Tradie's disbelief as thieves “rip out” $300 item from under Aussie home
The tradie claims he's never seen anything like this before.
A tradie was stunned to discover a surprising item allegedly stolen from a property left vacant for a few weeks between tenants.
Local plumber and bathroom specialist, Mick, was told the house he was heading to in Coffs Harbour on Thursday had "no water" inside the home, yet the new tenants moving in could hear the sound of water "p**sing out" from somewhere under the house.
After turning on the water, Mick noticed that water was "shooting straight up" from the ground under the house. Investigating its source, he found a "little copper pipe" sticking out that looked as though it had been "ripped off". The pipe should have been supplying the entire house with water.
"This place has been vacant for a couple of weeks [and] someone's come in and pinched the copper. Look at that, it's snapped off," he said. "I've never seen this happen before here in Coffs Harbour."
Copper under 'whole house' removed
Two ends of copper pipe appeared to be cut or snapped off, with metres missing from the middle — but what Mick didn't know when he originally found the issue, was that it was just one of the many pieces missing from under the home.
"All the copper piping under the whole house has been ripped out," he told Yahoo News Australia. "The boys have spent all day redoing it, it's been a bit of a nightmare."
Mick says the homeowners will be reporting the incident to the police.
How much is the copper worth?
Mick said the scrap copper from the pipes would go for around $7 to $8 a kilogram, while it costs around $80 per new six-metre long three-quarter copper pipe.
"I'm guessing the copper the person stole would be worth around $300," Mick speculated.
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Some claim copper stealing happens 'often'
After sharing footage of the missing copper, hundreds of thousands watched on with a surprising many claiming this had happened to them or someone they knew.
"I work in insurance and this happens so often," one claimed. "This happened to my sister's house years ago in Sydney," another responded.
"Copper and brass add up real quick. It was a mad side hustle when I was on site, the few off-cuts the plumbers threw away here and there were worth a nice bonus every couple weeks," a third said.
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