[birmingplumb]

After abandoning my Birmingham Plumbing in 1995 to enter UAW auto plant as fitter- wanting to go small repair residential only close to home in million dollar neighborhood. Since name stolen ( don't trust by assumng a name and registering it every year it will be there) Looking for name ideas. "J.P. Maruska Plumbing" established 1936 grandfathers name strongly considering or "Oxford Plumbing " or Oakland Township Plumbing" or use kids name since he apprentice and I want to start this for him and family see if they want run with it....


Before making the jump from worker to biz owner in 1988 I had a traveler from New Orleans tell me to not stock truck since you always have to go to hardware for something anyway...and nevermind knowing what your doing ..learn on customers dime they don't know..." so I did what he said in 1990 and was fine for 5 years on my own...but now is different world and would like to tapp the plumber wisdom I know is here if you let me.

I used to carry on truck ( 1986 chevy van )several faucet and diverter stems and factory packings gerber sayco delta few others for older homes in area. I bought mail order from Barnette brass and copper to save money--gone now. With todays newer ceramic disc faucets being so advanced and lasting what is the current recommended practice on say a faucet drip call or diverter drip call as opposed to rebuilding the stems and replacing the brass seats or sanding seats I once was habitually doing. (Eample "we don't do repairs anymore-just replacements" )

Frank Bleu 's ways were used near the end (1994) just replacing only with new--but now that my favorites Moen and Delta seem to have changed their designs i am lost on what to carry and where to buy.

Disposals have gone way up as have water heater install prices
I used to turn down water heaters due to the gas piping and permits and law change ( mechanical license which I have needed in Michigan gas piping and venting) but the 1000 labor install is inviting since the going rate is $1500 for 40 gal gas and part seems 500-600 bucks.
I used to offer welding to the couple hundred contractors in the area and loved that but hated waiting for my money.
So I have a newer spartan 1065 and newer 300 but no hand held so a recommendation on a hand held is requested as well.
wondering on flat rate like Bleu or back to hourly rate.
Thinking using nextdoor for free or cheap advertising
Thinking close to home local jobs only.
Homes are 1996 built plastic drains 3000sf in target area all valued 1 million....(never tried pex yet)
Any advice from active plumbs who specialize in homowners only residential would be appreciated.
to recap :
1. which faucets and where to buy
2.water heaters yes or no?
3. offer pipe gas line welding ? if yes hrly rate now
4. flat rate or hourly and recommended Detroit suburb rates
5. sub drains or do self
6. best hand held
7. Name?
8. website /advertising/facebook/craigslist/nextdoor/adwords.
Thanks for reading this and please respond if you feel like helpin . Motown

 

[Master Mark]

Not much has really changed since 1993... crap is still crap....
but you are moving slower and you ought to find your nitch and stay away
from new construction and just do maintenance type of calls

1. I have shied away from most delta faucets,, they have turned to dog crap..
Moen faucets seem to be the wiser choice and I have just been buying them at lowes....
Let the customer buy their own but insist on Moen..

2. water heaters yes.... Rheem and bradford white... good turnover

3. piss on welding.... let welders do that

4. hourly rates work best if you want to keep a good reputation

5/ small drains are ok but stay away from main drain lines

6. hand held what?? Mobile phone??

7. Uncle Bens plumbing....

8. Get a FREE GOOGLE MAP PLACEMENT .... Get a FREE YELP web site...
get on Next door ist small potatoes but its free......
STAY AWAY from all paper yellow pages...

9 Get a company STICKER made
and hand out and plaster your business STICKER in every house you go into...

 

[birmingplumb]

Not much has really changed since 1993... crap is still crap....
but you are moving slower and you ought to find your nitch and stay away
from new construction and just do maintenance type of calls

1. I have shied away from most delta faucets,, they have turned to dog crap..
Moen faucets seem to be the wiser choice and I have just been buying them at lowes....
Let the customer buy their own but insist on Moen..

2. water heaters yes.... Rheem and bradford white... good turnover

3. piss on welding.... let welders do that

4. hourly rates work best if you want to keep a good reputation

5/ small drains are ok but stay away from main drain lines

6. hand held what?? Mobile phone??

7. Uncle Bens plumbing....

8. Get a FREE GOOGLE MAP PLACEMENT .... Get a FREE YELP web site...
get on Next door ist small potatoes but its free......
STAY AWAY from all paper yellow pages...

9 Get a company STICKER made
and hand out and plaster your business STICKER in every house you go into...

Love -Uncle Dan's Plumbing
Hand held kit/lav drain gun milwaukee or and battery?
Thanks any idea on service call price or hrly rate?

 

[skoronesa]

Most stuff is crap now, don't assume it's good unless you take it apart yourself. Models that I thought were good, I go to install them to find they've changed the design. Buy them where they are cheapest, often Amazon if you can wait a few days.

I vote for "Maruska Plumbing" as the name. Keep it simple.

I suggest hourly rate, at least at first, until you find out how quick you will won't be.

For snaking showers and lav. sinks I just chuck a 7' piece of 1/4" cable in my drill. Almost always long enough, if it ain't I also have a 10' piece. I also use a General Mini-Jetter for sink drains, usually kitchen sinks.

Whether or not to replace water heaters would be up to if you can get a helper or struggle alone.

 

[Master Mark]

Most stuff is crap now, don't assume it's good unless you take it apart yourself. Models that I thought were good, I go to install them to find they've changed the design. Buy them where they are cheapest, often Amazon if you can wait a few days.

I vote for "Maruska Plumbing" as the name. Keep it simple.

I suggest hourly rate, at least at first, until you find out how quick you will won't be.

For snaking showers and lav. sinks I just chuck a 7' piece of 1/4" cable in my drill. Almost always long enough, if it ain't I also have a 10' piece. I also use a General Mini-Jetter for sink drains, usually kitchen sinks.

Whether or not to replace water heaters would be up to if you can get a helper or struggle alone.

The water heaters are not really all that much of a struggle.....
you just have to have the right tools to make it easy which is
what you have to invest in up front.....

This staircat climber cost about 2500 but it paid for itself in about a week
now going on about 5 years...

Escalera Electric Stair Climber Hand Truck, Best Price & Free Shipping

and you buy yourself a motor-cycle lift jack from harbor freight for $250 dollars
to lift heaters on and off of water heater stands in the garage......

500 lb. Capacity Hydraulic Table Cart

Amazing deals on this 500Lb Hydraulic Table Cart at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[birmingplumb]

As far as a new name.......got advertisment from Ben Franklyn plumbing franchis...years ago..."1970 20% of plumbing calls went to franchises"......but-due to craigslist horror stories........."1999-59% of plumbing calls go to franchises" so I looked at rooterman $3995 franchise just to get his name and be in the "in" group....this is post covid I don't care what it cost I want it fixed by somebody local I can trust.....people imo....thus I lean on a local community "Oxford Plumbing" but I sure like Uncle Dan's plumbing and could see a custom logo with a turtle since kids nickname is turtle.....the J.P. Maruska Plumbing...established 1936...would be a half truth since he's been dead since 1986 but using established in as opposed to "since 1936" kind of eased my mind....still lost on this name...still wondering if adding a dot.com with the name would help any if it takes off...speaking of taking off ..it would not be me it would be years later with the kids/grandkids...When I found out my old stolen name "Birmingham Plumbing " came up on google one day I called the guy up...Who is this? He said he was a former Thorton Grooms employee ( they worked Birmingham for years and pulled out in the 08 recession) and decided to go in business and am I still alive. I told him yes and thats my name...he offered me hvac and work if I held hvac license...I turned down...I callled the corporations (Michigan ) assumend name division and told them I have kept renewing my name for 20 years in hopes when I retire from Chrysler I can restart plumbing fulltime and did old customers now" ---he can do that they said by changing 1 letter in the company name....I said ok...I called the plumbing chief at the state...I asked how can this be? H said its not on them although if u go back and read here when I posted this issue years ago --some said the state should not have allowed him to take a name so close to mine-- to avoid confusion ( he only put llc after my name now changed it again and has 20 trucks.....so the name is crucial to me for this reason ...thanks for reading my story and please advise on why a certain name . Motown

 

[birmingplumb]

Please let me add---I thought of going back as "Birmingham Plumbing-established 1990 ( the original) " just to not quit on my baby.

 

[Logtec]

Turtle might have sentimental value to you and your family, but I think “turtle” is a bad name and logo for a service business, you don’t want people to equate that with you being slow.

 

[birmingplumb]

Turtle might have sentimental value to you and your family, but I think “turtle” is a bad name and logo for a service business, you don’t want people to equate that with you being slow.

Agreed. Turtle out. Thanks....

 

[PlumbingNewbie]

Not much has really changed since 1993... crap is still crap....
but you are moving slower and you ought to find your nitch and stay away
from new construction and just do maintenance type of calls

1. I have shied away from most delta faucets,, they have turned to dog crap..
Moen faucets seem to be the wiser choice and I have just been buying them at lowes....
Let the customer buy their own but insist on Moen..

2. water heaters yes.... Rheem and bradford white... good turnover

3. piss on welding.... let welders do that

4. hourly rates work best if you want to keep a good reputation

5/ small drains are ok but stay away from main drain lines

6. hand held what?? Mobile phone??

7. Uncle Bens plumbing....

8. Get a FREE GOOGLE MAP PLACEMENT .... Get a FREE YELP web site...
get on Next door ist small potatoes but its free......
STAY AWAY from all paper yellow pages...

9 Get a company STICKER made
and hand out and plaster your business STICKER in every house you go into...

Mark, curious as to why you are negative on new construction? Seen you post this before, so I figure you may have some horror stories! Is it just too cutthroat compared to service work?

 

[breplum]

Love -Uncle Dan's Plumbing
Hand held kit/lav drain gun milwaukee or and battery?
Thanks any idea on service call price or hrly rate?

Forget hand held. Small, yes, but you sound old enough to go with something you don't have to hold.
I have a K45 AF Ridgid you can have for a good price; and pics of a ABS stand/holder someone fashioned.
There is a local shop started twenty five years ago called Leap Frog Plumbing. he does fine...six trucks, chamber of commerce, PHCC member, nice house.

 

[birmingplumb]

Forget hand held. Small, yes, but you sound old enough to go with something you don't have to hold.
I have a K45 AF Ridgid you can have for a good price; and pics of a ABS stand/holder someone fashioned.
There is a local shop started twenty five years ago called Leap Frog Plumbing. he does fine...six trucks, chamber of commerce, PHCC member, nice house.

Good advice---Leap Frog---nice cartoonish logo frogs ---I got a c-36 in 2011 when boys were apprenticing in 230 SanDiego as steamfitters. I got it cause I thought I was moving there. Kids decided home prices in Mira Mesa were not worth staying -left in 2016-One went back college-One transfered back into Detroit local.

 

[skoronesa]

Forget hand held. Small, yes, but you sound old enough to go with something you don't have to hold.
.......

I've had my eye on General's Drain Rooter PH for quite some time. I like that the drill is a separate piece from the other items and that it has an auto feed that works just like my bigger drum snakes. If I got one I might even swap the corded drill for a cordless one.

We have a Ridgid K-40AF and it's awful. Having to hold the paddle for more than 5 mins will make you wish your hand would fall off. The cables it came with were too soft, kinked very easily. The guide hose will kink and grip the cable. If you keep it oiled or wet enough so that it doesn't grip the cable it makes a mess. The drum was too difficult to make you want to regularly take it apart for cleaning. Feeding the cable through the hose was a real pain meaning the hose was always attached and thus difficult to store in the van, especially without giving the hose a permanent kink. And to top it all off the air hose would constantly come unglued from the foot pedal! Most garbage name brand power tool I have ever used.

It was my go to sink snake for a couple years and I dreaded every time I had to use it. When one of the cables kinked on a call I cut the last 6' or so off and just chucked it in my drill to do the job, that's how I came across that method.

Drain-Rooter PH™ - The Clean Machine, Drain Cleaning Machine

Equipped with a variable-speed power cable feed and variable-speed motor, the Drain-Rooter PH from General Pipe Cleaners makes drain cleaning jobs cleaner and easier for pros.

drainbrain.com

 

[Master Mark]

Mark, curious as to why you are negative on new construction? Seen you post this before, so I figure you may have some horror stories! Is it just too cutthroat compared to service work?

New construction is for younger guys , not for anyone older..

Well, after you watch your family business take huge losses every few years by hitching the wagon to anyone
who claims to be a legit builder you finally realize its very cut-throat and their is nothing close to loyalty or freindship.
You file a lien at the first smell of trouble.. New construction and commercial work have about the same level of
skumbags to deal with... I got the medals and scars from both to prove it....

You end up working double-time just to keep your employees busy and its just like playing Russian Roulette ,
eventually you take a huge shot of lead to the head, and you start 0ver again..
of course your employees dont care about your troubles and still expect a raise ,, ect ect..

Service work is much less stressful on both ends.... with employees and contractors........

 

[Tom F Ohio]

I carried one of those machines on my van back in the day. They show them going down the basket strainer. Not that easy to do. I had
to replace the snake many times because of kinks. I use to have to prop it up in the front so I could go threw a lav or kitchen drain. Even on
a tub over flow I had to prop it up so it would go through smoothly. It was nice not to have to hold a heavy snake in my hands in a cabinet.

 

[skoronesa]

I carried one of those machines on my van back in the day. They show them going down the basket strainer. Not that easy to do. I had
to replace the snake many times because of kinks. I use to have to prop it up in the front so I could go threw a lav or kitchen drain. Even on
a tub over flow I had to prop it up so it would go through smoothly. It was nice not to have to hold a heavy snake in my hands in a cabinet.

Yeah, no one goes through a basket strainer, that's asinine.

 

[Tango]

Mark, curious as to why you are negative on new construction? Seen you post this before, so I figure you may have some horror stories! Is it just too cutthroat compared to service work?

I concur newcon sucks big time over here, in a nutshell companies cheat their employees, get paid less, force them to supply electric tool, trucks, trailers, generators(illegal), digging trenches in clay sucks, almost got a heart attack the clay so sticky you'd have to hit the shovel onto the foundation several times before you got rid of your first scoop, 12000 scoops to go!

Oh by the way GC may not even pay and hope you go bankrupt and they make all the money.

 

[Tango]

Yeah, no one goes through a basket strainer, that's asinine.

Only the diy, I seen some broken and broken. The last one the bozo used tin snips to cut the basket strainer. Haha! He didn't want me to replace it, he'll get sliced fingers.

 

[Logtec]

Yeah, no one goes through a basket strainer, that's asinine.

I was going to say that!
who are they trying to sell this product to with that pic? DIYers/homeowners maybe.
def not seasoned plumbers.

 

[TerryTotoSucks]

I was going to say that!
who are they trying to sell this product to with that pic? DIYers/homeowners maybe.
def not seasoned plumbers.

I know right ! And those countertops are horrible !