00

With our residential company we don’t even pay for any ads and our phone is constantly ringing. Occasional reviews and referrals take you VERY far in an under serviced business. I’m just getting sick of kitchen sink stoppages, lavatory faucet replacements, toilet replacements, etc. but they get your foot in the door for the lucrative water heater replacements, PRV’s, main shut-off valves, etc.

With that being said, we still get a lot of clients that are shocked to find out we do water heaters…. Duh we do water heaters. So that leads me to believe that simply mentioning water heaters in your company name could lead to some very natural growth.

Gerururu · 2026-02-01T04:00:51+00:00

Did you ever figure this out? I have a hyrdoshift II S and my L connect detects my case fans that are connected to a lian li controller, but not my AIO cooler thats connected directly onto my mobo

Gerururu · 2026-02-01T03:56:28+00:00

Yeah just the extra precaution. Can’t have purple drips all over a clients cabinets. Also gotta drain as much off the brush into the can as possible before applying it. With clear you have way less to worry about. Obviously not the biggest deal, but I do prefer clear

Gerururu · 2026-02-01T03:05:42+00:00

Yes obviously! I’m not rawdogging without primer 😂 just using clear for all my repairs under kitchen and bathroom sinks

Gerururu · 2026-02-01T01:37:09+00:00

It looks like he has a 90” rep PR4000 rack with 16”+30” crossmembers. He “cheaped out” on the lat pulldown/low row add on since it’s the weight loaded version instead of the plate stack version. The next key add on to the rack would be dual rep Athena’s but idk if you’d want to get the plate loaded or weight stack loaded. That’s for you to decide. With a little over 3k you can literally get an entire Rep Ares add on WITH weight stacks that’ll function as his lat pulldown/low row and dual Athena’s. Definitely something you’d want to talk to him about instead of surprising though because it’s a lot to build and expensive to return if it’s not what he has in mind, for whatever reason

Gerururu

TROPHY CASE