Heard a homeowner say 'the wall jack just needs to be glued on' and I froze

I was doing a new build in a condo complex near downtown Austin last Tuesday when the owner walked up and pointed at the coax plate. She said she watched a YouTube video where a guy used super glue to hold the wall jack in place because the old screw holes were stripped. I had to explain that glue would make it impossible to change cables later and screws are standard for a reason. She argued for a minute until I showed her the $30 charge for a drywall anchor kit versus $200 to fix a glued jack. Has anyone else had homeowners try to talk you into something weird based on a video?

2 comments

2 Comments

blakem372d ago

That bit about hot glue sagging in Texas heat really got me thinking. Nobody talks about how that glue itself becomes a fire code issue if you're in commercial buildings or multi-unit condos like I deal with. Those adhesives give off toxic smoke when they burn and inspectors will flag it immediately if they see glue on a data jack. So now you're not just fixing drywall, you're potentially failing a fire inspection that costs the HOA thousands in re-inspections. All because some influencer filmed a 30 second video with zero building code knowledge. I had to write up a whole work order last year because a handyman glued a bunch of ethernet jacks in a high rise and the fire marshal almost shut down the common area.

daniel_lane302d ago

Wait, $30 for a drywall anchor kit? You're getting ripped off man, those things are like $5 at Home Depot for a pack of ten. Not trying to be a jerk but I'd check your supply prices if you're paying that much lol. But yeah, the glue thing is insane. I had a guy last month tell me he saw a TikTok where someone used hot glue to hold an outlet cover on because it looked "cleaner." I told him straight up that hot glue sags in the Texas heat and you'll end up with a crooked mess in a month. People watch these videos and think they're electricians or something. What kills me is they dont realize we have to work with that stuff later. If I glue a wall jack in and then a tenant wants to move their TV or upgrade to fiber optic, now I'm prying dried glue off drywall and probably tearing the paper face off. A $5 fix turns into a $50 drywall patch real quick. You handled it right though. Showing them the cost difference is the only way they listen sometimes. People just dont think about the future when they watch a 30 second fix video.