Stinky Service call
- Thread starter chris1971
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Simi Valley, CA
Everyday son, everyday, but then I work with a bunch of inspectors.:grin:
stevenje
Senior Member
- Location
- Yachats Oregon
Many years ago I went out to a place that raised pheasants for some kind of private hunting group. We had to run new wiring for pen heaters, lights, ect... in an old existing barn. The whole barn was full of pigeons and there was pigeon crap everywhere and I do mean everywhere. It was six inches thick on some of the open rafters and talk about stink on that hot summer day! I had to drive about ten miles to find a phone and I called the boss. I told him that I wasn't going near that place and he would have to get somebody else to wire it up. You got to draw the line somewhere.
Rewire
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake of the Ozarks
Went to replace a bad receptacle and when i removed the cover it was packed full of cockroaches.
hockeyoligist2
Senior Member
- Location
- close to greenville sc
I work for the sewer service... nuff said! 
laketime
Senior Member
I did at job at a "water treatment facility". We came in on a Monday morning and our contact there said they had a back up in the system over the weekend and it had flooded the area we were going to be working it. The ground had dried out and they said they had cleaned the vaults out. So we get to work go down the vault and start pulling our first run. As the wire is getting close a giant mass of turd, solid and juice, came out of the pipe before the wire head. It was the diameter of a 4" conduit by about 24" long. They had cleaned the vaults but not the conduit in between. Was a wonderful smell. Just another time I wondered why I dropped out of college. :-?
bullheimer
Senior Member
- Location
- WA
ASBURY PARK housing authority. EVERY box FULL of roaches, and lights recepts everything. basements had had a sewer break and peices of tp everywhere, didn't smell too much tho.
i have walked in and done some quickie things, like your breaker in a stink-hole, it just comes with the territory. at least you aint a plumber, thats why too, i bet. i have had to run wire under a house that was COVERED under the panel and 30 feet outwards in the crawl with cat poo. made the general cover the whole place with plastic and went back in.
also, i am my own boss so when i go into a stink hole i double the price. so far it has worked to keep me OUT of there.
i have walked in and done some quickie things, like your breaker in a stink-hole, it just comes with the territory. at least you aint a plumber, thats why too, i bet. i have had to run wire under a house that was COVERED under the panel and 30 feet outwards in the crawl with cat poo. made the general cover the whole place with plastic and went back in.
also, i am my own boss so when i go into a stink hole i double the price. so far it has worked to keep me OUT of there.
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
I do a lot of dairy work. It all boils down to what you're used too.....
Can't top some of these. Especially the super turd in the 4".
Was in one house, the lady had a path from her front door to her chair to her TV. No other lateral movement possible. Pretty rank. She would void in her clothes because she didn't want to move from her chair (while watching TV.) We did a service upgrade/replacement and had to install some GFI inside also. The son had seven cars removed from the back yard just to give us access.
Was in one house, the lady had a path from her front door to her chair to her TV. No other lateral movement possible. Pretty rank. She would void in her clothes because she didn't want to move from her chair (while watching TV.) We did a service upgrade/replacement and had to install some GFI inside also. The son had seven cars removed from the back yard just to give us access.
Yeah, I've been there.
A couple of summers ago.
Bad AC breaker, panel in the laundry room, washer/dryer piled high with dirty clothes.
Air was off for a couple days @ 110 degrees.
A dozen cats, a dozen dogs and a 300 pound guy dressed only in sweat shorts.
After I posted my experience, someone recommended a dab of Vicks in the nostrils.
A couple of summers ago.
Bad AC breaker, panel in the laundry room, washer/dryer piled high with dirty clothes.
Air was off for a couple days @ 110 degrees.
A dozen cats, a dozen dogs and a 300 pound guy dressed only in sweat shorts.
After I posted my experience, someone recommended a dab of Vicks in the nostrils.
cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
Vicks' Vapor Rub... I saw one CSI show where they used another oinment, but can't recall...
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Although I have not been there myself I have known people that have worked at a rendering plant - where they take dead livestock and process everything.
Some high maintenance type people would never buy certain "necessary" products again if they only knew what was in them.
Being around any livestock operation which I have been a lot is usually a "crappy" situation but many people just about can't even stomach the smell of just following a dead stock removal truck down the road on a hot humid day.
Some high maintenance type people would never buy certain "necessary" products again if they only knew what was in them.
Being around any livestock operation which I have been a lot is usually a "crappy" situation but many people just about can't even stomach the smell of just following a dead stock removal truck down the road on a hot humid day.
PetrosA
Senior Member
- Location
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
There's definitely something nasty about people who let animals take over their living space like that. I did some work long ago for a lady who was breeding papillon dogs and some other miniature breed in the house. The kitchen counters and floor were where she kept the cages and thirty or so dogs had run of the house. To this day I can remember looking down from the stepladder onto my tool bag and making noises to keep the dogs from peeing into it. She offered me a piece of cake when I was done, but needless to say, I declined
One thing I won't play in is bird and rodent feces - I draw the line at my health.
One thing I won't play in is bird and rodent feces - I draw the line at my health.
M_J_C
Member
- Location
- Southeast Florida
I do a lot of dairy work. It all boils down to what you're used too.....
Like the man said, its all about what you're used to.
Preparation for various types of work or situations helps a lot, too.
One company I worked for had a few lucrative service contracts. A tire "empire" chain, a breakfast 'dude' chain, and a pizza chain that Jabba hangs at.
Sounds pretty cool (free lunches) until you have to deal with grease and oil (the cooking type and the automotive type) all over you and your tools. I had to get a second set of hand tools, one for these type of jobs and a 'clean set' for everything else. And keep a complete change of clothes in the van in case you have both clean and dirty jobs in the same day.
We also would do work for a landlord whom we nicknamed 'slumlord'. Mostly wiremold work to bring units up to minimum safe levels after code enforcement paid a visit. Lots of cats, dogs, dirty diapers (children's and adults), birds, roaches, and rats. Just make sure you wear disposable shoecovers so whatever you step in doesn't end up in your truck, office, or home, and wear a NIOSH 95 or better mask because a lot of these situations are health hazards for you. Keep hand sanitizer in your truck, too.
And then there's the lift stations. New lift stations were fun, I liked doing control work, but the ones that had been in service for a while took a little stronger stomach. Prepare the best you can, and you'll get through.
hockeyoligist2
Senior Member
- Location
- close to greenville sc
gadfly56
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Last edited:
M_J_C
Member
- Location
- Southeast Florida
I'm still laughing, makes me think of that guy who hosts a TV show about jobs that are dirty, he always seems to have his mouth open at the most inopportune time, always getting something disgusting in his mouth.
3 come to mind
3 come to mind
1)
I had some work at a slaghter/aution barn... Wow !pig pens smell bad when it is 90 F with 80% humidity.
2)
mom & pop chiken farmer sellin chickens and pigs. winter, cold barn, guy buys a pig, seller slices throat while eating a cheese sandwich in other hand. they dunk pig in a hot vat of boiling water and slice its belly open, vapors come up into rafters where i am running pvc for new lighting.
3)
home remodel, whips chains, devices hanging in closet where scuttle hole to attic.
3 come to mind
1)
I had some work at a slaghter/aution barn... Wow !pig pens smell bad when it is 90 F with 80% humidity.
2)
mom & pop chiken farmer sellin chickens and pigs. winter, cold barn, guy buys a pig, seller slices throat while eating a cheese sandwich in other hand. they dunk pig in a hot vat of boiling water and slice its belly open, vapors come up into rafters where i am running pvc for new lighting.
3)
home remodel, whips chains, devices hanging in closet where scuttle hole to attic.
gadfly56
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Mike Rowe on "Dirty Jobs". My wife is a big fan. The steel mill segment was one of my favorites. He was constantly getting burned through the gloves, faceshields, and reflective clothing, and complaining that "...with all this high-tech safety gear you gave me, I figured I'd be able to pick up something hot once in a while...". Thought I'd die laughing.
- Status