World's Funniest Plumber

Al Carrell: " We're to a point now where we're just about to pull the foundation, but before we pull any concrete, we've got to get the plumbing roughed in. In order to find out everything about that, we've got the gentleman here who is called the world's funniest plumber. Mr. Ed Delgrandy.

Ed Delgrandy: " Good to meet you, Al".

Al Carrell: " Nice to meet you, and you are a master plumber?"

E.D.: " Master Plumber".

A.C.: " How did you become the world's funniest plumber?"

E.D.: " Well on top of being a plumber, I'm also a professional stand up comedian, although, lately I've been getting into the glamour of plumbing more than comedy".

A.C.: " Lot more money involved in it".

E.D.: " Well, a little bit more money involved, but I feel happier doing something, instead of making people laugh, which is kind of a hollow experience, I can actually give them a place to go to the bathroom, and that's what I want to see".

A.C.: " Well, that's great, tell what we've got here.

E.D.: " Well what we've got here, is our water closet line, or as most people call it, a toilet line. And you can see it's a very large line, it's actually 3 inches. Now I can tell it's three inches, because there's actually a three written here on the plate.

A.C.: " Hey, he's got it right here, folks.

E.D.: " You learn some of the tricks of the trade.

A.C.: " Right."

E.D.: " And our finished floor will be right about here, where you see this black cap. The waste will pass down this line, and when it's passing down this line lane, it actually creates a vacuum, that's where this two inch pipe comes into play. I can see the number two on it, so that tells me it's a number two inch line. As you're making the suction go by, this will give you a relief vent, which breaks the pressure, and that will stop you from getting sucked down the toilet basically, and that's how the toilet works".

A.C.:" Okay, now we've got a lesson on that, what about these other pipes that are running through here?"

E.D.:" Well, to make the water run down the tank, we do need a water line, and you can see here, here's our cold water coming up. Very important point, on the water line, you can see there's some plastic coating around it, if you didn't have that, the contact with the cement, would actually rot out the plumbing water lines over a period of time, and that would not be a good situation.

A.C.: " I hate it when that happens".

E.D.: " I know, it's a horrible situation, I've actually seen houses where they have not used this plastic coating, and over a period of about five or six years, the power lines will actually break off at the concrete, and now you have a waterfront property in your bathroom.

A.C.: " Man, who wants that? All right, and then over here, this is probably going to be a sink, tell us about this.

E.D.: " Well, our sink over here, you can see our sleeve on the cold lines, and hot water lines are very well insulated. That will keep the slaff from sucking all the heat out of our lines, making the system a little bit more efficient. Hot's always on the left, cold's always on the right, and the waste goes down hill. That's the rule to being a master plumber.

A.C.: " I could be a master plumber.

E.D.: " It's very simple, it's all a scam folks, I have to tell you that right now.

A.C.: " One of the things that you'll notice here, is the fact that all of these copper tubes are going to be buried underneath here, and it's very important not to have any seems at all.

E.D.: " Right, because it's going to be very difficult to get at it once we have about four inches of concrete, and about two feet of dirt. If you notice, the cold water lines under the concrete, do not have to be coated, that's just going to be earth around it, and it won't make a situation where it can corrode the pipe, copper is very good in any kind of dirt, but in cement, it's got that line, which you probably know about cement more than I do, and that could really make havoc with the pipes.

A.C.: " The crew is trying to make cement shoes for me, so I know about it.

E.D.: " One thing too, you can see with our waste lines in the PBC, all the joints are exposed, now the reason they're exposed, is because we're going to have an inspection a little bit later on today, and if the inspector cannot see every joint and make sure they're made up properly, he won't pass the inspection.

A.C.: " And that's very important, because if you don't pass the inspection, you don't build a house.

E.D.: " By the way, I like plumbing inspectors on the job, a lot of people think they are out to get you, but please whenever you do a job at your house, get permits, the inspectors are another set of eyes, there is stuff we can miss, so the inspector will catch it and you'll have a much better and professional job.

A.C.: " Beautiful. Another thing I want you to explain is, I notice the water line comes in the main water line, through the meter, and it's buried underground, naturally, in some areas it's buried a lot deeper than others, why is that?"

E.D.: " Well, over here we don't have as bad of a temperature problem as we do in say, New England, in New England we have to keep the lines down at least five feet, or else they'll freeze right up, and in every part of the country it's always a different type of situation, and naturally the warmer it is, the higher up you can keep it. Some places way down south we can keep up on top of the ground.

A.C.: " Whatever you do though, be sure you conduct everything according to the local code, it's got to be done that way.

E.D.: " Absolutely, because if you make a mistake, the one who's going to pay for it, is the one who puts it in, because whoever puts it in is liable for the problems, and believe me, I don't want to come back with a sledge hammer, break up cement, and run a new line.

A.C.: " Good for you".

Episode 001 1995 - 96 Season

| Plumber | Stove Tip Bracket | Choosing a Builder | Kitchen Sink Remedy | Post-tension Foundation | Lifespace Home | Selecting a Lender |

To order a Video Tape, call 1-800-TO-BUILD and ask for Episode #001.