AttaBoy Plumbing Company

Comes now "The Hole", the third category of crawlspaces that plumbers encounter. The Hole is a place that separates the men from the boys. It's probably similar to some of the bad places prisoners throughout history have been sent to for isolation purposes, except a plumber can escape if he has to. A true Hole has an undersized entrance, which is unfortunate for for smaller guys like me because homeowners will say things like, "make sure you send your littlest man," (true example) which I happened to usually be when I was a plumber for AttaBoy Plumbing Company. Calls for The Hole are good news to the guys with beer belly's because they can't fit into them to do the work. "Sorry 'bout ya little fella!"

The access is merely the gateway to good times.  Once inside, and after you have pushed years of cobwebs out of your way, your flashlight beam falls on a graveyard of old plumbing debris left behind by plumbers past.  Abandoned sump pumps and old cast iron drain lines laying around make passage nearly impossible since to crawl over the top of them reduces your clearance to about eight inches. Of course, a "littlest man" like myself can practically leap over those hinderances. 

There are other goodies scattered about in the Hole like, oh, I don't know, mummified furless cat carcasses. I found one of those once that actually looked more like an NFL "The Duke" football than a feline.  I wonder if they use cat leather for balls in other countries? Anyway, animal bodies aren't really that much of a concern unless they're less than a week or two old - I'm sure you understand.  However, human remains are always a concern and can be reason enough to just wiggle your little man self on out of there and not even bother to holler "no charge today!" to the homeowner as you're bolting for the truck. 

Everything I've written up to this point has just been about getting access to the work you were hired to do in The Hole. Once you have managed to finally reach the place where your plumbing repair will take place, a whole new set of concerns come into play. I'll talk more about them next time. 

In the mean time, if you haven't done so yet, please take a few minutes to check out AttaBoy's Facebook Rewards. It can save you money and make you money -- it's worth a look!  It's right HERE.

With Spring having now "sprung" here are a few basic tips for making sure you are ready for it from a plumber's point of view.

#1 - Turn on your hose spigots (outdoor faucets), without hoses attached, and let them run for several minutes. Look for any wet spots on walls or floors near the spigot's location. If you see any signs of water it may indicate that your spigot froze during the winter months and needs to be inspected. Low pressure can be a clue as well. After you shut off the spigot, make sure it shuts off the water completely.

#2 - Make certain that any sump pumps and back-up sump pumps and/or alarms are in good working order.  With back-up units make be your batteries are holding a charge well and add distilled water if needed.  You don't want a flooded basement or crawlspace, right?

#3 - With all the fluctuation of tempuratures and atmospheric pressure that comes with Spring weather, it's a good time to keep your eye on the floor around your water heater. Changing weather conditions can sometimes exacerbate tank problems in older water heaters and cause them to leak.

#4 - Check to make sure all of your gutters and downspouts are directing rain water well away from your home's foundation walls. Downspouts that empty too close to the house can overwork the sump pump and cause water problems under your home or in your basement.

If you would like AttaBoy Plumbing to come to your home to make sure your plumbing is ready for Spring, just go here to make an appointment. We service all of the Indianapolis area including Carmel, Fishers, Avon, Greenwood, and Lawrence. Be sure to check out how you can both SAVE and MAKE money with AttaBoy here!

While this cartoon is light-hearted, I can tell you that I have never seen that reaction in the many real-life  homeowners I've met with flooded basements or crawlspaces. 

The rains are coming because it's Springtime in the Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, Greenwood, Lawrence, Avon, Zionsville area.  With the heavy rains your sump pump is going to be working overtime to keep water out of your house.

AttaBoy plumbers are experts in keeping the water going where it's supposed to go. Remember, even the best pumps will eventually wear out and fail, so it's a good idea to make sure you replace your pump before it gets to that point.

So if you are thinking about replacing your sump pump or looking into getting a battery back up system to protect your home in the event of a failed pump or power outage, just give AttaBoy Plumbing a call.  Don't forget to check AttaBoyPlumbing .com for money saving coupons.

Wanna save even more money and even MAKE money?  You've got to check out our Facebook Rewards program!  It's all right HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay.  I need a some perspective from someone other than another plumber at AttaBoy Plumbing Company.  I just returned from two weeks in Israel visiting a number of tremendously amazing and significant ancient sites. 

One of those sites was a place called Bet She'an that has Old Testament significance in that it was where King Saul's headless body was afixed to a wall along with his sons.  It also has significance in that the ruins of the Roman city of Scythopolis are there as well.  Those ruins are the most extensive Roman ruins in Israel, and they include an amplitheater, collumn lined streets, baths, and temples to cultic deities. 

Wonderful to visit, but here's the problem.  I'm having a really difficult time getting my mind off of the ancient Roman public toilets that are preserved there (see photo above).  Check it out, marble seats.  It was the custom of the day that these restrooms were for both men and women to use in the same room, at the same time -- and there were no partitions.  "Oh, hi Lucia. You know, Marcus and I had a great time at the gladiator games yesterday. Thanks for letting him out of the house.  Say...could you hand me the stick there?"  

Now, by "stick" Phil is referring to the one that had a clump of something soft on the end of it that our ancient friends used for "tidying up." Yes, they shared. Now let me relieve any concerns you may have about sanitation issues, after all they weren't barbarians.  No...prior to passing the stick, Lucia would have dipped the puffy end of the stick into the little water channel in front of the toilets (see it there in the picture?).  There, all sanitized it for the next person to use...I kid you NOT!  Wow. . . wow!

Anyway, as a plumber, toilets generally have my attention and I have written some blogs about the evolution of toilets in past blogs (you can see them here).  But, I had never heard anything like the "stick thing" before.  It certainly makes gas station restrooms seem a little nicer, doesn't  it.

Wow.

For water heaters, sump pumps, leaks, clogs, and of course, toilets. . . Better Call AttaBoy!

And be sure to put more cash in your pocket by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

Okay, so how many of you even knew there WAS such a thing as Fix-a-Leak Week? Well, that would probably be none of you. Heck, I'm a plumber and I didn't know it!  I think I'll ask for tomorrow off to celebrate.

Our friends at the EPA came up with this one.  I guess it's a good thing. It's intended to draw attention to those pesky little leaks homes get that can amount to something over time.

According to their statistics, ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day. So let me see...if we take all of those ten percenters in the U.S. and added their 90 gallons of water lost - with 90 gallons being almost the equivalent of two water heater's worth of water - and if you stacked those water heaters end to end...wait for it...YES!  That means they would need to call AttaBoy Plumbing to come over and do something about it!

On a serious note, it is certainly possible to lose way more water than you think through something as small as a leaking toilet flapper or a dripping faucet. People often call us because of their water bills increasing due to these types of issues. If you're a fairly handy person, you may well be able to take care of those things yourself. But, if you don't want to mess with it just give us a call and we'll take care of that for you.

As it says on our trucks, "When drips, leaks or clogs annoy, better call AttaBoy."

Oh, and whether you need us or not, be sure to check out our Facebook Rewards program. No other plumbing company has anything like it.  Just click here to start putting money in your pocket!

 

 

 

 

 

ALL plumbing companies offer:  Drain openings, water heaters, sump pumps, and toilet & faucet repairs.

SOME plumbing companies also give you:   Courteous, clean, uniformed technicians and on-time service.

A FEW of those companies are even locally owned.

But, ONLY AttaBoy Plumbing gives you all of the above AND offers you their exclusive Facebook Rewards plus your very own Profit Share program!  We understand that if you're happy, we're happy.  Join the other happy members of the AttaBoy family who have discovered that "it pays to be friends."  Check it out for yourself by clicking HERE!

 

Monday's (day after big game) To Do List:


1.  Un-jam Mrs. Clark's garbage disposal in Fishers...buffalo chicken wing bones.

2.  Check out the Timpington's water heater in Carmel.  Said they ran out of hot water when their guests were showering in the morning (Mr. "T" said he wants info on a tankless model).

3.  Toilet clogged and overflowed at Johnson's  house. Either the kids dropped a toy in it or it's Uncle Buzz. . . again.  

4.  Another Broad Ripple clogged drain.  May need to suggest Bob actually turns the disposal on the next time he makes his special spicy potato soup.

5.  Tree roots clogging Wilson's main drain line after heavy use over Super Bowl weekend.  No drains flowing at all. Make this one a priority!

6.  Be sure all of our customers know how they can get a 15% discount off of today's work and get a chance for their job to be refunded in Wednesday's Payback Drawing.  

7.  Oh, and don't forget the most exciting part -- AttaBoy's Facebook Profit Share!  They can just click here to find out about all of AttaBoy's Facebook rewards.

 
We get a lot of phone calls from people "shopping" to find the best price to clear a clogged drain, install a sump pump or to have their old water heater replaced.  Because shopping around is so common, I wanted to take a little space here to talk about getting the best buy for a water heater. 

First, you need to notice I did not say "lowest" price, and for good reason. Lowest price is definitely not synonymous with best price.  I have often encountered a homeowner who was frustrated because they have purchased a water heater that seemed like a good deal at the time only to experience a great deal of frustration when it comes time to service it.  
Probably the most common senario goes like this:

1.  A thrifty-minded homeowner purchases a water heater from a "big box store".  They get it installed and everything's hunky dory.

2.  One day the homeowner wakes up and discovers he or she has to take a cold shower and there's little or no hot water from the faucets.  So they call the store where they purchased their water heater and find out that they will have to call the manufacturer to rectify the issue. After talking with tech support on the other side of the globe to troubleshoot the issue it is eventually determined that the gas valve or burner assembly that is causing the problem is under warranty (this time), but will have to be shipped to them since they are no longer dealing with the big box store, but the water heater manufacturer.  

3.  The now angry customer does not want to wait for the part and calls a local plumbing company, like AttaBoy Plumbing, to get their water heater up and running again quickly.  Overall, there ends up being no real cost savings and a disgruntled big box store customer.  

The next time you are considering purchasing a plumbing fixture like a water softener, garage disposal, sewage pump or yes, water heater, your best  price is going to be AttaBoy Plumbing.  We major in customer service in Indianapolis, Broadripple, Greenwood, Brownsburg, Fishers, and Carmel. 

And if you really want to put money in your pocket, check out our Facebook Rewards Program.

 As an Indianapolis plumbing company we always get our share of calls for clogged drains, slow toilets, sump pump problems, and garbage disposals not working.  But we also get a lot of inquiries about tankless water heaters.

A tankless water heater is a product that generates hot water immediately by heating water upon demand. That basically means that when you open a hot water faucet the tankless unit’s burners ignite to heat the water you're using as it passes through the pipes in the water heater. When you are finished and turn the faucet off the heater senses the stop of the water flow and immediately turns itself off.

The advantage of the tankless heater is that there is an operating cost savings over the lifetime of the unit because it doesn’t have to heat and re-heat a tank of stored water as with a conventional water heater. It also gives virtually unlimited hot water if the unit is sized correctly for your home. Additionally it takes up less space and uses less energy. The disadvantage is the higher initial investment costs.

If you would like to see if a tankless water heater would be right for you, just call AttaBoy Plumbing.  We are not only downtown plumbers, but we service Fishers, Carmel, Greenwood, Lawrence and Avon.

Interested in Attaboy's innovative  ways of putting money in your pocket? Then be sure to check out our Facebook Rewards Program! Just click here.   

Okay...here it is...my all-time favorite bit of plumbing humor.  This cartoon by Gary Larson portrays the image that plumbers have in the service industry, namely, that having your toilet, drain or other plumbing problem serviced is expensive.  Well, yes plumbing can be expensive, just as it can expensive to have your car or furnace repaired, but just because it might be pricey doesn't mean it always is.
 
In fact, just today one of AttaBoy's technicians was called out to service a water heater that was not heating. Turned out that our guy only charged $49 because the call did not require hours of time or expensive parts to get the homeowner hot water again.

Let's face it, don't we all want cheap plumbing -- and cheap everything else for that matter? Sure we do, but we would probably agree that we aren't thrilled with paying less for anything if the quality of materials, service or workmanship is bad. 

Most of us have gone the "cheap route" on something before and wished later that we'd spent a little more for the good stuff. The same thing happens in the plumbing world. AttaBoy Plumbing is not going to be the most expensive plumbing company out there, but we are also not going to be quite as cheap as the guy working out of the back of his El Camino. That's actually a good thing.  AttaBoy is, however, going to be the company that is fussy over quality and service.

And by the way, when it comes to money AttaBoy offers you something no other plumbing company does: Three ways to put money in your pocket.  Curious? Watch this little video (click here):

 As promised last time I want to tell you about the three ways our Social Reward Program can put money in your pocket.

1. Right off the bat your gonna save 15% off our regular prices for any plumbing we do for you.

2. Next, your job will be entered into our weekly Payback Drawing so you can have a chance to get a refund on the work we did for you.  Did I mention that your job is entered every week unless it's drawn?  In fact, I just had one of our customers call in today who saw on facebook that his job had been drawn.  So what happened next? BAM!!! , a check for $469 is in the mail for him tomorrow. He could hardly believe it was that easy....and with no catch.  I like to think of it as getting your sump pump, faucet, or toilet for free!

3. But personally I think the best part is that you're immediately eligible to start building your AttaBoy Profit Share.  So let's say you've liked AttaBoy Plumbing on facebook and registered for our Social Rewards Program, that's how you start.  Next you tell some friends or family members to do the same thing.  Now, anytime any of those people you told to register do so and then call AttaBoy the next time they need plumbing, then you will receive a check in the mail from us. The more people who register for the program because of you, the more often you can get a check.  Picture this:  your next door neighbor needs their faucet repaired - you get paid; your sister has her clogged drain opened - you get paid; someone on the other side of town gets a new water heater from AttaBoy - you get paid. Just think, all you had to do was put the word out and tell others to tell others to register. This could get BIG!

So, here's the bottom line:  we want more happy customers and you probably wouldn't mind receiving monthly checks. Hmmmm, let's do this :-)

For more information about The AttaBoy Social Rewards Program, click here

One of the great things about working with AttaBoy Plumbing is knowing I am working for a company that is always on the cutting edge of what it takes to be the best plumbing company in town.  

Not only do we do the expected things like drain cleaning or installing and repairing water heaters, faucets and sump pumps, we also do the unusually great unexpected things like our Social Rewards Program.

AttaBoy's Social Rewards Program is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for you to actually receive checks in the mail from your plumbing company (that's us), even on a monthly basis -- whether you used AttaBoy Plumbing that month or not. Best of all, it costs you nothing.  Peaked your interest? Well, all you have to do is "like" AttaBoy Plumbing on facebook and register there for the program and you're in!  My next blog post will explain the three ways, count 'em, THREE ways you can SAVE, WIN, and EARN money with AttaBoy!  And remember there is. . . 

NO COST, NO CATCH, NO COMMITMENT

"I just know that I smell gas, but my husband doesn't seem to smell anything" is a very common statement we often hear from our customers here at AttaBoy Plumbing.  And such was the case with one of our Noblesville customers who called to say she swore that every so often she could get a whiff of natural gas in her home, however, her husband didn't smell anything.  First, it is not uncommon that the "husband" doesn't smell anything.  The fact is, female sense of smell is "more tuned" than male's.  So to be honest, we plumbers tend to listen to the woman of the house more intently (experience has taught us to always listen to the woman of the house) when it comes to smells.  Well, in the case of our Noblesville gas smell customer it turns out that she really did have a small gas leak on the water heater/HVAC gas supply line.  Her AttaBoy gas technician had the leak fixed in a jiffy and was out her way.  Call, Click, or Chat now for the gas leak experts at AttaBoy Plumbing.

We received a call from a panicked Indianapolis woman who said she had just gotten home to find "water raining from my dining room ceiling".  

We immediately sent one of our plumbers right over to discover that she was not experiencing a super-natural weather phenomenon, but rather a really inconvenient, but, natural plumbing ploblem.  Plumbing materials age and wear out over time - right?  Water constantly eats away and deteriorates the plumbing mechanicals that are used to current and distrubute the water.  In the case of our new Indianapolis customer's raining dining room ceiling; in the bath above, a fitting had spit at the toilet fill-valve and water supply line allowing water to run down the line, across her floor (undetected), under the wall baseboard, dropping unto the dining room ceiling below, finally finding its' way out through the ceiling dining room light fixture.  Turns out, easy plumbing fix; nasty mess for customer to have cleaned up.  Though there is no sure-fire way to insure that this kind of plumbing problem does not occur, the odds of this kind of homecoming can be greatly reduced simply by having your plumbing mechanicals inspected each year.   Call, Click, or Chat now for your AttaBoy Plumbing Whole House Plumbing Inspection, today.

"I wish I had called you first!",  our Carmel water leak customer told his AttaBoy plumbing tecnician ...even though he didn't have a plumbing problem at all, he had a gutter/roofing problem.  Though this example from one of our service calls last week is a little extreme, it is a good example of how water can do crazy things.

We were called by this new Carmel customer who explained that he had this leak in his basement ceiling and he had other plumbing companies out to take a look with no success in discovering what was causing the leak, and asked "would we like a shot at it?".  Well, after examining all walls and ceilings, water lines, some head scratching, and a refused-to-be-stumped attitude, I am proud to say that our AttaBoy plumbing professional hit a bulls eye! It turns out (now get this!) that a second story roof guttter had filled with leaves and debris causing it to dam and overflow up under the roof flashing, down the inside of the second story wall, across the wall seam some thrirty feet, down the first floor wall, back across the length of the home inside the wall, and finally dropping down on the basement ceiling where over time it had finally damaged the drywall reveiling the leaking water.  WHOA!

"When drips, leaks, and clogs annoy; call the plumbing (water) pros of AttaBoy!"

We just earned another new Fishers customer who recently tried to repair a drain leak himself and wound up creating more of a mess than solving the problem - his words, not mine.  We assured him that his story is very common...we're just thankful he chose AttaBoy to provide the right fix. 

Mr. Fishers (name is changed to protect the innocent) was experiencing a spuratic leak in the ceiling above his kitchen sink.  To keep the story short, Mr. Fishers had done a very good detective job by finally deducing that it was not a drain line leaking, but, a drain vent line leaking.  Vent lines allow your plumbing drain lines to breath so they will drain well.  If your drains lines don't "breath" they will react much like a straw filled with liquid when you hold your finger over one end...it holds the liquid.  Mr. Fishers had discovered that an 1-1/2 PVC fitting on the vent line was leaking when it rained and had tried to repair it with caulking silicone.  Great job on the leak detection (vent leaks are among the hardest to determine and find), not so great job on the repair.  After his third attempt, Mr. Fishers called AttaBoy out and his AttaBoy Plumber made the proper repair (actually replacing the section of improperly installed venting) keeping the rain outside and his drains breathing properly...and, Mr. Fishers "breathing" a sigh of relief.

Our prayers go out to those affected by the tragedy at the State Fair last night and our hearts swell with pride to see the pictures of Hoosiers rushing to help those injured. 

I, personally, am a repair it kind of guy.  And, that's how our AttaBoy plumbers approach every job as well...usually a repair is less expensive for our customer, and it does the trick.  However, there are times when it can be more cost effective to install new instead of spending money on a repair and our AttaBoy plumbers offer those options to our customers to help assist the home owner in making an informed descision.  There are also those times, or certain repairs, that we will not perform a repair and only offer a new or replacement option.  Hose spigots are one such task.  AttaBoy had a long time Fishers customer call in a couple weeks ago to service a leaking hose spigot.  Our plumber evaluated the spigot, that was installed by AttaBoy 11 years ago, and determined that hard water deposits had built up on the "seat" of the faucet and was/had "eaten" up the bulb plunger assembly of this anti-freeze hose spigot.  Our plumber gave only a replacement option offering the installation of a couple different models.  Our long time Fishers customer told our plumber that he just wanted it repaired.  Our plumber explained that we do not repair hose spigots with that kind of sympton because our data/history as demonstrated that the repair does not "take", or simply lasts for only a few usages; and, even though our customers are/were made aware of the reality of the repair we found that customers were still "upset" with spending money on the "repair" that did not last.    Long story short, we wound up installing a new anti-freeze hose spigot.

We understand that no one wakes up in the morning and wants to spend money with a plumber...let alone more money for something new when one may be thinking it can just be repaired.  With that in mind, AttaBoy plumbers will always shoot straight with you using our combined experience, job histories, and expertise to provide you options that will provide you the greatest "bang for your buck"! 

So there you are lying in bed at night and you hear a faint "tinkling" sound.  The more you try not to hear it...the louder it gets.  Has that ever happened to you.  Well, that's exactly what one of our Carmel customers experienced last week.  He got up and tracked the sound to the master bath toilet...his toilet was "running".  This long time Carmel Indiana customer called us out to remedy the problem so he could get "a good night's sleep".  Our AttaBoy plumber examined the toilet and discovered that the toilet fill valve was weeping into the flush valve over flow...a very common sympton, a very common repair.  In less than an hour his toilet was repaired and quiet when not being flushed, and he finally got a good night's sleep.