Shoutout to the old guy at Ace who told me to stop using pliers on plumbing nuts

I was replacing a kitchen faucet last weekend and kept grabbing my channel locks to tighten everything. Some older guy walking by just goes 'you're gonna round those off, kid'. I almost ignored him honestly. But I switched to a basin wrench and holy cow it took half the time and no stripped nuts. Been doing plumbing like an idiot for 3 years. Anyone else have a random stranger save them from a dumb mistake?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ryan23d ago

Brought back a memory of my dad who used to tighten everything with a pipe wrench including hex nuts. He stripped more bolts in a year than most people do in a lifetime. That old timer at Ace probably saved you from learning the hard way like my old man did. What other tools do you think folks misuse like that without realizing it?

drewsullivan23d ago

And that's the thing with a pipe wrench, it's designed to dig into rounded surfaces so when you use it on a hex nut it just chews up the corners. Same goes for people using pliers on screws when they should grab a screwdriver. I've seen guys use an adjustable wrench on a stripped bolt like it's gonna magically grab better but it just makes it worse. Another one is using a hammer as a crowbar, I mean sure it works once but then you've got a mushroomed head and a bent handle.

rose_hart23d ago

What's wrong with a tool that can do two jobs if you're careful?