Who's Scrap is it Anyway??

So the house I live at just had a plumbing leak in the wall between 2 floors. A plumber was called out to do the repairs. The owner of the house asked the plumber to leave the copper scraps off to the side when he's done, knowing that I recycle metal. I don't believe he told the plumber that's what it was for. Sure enough, when the plumber left, the scrap pipes did too. It was only around 4-5 feet of pipe, but you would think that at $125/hr you would get to keep your scraps.

What are some of your opinions?

There's a reason why some refer to them as Turd Herders.

Just because the plumber replaces the pipe does not mean the old pipe is now his property. As far as I can see it would still be the property of the home owner as it came from the owners home. Since the owner told him to leave it and the plumber did not, he should be able to call the plumber and tell him to bring ALL the old pipe back.

I had cable installed in my place shortly after moving in. Had multiple issues with the install/company, so the head supervisor came out to talk to me and check over the install. Upon entering my basement, he realized that the installer had ran a (uncoated) copper ground wire to a piece of PVC. He tells me he's going to change that, and I ask what he's going to do with that piece...he pulls clippers out of his pocket, clips it off, and says "add it to my copper bucket." I asked if I could have it for mine. He told me no, it was "company property."

So I asked "ok, what if I ever cancel my cable?" He told me technically I need to remove every piece of coax they installed and return it with my receivers/remotes. I laughed at him.

3 months later I cancelled my cable to go with satellite. Brought back only my receivers and remotes, and they didn't ask for more. When the satellite intalled showed up, he was ecstatic, all he had to do was splice his lines from the dish into the cable the cable company had installed.

what they can do and what they will do are different. nobody really wants the coax anyway

When you get a new fridge, hot water tank, stove, etc. They will haul away the old one Included in the price of what you bought with delivery. I tell them that I will keep it and they can give me the $20.00 fee to dispose of it! Never works but I do get to keep the scrap appliance:D

IMO the copper in the house belonged to the owner of the house and if he asked the plumber to leave it the plumber should have left it. End of story.

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When the satellite intalled showed up, he was ecstatic, all he had to do was splice his lines from the dish into the cable the cable company had installed.

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That's kind of surprising as the cable co. coax is crap but the stuff used for satellite should be a higher grade because of the high freq. that satellite is running on. But what do I know, I'm just an ole scrapper.

If the plumber was told by the owner to leave the scrap, he should've left the scrap.

On the other hand--I'll bet most customers expect the plumber to clean up his mess before he goes, and to most customers, that would included taking those rusty old pipes he tore out. Could be he forgot and just took the stuff out of habit...

Yeah, it'd be a different matter if a glazier left all the broken glass there when he had finished.... haha.

Nah, I ask for the old parts to be kept aside when they fix my car....Boy do they get testy about that...

I don't have a real answer, Tradesmen get a lot of **** from people either way, scrap**** or bull****.

A few feet of copper pipes not gonna return much $, but over a year, it does, It means a Christmas bonus to the worker.
& a 'clawback' in a revenge to the houseowner.
What if the place is rented? The tenant wouldn't get to keep the copper scrap, the landlord wouldn't want it.
But nobody would want all the offcuts & waste clips & used plastic bags the parts came in.

I'm sitting on the fence here.

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I'm sitting on the fence here.

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Don't get a splinter in your touche.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Don't get a splinter in your touche.

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touché

Ya clever fellers! Haha.

Obviously, it's yer scrap. But it only being a couple feet long, i wouldnt get too bent out of shape about it. Like somebody said above, it could be a nice bonus for the worker.

Hey, everyone's gotta eat.

Throw the copper scrap on the scale and let him buy it at current prices..seems fair that way

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Originally Posted by eesakiwi

Nah, I ask for the old parts to be kept aside when they fix my car....Boy do they get testy about that..

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Since I've been scrapping I get all my parts back when getting a car fixed. If they try to argue I point at the poster on the wall about being entitled by law to the return of my parts. That shuts them up.

slightly off topic but i had an issue like this about 3 weeks ago

i got a call from a client to pick up racks at a mall "it"ll be outside by the dumpster

as i go by surprise surprise being loaded into a tradesmans van start loading the rest wtf you doin Loading My scrap

Long story short the police generally do not care about scrap however as the Manager called for pick up she is turning over care custody and control.

if homeowner (rightful owner of scrap) does not relase it to tradesman it"s theft

the way the cop explained it to me is like this
if i finish mowing my lawn and i puit my mower on the curb it"s my mower if it is then taken it"s theft as there was no release of ownership even though it was left by the curb now if i tell my neighbor use it when i am done i have released it to my neighbor. make sense

BTW I love the title of the OP, as we kind of are an improv show on here... :-)