by Dave Yates | Apr 6, 2022 | pmmag.com Articles
This article originally posted at: https://www.pmmag.com/articles/104140-dave-yates-id-vs-od-and-flare-joints Don’t over-tighten your flare joints. The fun of being an apprentice starts with a steep learning curve. Being sent to the nearest supply house for two...
by Dave Yates | Mar 4, 2022 | pmmag.com Articles
Operating 24/7/365 can take a toll. Where do you draw the line? That’s easy if you’re a one-person shop. Telephone rings; it’s 2:30 a.m. The clock face comes into focus as you reach for the phone. “My faucet is dripping and the noise is keeping me awake. How soon can...
by Dave Yates | Feb 3, 2022 | pmmag.com Articles
Plumbers should offer products to enhance customers’ health. We may as well face reality: COVID-19 is here to stay. What a PITA this pandemic has been. As essential workers, you haven’t been given your due. Fearlessly, or not, you have endured two years of fluctuating...
by Dave Yates | Jan 4, 2022 | pmmag.com Articles
Another lesson learned in the school of hard knocks. You ever have one of those jobs where nuisance heating system lockouts drove you crazy? The issue was with a propane-fired boiler and, of course, the lockouts were happening when we were swamped with no heat calls...
by Dave Yates | Dec 6, 2021 | pmmag.com Articles
Cash is king in business. Supply chain disruptions are ever present and show no signs of going away anytime in the near — or perhaps distant — future. One of the biggest challenges I hear from mechanical contractors is rapidly changing prices that are eating up...
by Dave Yates | Nov 3, 2021 | pmmag.com Articles
The tale of an oil hot-water boiler project and a hot head customer. Looking over the new home plans in order to provide the builder with pricing, I noticed there was no chimney included. Way out in the country, where no natural gas was available and the owner had...