Dave Yates

The fun of being an apprentice starts with a steep learning curve. 

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 you be here?”(Seriously?)

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 — often conflicting — information regarding how to remain “safe” from the virus. What the hell?

When I first entered the trades in 1972, residential tank-style water heaters shipped with the aquastat set to approximately 140° F. Dishwashers had no need to incorporate a sanitizing cycle. Around 1977, water heater manufacturers were required to lower the aquastat temperature setting to approximately 120°, and now, dishwashers needed to incorporate a sanitizing cycle where rinse water in their reservoir was raised to 140° or higher.

You ever have one of those jobs where nuisance heating system lockouts drove you crazy?

Supply chain disruptions are ever present and show no signs of going away anytime in the near — or perhaps distant — future.

Looking over the new home plans in order to provide the builder with pricing, I noticed there was no chimney included.

My apprentice years were filled with a wide exposure to all manner of plumbing and heating jobs. At that time, F. W. Behler had just four seasoned employees who had been with the company for many years.