My Date with a Plumber

A couple of weeks ago the plumbing crew came to do a rough out of the piping to make the installation easier when the pedicure benches arrived. While doing the walk-through the plumber stated that his boss told him they are going to have to dig up the floor to install a pump to dispense the water from the tubs when we drain them. At first I was in total shock because during the initial visit there was no such talk. That exact reason was why I eliminated one plumbing company’s bid altogether -- they wanted to dig a hole 4 ft. deep and 5 ft. long in the center of the break room and dig up the corner of the salon floor where the benches were to go. As a result, I decided between the plumbers with the most creative solutions (i.e. a pump). The pump will give us the ability to have the benches placed anywhere in the salon without digging up the building to install water drainage lines.

As I received the bad news the tech started to tell me they will only have to dig up the floor in about a 3- ft. by 3-ft. space, which is about the size of a 5 gallon bucket. I couldn’t say no because I was already too far invested in the project to turn back.

Last week the benches finally arrived, and the delivery men could not get them through the door on the pallets. Someone told them we had a loading dock at the salon for them to unload it. I don’t know about you but if your salon has a loading docking with a lift to receive that much retail inventory, then please call me because I need to know what I am doing wrong. Anyway, the drivers were nice enough to stay and help me carry the stuff in while I unpackaged all of the pieces off the pallets in the parking lot.

Once the last piece was hauled in, I called to plumbers to schedule the completion of the installation. Long story short, I wanted them to come on Monday since we are closed and they had to dig up the floor, but while speaking to the crew manager he stated they found a pump small enough to fit under the benches so there would be no need to dig up the floor. This information changed the installation date to Thursday. Once they arrived and started working I noticed the tech measured and re-measured the pump, the bench space, and the pipes.

A red flag went up. He said this pump is 4 inches too big or the benches are 4 inches lower than they should be. At that point I said to dig up the floor. The tech knew I did not want to dig up the floor and said he would try to maneuver it so they would only have to bust one floor tile and dig in that space. All I could say was, “Make it so number one.” (Star Trek reference for those who don't know.)

While he called to inform his company, I looked for a pump I saw in one of many late-night hours of searching for information. All I could remember is that this company had a pump. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn't having this problem. I looked it up showed the tech and the measurements were smaller than the one in our current possession. They tried to acquire one from their suppliers but no one had such an irregularly shape pump. So, they ordered it from Minerva Beauty pushing my installation to Monday, if FedEx delivered the pump to them early in the day. That didn’t happen; hence Tuesday was actually the day.

Houston, we have water...

--Ramar, True Envy Salon Spa, Orlando