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Plumbers?  Pink?  Other than the letter "p", what would they have in common?  Well, starting in this month of love (February, that is), Gene Johnson Plumbng & Heating is supporting the fight against breast cancer!

Christmas is the time that fills our childish hearts with wonder, our stomachs with delicious anticipation, and our plumbing with the fear of extra company, extra food and clogged drains. Think about all those delicious sugar cookies you’ve been making, the chocolate covered peanut butter balls, the wassail, the mincemeat pie, the turkey with all those delicious turkey juices and turkey bones, the honeyed ham--YUM! Sounds great to you, but oh so frightening to your kitchen sink and bathroom drains. The Christmas Plumbing quartet Clogged Pipes, Slow Draining Sink, Overused Garbage Disposal, and Leaky Faucet have adapted “Christmas Time is Here,” from the “Charlie Brown Christmas” movie to reflect their perceptions of the Christmas season--newly retitled:

“Groan,” complains your house, yet you ignore her. “Creak,” she complains further. “There’s something wrong with my insides. Listen! Thump. Thud. Gurgle. Groooooaaan.” Do these sound like the same groans and pleas coming from your house? Don’t make her suffer. Call the noise doctors! “Noise doctors?” you might ask. Yes, the noise doctors.

You’ve noticed that lingering smell. You know the one. The one that sings the praises of a rotten egg. “It must be from the hen house outside,” you tell yourself. Or “I cook my very favorite boiled eggs in the kitchen every morning, so of course it should smell like that!” Maybe you reason that the smell comes from an easter egg that remained unfound on the inside of the house due to the rainy easter last year. Reasons, reasons, excuses, excuses.

I have a very distinct memory of a cold winter evening in an old house (yes, it was my house) with very old plumbing and a radiator system for in house heating. We were all bundled up in bed having noticed some low water pressure, but that was dad’s job. He was always Mr. Fix-it. It wasn’t much later that I saw car lights flashing into my bedroom window and heard voices heading down into my basement. Curiosity got the best of me, and I went downstairs to survey the scene of frozen icicles being gushed over by a steady outpouring of water. One person was perched on a chair trying to stop the leak long enough to be able to repair it. Eventually, we just turned off the water until we could call the plumber the next day.

You might read this story and think “Sorry for you, friend.” Just you wait. Your plumbing, as you may well know, is a little like the neighborhood stray cat. It’s friendly while you are leaving food out for it, but as soon as you ignore it, your garbage cans are in for trouble. If you are taking care of your plumbing and getting it checked out at least once a year, the likelihood of you finding yourself in a bad plumbing situation at the wrong time is slim.

Get yourself a good plumber (one you can trust) and let him help you troubleshoot and fix the little problems before they become big. Or, if you didn’t troubleshoot (yes...you...) then get someone good out to your house to fix the problem. Yes, we understand that you could save sooooo much money if you could do the repair yourself, but listen, you can save so much time and failed effort by asking for some help.

The plumbers at Gene Johnson Plumbing are good, dependable people. They have all sorts of experience with general plumbing, drains and sewers, and even water heaters. They have been in the plumbing business since 1976, so no matter if you categorize yourself as the troubleshooter or the ack-I-shoulda-listened person, let Gene Johnson Plumbing provide you with the best plumbing service for you home. 

INTERESTING TIP: Believe it or not, it is not a very good idea to use a plunger if your toilet is clogged. Plungers just push whatever is stuck deeper into the drain. Instead, it is a better idea to use a closet auger. It will do a better job and is affordable.

Take a minute and look out your window. Gaze out upon your beautifully manicured lawn, the flowering gardens, the well-shaped hedges, the tall, strong-looking shade trees. You may be staring out at the doom of your sewer system.

Every morning, you wake up and start your daily routine. First task is to get out of bed. Then, into the bathroom where you use the facilities, brush your teeth, take a shower, and fix your hair. After getting dressed, if time allows, you go into the kitchen and turn on the faucet to fill up your coffee pot or teacup. You wash your dishes and head out the door.  Most of your life revolves around a dependence on the plumbing in your house. It doesn’t take long before you encounter some problems with your plumbing. Some of the most common plumbing problems include:

Well, you can judge for yourself.  According to the leak calculator on usgs.gov, just one faucet, dripping 2 times per minute can waste 69 gallons of water a year.  For perspective, a bathtub holds anywhere from 40 to 75 gallons (depending on which google answer you like).  So that 1 drip every 30 seconds is at least enough to fill up your bathtub once a year.

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