Your Friendly Neighborhood Plumber

I worked all day yesterday and, other than a quick trip to the supply house, I was never more than 3 blocks from my house. I like working close to home...

• I eat lunch at home. Occasionally even with ice cream. It's cheaper and better than fast food.
• I save gas, sometimes I even walk. I tell my neighbors it makes us both "green".
• Extra tools and parts are a 5 minute round trip. As long as I've been doing this, I still forget things every once in a while. I keep a lot of stuff on hand and I have at least one of every tool they make.
• People like a plumber they know. Especially one who live close. If you have ever had a plumbing emergency, I bet you didn't have a plumber who responded within 30 minutes at 10 PM.
• Neighbors talk. I have worked for few for several years now, and they have told others, who are now telling others. Now, I have worked for several for a few years. And the list keeps growing.
• People who live close by always pay up front because they’ve seen the Russian that I send out to collect past due payments. Haha, just kidding. But serious.
• The problems are the same ones I’ve had in my house.

The houses in my neighborhood are plumbed very similarly and the same repairs have to be made in all of them with variations in degrees of difficulty due to the work of the many or few that have laid hands on it before me. Everyone who attempts or properly executes an installation or repair has their own particular style... and nobody thinks anyone else knows what they are doing. It's kind of a funny thing. I look at plumbing all the time that has lasted 60 years or more, but because of the way it was originally installed, wonder how it ever worked.... and it's never had a problem. In the same respect, another plumber might look at a project I completed and laugh inside his head even though I thought it was good work. There is more than one way to plumb, but in the end, it's all plumbing. And that's what I do.

I can see the past, present, and future of my neighbors' plumbing; and yours too, for that matter. I know what to expect because I've seen it so many times. The first time we looked at our house, before we bought it, I inspected ALL the plumbing. I wanted to know what I needed to do before we moved in and what I needed to do in the next five years. These lists have come and gone and I've already made the next list and am working on the next. If I've ever worked at your house, there is a list in the back of my head for your plumbing future, should you choose to accept it.

If you happen to live outside of my neighborhood, that’s okay too. I do have a truck. And like I said before, it’s all plumbing.

I'm Tony The Plumber, and my plumbing sense is tingling.