I buy copper pipe and brass fittings from plumbers every week, and I hear the same thing every time — nobody teaches this trade the way it actually works on the job. So I built the guide I wish existed: plain explanations, the real career path, and the pipe knowledge that earns you money instead of costing you callbacks.
I am Sonny, and I run Ironcrest Industrial Surplus. My business is buying the metal that comes off real jobs: copper pipe, brass fittings and valves, copper wire, and carbide. Plumbers are some of my favorite people to buy from because they touch this material every single day and they know exactly what it is worth.
Here is the problem I kept running into. The plumbing advice on the internet is written for search engines or for textbooks, not for the person holding the torch. The career guides read like they were written by people who have never carried a water heater up a flight of stairs. The code explanations assume you already know the code. So I wrote this the other way around — the way a journeyman who likes teaching would explain it to you over coffee.
This hub is organized by where you are, not by what a search engine wants. If you are thinking about the trade, there is a path for you. If you have been plumbing for twenty years and you just want to understand venting science well enough to teach it, there is a path for you too. Start anywhere. The cutoffs section at the bottom of every guide is the honest ending — what to do with the leftover material when the job is done.
Four reader levels, four reading sequences. This is the part nobody else does — a real learning order instead of a pile of links.
New career and science guides first, then the core how-tos, then the material knowledge.
Charts and material guides worth bookmarking.
Yes, in nearly every state. Plumber licensing is handled at the state level in most of the country, which is a real difference from electrical work in states like Illinois, where electricians are licensed by the city. Illinois issues a state plumber license through the Illinois Department of Public Health, and Chicago issues its own as well. Always check your state board for the exact rules where you work.
The apprenticeship runs 2 to 5 years in most states and commonly 4 to 5, combining on-the-job hours with classroom instruction. After that you pass the journeyman exam and work as a journeyman, and then a master plumber license follows 1 to 5 years of journeyman experience plus another exam. Plan on roughly 6 to 10 years from day one to master.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual wage for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters at $63,800 in May 2025. The BLS also projects about 42,000 openings a year through 2035, with 7 percent employment growth — much faster than the average for all occupations. Much of that demand comes from retirements, not just new construction.
Drain, Waste, Vent. It is the gravity-powered half of a plumbing system: drains carry wastewater out of fixtures, waste lines move it through the building, and vents let air in and sewer gas out so water flows freely and traps keep their water seal. Every plumbing system has a pressure side that brings water in and a DWV side that takes it out.
Both are proven choices with different strengths. Copper has a 50-plus-year track record and handles heat and sunlight, but it costs more and can develop pinhole leaks in aggressive water. PEX installs faster, usually costs less overall, resists freezing far better, and ignores water chemistry — but it must stay out of sunlight and it is younger, with projected lifespans in the 40-to-50-year range. The full comparison is on our copper-vs-pex page.
Yes. Every guide is free to read, with no sign-up and no paywall. Ironcrest Industrial Surplus publishes them as a resource for the trades. The business behind them is scrap buying: we buy copper pipe, brass fittings, and carbide from the same crews these guides are written for.
Keep it. Copper pipe, brass fittings, and valves from any job are worth real money, and on most crews the bucket gets split at the end of the job. When your pile is ready, call Sonny at Ironcrest at 312-880-8174 for a number — photo quotes available.
"No paywall, no email required to read. I buy scrap metal for a living — these guides are how I give back to the trades, and yeah, if you ever have copper or carbide to sell, I hope you call me first." — Sonny
Every quote, pickup, and payment runs through one person who answers the phone: Sonny Johns at 312-880-8174. No portals, no ticket queues, no waiting on a committee.
Every plumbing job leaves metal behind. The cutoffs from sweating pipe, the old copper pulled out of a repipe, the brass fittings and valves from a water heater swap, the elbows and stubs from a rough-in — it all goes into a bucket, and on most crews that bucket gets split at the end of the job.
Here is the honest truth about that bucket. Copper pipe and brass fittings are worth real money by the pound, and they are the cleanest, easiest material a crew ever handles — no insulation to strip, no sorting headaches. The recoverable material in plumbing work is copper pipe, brass fittings, and valves, and it adds up faster than most apprentices expect.
When your bucket fills up, call Sonny at 312-880-8174. Send photos of the pile and get a real number back. If you liked this hub, start with How to Become a Plumber next — the career path is where the real money is.