Outside Loo
A huge shout out to my plumber, Ozzy (short for Oswald).
Ozzy arrived from South Africa 2014 looking for a safer life for his wife and 2 young children. This is not particularly relevant, just interesting. Although, it provides a bit of a context for why he may be so solutions focussed – in South Africa people tend to not throw things out, but fix them. People are often very creative. I think Ozzy is a bit that way.
He now lives down the coast and has been working up here in Brisbane. He was recommended to me by a friend who has worked with him.
I had some drainage work to do by the pool and my outside toilet (well, it’s outside the main house – the actual toilet has a roof over it!).
Anyway….sometime ago I had another plumber re-route the sewage because there was a massive tree root growing through the clay pipe – it could not be cleared, so we had to use PVC and go a different way. This meant the old toilet could not be used – it had been cemented into the pavers and the only way to fix things was to smash it out and jackhammer through the slab to lay a new sewage line. I didn’t use the same plumber because he was careless. He smashed a hole through the wall of my house instead of cutting a neat hole so I vowed to never use him again (I mean….what the! Lol?! Who does that?). This former plumber also quoted me $750 to replace the outside loo – and that didn’t include the cost of the loo itself.
So….along comes Ozzy….communicating via speaking to me on the telephone (how 1999) and setting up a time to look at the jobs. He looks at the work. We agree to a plan. I buy the required gear (which I said I would) and then we are away. He comes back on the agreed date, at the agreed time….on time. He toils away and does a great job (ok…if I am honest my Agapanthus around the pool didn’t survive so well, although I will appreciate it is difficult to navigate around plants in such a scenario). It took him half a day to do the drainage around the pool.
Now…since he came to scope out the job, I had also found a leak in my inside toilet. He had a squiz at that and we found an approach and he agreed to fix it next time.
So…back he comes the next time for a day of jackhammering. For joy. He gets the work done and connects the new pipes – he has to come back after the concrete sets to lay pavers and put in the loo. It’s so late that I tell him to go home to his family and fix the inside toilet next time.
He wants to come out on a Friday evening because he feels like he has been inconveniencing me – it’s pelting down with rain. I tell him to go home to his family…we will do it Monday.
All this time, communicating with good cheer, professionalism and clarity.
The Monday comes – 4pm. It’s pelting down with rain again. He comes on in…..we discover a problem….the toilet, because it is a different configuration to the first loo, will sit out 7cm from the wall. Ozzy thinks….and plots….and thinks. After many brainstorms, we settle on his suggestions to put one of the old sleepers behind the toilet like a little shelf. I reckon it will add character. So, off he goes….he grouts the pavers, cuts the sleeper, fits the sleeper, pops in the toilet….then, goes to the inside toilet and fixes the tap on that one. All part of the service.
It’s now very late – past 8pm. He’s still cheery and talkative. He tells me $700 for the lot.
A bloody bargain. I pay him up and release him back to his family well satisfied.
It’s such a delight to deal with warmly intentioned, proactive, solution focussed tradies. Tradies who communicate clearly and in a timely way. Tradies who turn up when they say they will. Tradies who do a good job and then charge a reasonable price and then smile when they leave.
Need a good plumber? Let me know….Ozzy is your man. Loo photo to follow!
THANK YOU AND HUGE APPRECIATION OZZY!
PS: Ozzy is also a goal keeper – used to do pretty well in South Africa and even tried out for the premier league in the UK….football players – they are usually such good eggs!