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Rookie plumber's $12m blunder

news.com.au — A 17-YEAR -old rookie plumber has burned down a $12 million waterside mansion after a soldering task during his first day on the job went horribly wrong.

Bury
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  • rdr97, on 06/15/2008, -133/+254Any millionaire cheap enough to hire a 17 year old plumber deserves what's coming to him.
    • Dysarthria, on 06/16/2008, -2/+216Eh, its not that simple. If you RTFA, the kid was part of a group of subcontractors - the owner never met him. Also, if this is England, they have relatively strict labor laws and union hierarchies. The kid was probably just starting out, right out of school, and some lazy butt-munch asked him to do a job unsupervised. that he was obviously not ready to do .
      • ingxia, on 06/16/2008, -3/+88OK, any millionaire cheap enough to hire a renovation company who would hire a manager who would hire a subcontractor who would hire a manager who would hire a master plumber who would hire a 17 year old plumber deserves what's coming to him. /sarcasm
        • renegade334, on 06/16/2008, -9/+3What the hell? First, how is the millionare supposed to know the 17 year old was to be hired and WHY does it matter if a 17 year old is working on the site? How the hell else is a seventeen year old supposed to get into the industry? Flip burgers until he's 25, then make the same mistake as a rookie 25 year old plumber?
          This is what ***** me, everyone has to start out, thats why I hate it when industries will only hire experienced people, where the hell do you get the experience???
        • chanop, on 06/16/2008, -0/+7renegade:
          http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sarcasm
      • InfiniteNothing, on 06/16/2008, -1/+12I blame the polystyrene insulation
        • RobotCitizen, on 06/16/2008, -0/+8My first thought too. Why was polystyrene insulation ever a good idea?
      • xDynaBlade, on 06/16/2008, -8/+3"Also, if this is England"

        news.com.au hmmmm I wonder what country this is....
        • cap11235, on 06/16/2008, -0/+6Austria?
          /sarcasm
        • buymeachicken, on 06/16/2008, -0/+10RTFA "Kingswear, Devon" "southwest England"
        • Dysarthria, on 06/16/2008, -0/+5Hey dummy, do they use pounds in England or $ AU?

          RTFA
        • renegade334, on 06/16/2008, -0/+3The STORY is on an Australian website, but as far as I know, we haven't used pounds here for a LONG time. RTFA
      • sinisterouge, on 06/16/2008, -5/+3dugg for butt-munch hahaha i love that word
    • jamesLankford, on 06/16/2008, -6/+39moron, read the article
    • toppgun, on 06/16/2008, -11/+7most people that are wealthy dont become wealthy by spending money everywhere. They cut corners to spend as little as possible while getting the most value. In my family business which is real estate development its called value engineering.
      • secrity, on 06/16/2008, -3/+9It is called being cheap, or penny wise and pound foolish.
        • toppgun, on 06/16/2008, -1/+1what we do isnt cheap. we are building houses that will sell for at minimum 8 mil. we also buy shopping centers that are focused towards high income communities. we just want to make as much profit and spend as little on construction as possible. we arent cheap, just smart about where to spend the money.
        • Spartycus, on 06/16/2008, -0/+2There is a difference between cheap and quality. I'm sure your family business hires contractors who it trusts and have a proven record of successful work that is at or under their bid price...
          Paying for work that you know wont fail early and cost you more is less expensive than paying for crap work that will cost more in repairs and law suits.
        • GreyICE, on 06/16/2008, -0/+3Value engineering means that you are skimping on stuff now that will cost you 3-5 years down the line. But I know you builders, I'm a design engineer, and you engineer energy and power saving measures as well as sensible redundancy right out, then as soon as there's a problem, well, you schmucks are long gone.

          Trust the goddamn engineers for once, we don't go to school for four years then spend four years getting a PE because we know jack.

          This is pretty much a classic case of value engineering at its best.
        • misterhat, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1what he's saying is that they skimp on the plumbing but splurge on the tuscan villa facade
        • DroogInPhoenix, on 06/16/2008, -1/+1I run a business that occasionally you are tipped... The avg joe will tip, but when you see a nice house and a nice car, no tip ever. I'd like to ***** on their car.
        • CoMpUtErITGuY, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1You don't tip for a job you're being paid for. That's crazy.
      • solid12345, on 06/16/2008, -2/+5One of my construction friends says this is why America is falling apart, too many asshoels in government and private industry go for the lowest bid contracts and they get what they pay for, bridges and roads that fall apart in 5-10 years.
        • xxpor, on 06/16/2008, -1/+4this is england.
        • LexisNexis, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1It's still a valid point, shoddy work isn't limited to england.
        • unreg, on 06/16/2008, -0/+2That Golden Gate bridge seems to be holding up just fine.
      • ripple123, on 06/16/2008, -0/+3Value engineering? Last time I checked, there was little professionalism in being a cheap bastard.
      • 955701, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Yet another example of inexcusably poor use of the word "engineering". I'm surprised you didn't call your family business a physical capital enterprise.
    • bonlebon, on 06/16/2008, -1/+9Rich people don't get rich writing fat checks.
      • 955701, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1yes they do, but they write their fat checks for things that yield a return. The rest of us unwashed masses write fat checks for liabilities. And they are getting fatter, and fatter, and fatter....
    • inkyblue2, on 06/16/2008, -0/+8rich people carry insurance. so do contractors, for that matter.
      • unreg, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Had a friend of mine building a new house. Day before they were scheduled to move in, burnt down to the ground. The only thing they were able to salvage was the footers.

        $300K write off.

        Turns out it was some rags used for straining the deck.
    • krasht, on 06/16/2008, -1/+1He was probably an apprentice plumber. The only way he'd be able to be a proper plumber, is if he was the Doogie Howser of plumbing.
    • Ryvenn, on 06/16/2008, -1/+4Um, experienced, qualified plumbers don't just spring out of holes in the ground. That's what apprenticeships are for. Tradesmen take on apprentices, train them and then they become fully qualified themselves. You cannot hire a tradesman and say "You cannot have an apprentice with you on this job." That is both in violation of labour laws and shooting yourself in the foot when 10 years later you want an experienced tradesman and there are none because none got trained!
      • jamesdew, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1agreed but you could insist he is supervised
      • drgkstep, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1I don't let 17 year old mechanics in training learn on my car. If dude was that rich he could have found SOMEONE with experience.
      • Ryvenn, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1You hire a contractor. You don't pick and choose individual workers on a job that big.
    • renegade334, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1What the hell? First, if you read the article, you'll see he wasn't hired directly by the millionare, also, how the hell else is a seventeen year old supposed to get into the industry? Flip burgers until he's 25, then make the same mistake as a rookie 25 year old plumber?
      This is what ***** me, everyone has to start out, thats why I hate it when industries will only hire experienced people, where the hell do you get the experience???
    • shauncorleone, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1I came in for the laughs and stayed for the class envy. Fortunately I didn't have to wade through a ton of comments to get there.
    • stix213, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1The millionaire didn't hire the 17 year old directly, he was hired by a subcontractor.
  • alapoet, on 06/15/2008, -9/+81Sounds as if it's back to flippin' burgers for this poor schmuck.
    • PabloMac, on 06/16/2008, -0/+3"Do you want fries with that?"
    • twiztidsinz, on 06/16/2008, -0/+63lemme fix that typo: "Do you want fires with that?"
    • tidu, on 06/16/2008, -0/+13i don't think they'll ever let him near a grill...
  • easygravy, on 06/15/2008, -5/+70I feel sorry for the kid, but...I'm still chuckling....
  • elvenrunelord, on 06/15/2008, -12/+94Can you said FIRED. lol Poor kid......someone should have been supervising him.
    • nbouma, on 06/16/2008, -4/+37"said"???.... perhaps "can you say FIRED?" is what you meant
    • Scaryclouds, on 06/16/2008, -2/+3No, but I can say it...
    • fuzzybeard, on 06/16/2008, -2/+2I agree. a 17 year old (IMO) simply can't have enough hours under his or her belt to have their Journeyman's ticket yet. Where the hell was their instructor at?
      • Ryvenn, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Polystyrene burns very quickly and doesn't like to go out, assuming he was supervised, which he probably was, his supervisor probably wouldn't have been able to do or say anything by the time he realised what was happening.
    • ruddy, on 06/16/2008, -0/+4how can you fire the kid! people don't make that mistake twice
    • swoosh_bnd, on 06/16/2008, -0/+12The company just spent $12 million educating the worker, why would they fire him?
  • pepelu12, on 06/15/2008, -9/+127Looks like someone has a bad case of the Monday's
    • enderwigin, on 06/16/2008, -31/+1LOLfag
      • itsthebrod, on 06/16/2008, -1/+17That's cute, did you figure out Mommy's password to the computer machine?
    • omenmedia, on 06/16/2008, -0/+31"I could set the building on fire."
    • JPDyno, on 06/16/2008, -0/+23"I believe you'd get your ass kicked sayin' something like that, man."
    • kevro, on 06/16/2008, -5/+1I believe people get there ass kicked for saying something like that.
  • vroom101, on 06/15/2008, -7/+90The article is from April 18, 2007.

    Link to the Daily Mail article, "Blundering plumber burns down £5m mansion" by Luke Salkeld (April 18, 2007), photos included: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-449178/Blu ... (www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-449178/Blundering-plumber-burns-5m-mansion.html)
    • PuffyWalrus, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Yes sir you are correct, mainly because this article dosen't say that the "apprentice is 17 in this short clip. I say it's simply a case of old news taken for its anecdotal value rather then for its "new's".
    • crossmr, on 06/16/2008, -0/+4Not only that I can remember when it was on digg before.. christ.. someone needs to write a script that just goes to the internet and does "submit *.*"
    • essjay, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1I'd love to digg you up, but you just linked to the Daily Mail, so I can't, out of principal. Sorry. But thanks for trying!
  • gerardoc, on 06/16/2008, -1/+8Wow, talk about being scarred for life.
    • Aensland, on 06/16/2008, -0/+2Maybe time to look into the witness protection relocation program...
  • Jiggles1875, on 06/16/2008, -24/+175,000,000.00 EUR

    =

    7,692,995.40 USD
    • hasansexy, on 06/16/2008, -16/+85,000,000.00 EUR

      =

      ∞ USD
      • santaliqueur, on 06/16/2008, -0/+2Yes, everything about America is worthless, you got it.
    • epsalon, on 06/16/2008, -0/+24It's pounds not euros, so it's US$9.7M. The original figure is in Australian dollars.
      • Andero, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1True, but
        5 000 000 GBP != 12 000 000 AUD
    • bluelightnin90, on 06/16/2008, -0/+10It was 5 million British pounds, not 5 million Euro.
    • Nothlit, on 06/16/2008, -1/+35£ ≠ €
    • aznwild0, on 06/16/2008, -0/+613/06/2008:

      £5M ≈ €6.3M ≈ US$9.7M ≈ AU$10.4M
    • shifty2, on 06/16/2008, -0/+6remember this article is quite old, 4/2007. Back then the exchange rates were different.
    • sickanimations, on 06/16/2008, -2/+5Pounds, not Euros. GTFO.
  • lanzemurdok, on 06/16/2008, -26/+5Sup guys. Im the 17 year old from that story. After that horrible mistake, i practiced for months on becoming the best plumber ever. Now i'm better than 25 year veterans. Complete with butt crack and everything.

    And scene.
  • xonkonog, on 06/16/2008, -2/+8These things happen.
  • NathanCH, on 06/16/2008, -27/+6Digg is broken! I can't give anyone +/- thumb ratings. Refresh and it goes away!
  • greenlight2001, on 06/16/2008, -0/+24Fire proof soldering mat. Always use one.
  • xonkonog, on 06/16/2008, -6/+2These things happen.
  • krsone2424, on 06/16/2008, -1/+7OOPS!
  • BoonTobias, on 06/16/2008, -1/+10that's what happens when you tell a man where his princess is
    • santaliqueur, on 06/16/2008, -0/+4Sorry, she's in another castle!
  • krsone2424, on 06/16/2008, -8/+3OOPS!
  • warpdesign, on 06/16/2008, -0/+35He shouldn't feel too bad. A seasoned, veteran plumber burned down my friends apartment doing the exact same thing...
  • TJATL, on 06/16/2008, -1/+5I think the owner might want to think about a sprinkler system when he rebuilds.
  • slifty, on 06/16/2008, -0/+37I heard the exact same thing happened to Mario.
  • psi0nicgh0st, on 06/16/2008, -3/+26Uh-o spaghettios....
  • GoGoPoCoSo, on 06/16/2008, -0/+21let's just hope we don't hear a story tomorrow about a 17-year-old kid committing suicide...
  • EruditeGoof, on 06/16/2008, -5/+3Oops.
  • EruditeGoof, on 06/16/2008, -7/+2Oops.
  • nshady, on 06/16/2008, -1/+36I prefer my news new.
    • ibeckett, on 06/16/2008, -4/+1if you had not read about it before, then it was new to you
      • iPirate, on 06/16/2008, -1/+3Lloyd Christmas: "WE'VE LANDED ON THE MOON! "
      • parliboy, on 06/16/2008, -0/+3Which is all well and good as long as you keep it to you. When you link to a news article here, you're telling people, "this is recent news" when it quite clearly wasn't.

        Minus several million for style.
  • transmothra, on 06/16/2008, -1/+16this is filed under "comedy"?
    • ibeckett, on 06/16/2008, -2/+3what would be a better category? I am new to Digg...
      • heliox, on 06/16/2008, -1/+2Well, would it be funny if you lost your house?
        • stevealford, on 06/16/2008, -2/+6I guess it depends where you lost it.
        • Splint7700, on 06/16/2008, -0/+0Wouldn't it be "How" no where?

          Even though "I lost my house in my crotch" sounds mildly entertaining...
  • jull1234, on 06/16/2008, -2/+6shoulda stayed in school, kid.
    • extraspecialk, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Kids in the UK have 7 years of primary school and 6 years of high school which means we leave school at 17/18. I became a veterinary student at Uni at age 17. So this guy might possibly have been through the entire school system before becoming a plumbing apprentice... Suppose it doesn't say much for UK education...
  • milesphenn, on 06/16/2008, -0/+24It seems to me there aren't that many jobs you could give a rookie plumber on his first day that would end up in that kind of catastrophe. I blame his supervisor.
  • burnedtubes, on 06/16/2008, -0/+6We don't need no water!!!
  • zeblith, on 06/16/2008, -9/+7Soldering with a blowtorch? Am I missing something?
    • secrity, on 06/16/2008, -2/+10Yes, you are.
    • reedsr, on 06/16/2008, -0/+9It is a pretty standard method for joining copper pipe. It isn't any more complicated than soldering wires, but apparently much more dangerous for this kid.
  • jpstanle, on 06/16/2008, -0/+9This sounds like a good reason to check your contractors' insurance _before_ hiring them, and to use fiberglass insulation rather than expanded foam.
  • bonlebon, on 06/16/2008, -1/+9This rookie made some serious $$$ for the home owners. Now they can claim the insurance for a value they are not going to get in today's market. They should give him a bonus.

    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
    • Sogui, on 06/16/2008, -1/+1First of all it's the UK, I have no idea what the home market is like over there.

      Second, they have to deal with no having a true home for many months, if not over a year, depending on picky they are about location.
      • RobotLeAwesome, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Thirdly, they have to deal with being millionaires...
      • Icetype, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1There's a 0% chance someone who owns a 12 million dollar mansion doesn't own another home somewhere else. He's probably drinking martinis in his Spanish Villa looking at his check for $12,000,000. Poor bastard.
  • Hetman, on 06/16/2008, -0/+4The thing is it seems like it is a mistake that could happen to anyone. I just feel sorry for him.
  • soondot, on 06/16/2008, -3/+6Only on digg is a year-old article NEWS.
    • infekt, on 06/16/2008, -1/+2You've completely missed the point of Digg. Where the ***** does it say anywhere on here that user submitted stories are to be current events only? This site is for any user submitted content, regardless of origin or date. If you don't like the story then don't digg it, but all of you whiners need to stfu about old news articles already.

  • nyr633, on 06/16/2008, -1/+41I think everyone should hold up. His age has NOTHING to do with this. As a firefighter I can tell you this is all to common; people have no idea how often fires are caused by plumbers. In fire academy they jokingly taught us that plumbers are to firefighters like bad guys are to cops. Its the job and task at hand that caused this, so give the kid a break. If any of you know plumbers, ask them how many time they've cause fires accidentally. Not full fledged, 5 alarm fires, but fires none the less. You'd probably be surprised at what they have to tell you....
  • fr3ddie, on 06/16/2008, -2/+2haw haw
  • doublsh0t, on 06/16/2008, -3/+2i wonder if this is the same kid is aussieland that threw that party...
    oh nevermind this happened in england
  • kakti, on 06/16/2008, -2/+4Ditto on jpstanle's point on checking insurance.

    I am a contractor liability insurance underwriter, and there is a damn good reason we avoid plumbers. Between blowtorches for soldering, blowtorches to unfreeze pipes, flooding, etc they are one of the riskiest professions around. ALWAYS demand a certificate of insurance from the contractor, and demand to see COI from his subs as well.
  • cmp1968, on 06/16/2008, -1/+8The plumber's name? Steven Urkel.
    • itsthebrod, on 06/16/2008, -0/+6Urkel was quoted as saying, "Did I do thaaaaat?" while pointing at the raging inferno. He then reportedly broke out into a rant about cheese and did the Urkel Dance before fleeing the scene.
  • Boing, on 06/16/2008, -0/+20Reading > me

    I kept trying to figure out how a waterslide costs $12 if it's in some dude's backyard.
    • seventhc, on 06/16/2008, -7/+0Waterside home...a home on the water, not a waterslide. ;-)
      • seventhc, on 06/20/2008, -0/+1why is this dugg down for explaining to him/her???
  • Plower, on 06/16/2008, -2/+3"Apparently the millionaire owner, Andrew Brownsword, wasn't very happy either."
  • KaiSe7eN, on 06/16/2008, -1/+2The millionaire has his own spokesperson aye?
  • RyanBlack, on 06/16/2008, -2/+9Damn, they should of hired Mario.
  • DivineMonkey, on 06/16/2008, -0/+8Dugg before. Oh, about a year ago.
  • Haon, on 06/16/2008, -1/+3He had rookie eyes
  • Smuuv, on 06/16/2008, -1/+5Wanna get away?
  • noahhoward, on 06/16/2008, -1/+2Fire extinguisher?
  • pinehurst, on 06/16/2008, -0/+2Why is a news article over a year old on the front page?
    • KableKiB, on 06/16/2008, -0/+2because when a lot of people look at the same thing and click "digg" that's what happens.
  • kofikingston, on 06/16/2008, -0/+3teen mario burning luigi's mansion
  • ZzFDKzZ, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Hahaha man sucks to be that guy.
  • Skooma714, on 06/16/2008, -0/+1Epic fail
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