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Main Street Plumbing Company:
https://mainstplumbingnc.com/
Main Street Plumbing Number:
919-617-0496
Capps Plumbing Company:
https://cappsplg.com/
In this episode of Chicks in Construction, Mikki Paradise welcomes Hailey, a plumber with more than 14 years of experience, to share hilarious stories, hard-earned lessons, and practical advice every homeowner should know.
https://mainstplumbingnc.com/
Main Street Plumbing Number:
919-617-0496
Capps Plumbing Company:
https://cappsplg.com/
In this episode of Chicks in Construction, Mikki Paradise welcomes Hailey, a plumber with more than 14 years of experience, to share hilarious stories, hard-earned lessons, and practical advice every homeowner should know.
From the strangest things ever flushed down toilets to why plumbers cringe when they hear someone used Drano, Hailey explains the mistakes that lead to expensive repairs—and how homeowners can avoid them.
The conversation also explores what it's like being a woman in the plumbing trade, dealing with stereotypes, earning respect on the job, and why the construction industry needs more women. Along the way, Mikki and Hailey discuss water heaters, water pressure, plumbing maintenance, DIY repairs, builder shortcuts, and the importance of finding a plumber you can trust.
Whether you're a homeowner trying to prevent costly repairs or someone considering a career in the skilled trades, this episode is packed with practical advice, laughs, and insider knowledge.
00:00 – Welcome back to Chicks in Construction
01:00 – Meet guest plumber Hailey
04:00 – How Hailey became a plumber
06:30 – Why the trades were a better fit than college
07:00 – What it's like being a woman in plumbing
10:00 – Why construction should be called "male-populated," not "male-dominated"
11:30 – Homeowner mistakes plumbers see every day
14:00 – Why plumbers hate Drano and drain cleaners
17:00 – The only three things that belong in a toilet
18:00 – Flushable wipes aren't really flushable
19:00 – Grease, clogged drains, and expensive repairs
20:00 – The strangest things ever flushed down a toilet
23:00 – Inside Main Street Plumbing
26:00 – Why water pressure matters
28:00 – Knowing where your main water shutoff is
30:00 – Water damage prevention every homeowner should know
33:00 – Should you flush your water heater?
35:00 – Plumbing maintenance plans explained
37:00 – Extending the life of your water heater
38:00 – Warning signs your water heater is failing
39:00 – Why you should shut your water off before vacation
42:00 – Cheap toilets vs. quality plumbing fixtures
45:00 – Why trustworthy contractors are worth keeping
50:00 – Builder shortcuts plumbers see every day
53:00 – Which plumbing repairs are safe to DIY?
55:00 – Final homeowner tips
Creators and Guests
What is Chicks in Construction?
You plan your renovation with excitement, trust your contractor, and hope for the best...until things start going sideways. That’s when most homeowners realize they didn’t know what they didn’t know.
From permits that were never pulled to “contractors” who ghost after demo day, the construction world can feel like a maze of hidden costs and shady shortcuts. Too many homeowners end up confused, overwhelmed, and out of a lot of money.
The Chicks in Construction Podcast is here to change that. Hosted by Mikki Paradis, a licensed general contractor with 20+ years of experience, and Jess Abreu, a homeowner turned construction content creator, this show breaks down real renovation horror stories and teaches you how to protect your time, money, and home.
After building a multimillion-dollar drywall business and helping countless homeowners recover from construction nightmares, Mikki is on a mission to make sure you go into your next project informed, not blindsided. And Jess brings the perspective of someone who’s been in your shoes and now knows exactly what questions to ask.
Submit Your Construction Horror Story: https://chicksinconstruction.com/
54 - Chicks in Construction
===
Mikki: [00:00:00] So when I was in college, I worked at this dive bar. So every Friday and Saturday night, the plumber had to come out because apparently, I did not know this, as much as I try to act like I'm a thug, I don't know the happenings of cocaine. But apparently they cut cocaine with Baby Laxatives. So Oh my gosh. Every Saturday, Friday and Saturday night, we'd have to call the plumber out because they would f- and they'd flush their underwear down.
Hailey: I'm just like, "
Mikki: Get better hobbies."
Hailey: That is hilarious. I remember
Mikki: Well, hello, and welcome back to another episode of Chicks in Construction.
I'm your host, Mickie Paradise, and we have a very special co-host. Jess is on vacation, so please allow me to introduce...
Hailey: Hailey.
Mikki: This is Hailey. We, we talked about that a [00:01:00] little bit before, um, before we got into it, and I'm not gonna lie, I don't do great at giving good instructions. So she did the best she could, and it's partially my fault.
Partially to mostly my fault. So as I said, Jess is on vacation. She's cruising living her best life, um, but she's doing a fancy cruise. She's cruising through Europe. Pinky's up. It's a whole situation. If you follow Brick by Brick Media, which is her social media company you will see the amazing scenery in which, like, she's like, she's, she's in places that you're like, "That's not real.
It only exists in books."
Hailey: Right?
Mikki: So I am very jealous of the, the level to which she vacations. She also takes both of her children with her, which is real overwhelming.
Hailey: Yeah. I think the biggest- I- ... vacations we do is camping.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: Keep it simple.
Mikki: Yeah, yeah. No, I'm just- I do like a vacation. I just, the thought, I don't have kids, and Jess is, like, the kid- she's the [00:02:00] mom, and I'm the non-breeder.
Right. I'm just like,, "I got these dogs." Um, but whenever, like, she's like, sh- c- and they travel all over the world. Like, I think last year they went to Spain. They've been to Paris. Like, and she- Mm ... takes her kids with her every time. And to me, every time I hear it, it's just something, it makes me have heartburn.
I'm just like, "Oh, God, that much packing, that much responsibility." Uh-huh. Oh my God, it's so much. So, um,
Hailey: it's- It's challenging traveling with kids. I have two.
Mikki: Oh, God.
Hailey: So.
Mikki: It's a lot. That's a lot. My husband's like, "Thinking two kids is not at all a lot." And I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm overwhelmed." Yet I have four dogs, which is insane.
Like, one of them is a 200-pound English Mastiff Which is just a real life choice. You have to just not ever care about retiring, 'cause you're gonna spend all of your money- Yeah ... on this dog, guaranteed. Um, he's in physical therapy, because why would he not need physical therapy? For sure. Um, and then I have a pocket bully, and then two [00:03:00] little, two little mutts we found on the side of the road.
So like four dogs is a crazy life choice.
Hailey: Yeah, we have three.
Mikki: Y- you've- Three dogs. Three dogs and two kids is- Uh-huh ... that is, cheers to
Hailey: you. Yeah. Yes.
Mikki: Because there's no chance.
Hailey: There's cleaning the house every day.
Mikki: Oh, God.
Hailey: Every day.
Mikki: No, I'm just, I'm not, I'm not built for that. I'm not built for cleaning. Our audience knows that like I am the very low-functioning adult in the duo of The Chicks in Construction.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Like Jess is on top of it, she keeps a clean house, and I'm just like, "Listen, when the cleaning lady comes is when the house gets cleaned. That's it." So, um, again, I'm not suitable for adult life, even though here I am.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: I do pay my taxes. So to our amazing audience, I don't know if you guys remember, I do, it lives rent-free in my head, that one time we had a plumber on the show.
And listen, we got some feedback. It [00:04:00] wasn't wrong. We may or may not have not allowed that poor s- plumber to get a word in edgewise. Um, we did ask her back on the show and she declined, which is fair. But we still wanted to give you, the audience, an opportunity to have a, a plumber on the show that I actually allowed to talk.
So guys, I have a script, okay? We have a script. We have questions. I am going to do my job this time for real. So we're referring to the script. So how did you get into plumbing, and how long ago was that?
Hailey: So 14, 14 years ago.
Mikki: Amazing.
Hailey: And my stepdad is a plumber.
Mikki: Okay. Love that.
Hailey: Yeah. So it took a while to convince him-
Mikki: Oh
Hailey: that I was worthy enough. Of course it
Mikki: did, because vaginas.
Hailey: Yes. So-
Mikki: How dare they do plumbing?
Hailey: At first he told me I wasn't [00:05:00] cut out for it.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: Uh-huh. And
Mikki: then but- Was there a reason?
Hailey: Not that I was good or that was- Just 'cause you
Mikki: were, 'cause you had boobs?
Hailey: Yeah. Yep.
Mikki: Yeah. Those don't fit when you have to dig.
Hailey: They don't fit in meter boxes.
Mikki: Facts.
Hailey: And a bunch of people were stealing from him.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: Yeah, so he was like, "I know you won't steal from me." "Do you wanna come work for me?" And I'm like, "Yeah,
Mikki: sure." Man, that is so common as to how women actually ended up in the trades. Mm-hmm. Like, when a family member was just like, "Well, she's not gonna, you know, be good at plumbing, but at least she won't steal from me."
Right, right. It's like, cool. Yeah. I guess I'll take it however I can get it.
Hailey: Yeah. Yep. Damn. And then he ended up firing everyone that he had.
Mikki: Because you outperformed everyone that he had- Yep ... because women are actually very well-suited for the trades.
Hailey: Yep, yep, got rid of all of his other trucks. Kept my truck and I pretty much ran the show for what, 10, 11 year, [00:06:00] 11, 10 years.
Mikki: Was there anything about plumbing? Like, what was it that said, like, I wanna be a plumber?
Hailey: Well, it wasn't- I was good in school-
Mikki: Mm-hmm ...
Hailey: but I didn't wanna go for any longer.
Mikki: Okay. Yeah.
Hailey: So I'm like, "
Mikki: Fine then." I tell everybody that, like, if you don't really, if you don't know what you wanna do-
Hailey: Yeah ...
Mikki: go to the trades.
Hailey: Well, so I originally was going to college for physical therapy.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: And I was like, "I'm over this."
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: I'm over going to school.
Mikki: Yeah. Oh, God.
Hailey: I'm just done.
Mikki: I still have, I have reoccurring nightmares about college.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Like, about, like, not turning in an assignment or missing a final exam. Yeah. I go wake up and be like, "Oh, my God."
Then I'm like, "Wait, no. I graduated. It's fine." But it live, that shit lives rent-free in my head. So, um, next question. I'm following the questions, guys. I'm doing good. What is it like [00:07:00] being one of the few women that work in the field?
Hailey: So when I first started-
Mikki: Mm-hmm ... I
Hailey: feel like it was a little tough, you know- Yeah
'cause everyone's like-
Mikki: Dumb girls-
Hailey: Yeah ... what do they know about
Mikki: plumbing?
Hailey: They can't do this. You know, you need to send someone else over here, and this and that.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: So it, like, hurt my feelings a little bit, you know? Oh, hell
Mikki: yeah.
Hailey: But now I'm just like-
Mikki: Whatever, you dummies ... whatever.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: I had- Give me
Hailey: 15 minutes, and you'll see
Mikki: why I'm here.
Yeah, exactly. I had a, um, a drywall or the owner of a drywall company refuse to pay the same amount per, because this guy paid per board-
Hailey: Mm-hmm ...
Mikki: to the women than he would pay to the men because he, he said there was no way that women could work as fast as men. And I was like, "We're actually gonna go." "Go find another fucking dry-" Wow.
Oh, sorry. You should probably bleep that out. [00:08:00] This is what happens when I'm around other contractors. Yeah. I was like, "We're, we're, we're not a good fit." Like, if- Yeah ... like, he genuinely... And then, like, what was funny is, like, you know how, like, people say things and they're like, "Oh, I'm just kidding"? Like, he was s- serious.
serious. He was not playing around. Like, he was just like, "No, women don't work as hard as men. They can't, they can't, um, they can't work as fast as men. I'm not gonna pay them as much per hour or per, per board." And I was just like, "Okay, we're, we're just gonna leave." That is insane. So yeah, that-
Hailey: No, that's, that's a little ballsy to say.
Mikki: It's seven different kinds of illegal, but I think that's, like, the thing I love the most about the real, the real bigots in construction, is they'll put that in an email. Yeah. They, they don't even pretend to, to hide or to protect themselves from lawsuits- Right ... 'cause they genuinely don't think there's anything wrong with saying, "I'm not gonna pay a female," it was a finisher, "as much as a male finisher."
[00:09:00] Which just so you guys know for, for the finishing, a drywall hanging is... I have had some female drywall hangers. There are very few. So I remember the first drywall hanger I ever had, I was a, I, I probably freaked her out because I kept, like, peep- Like, I'd go around the corner and be like- ... "Oh my God, look at her go."
Like, and she was tiny. Like, she was, she was probably like Central American and sh- maybe five feet tall, and she was slinging that board like I had never seen in my life. And I, I, I probably creeped her out pretty hard 'cause I- It was just like, you know when you see something you think you'll never see in your life- Right
and you're just like, "It's real." So I don't frequently see drywall hangers because it is extremely heavy, and you have to have a really great grasp on... I mean, if you're went to school for physical therapy, you have to have a really great grasp on your body mechanics- Right ... in order to be a drywall hanger for a sustained period of time.
Mm-hmm. So it's not super common that we see males in that arena. But female finishers are, exist. There's, there's quite a [00:10:00] good amount of them, um, because you don't have to carry the boards around. Right. You're carrying mud. So the finishers are who put the mud. Hangers hang the drywall. Finishers put the drywall mud, and they tape the seams to make it all look like one piece, to the audience.
If you did not know, that is what a finisher is. So she was a finisher, and she j- they just refused to pay her the same amount, so we just left. But yeah, like, that, a lot of people don't think that that is real, and I'm just like, oh, no, it absolutely is. I s- I fol- I started following this, um, this chick on Instagram.
I think it's called Build... Her, her channel is called Build Pretty And she is a female carpenter, like a master carpenter. Mm-hmm. And she's super cute. And she, like, refuses to not be super cute just because she gets judged for being super cute.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: And she posted this thing about, um, male... Calling it a male-dominated industry, and she was like, "I would like to change it to being a male, um, [00:11:00] populated industry."
Mm, mm. Because the idea that only men are dominating this industry- Right ... is just not re- true anymore. Right. Right. Like, women are just as good in these trades as men are. Which I guarantee you, this clip is gonna get sent to TikTok to rage bait all of our men- ... that absolutely hate our show because how dare I?
But I am now only calling it a male-populated industry, not a male-dominated industry because, listen, I've watched a lot of men drywall contractors go out of business.
Next question. We're gonna switch on to, um- So this section is called Things Homeowners Do That Drive Plumbers Crazy. Which, listen, this is really important.
I- one of the things that we've been trying to do with our audience is, one, help homeowners [00:12:00] understand how they can have better experiences with contractors. Right. 'Cause that's the whole point of the show, is to help people stop getting scammed, to have better experiences, to know what's normal, to know what's not, to know how to push back on certain things.
Right. But a lot of that is sometimes homeowners are the problem. Mm-hmm. I know this because I don't work with homeowners because sometimes homeowners are the problem. Yeah. And I can go work in, in commercial and work with just general contractors who understand how construction works- Right ... and I don't have to deal with it.
I don't have the patience for some of the nonsense that, that, that homeowners bring to the table. Mm-hmm. I just don't, 'cause I'm spoiled in, in, in the world where everybody knows how construction works.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: So when somebody chooses to work in the residential industry, they are opening themselves up to homeowners that don't know how the world works, and so kind of finding themselves in situations where they have to educate them And what we find is some homeowners don't wanna be educated.
Like, they [00:13:00] just think that this is how-
Hailey: They know best ...
Mikki: things should, they know best- Mm-hmm ... even though you're the licensed plumber. They're gonna tell you how things are gonna be, and that's the end of it. So I think that the average of, of our audience does want to know, okay, what are things that I can do to have a better experience on my end that I have the control over, that I can change the interaction?
Mm-hmm. Like, so, so that is kind of where this part of it g- is, is focused on is, like, how can we educate homeowners on what not to do when you're dealing with a plumber, when you're dealing with somebody coming into your home? What are the mistakes that you've seen be made? So the first question is, what is the number one mistake homeowners make, and this could be, I guess we'll break it up into two, when dealing with a plumber?
Hailey: So I would say probably telling the plumber how to do their job.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Like, how to fix it, what they [00:14:00] need to do to fix it.
Mikki: Yeah, it seems kind of silly. 'Cause nine times out
Hailey: of 10, it's, what they're saying isn't making any sense.
Mikki: Well, it's why would you hire a professional if you know how to fix it anyway?
Hailey: Right. It's, it makes you question yourself, "Well, why am I here?" You know?
Mikki: That makes sense. I'm trying to think. Like, I could, I could in one way or the other see myself doing that because listen, I'm a s- freaking asshole, and I think I know everything. Right. So I'm the first person to be like, "No, you need to do it like that."
I, I don't know how many times my husband will be like, "Will you just stop?" I really should. So what are the mistakes that homeowners make when, like, what is the biggest DIY fail you see where they have to call you in to, to fix it?
Hailey: There's tons. Um, the chemicals, like the drain cleaners. Okay. The, the Drano or the Liquid-Plumr I cannot stand that stuff.
Ugh. One, [00:15:00] it doesn't work.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: And then it's just the sink bowls or whatever are just filled up with this stuff.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: And now I have to drain it out.
And it gets on your hands- Mm ... and it eats your skin up. Mm. You know? I've seen that stuff harden- Wow ... in the drains.
Mikki: Get
Hailey: out. And you have to cut out sections of it.
Mikki: I did not know that. Yeah. I don't use it because I read that it was so bad for the environment that, like, it was just the world's worst thing ever. Yeah. So when we have a clog, we'll use one of those-
Hailey: Like little augers ...
Mikki: twisty things. Yeah. It's not only like the fancy plumber augers- Right ... it's like those little plastic things- Yeah
that probably don't do shit. But it makes me feel like I'm doing something. And also, when you have to pull all that hair out of the drain sink is how, is how I die. I d- I'm not, I was, I was not meant to be a plumber. There's-
Hailey: Yeah ...
Mikki: certain
Hailey: things. So when I first started plumbing, I struggled with that.
Mikki: Oh, God.
Hailey: And I have a very, very weak stomach.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: And- And you're a plumber? Yeah. [00:16:00] No, I, I'm fine with it now. But when I first started, if I had to- ... you know, stick my hands in something gooey, I'm like over there, like, gagging.
Mikki: Dying. Dying.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: I can't even. Yeah, I have so much respect. So both of my nephews are plumbers, and I have so much respect for them because there's just absolutely no...
Like, w- like, new construction plumbing, fine. I m- I know there's still some gross stuff that happens in new- Yeah ... construction plumbing, but plumbing repairs.
Hailey: Yeah. Services, that's a whole different world. I've been covered-
Mikki: I can't ... in
Hailey: feces- Ah ... head to toe.
Mikki: And that's when my soul would leave my body, and I would depart from this earth.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Like,
Hailey: there's just no chance. Yep. But, you know, grease is worse than sewer.
Mikki: Is it?
Hailey: Oh, my God.
Mikki: What makes it worse?
Hailey: It reeks.
Mikki: Really?
Hailey: It's so bad. So you can wash, you know, sewer smell off.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: Grease, I feel like I smell like it for days. No. And your van stinks.
Mikki: Why does gre- I, I'm sure there's, like, [00:17:00] a scientific reason why it smells so bad.
I know, but it's- Is it just 'cause it's rotting?
Hailey: I don't know. May- maybe 'cause, like, the food.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You know? Ooh. But, like, grease traps in commercial kitchens.
Mikki: Ugh. Yeah. That's the worst.
Hailey: It's... Yeah. I would rather roll in freaking feces than-
Mikki: Wow, that is a strong- Yeah. That is a strong- Well, you can wash it
Hailey: off.
The grease... Oh, God. It's so gross.
Mikki: Oh, I... Well, y'all, this is why you pay a plumber. 'Cause they're willing to roll in poop, okay? Like, this is why you should respect your local trades.
Hailey: Right?
Mikki: So what... Speaking of grease, what should absolutely never go down a drain?
Hailey: Um, well, the only things that should go down a drain-
Mikki: Yes
Hailey: are the three Ps.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Pee, poop, and paper.
Mikki: Pee, poop, and paper. Okay.
Hailey: Toilet paper.
O- And water, of course.
Mikki: Ob- obviously. So does this mean, 'cause I had, I had a friend reach out and was like, "Hey, do you guys have any of those flushable [00:18:00] wipes?" Gosh. And my response was, "There is no such thing- Yeah, no
as a flushable wipe."
Hailey: No.
Mikki: So why is that? Why, why do they claim that things are flushable when they are not?
Hailey: I think it's just to get you to s- to keep us in business. At this point. '
Mikki: Cause you're gonna need a plumber. So, like, paper towels are okay?
Hailey: No.
Mikki: No, paper towels are not okay.
Hailey: No. Toilet paper.
Mikki: Okay, toilet paper.
That's it. That is it.
Hailey: That's it.
Mikki: Okay. So, like, tampons, do not flush your tampons.
Hailey: Nope. I call those sewer rats. Sewer rats. Mm-hmm. They look like a little sewer rat when they come out. No. Mm-hmm.
Mikki: Oh, God, I just died. All right, guys, so pee, poop, toilet paper. That's it. Yeah. Now, if you, 'cause I sometimes, listen, I very rarely cook- Mm-hmm
because I am not a domestic goddess. I'm a co- I'm a drywall goddess, and that is it. But every once in a while, w- I'll try to get the grease to harden and, like, separate it out. What if you get a little grease down? Should you [00:19:00] immediately, like, hit it with some Dawn? Like, what's the grease trick? Is it just like- I mean-
pray to Jesus, the, the plumbing gods?
Hailey: Yeah. I mean, you could try the Dawn, but you know, as soon as it hits, like, the cold water-
Mikki: Yeah, it, it gets- You
Hailey: know, or it cools down further down the line-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: it'll start hardening up against the pipe.
Mikki: And that's when, like, you have to have your main dug out So what is, like have you ever seen the grease truck when it, like it says on the side, like, "Don't dump grease down your, down your pipes," and they're like doing something at the sewer?
Hailey: It's, they're like big vacuum truck- Yeah, yeah ... and they have a built-in jetter. So when you get grease in your sewer lines-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: you can't just run a drain machine.
Mikki: Oh. '
Hailey: Cause the drain machine is only gonna, depending on the size of the machine- Yeah, yeah ... like the head, you know, is like this big.
Well, if you have a four-inch drain line-
Mikki: Right ...
Hailey: you're only gonna drill a hole that big-
Mikki: Oh ...
Hailey: through it. So like, yeah, you'll get the relief.
Mikki: [00:20:00] Temporarily.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: So then that machine comes in and like blasts it out.
Hailey: So the jetter is like a pressure washer for your- Wait, okay ... your drain line.
Mikki: Seems expensive.
Hailey: Yeah, they're- I
Mikki: don't want that in my life ...
Hailey: they're certainly not cheap.
Mikki: So I just, the next question is what are people flushing that they shouldn't be, and I feel like the answer is literally anything other than toilet paper and your business. Yeah,
Hailey: I've pulled so much out of- So much
Mikki: What's the most ridiculous thing you've pulled
Hailey: out?
Gym shorts. It wa- it was at a jail. Oh, God. And I'm guessing they probably had an accident in-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: their shorts.
Mikki: Oh, God. And the only thing to do- And just flushed them down the freaking toilet ... is is to flush them. Yeah. So when I was in college, I worked at this dive bar. We've talked about this before on the pod, but, um, it was like this little dive bar in Five Points, which is like a fancy part of Raleigh.
It's where all the, like one-percenters of Raleigh, like old [00:21:00] money Raleigh- Mm-hmm ... their kids would come, and these kids had more money than sense generational money. Mm-hmm. And they loved this bar, 'cause like it was, there, nobody knew where it was. No, like it would get busy, but it was like busy 'cause it was all the one-percenters' kids.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: So every Friday and Saturday night, the plumber had to come out because apparently, I did not know this, as much as I try to act like I'm a thug, I don't know the happenings of cocaine. But apparently they cut cocaine with Baby Laxatives. So Oh my gosh. Every Saturday, Friday and Saturday night, we'd have to call the plumber out because they would f- and they'd flush their underwear down.
Hailey: I'm just like, "
Mikki: Get better hobbies."
Hailey: That is hilarious. I remember
Mikki: one time, the plumber was like, "Well, I just pulled a pair of Care Bear underpants out."[00:22:00]
I was just like, "How are you going to a club, doing cocaine, wearing Care Bear underwear?" Right? So, the plumbers fl- have, have great stories of the things that you would never believe people would flush.
Hailey: Oh, yeah, especially kids. They'll, they'll put anything down there. Oh,
Mikki: that seems like a great, like a challenge for a child.
Hailey: Oh, yeah. I've pulled G.I. Joe guys-
Mikki: Ugh ... out of the toilet.
Hailey: They were- Like, they were, like, playing War on the
Mikki: toilet seat ... it was like a Navy SEAL ...
Hailey: or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Legos, shampoo bottles.
Mikki: Shampoo bottles? Oh,
Hailey: yeah.
Mikki: I wanna see the toilet that actually flushes a shampoo bottle.
Hailey: Well, I, it couldn't
Mikki: get it out.
That's a Kohler commercial. Yeah,
Hailey: I had to break the back of that, 'cause I, I was like, "What in the world is in here?"
Mikki: Wow.
Hailey: And I was fighting it. And it was a shampoo bottle. And then I ended up pulling the toilet and just s- snapping the back of the porcelain to see what it was, and it was one of the, um, what, what is that brand?
The fruit, fruit something.
Mikki: It's like Herbal [00:23:00] Essences or something? No? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Something. Okay. Wow. Yeah. Oh, I'm, I'm impressed it even got it.
Hailey: Well, they musta, like, ha- had to shove them They must have ... or something.
Mikki: It had assistance. Section three, save yourself thousands of dollars.
So, well, before we get into that, let's talk a little bit, we talked about how you got into plumbing. Let's talk about the plumbing company that you're working with now, which, side-note, okay, I didn't realize, I've worked, not with this division, but this family of plumbers, I've worked with them for, like, a decade.
The Capps family is, in my personal opinion, the dynasty of plumbers in North Carolina. They are the elite. I call them the gold standard in plumbing. I've worked with her, um, one of her employer's employers, w- Deborah Capps, on I don't even know how many projects. They are ... She's a female master plumber.
Hailey: Chef's kiss,
Mikki: okay? Mm-hmm. And let me tell you, she had [00:24:00] brothers, and her brothers aren't the master plumber. Deborah's the master plumber. Deborah
Hailey: is pretty-
Mikki: Deborah's boss. She's boss energy. 100%. I'm obsessed.
Hailey: You can feel the energy change when she walks in. I'm
Mikki: telling you what, like, she is everything. So, tell us a little bit about Main Street Plumbing.
Like, where do you service? Like, are you guys a residential? Like, what-
Hailey: So we do residential and commercial.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Um, service work, remodels.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Pretty much anything.
Mikki: Okay, so, like, somebody flushes a G.I. Joe.
Hailey: Yep.
Mikki: Okay. And what areas do you service?
Hailey: God, I feel like it's everywhere. Yeah. Like, an hour in every direction from Fuquay-
Mikki: Okay
Hailey: essentially.
Mikki: Okay. So we will link down below some information on how you can find them if you're looking for a plumbing service. Um, I know that Deborah's son runs Main Street. Mm-hmm. Um, I've worked with Deborah's son on, of their jobs. Um- I am a jerk. Just, I feel like we [00:25:00] all know that. And, um, I, I will refer to the younger Cappses as baby Capps.
So there's Chris Capps, which is Deborah's brother, and there's Deborah Ca- Capwell. She's married, she's a different last name now, but for me, she's always still be Deborah Capps for the rest of my life. Um, so their childrens are baby Cappses. And I don't think they
Hailey: are- Even if they're not a Capps. Even if they're not a Capps-
Mikki: Even if they're not a Capps
they're a Capps. Yeah. So yeah, her son is not a Capps. No, no. But to me, he is a Capps. He's part of the dynasty. Um, so they all get called baby Capps. And 100%, do they wanna punch me in the throat? Absolutely. Do they though? No, because they were raised right. So th- they're a stand-up family, they're a stand-up company.
Hailey: Yes.
Mikki: And anything, all of your plumbing needs, we'll have a little [00:26:00] l- link below to their, to their, or they'll, in the show description. I don't know. Our studio goddess will help us figure out how we will deliver their content and their their c- their c- information to you. Um, that was just a shameless plug that's not even part of the podcast.
But now you know. We want you guys to have great experiences with great plumbers. And I can assure you, if you don't have a great experience, we know who to call. Okay? Deborah Capps. Okay. So what are the biggest plumbing problems homeowners can prevent?
Hailey: well, high water pressure can cause loads of issues.
Mikki: Really? Huh.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: High water pressure seems like the thing everybody wants.
Hailey: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: Like, "Ooh, good water pressure."
Hailey: Right. So anything over 80 is cause for concern.
Mikki: And 80 is PSI?
Hailey: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: Okay. I don't even know what- Yeah ... mine is.
Hailey: So-
Mikki: How do you measure that?
Hailey: Like- You put a gauge on there.
Mikki: Okay. Yeah. That's a plumber thing.
Hailey: Yeah, but- You
Mikki: should definitely not do it yourself. So [00:27:00] like
Hailey: during, during heating cycles on your, for your water heater-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: you can, I mean, it could double your water pressure-
Mikki: Okay ...
Hailey: depending on-
Mikki: And that's what that, the tank on top ray is. Is that what that's for?
Hailey: The expansion tank
Mikki: on a water heater?
Yeah, the expansion tank.
Hailey: Yeah. Yeah, so it, but if it's not installed right- Ah ... it serves no purpose.
Mikki: Interesting. How do you know if it's not installed right?
Hailey: Well, your s- I guess you probably wouldn't know.
Mikki: Right.
Hailey: But, but you can test them-
Mikki: Oh, okay ...
Hailey: with like a pressure gauge.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Um, like a bicycle gauge-
Mikki: Oh
Hailey: to see what kind of pressure's in it.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: But it should match your incoming water pressure.
Mikki: Okay. And if those two don't- Right ... it's not installed right.
Hailey: Because that expansion has to go somewhere-
Mikki: Okay ...
Hailey: during the heating cycles, your thermal expansion. Right. And if, I mean, there's a lot of places that don't have the expansion tanks-
Mikki: Yeah
Hailey: or they're not pre-charged properly.
Mikki: Mm.
Hailey: Well, that buildup of pressure has to go somewhere.
Mikki: So where does it go? It could go
Hailey: any-
Mikki: [00:28:00] That's
Hailey: what causes it to, your- Right. You could split water lines. Mm. I've seen the back of water heaters open up like a mouth.
Mikki: Really?
Hailey: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: And just like water is ex- Gushing ... is pouring out.
Hailey: I mean, think, that's, you, I mean, your average water heater's 40 to 50 gallons. Shit. And if that's inside of your house-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: not only do you have the 40 or 50 gallons, you have also the incoming water. The
Mikki: main is still pumping water. Yeah. Oh, God. Wow.
Hailey: And most people don't know where their main shut-off is-
Mikki: No
Hailey: or it doesn't work. You know, it's from- I
Mikki: haven't heard that one ... the, the '70s or the '80s. But I do know that nobody knows where their main water shut-off is. And
Hailey: that's the most important thing.
Mikki: Okay. So you guys, you have to know where your main water shut-off is. Like-
Hailey: And that it works.
Mikki: Yeah, the one, and there's, I know that there are two mains.
There's one that is, goes, is in your house somewhere. It is close to your house. It is connected to your internal plumbing. And then there's one at the w- the w- water meter. Yeah. Now, the water meter, you have to have like a special tool to be able to, it's like it has like a key to like turn that [00:29:00] off and on.
I'm not saying that we have one because how would we have one?
Hailey: But in an emergency-
Mikki: Because we're not plumbers.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: Because my husband he collects what we like to call in the house special trash.
Hailey: Mm, mm-hmm.
Mikki: Which is trash that you never know, it might be needed at some point.
Hailey: I mean, I get that.
Mikki: Yeah. So we have a special trash lifestyle and a special trash shed, and sometimes the special trash shed overflows.
So he's like, "Babe, I found this today on the job, and you never know when you're gonna need it." All right. Yeah. And I'm like, "Did you just steal a plumber's main key?" Meter key? Yes, he did. Did he do it on purpose? Probably not.
Hailey: Yeah, but trying to find your meter key in an emergency-
Mikki: Yeah, seems like a bad idea
by
Hailey: that time-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: you got three inches of water in your house.
Mikki: Yeah, so we definitely don't want that. So knowing where your main water shut-off is really important. Having it somewhere that's accessible is [00:30:00] really important, too.
Hailey: Or it's supposed to be.
Mikki: A lot of these older houses, mine was built in the '50s, and you have to do like an army crawl-
Hailey: Mm
Mikki: under the crawl space to get to it. So that's been something on my list of things of like, we need to have our main- Moved ... shut-off moved. And that's something that you guys can do. Is that an expensive thing?
Hailey: No
Mikki: It's not like you're gonna break the bank.
Hailey: No.
Mikki: So I think it's, it's like a somewhat mostly affordable thing to do, and I think it's one of those things where it's like it's an unsung underdog of like being able to know and very easily access where your main water shutoff is helps you prevent there being just like copious amounts of water s- Yeah, I mean-
pouring into your house ...
Hailey: water's one of the most- ... damaging things that- Yeah ... can happen to your house. Yeah. So it's like do you wanna make, you know, a couple hundred dollar upgrade on your plumbing system to prevent a- Yeah ... $15,000-
Mikki: Right, or more ...
Hailey: right-
Mikki: Yeah ... in damages. Especially if you're ... I feel like [00:31:00] whoever designed hot water heaters being on the top floor or in the attic-
Hailey: Mm-hmm
Mikki: was a plumber who was like, "Here's how we make money forever," because your hot water heater is absolutely gonna explode.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: And then $90,000 later- Right ... your house has to be water remediated, and, and now all the plumbers get to come back and do even more work. Not to throw shade on plumbers, but it just does not make any sense why a hot water heater-
Hailey: Yeah, I think-
Mikki: is in an attic ...
Hailey: I think it should be required where if a water heater's inside a finished space-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: there has to be a water alarm.
Mikki: Yes. So we, um, I just, this year I bought a short-term rental in Raleigh, and the hot ... It's a, it's a townhouse, condo, weird ... I don't, have you, have you heard of Stanley Martin?
It's a- Mm-mm. They're a, they're a track home builder, and it's their [00:32:00] design. And so it's basically like our, we have our townhouse, and then there's a townhouse above us. So it turns into like a condo situation. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And our hot water heater is on the second floor, and I immediately went and got the water detector- Yeah
because I was just like, "Absolutely not." Mm-hmm. Like, this is, this is the stupidest design that there ever has been. Yeah. And so we installed it.
Hailey: And like how often do you look at your water heater?
Mikki: Never.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: I mean, it's like, it's, it's, it's in its own like special closet- Uh-huh ... that it's like, "Don't enter this closet.
There's nothing good in here." The only time you look at it- "This is where the goblins live."
Hailey: Yeah. The only time you look at it is when you don't have hot water.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: And by that time it's too late.
Mikki: Straight facts. So one of the things that the previous plumber mentioned w- which stirred up a lot of do this if, do this, don't, was flushing your water heater.
So she was [00:33:00] suggesting that you flush your water heater once a year. Mm-hmm. Only if your water heater is new. If it is not new, don't flush it, 'cause that could cause more problems. What are your thoughts on that?
Hailey: So yes, especially, like, tankless water heaters.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: If you haven't flushed it in years-
Mikki: Hmm.
Don't ...
Hailey: don't call us to come flush it.
Mikki: Why?
Hailey: It's not gonna fire back up. I'm gonna have to take half of it apart, clean everything-
Mikki: Oh ...
Hailey: to get it fired back up.
Mikki: So that's something that when you get a new hot water heater, that's when you start the flushing process.
Hailey: Stay on top of it, yeah
Mikki: I feel like w- I've been in con- construction for 21 years, and until, I had never heard that until that plumber came on the show.
Hailey: years ago- Yeah ... 100% agreed with you.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: But they don't make things how they used to.
Mikki: I know that's right.
Hailey: Like, I've pulled water heaters out. I think the oldest one I pulled out was from '87. Shit. You won't find a new [00:34:00] water heater-
Mikki: Yeah, that lasts that long ... that lasts
Hailey: over 10 years.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: I mean, six to 10 years is-
Mikki: Do you know what?
That is actually a true story. Our house was built, I think it was like the '50s or the '60s, like a split level, and the water heater was original to the house- Mm-hmm ... when we bought it. And I think it was after 10 years. So this, I mean, 70, no, not that many years, 50? I don't know. A lot of freaking years. 50 plus years old, um, maybe it was 70, year old hot water heater worked, and then finally it quit and we had to get a new one.
Yeah. And we're al- we've already had to replace the coils. Yeah. Like, we're, are, we are maintenancing that thing constantly.
Hailey: No, like the sediment build-up in the water heaters will cause like your heating elements and stuff to go out.
Mikki: Yeah. See, I wish I had known about this flushing when I got the new one, 'cause now I feel like it's just a bad idea to flush [00:35:00] it.
Now the, on the short-term rental, watch yourself, we gonna be flushing it, 'cause I'm like, "No, we not doing that." Do you guys offer a, um, like a maintenance program at Main Street?
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Okay. Tell me about that, 'cause I feel like this is important.
Hailey: So our maintenance is, it's $200, well, $199 a year.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: And we do two visits.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: The first visit we'll do like a full home inspection. We'll check like your angle stops, your toilets, um, your water pressure-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: Your hose bibs, see if they're like anti-freeze- My hose bibs are bad ... and and whatnot. And we'll let you know like, "Hey, you know, you have a couple angle stops that, you know, are green," or whatever.
My big thing is I always look for the supply li- the toilet supply lines-
Mikki: Mm-hmm ...
Hailey: that have the plastic nut.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: I've seen those fail too many times and flood people's houses.
Mikki: Oi.
Hailey: So I always bring that up to people. Um, but we don't, we don't like [00:36:00] push the sales- Okay ... on anything we find.
Mikki: We- We're just like letting you know.
Hailey: Yeah, we don't even write it down. We literally just tell them, and then obviously if they like have questions and stuff-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: you know, obviously we give it to them. Yeah. But we're not gonna write a bunch of estimates and be like, "Oh, you need to do all of this."
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: And then-
Mikki: Do you present it like, "Hey, listen, these are the things that are happening.
These ones are kind of critical." Yeah. Like, "This one will probably result in a flood at some point."
Hailey: Yes. "
Mikki: Do what you want with it, but we just want you to know." Yes. Yes. Okay.
Hailey: Yep, so like we'll tell them- Keep an eye on this. This is something you should be concerned about. Okay,
Mikki: okay.
Hailey: It's not leaking right now, but I don't know if it's gonna leak next week.
Mikki: Okay, okay.
Hailey: You know?
Mikki: Yeah, yeah.
Hailey: Um, and then our second visit, we'll go through clean shower heads- Oh ... clean the lavatory drains, shower drain, like all the hair.
Mikki: Yeah, yeah.
Hailey: You know? Ugh. And- Surprise ... we'll flush the water heaters.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: As long as
Mikki: they're- As they're new ...
Hailey: newer.
Mikki: So I should do that on the short-term rental.
Hailey: [00:37:00] Yes.
Mikki: Yeah, 'cause at this point we should not be flushing.
Hailey: Yeah, and it's even a good idea to change the anode rod in the water heaters.
Mikki: What is that?
Hailey: So it's a rod-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: that is, goes in the top of the water heater.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: And it helps with corrosion, essentially.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: So the anode rod attracts all of, like, the corrosive minerals- Okay
in the water to that rod- Mm ... instead of eating at the tank.
Mikki: Okay, so if you're not in a place where maybe flushing it is a good idea because it hasn't been flushed in a long time, changing that rod, and what is it called again?
Hailey: It's an anode rod.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Yeah, and so, like, if you're getting a new water heater, they have these new rods-
Mikki: Mm-hmm
Hailey: that are electronic.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: And you don't have to change them out.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: So it's, it's a higher price up front-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: but you never have to do it again.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: But they say it'll extend the life of the water heater to 20 years or more.
Mikki: Get out of town.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: That's amazing.
Hailey: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: [00:38:00] Especially 'cause, like, they don't build hot water heaters like that anymore.
Right. Like, isn't, like, the expected lifespan of a hot water, it's, like, six years or something like that?
Hailey: Six to 10 years, yeah.
Mikki: Six to 10 years. Meanwhile, the one in, in my house was, like, 150 years old. Right. It went to Jesus' first birthday party. It was invited. It brought him a cup of water, and he turned it into wine.
Sorry, I make a lot of inappropriate- ... um, religious references on the show, and that's because we live in the South, so this one is, what are signs that a water heater is about to fail?
Hailey: They'll make noises
Mikki: Okay
Hailey: So if your water heater sounds like it's popping popcorn-
Mikki: Oh. Oh ...
Hailey: it's gonna go.
Mikki: I've heard that. I don't know if it was recent, but I definitely remember being like- Yeah ... "What's that sound?"
Hailey: Yeah, that's all the sediment in the bottom of the heater just popping.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Guys, we heard it here first.
Anything, so that's, like, the biggest sign?
Hailey: Well, and, like, you'll get rust [00:39:00] spots-
Mikki: Okay ...
Hailey: at the top, at the nipples.
Mikki: Okay
Hailey: Which that's always a big concern for me when I see that-
Mikki: Okay ...
Hailey: because the, your female adapters or whatever you're using that has threads on it-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: that get screwed onto the nipples of the water heater-
Mikki: Yeah
Hailey: they'll corrode and rust.
Mikki: Uh-huh.
Hailey: And the waterline will actually separate from the water heater.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: Then it'll just be a geyser. I've seen holes go through the drywall from the water just blowing.
Mikki: Wow, 'cause it had that much pressure.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Wow.
Hailey: And all it takes is you going down the road to the coffee shop or-
Mikki: Yeah
Hailey: you know.
Mikki: It's never, it's never, also, or it's absolutely gonna happen when you're on vacation.
Hailey: Well, you should always turn your water off.
Mikki: Oh, okay.
Hailey: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: You should always turn your water off. That's why it's important to know where your main is.
Hailey: Yes.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: Yeah, if you're- Gosh ... if you're going out of town- That's a
Mikki: level of adulting I do not know anything about.
Yeah, always turn your water
Hailey: off if you're not there. [00:40:00]
Mikki: Like, we're about to go. Well, we're, we're gonna have somebody- I am a very good dog mom. So I can't put my dogs in like a- The- In, in a kennel. Mm-hmm. 'Cause, 'cause I had... We had, um, we, we, we used to foster mastiffs. We, we've re- rehabilitated a couple, couple of really aggressive mastiffs.
I don't know how I got pigeonholed into that. We really rehabilitated one really aggressive mastiff, and then our names somehow got distributed to the mastiff community- Mm ... as, like, we're mastiff whisperers. And so we, we ended up rehabilitating these mastiffs.
Wait, I don't even know what I was, where I was going with that.
Hailey: Well, I'm guessing you have dog sitters that come to the house.
Mikki: Thank you.
Hailey: Yep.
Mikki: I... It's good to have young people around because when my mind decides we're done, she, she helped me land the plane. So we had a pet, we have pet sitters. Yeah. Because we, with this really aggressive mastiff, we could not leave him with our pet sitter [00:41:00] because he did not like people.
And our cute, little dainty, her name was Bella, and she was probably five pounds, and he was 250 pounds- Mm ... of, like, pure rage. So we had to take him to a, like a, a, a kennel. It was so loud. Mm-hmm. Like, right hand to God, my husband, who is a man of very few words and even less tears, we're driving home after dropping this dog off in this kennel crying.
Like, it was so... We're like, "We can't believe we had to leave him there." So, like, never in all the days of my dog ownership life will I ever take my dogs to a kennel, so we pay an exorbitant amount of money- Yeah ... for a pet sitter who stays in the home. So we won't need to turn- Yeah ... our water off. Yeah, no.
But if I did not have dogs and had no reason to keep the water on, I would absolutely go on a two-week trip with my water not turned off.
Hailey: Yep. Yeah. I've gotten lots of, lots of calls about, "My neighbor's house is flooding, I can't get ahold of [00:42:00] him." Oh, my God. "They're out of town. W- water pouring out of the front door."
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: And you know what it always is?
Mikki: What?
Hailey: Those toilet supply lines.
Mikki: It's the toilet supply lines. Mm-hmm.
Hailey: Interesting. Those, those plastic ones. Yeah.
Mikki: Yeah. I will say, too, um, when we bought our house, it had all Kohler toilets. Mm-hmm. And I don't know what possessed me to think we needed to change these toilets out.
I don't know, I was feeling myself. I was like, "Whoo, I got new house money." I didn't have money. But it seemed like a great idea to change the toilets. Mm-hmm. That was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. Like, I got-
Hailey: What'd you put in?
Mikki: Um, Glacier Bay.
Hailey: Oh, my gosh. Oh my God, you should have stuck with the ca-
Mikki: I know.
Hailey: You took out a nice toilet- I ... to put bottom of the barrel.
Mikki: I know. And so we, you know, our audience knows about the parts toilet, so we, we took one, we, we renovated and we downsized. 'Cause we had, like, the [00:43:00] most insane amount of bathrooms in our... It didn't make any sense. It's not a big house, and yet we had, like, four bathrooms and three bedrooms.
And they weren't half bathrooms, they were just four full-blown bathrooms, and it didn't make any doggone sense. A
Hailey: lot of toilets to clean.
Mikki: It's a lot of toilets. It's just unnecessary. Not all of them were getting used. It was dumb. So we renovated and we, we, we removed one of the toilets, and my husband, who is a collector of special trash, kept the toilet.
So I discover it out, like, hiding behind the s- the, the special trash shed, and I'm like, "Baby, why, why do we have this toilet?" He goes, "It's the parts toilet."
Hailey: And I was like, "What?" Although those parts won't be any good in six months.
Mikki: Well, no, it's funny because s- I give him a hard time about the parts toilet, and then two weeks later something breaks on one of our toilets, and he goes to the parts toilet-
Hailey: And robs it ... and
Mikki: robs it of the piece. And he's like, "See?"
Because the thing about the Glacier Bay is they don't make parts for them. [00:44:00] So and now that's the trap is, they're like, "Oh, upgrade to this new fancier toilet," except for when it breaks, your only solution is to replace the entire toilet. Whereas with Kohler, and what is the other brand? Like, the solid- Like-
brand of toilet.
Hailey: Like, well, American Standard, Toto.
Mikki: American Standard. Yeah. So those one, they make parts. Mm-hmm. But g- the cheap ones, they're cheap for a reason, 'cause they know in, like, a year you're gonna have to buy a new one. Yeah. And
Hailey: it's- And the flush is terrible.
Mikki: The flush is terrible.
Hailey: Everything. Yeah.
Mikki: It is. So- And
Hailey: homeowners like to throw that, you know, "Oh, I can go get the Home Depot special for 80 bucks."
Mikki: And you're like, "Go ahead." Yeah. "And you'll have to call me back in six months- Yeah ... to reinstall the new one."
Hailey: Yep.
Mikki: Which is, what, what sucks about that is only plumbers know that that's a thing. So, like, your average homeowner actually doesn't know why there's such a price difference-
Hailey: Right
Mikki: between a, a really good toilet and, and the stuff you can buy at Home [00:45:00] Depot.
Hailey: But, you know, like, s- at least for me-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: I'll try and educate them.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You know? But there's so many, like, commission companies-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: that has put such a bad taste in homeowners' mouth-
Mikki: Yes ...
Hailey: that we're just trying to upsell, and we're just trying to do this- Yeah
and we're trying to do that.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: But I'm, like, no, I, that's not what I'm trying to
Mikki: do. Yeah. You know? Yeah.
Hailey: Like, yeah, do I wanna be your plumber? Sure, but I don't wanna see you every six months.
Mikki: Right. You know? You're like, "I like you, but not that much."
Hailey: Right. Well, it feels like I'm not doing my job, you know?
Mikki: 100, well, yeah, 100% you're not. Like, that's the thing is, like, that's part of why this show exists, because so many people have such bad experiences- Mm-hmm ... with any portion of construction. It's like this, it's unfair to homeowners because we don't know what we don't know, and so we're relying on professionals coming into our house.
And unfortunately, the people who make all the money make more money- Right ... have figured out that homeowners don't know any [00:46:00] better, so you can tell them whatever you want. Or
Hailey: scare 'em into
Mikki: it. And scare them in- Yeah ... the, the, we talk about the fear, the fear tactics all the time, people putting pressure on you.
The, "Oh, if you don't make this decision right now- Mm-hmm ... your entire house is gonna fill with water," and it's something that's really expensive, and a lot of times isn't actually necessary. Right. And so that is a huge thing that we see happen time and time again, is just the fear tactics and the, "Oh, you know, we're gonna take advantage of you because you don't know any better."
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: And so I think what it puts is, like, this, this lack of trust-
Hailey: Mm-hmm ...
Mikki: in the tradespeople. 100%. And it takes, it really takes a tradesperson being like, "Listen." This is a $5 part. I'm not gonna sell you a $300 toilet or a, you know, in, like my nephew owns an HVAC company, and he used to work for one of the big brands.
Mm-hmm. And he kept getting in trouble because it was their motto to sell people new units when they had a [00:47:00] $5 fix. Right. And so he would just do the $5 fix, and then he'd get in trouble from, you know, the main office- Mm-hmm ... because it was an opportunity for them to screw somebody out of money. Right. So he ended up starting his own company because he was just like, "I'm not doing that."
He will actually walk people through, like if somebody calls and they're having a problem and he knows that it's just the thermostat- Something simple ... settings. Right. He'll be like, he'll, he'll take time out of his day, this owner of this multimillion-dollar HVAC company, and just troubleshoot you.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: And then all of a sudden, and, and he doesn't charge you because we're, we're working class people. Right. And we want to help working class people to be able- Mm-hmm ... to feed their kids. Right. So of course, it, I'm happy to help you, and the hope is if you're honest with me and you help me, then when you actually do have something that's gonna require a fee, you'll call me back.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: I just feel like that part of being a tradesperson and trade work-
Hailey: Mm-hmm ...
Mikki: has gotten a little fuzzy.
Hailey: Yeah. Well, I feel like a lot of companies, they [00:48:00] wanna push that highest ticket sale.
Mikki: Yes. Yeah.
Hailey: You know? And- Yeah ... like scare them into- Yeah ... oh, you have to just make the full replacement or whatever.
Mikki: Right.
Hailey: When you should really just give them options.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You know? And let them make the decision. Like, hey,
Mikki: I can fix this, and it might last another six months.
Hailey: Right. '
Mikki: Cause like I, so I grew up in like a pretty extreme poverty. So we were below the poverty line for the majority of my life. I was raised by a single mom, and she had three kids, struggled with consistent employment.
Hailey: Mm-hmm.
Mikki: And it w- like when you're in a position like that, something like a flat tire means you're not gonna be f- be able to feed your kids that week. Right. And so I remember people kind of giving her options of like, hey, let's, 'cause like our car used to break down all the time, and we had this really great mechanic that genuinely helped us survive life, 'cause he would do little fixes for her and be like, "Hey, this is only gonna probably hold it over for, like, a couple of weeks- Right
but it will get you through to that next [00:49:00] paycheck." So, like, giving people options of like, "Hey, thi- y- your whatever, whatever is failing." Mm-hmm. "We can do this fix. It might last six weeks. You need to know that it might not." Right. "But, like, if you're that, in, in a position where this is the only amount of money you have, here is the option."
Mm-hmm. "Here is the better option."
Hailey: Right. "
Mikki: But I wanna give you this, the Band-Aid fix-
Hailey: Right ...
Mikki: because you, you might not be able to." Mm-hmm. And, and I think the, the integration of financing that companies have available to offer people- Mm-hmm ... is a little bit tricky, too.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Because even if they don't have the money, like, "Oh, well, if you can a- if you apply to credit," and it's like that's great except for then when that person, they didn't have the money for it in the first place-
Hailey: Right
Mikki: then they can't. That's another bill they can't pay. Yeah. It's another bill they're gonna have to figure out how to make that payment. Mm-hmm. So, I think it's great in certain situations [00:50:00] where it's like, "Listen, if we don't fix this your house is gonna flood." Right. "And that's gonna cost you even more money."
Hailey: Right, right.
Mikki: But it, certain things, I don't know, it's tricky.
Hailey: Yeah. You have, you have to weigh it out. You know, you don't wanna throw good money at bad.
Mikki: Mm. You know? That's a really good, that's a really good ... And that is true. And I, I can, I can, I can see how that's a big thing. So, what are the biggest plumbing shortcuts you've seen builders take?
Hailey: Well, builders, everything's code minimum.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You know?
Mikki: Code minimum.
Hailey: So-
Mikki: And when she says code minimum, it meaning the bare minimum to pass the code. They're not going above and beyond. Yeah. They're not saying, "Hey, the code is this, but I actually think we should do a little bit better." They're like, "Oh, if it will pass code, do it exactly that way."
Hailey: Yes.
Mikki: Just so you guys know.
Hailey: Yeah. So on the service side of things, it can make it a little difficult.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You know, when you have [00:51:00] back-to-back drains, you know, and there's a cross used and-
Mikki: A cross used? Just-
Hailey: Yeah, so like, like the drains will be l- back-to-back or side-by-side so they come in at the same point.
Oh, '
Mikki: cause they're routed into the same ... The,
Hailey: the same line. Okay.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: So if that drain ever gets clogged-
Mikki: Ooh ...
Hailey: the only way to snake that is either cut open the wall-
Mikki: Mm ...
Hailey: and add a clean out, or you get on the roof-
Mikki: Oh, God ...
Hailey: and
Mikki: go down the vent. Okay.
Hailey: So stuff like that can get a little aggravating.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You
Mikki: know?
So they're basically like not making sure that every drain is vented properly. They're getting away with
Hailey: like- Well, it's, it's vented properly. It's just that it's difficult to service it.
Mikki: Oh,
Hailey: okay. So like on a, on a, on a cross-
Mikki: Yeah ...
Hailey: you can't just send, you can't ... Well, you can, but it's very difficult to get your snake to drop down.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: So you, you'll put the snake in one sink and he'll pop right back out into the other one- Oh ... instead of going down. Instead of
Mikki: going [00:52:00] down into- Yeah ... where the clog is. Mm-hmm. Oh, okay. Huh.
Hailey: Or like the cheap supply lines, I've seen a lot of builders use those where it's a, it's a plastic angle stop.
Mikki: Okay.
And- As opposed to what is the ideal-
Hailey: Like a brass.
Mikki: A brass, okay.
Hailey: Yeah. And they'll use a built-in supply line.
Mikki: Oh, so it can't be changed.
Hailey: Yeah, you have to change everything.
Mikki: Oh.
Hailey: They literally simply last a year.
Mikki: Oh, that sucks. Yeah. I can see that happening. Mm-hmm. So what is- O- one of the things that the, Jess's husband is adorable.
He has absolutely no DIY skill, but he tries real hard, and frequently lands Jess in a situation where she needs a plumber. Mm-hmm. So we struggle with telling homeowners what is a safe DIY and what is something that you should just call the plumber for. The last plumber basically said, "Don't do anything yourself.
Call a plumber," to [00:53:00] literally change out your shower head, to change out your faucet, to cha- like, call a plumber. Do you agree, or do you think there are some things that you can DIY yourself?
Hailey: No, I think there are some things like a flapper. What's
Mikki: a flapper?
Hailey: On the toilet.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: Don't call a plumber. If you want just the flapper changed out-
Mikki: Okay
Hailey: don't call a plumber.
Mikki: Okay, so just do that yourself.
Hailey: Yeah. One, if, if it's a decent plumber, they're not gonna replace just the flapper.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: I know I wouldn't.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: Just g- I've put a warranty on it. I don't want you calling in two weeks- Yeah ... upset with me because something else on the toilet's leaking- Yeah
and you think I touched it, you know?
Mikki: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hailey: You just do the flapper. They're super easy.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: You know,
Mikki: it literally just- You can find a YouTube video.
Hailey: Home Depot sells every flapper-
Mikki: True story ...
Hailey: th- you know.
Mikki: Yeah.
Hailey: So that one's definitely safe to do. Um, and I would even say, like, cleaning out your aerators on your faucets.
Mikki: Yeah, so the little thing that screws off and on.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: Okay. But you're like, "Don't change your [00:54:00] faucets. Don't change your shower heads."
Hailey: Shower heads are probably fine, as long as you're not messing with the shower arm.
Mikki: Okay, and the shower arm is the t- turny offy thing?
Hailey: No, that's, there's, like, a finished piece of pipe, whether
Mikki: it's, like, chrome- Oh, that comes out
Hailey: yeah, it comes out of the tile. Okay,
Mikki: okay.
Hailey: Yeah.
Mikki: So if, don't mess with that. Okay, so you can change your shower head, but don't mess with the handle. Don't mess with the faucets. Don't mess with any of that.
Hailey: Yeah, probably wouldn't.
Mikki: Okay.
Hailey: I've seen- So guys- ... too many things.
Mikki: Yeah. I mean, even, so Jess had a situation where Brad changed the faucet, and I guess he over-tightened it and cracked it.
Cracked it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so- With caution, you can change your shower head, but don't over-tighten it 'cause- Yeah ... you might crack it. So it's one of those things where, like, understanding that water is really damaging, and water getting everywhere could cause [00:55:00] some major issues in your house. So it's like, how willing are you to roll the dice?
That, I mean, it's hard for us because we've been in construction our whole lives. Mm-hmm. And so it, I don't know, there, there's just a lot. You've seen things done so many times that you're like, there, you have a level of confidence. Right. M- my husband, he wouldn't call a plumber, even though both my nephews are plumbers.
Like, he'll just do it himself because he's seen it done so many times. Right. And he's just that kind of guy. Right. Like, he has that, I don't know what it's called, but, like, he can see you do something once and then he can do it himself. Yeah. It is the most annoying thing in the world. 'Cause it's just like, how, how, how?
How? Right. He's like, "I saw the plumber do it on the job site three years ago- "... and it, and it's still there? I don't remember what I had for breakfast this morning." So it's tricky 'cause, like, for us, we can DIY our own house. Like, we can build an entire house. Now, technically I'm a licensed general contractor, so I actually could do that.
But it's different for people in construction, [00:56:00] the things that, the level of confidence that we have. Yeah. For homeowners, you have to be a little bit tricky, and it's like you're, you have to think about it. Like, if I over-tighten the shower head and it explodes and it fills my house with water, am I okay with-
rolling those dice? So keeping it simple, um, calling a plumber, having... You know, when you, when s- when, when somebody uses you guys as their maintenance and they pay you the $200 a year- It, is that something where they can call you for, for things like switching out faucets? Is it like-
Hailey: Yeah ... '
Mikki: cause I, 'cause I think one of the things that I've r- recently w- with a short-term rental, we were talking to one of our neighbors, and they, we're, you know, so we have, we had an electrician buddy come out, and he installed a, our electric car charger, and he did some other stuff in the house.
And our neighbor was saying they were having a really hard time finding anybody to come do the little stuff. Mm. And so a lot of feedback that we've gotten is, "I [00:57:00] can't find a plumber who wants to bother with coming out and swapping out my, my faucet." Mm. So they find themselves in a situation where, okay, I hear what you're saying.
I wanna hire a plumber, but plumbers don't wanna mess with f- swapping out a faucet. Right. Which I get, because if you could be deal, making $100,000 on a job versus- Right ... the $15 or whatever.
Hailey: Right.
Mikki: But if somebody is a m- like, a member of your maintenance, like, do they get-
Hailey: Yeah, so I mean, we do faucet swap outs and, I mean, everything and anything.
W- we do. Um, and absolutely for a member- our members, we give 15% off of everything.
Mikki: Oh, okay. So. That's awesome.
Hailey: But yeah, big or small, we, we take care of it.
Mikki: That's awesome. Okay, so that's good to know, guys. Like, if you need somebody, you got it. Okay, so we've been chitty-chatting all the way through this, and I feel like we gotta wrap it up so that everybody can get back to doing what they're doing.
But listen, I feel like I did better this time. Our plumber got to actually talk about [00:58:00] things. So I am considering myself redeemed. So we would love it if you have a plumbing homeowner horror story, if you would go to chicksinconstruction.com and share it. And now that you've learned all the different things that you've learned about plumbing, and you're going to check out Main Street Plumbing, and if you're local, having them do your plumbing work and take care of flushing your whatever whatevers and maintaining your whoseywhatsits.
They've got you covered. We'll put their information in the link down below. Don't forget to check us out on all the social media sites. We are @chicksinconstruction for Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and @chicksinconstructionpodcast on TikTok. And TikTok is where the moist, most spicy comments are found.
All right, guys, we love you. We'll see you next time. Bye.