Plumbing Companion

The one I just can’t live without! Over the last 37 years, I have set thousands of toilets, most of them in small, cramped bathrooms. To help me do the job easier, I made a small, four-wheeled cart (pictured) with two swivel wheels and two fixed for when I lift the toilet. Now I simply walk the toilet over the cart, set it on, wheel it out of the way to work in a clean, unobstructed area.

This has multiple advantages:

 

• The extra height lifting the toilet on/off the cart is much easier on my back.
• I cut an opening in the base of the cart around the horn so I can easily clean off the old wax.
• I don’t have to lay it down, therefore causing no additional pressure to the toilet bolts.
• No water spills, no mess! No matter how carefully I removed the water the old way, some still spilled on the floor when I lifted it back up.
• If a customer thinks an object was dropped in the toilet, I can auger it right on my cart and look with a mirror in the outlet.
• Two men cannot set a one-piece toilet in a tight space so I just roll the toilet over the flange and have my helper pull the cart away.
• I have seen a majority of plumbers/floor installers place the toilet in the tub when doing a new floor installation in a bathroom, risking a chip/crack somewhere. With my cart, you safely wheel it into another room and wheel it back when the job is completed.

Try it only once and you won’t want to do a job without my new plumbing companion!

Larry Sturm, The Faucet Doctor
Harrison City, Pa.

Stuck Camera

Ever have a camera stuck in a drain, like when the spring head is caught on a fitting or broken section? A helpful way to dislodge it is to take the cable and twist a loop in the cable — at the same time keeping tension by slightly pulling back. That will rotate the camera head and it has saved me a bunch of times.

 Anthony VandeVoorde, 3-Way Plumbing
Concord, N.C.

Twist-Tie

I keep a long twist tie on the male end of my extension cord. If I unplug anything of a customer’s to use my cord, I twist that cord right to mine. Then I don’t forget to plug their washing machine or whatever back in. Or if a helper unplugs your cord, he’ll know to plug that something back in. Can save you a callback or worse if that “something” is, for example, a sump pump!

James Hoxeng, Roto-Rooter
Providence, R.I.

Send Us Your Tool Tips!

If you have an idea that has saved you time and money, Plumbing & Mechanical would like to share your tip with our readers. You can e-mail your idea directly to PM editor Steve Smith at SmithS@bnpmedia.com, or mail it to him c/o PM, 1050 IL Route 83, Suite 200, Bensenville, IL 60106.

PM’s Tool Tips is sponsored by Ridge Tool Co. Reader tips chosen by our editors have a chance to win a RIDGID Tool Prize Package.

Ridge Tool does not necessarily endorse the readers' submission.