The ability for plumbers to quickly move tools and equipment to job sites is one of the primary reasons why small business work trucks play such an important part in the plumbing industry. If plumbers didn’t have access to a dependable vehicle, they’d have to rely on public transportation or their own personal automobiles to Read more
Plumbing
The ability for plumbers to quickly move tools and equipment to job sites is one of the primary reasons why small business work trucks play such an important part in the plumbing industry. If plumbers didn’t have access to a dependable vehicle, they’d have to rely on public transportation or their own personal automobiles to get about, both of which are time-consuming and inconvenient options.
The capacity to transport a greater quantity of tools and supplies is one of the most significant benefits that comes with owning a work truck for a small business. When they go to a new job site, plumbers frequently need to bring a variety of tools and supplies with them. These may include pipes, fittings, water heaters, and other items. They are able to load and carry these materials with ease thanks to the use of a work truck, which ensures that they have everything they need to do the task.
Work vehicles provide plumbers with a feeling of professionalism and trustworthiness, in addition to increasing the amount of equipment that can be transported. When a consumer sees a plumber arrive at their home in a truck that is neatly branded and well-organized, it may instill a sense of trust and confidence in the plumbing company’s abilities. A work truck may also function as a mobile advertisement for a company by having the firm’s logo and contact information displayed on it. This allows potential customers to view the advertisement as they are traveling about town in the work truck.
The capacity of small company work trucks to safely store tools and equipment is one further advantage offered by these vehicles. When working on plumbing projects, plumbers frequently use high-priced gear and equipment that must be safeguarded against the risk of being stolen or damaged. They are able to secure these goods inside of a work vehicle and keep them out of harm’s way while they are not using them.
Productivity has increased since plumbers are able to swiftly and readily reach the tools and equipment they require while working thanks to the availability of work trucks. This can assist to save time and boost production, both of which can contribute to increased profitability for the company.
A work vehicle enables plumbers to respond to the demands of their customers more rapidly, since they are able to simply transfer the essential tools and equipment to the location of the task. This results in improved customer service. This has the potential to result in greater levels of client satisfaction as well as more recurring business.
Work trucks may also assist to increase safety on the job site, which is another benefit of using them. It is far safer for plumbers not to have to risk harm by carrying heavy goods by hand if they have access to a truck that is specifically designed for the purpose of hauling plumbing supplies and equipment.
Greater flexibility: Plumbers who own their own work trucks have the ability to take on tasks in a variety of places without having to rely on other modes of transportation, such as public transit or their own personal automobiles. This is something that may be very helpful in remote locations, as well as when coping with unforeseen events.
Increased storage capacity: Because work trucks often have more storage room than personal automobiles, plumbers are able to bring a greater quantity of tools and equipment with them to job locations when they use these vehicles. This may prove to be especially helpful for larger, more complicated tasks that need a wide array of specialist equipment.
Options for customization It’s possible to tailor a lot of different work trucks to the particular requirements of a plumbing company. For instance, plumbers might outfit the interior of their van with racks, drawers, and many other storage options to maintain the tools and equipment in an organized fashion and make them conveniently available.
Work trucks may also assist to boost efficiency on the construction site, which is one of its primary benefits. The time spent looking for goods or driving back and forth to acquire them may be cut down significantly for plumbers if they keep all of the required tools and equipment close at hand and easily available. This may assist to enhance production while decreasing the amount of time wasted waiting.
Work vehicles may also give an additional layer of protection for a plumbing company, which is an important consideration. The majority of work trucks include storage compartments that can be locked, which enables plumbers to keep their tools and equipment safe while they are not using them. Theft and damage are two things that may be quite expensive for a small business, and this can help avoid them.
Utilizing a work truck for commercial reasons can also assist in lowering the amount of wear and tear that is placed on a person’s personal car. If a plumber uses their personal vehicle to transport tools and equipment, that plumber’s vehicle may see a greater amount of wear and tear over the course of their career. It is possible for plumbers to make their personal vehicles last longer if they invest in a work truck designed expressly for use in their businesses.
Possible savings on taxes There is a possibility that purchasing a small company work vehicle might save money on taxes. When filing tax returns, a plumbing company might be able to claim a tax deduction for the cost of purchasing a work vehicle, depending on the particulars of the company’s finances. It is always recommended to speak with a tax specialist in order to discover the precise tax ramifications of acquiring a work vehicle. This is because tax laws are complicated and always changing.
Work trucks can contribute to an increase in site organization and make the work environment more efficient. The ability of plumbers to maintain a clean and organized work space, which can contribute to increased levels of efficiency and production, is made possible by the availability of dedicated storage space for tools and equipment.
Increased portability: Plumbers can benefit from increased portability thanks to the availability of work vehicles. Because they are able to readily travel to job sites in a variety of places, plumbers who have access to a work truck may be very beneficial to plumbing companies that serve a vast service area.
Work trucks may also be a cost-effective choice for plumbers, making them a good alternative to consider. It is possible that using a work truck rather than hiring a van or truck for certain task locations will be more cost-effective overall in some circumstances. Using a work truck instead of a personal vehicle may also be more cost-effective in the long run due to the fact that work trucks are purpose-built to transport tools and equipment and have a lesser potential for requiring costly repairs and maintenance over time.
Opportunities for custom branding: A plumbing company’s work vehicles may also be used as a tool for marketing the company’s services. The ability to brand one’s own work truck with one’s firm logo and contact information is one way that tradespeople, such as plumbers, may raise their profile in the community and bring in new clients.
To summarize, work trucks for small businesses are an important component of the plumbing sector. They enable plumbers to move tools and equipment to job locations quickly and effectively, present an air of professionalism, and store tools and equipment safely. It may eventually save plumbers time and money, in addition to assisting them in growing their business, if they make the investment in a dependable work truck.
Just in time for heating season, Weil-McLain® has updated its ProTools™ App with enhanced features to provide contractors and service technicians with the support they need to streamline customer visits and provide clients with a premium experience. Available for iOS and Android devices, the app now allows heating professionals to work virtually with Weil-McLain’s Tech Support team to Read more
Just in time for heating season, Weil-McLain® has updated its ProTools™ App with enhanced features to provide contractors and service technicians with the support they need to streamline customer visits and provide clients with a premium experience. Available for iOS and Android devices, the app now allows heating professionals to work virtually with Weil-McLain’s Tech Support team to problem-solve issues as they occur on the job site.
“Our goal is to continuously optimize this platform by adding additional features that make service technicians’ and installing contractors’ jobs easier – especially during the busy heating season period,” said David DeVries, Director of Product Management with Weil-McLain. “The new Site-Call video assistance opens new opportunities for service technicians to receive instant support from our Tech Support team.”
Service technicians who run into complications while on the job can contact Weil-McLain Tech Support for Site-Call video and receive immediate real-time assistance. After requesting support, they simply accept the call from Tech Support on their smartphone and share a live video of the issue they are experiencing on the job site. Tech Support will then highlight the issue on the service technician’s screen and propose corrective action to solve it.
“This new feature provides heating professionals with immediate access to our support team and also allows them the opportunity to learn new methods for troubleshooting, maintenance and boiler setup,” added DeVries. “As we prepare for what could be another colder than normal winter, we want to ensure service technicians have all the digital tools and knowledge they need to help expedite customer visits while providing homeowners a best-in-class service experience.”
The Weil-McLain ProTools App helps enhance service technicians’ hydronic expertise by putting a variety of Weil-McLain boiler product information at their fingertips. From reviewing fault codes for troubleshooting and accessing how-to videos to viewing product manuals and schematics and quickly finding parts, the app has become a one-stop resource for boiler installation and maintenance.
For more information on the upgraded Weil-McLain ProTools App, visit www.weil-mclain.com or download the app via the App Store or Google Play.
Buffalo Grove, Ill. — This past week, a tragedy occurred in the plumbing industry. On a jobsite, in someone’s front yard, a plumber died as a result of being buried alive due to a trench collapse. Twenty-seven-year-old Nikodem Zaremba was killed when the 8-ft.-deep trench he was working in collapsed on top of him. Zaremba Read more
The shallow trench box was employed because the walls were unstable following soil saturation from a year’s long hydronic leak. Didn’t trust the dirt, but no trench collapse happened. Waste of time and money? No, no, and no. Why not? Think about the need to kneel beside the piping to make the connections and braze the copper joints then add insulation. That puts the employee below the top of the trench where a collapse would have the potential to engulf the employee under several tons of earth. The copper piping runs to an outdoor makeup air handler with 100% outdoor air for the laboratory at the city sewage treatment plant. Image: Dave Yates
Buffalo Grove, Ill. — This past week, a tragedy occurred in the plumbing industry. On a jobsite, in someone’s front yard, a plumber died as a result of being buried alive due to a trench collapse. Twenty-seven-year-old Nikodem Zaremba was killed when the 8-ft.-deep trench he was working in collapsed on top of him. Zaremba was co-owner of Rooter Solutions.
OSHA is currently looking into this and has opened a formal investigation into the circumstances. According to initial results, the site did not appear to have the necessary safety precautions to keep the accident from happening.
On the recent Appetite for Construction podcast, Mechanical Hub friend, Dave Yates, told the story back in 1972—the first week on the job as a young tradesman—he was called to a nearby jobsite to help three plumbers to safety by digging them out of a collapsed trench. Unfortunately, one was already dead when he arrived. The other, a couple of feet away, was buried up to his armpits. They were able to extract the other two workers to safety.
This muddy ditch was for an inner-city library where the cast iron was rotted out and raw sewage was running into their basement. A muddy sloppy mess and we were ensuring no mudslides into the ditch. Not deep enough to require shoring, but OSHA does state the ditch/trench is to be inspected by a “qualified” person to determine if shoring is needed when ditch/trench is under 5′ deep. Image: Dave Yates
Survive or not, says Yates, being buried in dirt for an extended period of time can cause major health issues, including complications called Compartment Syndrome, a condition that occurs when the pressure within a compartment increases, restricting the blood flow to the area and potentially damaging the muscles and nearby nerves.
“Victims of a cave-in are in grave danger even if they are not totally buried, and can still breathe. Circulatory problems, Compartment Syndrome, clotting, and other issues can be life threatening or cause serious injury,” commented Tim Doran on Facebook.
Listen below to hear Dave’s conversation on the podcast:
From 1979 to 2019, Yates had employees and bore a responsibility to ensure they had full-time work and would return home to their families safe each day. “Most had never worked for anyone who required the use of shoring. Even our excavators did not have shoring when we first looked at using them as subcontractors. Without either renting it or buying their own, they could not work for us. I told them they could charge extra for shoring because it was an expense for them just like any other job site cost,” said Yates.
Fifty years later, from Yates’ recollection of that day to present day, it seems that there are those that still don’t heed the best given. We pray for Zaremba’s family, and stay safe out there.
By: Jason Abajian, North America Water Sales Manager at Resideo Many people have water-leak stories, now there is a solution Winter arrived a bit earlier than usual here in the Upper Midwest, and the moment I saw the projected cold snap, my mind immediately went to the maintenance involved in preparing my home for a long Read more
By: Jason Abajian, North America Water Sales Manager at Resideo
Many people have water-leak stories, now there is a solution
Winter arrived a bit earlier than usual here in the Upper Midwest, and the moment I saw the projected cold snap, my mind immediately went to the maintenance involved in preparing my home for a long winter in Traverse City, Mich., where our average snowfall is between 125 inches and 145 inches each year.
Questions like, ‘did I blow out my sprinkler lines so the water doesn’t freeze and crack the copper pipes and sprinkler heads?’ Or ‘is my boiler tuned up and ready for another heating season? I hate to leave my home unprotected.’ It’s my family’s sanctuary and a massive financial investment.
The force that can carve out the Grand Canyon can also carve out massive damage to your home. How can we protect our homes from this great force of nature? Knowledge and preparation are critical.
Water Leaks are on the Rise
Water makes up most of the human body and our earth, it’s more important than food to sustain life, and yet it is the largest menace for home insurance claims. Each year, about one in 60 homeowners files a water damage claim, accounting for 20% of all homeowner insurance claims.
I have inflated this statistic by having dealt with two water damage insurance claims myself. My first claim occurred in 2008. Four days after renting out our home after we struggled to sell it, the renter left a bathtub faucet running upstairs while they were at work and the loft next to the bathroom imploded into the living room below. If that was not bad enough, several years ago my friend’s four-year-old daughter flushed a towel down my current basement toilet and the towel then wrapped around my sewage sump pump and clogged it while the toilet continued to run. I came home late that night to 3 inches of water in the basement. The worst/best part happened when my plumber was replacing my sump pump. He offered me a water leak detector, so I’d be alerted if something like that happened again. The irony was that I already had a sample sitting in a box soaking wet – unused!
Beyond personal residences, think how vital water leak prevention devices can be in multi-family dwellings like condos and town homes, home rentals and even new construction. For example, if you were living in a condo and the property above yours had a pipe burst while your neighbor was away. Your neighbor’s nightmare is now yours, and the property below you and the building management company. Now the home insurance claim isn’t limited to your condo alone.
The same goes for any unoccupied home. Home rentals are notorious for large water damage claims due to faucets and fixtures being left open to run. I know from personal experience. Knowing your water supply line is protected, similar to a connected thermostat communicating your property is properly heating and cooling, is worth the price!
Stopping Water at the Source
The good news is that 93% of water leaks can be prevented. Utilizing well-placed water leak detectors that are connected to a water shutoff valve can help prevent catastrophic water damage. In 2021, Resideo Water Leak and Freeze detectors helped save 3 million gallons of water and helped prevent an estimated $1.9 million in insurance claims.
Today, I use Resideo’s new Braukmann L5 WiFi Water Shutoff Valve on my home’s water main and simply shutoff the water flow into my entire home while I travel via the Resideo app. I can also pair Resideo’s WiFi Water Leak & Freeze Detectors in high-risk places and use the actuator’s water sensor cable plugged directly into it – if any part of the cable gets wet, it will close off the actuator stopping water from entering our home. The water cables can be daisy chained up to 500 ft to protect a complete mechanical room. Pipes can leak and burst anywhere throughout the home, especially during the change of seasons, and this product offers me personal peace of mind.
Here are a few additional scenarios that could warrant a water management system and/or leak detection device:
- Air handler in the attic. Using water leak detection devices in or around a condensation pan would be a good idea so as to identify any water damage threat in an unconditioned space.
- Dehumidifier in a crawl space. The average dehumidifier captures 30-70 pints of water per day and this moisture needs to go somewhere. A water leak detector delivers peace of mind when the unit is out of sight.
- Laundry on the second floor. Water damage from a second story can heavily increase the liability of a water damage claims above one’s insurance deductible. A water leak detector will quickly alert you to an issue.
- Tankless water heater installed. If a homeowner has one of these, it’s likely they are resource conscious and may be more interested in reducing the amount of water lost to leaks.
- Sump pump pit. These devices are critical for providing protection to one’s home from ground water. Knowing there is a problem allows you to act before three inches of water fills the entire basement.
- Recent leak damage. Just as my plumber offered me when I had a water damage to my basement – there is no better time to offer water protection than after a customer has felt the sting of a water insurance claim.
What is peace of mind worth to you and your customers? The cost of water is rising like other utilities and so are monthly insurance premiums. Knowing that I do not need to worry about a pipe burst destroying my home and savings account while I visit the in-laws this Christmas will save some of my sanity, and you can’t put a price on that.
P1 Service Group, an industry-leading growth partner that provides world-class resources to its home service partner companies across the country, announced a partnership with Portland-based Sky Heating, AC, Plumbing & Electrical, launching P1’s family of companies into the Pacific Northwest. Sky Heating, AC, Plumbing & Electrical has offered expert home service solutions to homeowners across Read more
P1 Service Group, an industry-leading growth partner that provides world-class resources to its home service partner companies across the country, announced a partnership with Portland-based Sky Heating, AC, Plumbing & Electrical, launching P1’s family of companies into the Pacific Northwest.
Sky Heating, AC, Plumbing & Electrical has offered expert home service solutions to homeowners across Oregon and Southwest Washington since 1979. With physical locations in Portland, The Dalles, and Gresham, the company has continuously added services and solutions to help meet the needs of their expanding customer base and supported their communities through The Home Builders Foundation, Meals on Wheels, Dash for Kids, and other organizations.
“Sky demonstrates the values we seek in home service partner companies,” said P1 CEO Jeff Belk. “We quickly noticed the level of care and commitment Sky had for their team, and it was clear that they are an ideal partner company for us. Together with our team at P1, I’m confident that Sky will continue growing throughout the Pacific Northwest.”
Sky’s president, Travis Smith, recognized there was a ceiling given his existing resources that would ultimately prevent his team and company from reaching their full potential. He wanted a partner that would prioritize the development of his team and help them deliver their outstanding service to more homeowners across Oregon, Southwest Washington, and beyond.
“I saw the point coming at which we would reach a leadership lid at Sky, and I immediately started to search for a true partner that would ensure my team’s growth was not limited,” Smith said. “Our two primary goals were to find a company that believed in our employees first and that would empower them to grow both personally and professionally. From the first moment we discovered P1 Service Group, we knew we found a fit. Since partnering with P1, we’ve continued to grow and develop leaders from within our company at a level higher than previously possible.”