Ask the Plumber - Handy Tips and FAQ's
Father’s Day Prayer
Lord thank you for my Dad
so dear,
and bless him for I need him near.
I’ve learned that strength
You’ve given him
can only be found
from within.
No cancer gets to claim
his life,
nor wish for death
in chemo strife.
To choose the shots, the pain,
the pills -
my soul amazed, quickened …
stilled.
There’s something to
Your steadfast love
as he heals
through Grace
from high above.
Lord Keep him safe
and hold him strong,
knowing that his days are long.
Thank you for his smile,
his face …
for in his love
I see Your Grace.
Why I Love my Family Business
I’m feeling thankful today, so I thought I would tell you all about it.
About 3 years ago I found out I had prostate cancer and colon cancer. I was still working every day, but now I needed chemotherapy every day and couldn’t work.
I am thankful for my men. Three of them are my sons and one is my son-in-law. They, with my daughters, have kept things going around here. Our daughter, Debi, takes care of the office and schedules work. She’s my youngest. My firstborn, Shari, lives in Wisconsin and has built my website. My daughter, Susan, is a local copywriter, and works on this website with Shari. If you need a website built and customers driven to it, they can do it for you.
My wife, Dorothy, runs this business with the help of our sons and daughters – so you can see why I am thankful. I am also thankful that my cancer is under control and I will be able to start bidding jobs again when this chemo fog lifts out of the way.
If you still haven’t met my sons Steve, Danny, and Jason – or my son-in-law, Adam, give us a call. They will do a good job for you.
Customer Safety – How Do You Know it’s Us?
When you’re having an emergency, you wait and look … and look … and drive yourself crazy looking for your plumber to pull up to your house. There is NEVER any plumber ANYWHERE that can be there fast enough for a customer’s emergency! In that case, you’re plenty aware of who is knocking at your door. But what if you are simply having routine maintenance done, or a less urgent situation? We all know it’s very easy to be distracted in the home and not really think about who is at your door. If you are already one of our valuable customers, you know us all by name. But if you are a new customer, how can you be sure it is our company at your door?
First of all, look out a near window to see if our clearly marked company vans are outside where you can see them. If you can’t see the truck, ask through the door, “Who is it?” It is possible that while you were looking out the window our man may have walked back to the truck for something, or stepped far enough away from the door that he didn’t hear you. Our men wear shirts with “Gary’s Quality Plumbing” clearly marked on the back, and their names are on the front. If you don’t see those words, you’re not dealing with Gary’s Quality Plumbing, and you need to make an excuse to get back behind the door and lock it until you can find out if who you’re dealing with is legitimate.
Our goal is to provide you excellent products and service, safely. We want to encourage our customers to be aware of who is at their door, and to call our company to speak with Dorothy or Debi if you have any doubts whatsoever. We do our best to be easily identified by our customers, and value their safety at all times.
Is my Hot Water Heater Still Under Warranty?
A good hot water heater used to last about 20 years. Now … not so much. Now warranties will typically be expired after about five years. I’ve been in business long enough to remember when a company would warranty their product for 10, and even then, they lasted well beyond the warranty.
Date of installation is usually located on a panel on the side of the tank. If you don’t have access to warranty information, having that installation date can help your plumber determine (with the help of the manufacturer) how long it should be covered in the event it ends up leaking or otherwise needs to be replaced.
So, if it’s time for a new water heater, what are your options?
If you previously used gas or electric, those choices are often the best to keep so that new gas lines or electrical hook ups don’t add to your total bill. Some homeowners do occasionally switch from electrical to gas or vice versa, but that is unusual and costly. Generally, the factors you should consider are:
- Size of the tank in gallons and size of area for installation
- Conventional gas or electric
- Energy efficient models, or
- Tankless
Many energy efficient models exist today. Among the most efficient are the more expensive tankless water heaters. While the savings on water and energy are increased with a tankless, it’s important to understand that the initial investment will run considerably more than other models. Why?
There’s More Involved With Tankless Installation
What they don’t talk enough about at home improvement stores are the necessary requirements of tankless installation. The concept is: water is heated only as used, and unlike conventional methods that heat and heat and heat to maintain a temperature, a tankless will heat only as needed and as more flow rate is needed (when you turn the shower on harder.) The BTU demand will vary from 15,000 BTU to 199,000 BTU to keep the temperature constant.
That means the gas line into your home needs to be capable of bringing in enough gas to actually provide that BTU. Rarely is the gas line already coming into your home the right size for the job. Gas must come in through the correct size pipe, and then be dispensed at safe rates throughout the home for all gas appliances to work safely and effectively. That involves comprehensive knowledge of code and a detailed understanding of how gas flows. Anyone who tells you that you just pop in a gas tankless hot water heater and you’re ‘good to go’ is giving you very wrong information.
Electric tankless have their own issues, too. They need to be able to heat to the degree that at least two or three faucets throughout the home can access unlimited amounts of hot water at the same time. Gas does the job better because it heats faster and hotter than electric. For a smaller home with few occupants, an electric tankless might be fine, but even then, power is still a consideration. You can’t just replace a standard electric tank type with a tankless because it will take an electrician to install more power.
All in all, tankless hot water heaters are a greener choice, and they do pay for themselves over time. They save money on your gas bill, water bill, and electric bill – that is substantial. Because of their frequency of use however, and the relative newness on the market, we take the manufacturer’s word on their warranties, 10 to 12 years. They say they have a life expectancy of 25 years, but they don’t warranty them that long. Even so, my customers are very happy with their tankless models.
What is an Energy Efficient Hot Water Heater?
Generally, efficiency is based on the amount of power it takes to heat water to a given level. Standard tank type models run about 51% while tankless can run as high as 98% efficient.
An apple for apple replacement is an easy decision to make, but if you have questions regarding these other options, make sure you call me to discuss them. I’ve been in this business long enough to see my grandsons work for me! I can give you good advice for your situation, and will be happy to discuss the parameters of your particular circumstance. You can also leave me your questions or comments below, and I’ll be happy to respond.
Spring Spuce-Up
Polish and shine the fixtures you have, and if they still look dull and outdated, new faucet trim or fixtures will make your home sparkle again. Often those details are exactly what’s needed to pull the whole room together.
Are obnoxious odors coming from your sink drains or garbage disposer?
For fresher sink drains:
- Pour bleach down the emergency drain slowly, using a funnel if necessary to limit the amount used. Follow with water.
- If pouring bleach down the drain irritates the ‘green’ out of you, then try baking soda and an old toothbrush reaching as far as possible into that emergency drain without losing grip of the brush. A pipe cleaner may be necessary.
For garbage disposers:
- Baking soda and ice while disposer is running. Use short bursts and rinse with hot water.
- Lemon juice and baking soda with ice is also helpful, but remember NOT to put the peel through the disposal.
Remember: NEVER under any circumstances should you ever put your fingers down the disposal side of the drain.
If these tips don’t help, call your Plano plumber to clean your drain lines or replace a poorly working disposal with a newer model.
Do you have tips that have worked just as well? Share them with us!
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