I know that most people like to wait until the last minute for things, but I don’t recommend it here.
On January 1st, 2010, a new law (AB1953) takes effect in California. It changes the amount of lead that is allowed to be in plumbing materials that come in contact with water. A little more specifically, if the part has more than 0.25% lead in the “wetted surfaces”, and the water that flows through it will be for human consumption, then it will be illegal to sell or install in California.
So angle stops (the valves under your sink), kitchen, bathroom and bar faucets (but not laundry faucets), all brass fittings and valves (but not shower valves) will all fall under this new law. (Other stuff may or may not, these were just some examples.)
Manufacturers are already getting rid of their inventories; selling them at discounts or pushing them into other states (only California and Vermont are affected by this new law). Our suppliers are offering deals, but we’re letting our inventory dwindle so we don’t get stuck.
This is the time for you to save some money, and you don’t want to wait until the last minute. Remember, the “last minute” is right around Christmas, so you’re not going to have any money!
If you wait until next year, you will end up paying more because the manufacturers are going to charge more. They had to spend money coming up with new processes or materials, which means new ways to make their items. If they have to spend money, it means they sell the item for more money.
It could also mean that the “new” item could have more plastic in it. If they could not find a way to make the item from metal that would meet the requirements of the new law, they may have made some parts plastic. Plastic is easy to make without lead, but it isn’t always as sturdy as metal.
So, to sum up…
- you could save money now because suppliers are selling their inventory at a discount.
- You will pay more later due to the increased cost of manufacturing.
- The part you get later may not be as sturdy as the parts currently available.
If you are thinking of having some plumbing work done, now is the best time to do it. And if you’re worried about lead content, just remember that California already has some of the toughest laws on lead in the country. It has been said that this new law won’t make an appreciable difference in the lead content in our water, but it will still be the law.
Still have questions? Call AB&R Plumbing today or visit our website.
South County - 949-642-7900
North County - 714-641-3200
Toll Free - 800-645-2689
Get your work done now to save money and “avoid the Christmas rush!”
Monday, November 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Don’t Ignore Your Drains!
The drains in your house are the 2nd most important part of your plumbing system. Without them, we might as well go back to washing dishes in buckets and using the outhouse! Yeah, it’s great to have running water, but if you don’t have a place to get rid of the water when you’re done with it, you will start to agree with my first statement!
Most people don’t even think about their drains until they are ankle deep in nasty water. They see that their sink (bathtub, shower, toilet, etc.) drains slowly, but as long as the water eventually goes down, they don’t do anything about it. This can be a BIG mistake!
The drains in your house can be compared to your arteries: you can get a buildup of materials on the walls of the pipes that can effect the “health” of your house. Unlike your arteries, AB&R Plumbing can clean out your drains and prevent this buildup from giving you problems.
When you actually have a clog, the most common device to use is called a “snake” or drain machine. This uses a blade on the end of a flexible cable to cut through whatever is causing the clog. The cable rotates and pushes the blade into the pipe, so it can be very effective. It can usually cut through soft blockages, small roots, and other problems. Sometimes, though, the blockage is too severe, or you are trying to do preventative cleaning. For this, you need a jetter.
A jetter shoots high pressure water forward to cut through the clog. It also shoots water backward at an angle so that it hits the walls of the pipe. This high pressure water scours the walls of the pipe clean
AB&R Plumbing has 2 different types of jetters. We have electric “mini-jetters” that operate at as high as 1200 PSI. These are great for smaller pipe sizes and when jetting inside buildings
When you need more muscle, we also have a diesel-powered hydro-jetter that can operate as high as 4000 PSI! This machine can cut through just about anything, it emulsifies grease, pushes rocks, cuts roots! It’s so strong that, with one of the nozzles, it can cut a 2” x 4” in half in about 4 seconds!
.
If your drains are slow, you might want to think about having them jetted before you have a backup. You know that backups always happen at the worst, most inconvenient, time. If you have your lines jetted, you can schedule it, instead of having to deal with an emergency.
So, save the hassles and extra expense of having a backup. Call AB&R Plumbing and ask about preventative drain cleaning with our hydro-jetters. We can perform this service (and have) in your home, office, condo complex, office park, etc. It doesn't matter if it is your sewer, area drains, storm drains, or almost any other type of drains.
Give us a call today, you'll be glad you did.
South County - 949-642-7900
North County - 714-641-3200
Toll Free - 800-645-2689
Most people don’t even think about their drains until they are ankle deep in nasty water. They see that their sink (bathtub, shower, toilet, etc.) drains slowly, but as long as the water eventually goes down, they don’t do anything about it. This can be a BIG mistake!
The drains in your house can be compared to your arteries: you can get a buildup of materials on the walls of the pipes that can effect the “health” of your house. Unlike your arteries, AB&R Plumbing can clean out your drains and prevent this buildup from giving you problems.
When you actually have a clog, the most common device to use is called a “snake” or drain machine. This uses a blade on the end of a flexible cable to cut through whatever is causing the clog. The cable rotates and pushes the blade into the pipe, so it can be very effective. It can usually cut through soft blockages, small roots, and other problems. Sometimes, though, the blockage is too severe, or you are trying to do preventative cleaning. For this, you need a jetter.
A jetter shoots high pressure water forward to cut through the clog. It also shoots water backward at an angle so that it hits the walls of the pipe. This high pressure water scours the walls of the pipe clean
AB&R Plumbing has 2 different types of jetters. We have electric “mini-jetters” that operate at as high as 1200 PSI. These are great for smaller pipe sizes and when jetting inside buildings
When you need more muscle, we also have a diesel-powered hydro-jetter that can operate as high as 4000 PSI! This machine can cut through just about anything, it emulsifies grease, pushes rocks, cuts roots! It’s so strong that, with one of the nozzles, it can cut a 2” x 4” in half in about 4 seconds!
.
If your drains are slow, you might want to think about having them jetted before you have a backup. You know that backups always happen at the worst, most inconvenient, time. If you have your lines jetted, you can schedule it, instead of having to deal with an emergency.
So, save the hassles and extra expense of having a backup. Call AB&R Plumbing and ask about preventative drain cleaning with our hydro-jetters. We can perform this service (and have) in your home, office, condo complex, office park, etc. It doesn't matter if it is your sewer, area drains, storm drains, or almost any other type of drains.
Give us a call today, you'll be glad you did.
South County - 949-642-7900
North County - 714-641-3200
Toll Free - 800-645-2689
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Changes to Plumbing Code Can Save You Money!
Do you know about the new law that goes into effect January 1st, 2010? It is a change to the existing plumbing code that says that anything installed in a potable water system, where people are going to drink the water, has to be almost completely lead free!
This is even more restrictive than the existing law, that went into effect some years ago. You can read the text of the new law here, but basically it says that, if the water is for human consumption, anything you install as part of that system has to have less than 0.25% lead in the surfaces that get wet. So, a kitchen faucet or bathroom faucet has to meet this requirement, but a shower valve or laundry sink faucet does not have to.
"Well, that's very interesting!" You say, "But how does that save me money?" There are two ways: read on!
Manufacturers have to find new ways to make their faucets, valves, etc., and it will cost them more money to make these changes. This means that the cost of the part is going to go up come 1/1/10! If you have the work done now, with the existing parts that cost less, you will save money.
As we get closer to January 1st, plumbing supply houses will be cutting prices to get rid of the inventory that they cannot sell next year (maybe!). Just as with most other plumbing companies, at AB&R Plumbing, part of the cost of a job is based on how much the parts cost us. If we pay less, you pay less! (And don't forget to check out our coupons section!)
If you have been thinking of changing your kitchen faucet or replacing the fixtures in your bathroom, you can do it now and save money. If you are worried that your angle stops (the valves under your sinks that shut off the water to the faucets) might be old and corroded, you can save some money by changing them now, rather than waiting until next year.
So, why am I telling you this? Well, if you do the work now, you will save money. We are always trying to drum up more business, but we don't want you to spend money you don't have to. One of the saying we use around here is, "Pigs get fed: hogs get slaughtered!" All we want to do is get fed. If we charge you too much, we will quickly run out of customers willing to get ripped off. That is why we tell you about things like this, that's why we have a coupon section on our website, that's why we are constantly reviewing our price book to see if we can make changes that will save you money.
If we save you money, you will tell your friends and neighbors. If we rip you off, you will tell everyone you know! We'd much rather have the positive advertising, thanks!
As always, if you have any questions, you can contact us at the office. Our numbers are:
This is even more restrictive than the existing law, that went into effect some years ago. You can read the text of the new law here, but basically it says that, if the water is for human consumption, anything you install as part of that system has to have less than 0.25% lead in the surfaces that get wet. So, a kitchen faucet or bathroom faucet has to meet this requirement, but a shower valve or laundry sink faucet does not have to.
"Well, that's very interesting!" You say, "But how does that save me money?" There are two ways: read on!
Manufacturers have to find new ways to make their faucets, valves, etc., and it will cost them more money to make these changes. This means that the cost of the part is going to go up come 1/1/10! If you have the work done now, with the existing parts that cost less, you will save money.
As we get closer to January 1st, plumbing supply houses will be cutting prices to get rid of the inventory that they cannot sell next year (maybe!). Just as with most other plumbing companies, at AB&R Plumbing, part of the cost of a job is based on how much the parts cost us. If we pay less, you pay less! (And don't forget to check out our coupons section!)
If you have been thinking of changing your kitchen faucet or replacing the fixtures in your bathroom, you can do it now and save money. If you are worried that your angle stops (the valves under your sinks that shut off the water to the faucets) might be old and corroded, you can save some money by changing them now, rather than waiting until next year.
So, why am I telling you this? Well, if you do the work now, you will save money. We are always trying to drum up more business, but we don't want you to spend money you don't have to. One of the saying we use around here is, "Pigs get fed: hogs get slaughtered!" All we want to do is get fed. If we charge you too much, we will quickly run out of customers willing to get ripped off. That is why we tell you about things like this, that's why we have a coupon section on our website, that's why we are constantly reviewing our price book to see if we can make changes that will save you money.
If we save you money, you will tell your friends and neighbors. If we rip you off, you will tell everyone you know! We'd much rather have the positive advertising, thanks!
As always, if you have any questions, you can contact us at the office. Our numbers are:
North County - 714-641-3200
South County - 949-642-7900
Toll Free - 800-645-2689
Friday, July 10, 2009
Repair or Replace?
Right now, everyone is feeling the pinch. Whether you have lost your job, had your hours cut back, or just can't get as much overtime as you used to get, no one has as much money as they used to.
Even if this were not the case, no one wants to throw away money when they can get the same results and spend less. That's where this blog entry was born: is it better to repair it or replace it?
If you are talking about a very expensive item - a car, for example - you would obviously want to look at repairing it first. It may cost thousands to make the repair, but it will cost tens of thousands to buy a new one!
What about plumbing? Do you spend the money to repair that toilet, or just replace it with a new one and get the warranty and the other benefits of new?
I recently got a call from someone who had broken the lid on their toilet. The toilet was more than 10 years old, and of a very obscure brand. We looked it up on the internet, and replacing just the lid on his tank cost as much as $200.00!!! For a toilet tank lid!!!
When we discussed replacing the toilet, we determined that he could go buy a toilet at Home Depot and have us put it in for about $250.00. With the price he paid for the toilet, he gets a brand new toilet - that does not have 10 year old parts in it - for about $350.00. it will have a warranty and be professionally installed for less than twice what he would have paid just for the lid.
This seemed a no-brainer to him (and to me) and we set the appointment. But what about other problems?
It all comes down to weighing the cost versus the benefits. Is it worth the money to have the problem solved for less money, or pay a little more and get a warranty and all new parts? If you make this cheaper repair now, will you be making another repair next week, and the week after that? Will you end up paying more for multiple repairs that you would have if you had replaced it in the first place? It's hard to say.
You can always call us here at AB&R Plumbing, to run something like this by us. Check out our coupon page and see if you can't save a little bit of money off our already affordable prices.
Can we discuss the baseball All-Star game now? How did I miss it? When did this become only a popularity contest?
It was always favorite players, but they used to be favorites because they were good, not just because they played for your team! I mean, even if you hate the Yankees, you have to like Derek Jeeter! Don't like the Red Sox? Well, you have to be impressed with David Ortiz!
And why would anyone want Manny Ramirez at the All-Star game? he was suspended for 50 games for using a banned substance! Not only is that not All-Star behavior, but he hasn't even played enough games to be considered an All-Star this year! Let's get real!
Just my opinion. What do you think?
Even if this were not the case, no one wants to throw away money when they can get the same results and spend less. That's where this blog entry was born: is it better to repair it or replace it?
If you are talking about a very expensive item - a car, for example - you would obviously want to look at repairing it first. It may cost thousands to make the repair, but it will cost tens of thousands to buy a new one!
What about plumbing? Do you spend the money to repair that toilet, or just replace it with a new one and get the warranty and the other benefits of new?
I recently got a call from someone who had broken the lid on their toilet. The toilet was more than 10 years old, and of a very obscure brand. We looked it up on the internet, and replacing just the lid on his tank cost as much as $200.00!!! For a toilet tank lid!!!
When we discussed replacing the toilet, we determined that he could go buy a toilet at Home Depot and have us put it in for about $250.00. With the price he paid for the toilet, he gets a brand new toilet - that does not have 10 year old parts in it - for about $350.00. it will have a warranty and be professionally installed for less than twice what he would have paid just for the lid.
This seemed a no-brainer to him (and to me) and we set the appointment. But what about other problems?
It all comes down to weighing the cost versus the benefits. Is it worth the money to have the problem solved for less money, or pay a little more and get a warranty and all new parts? If you make this cheaper repair now, will you be making another repair next week, and the week after that? Will you end up paying more for multiple repairs that you would have if you had replaced it in the first place? It's hard to say.
You can always call us here at AB&R Plumbing, to run something like this by us. Check out our coupon page and see if you can't save a little bit of money off our already affordable prices.
Can we discuss the baseball All-Star game now? How did I miss it? When did this become only a popularity contest?
It was always favorite players, but they used to be favorites because they were good, not just because they played for your team! I mean, even if you hate the Yankees, you have to like Derek Jeeter! Don't like the Red Sox? Well, you have to be impressed with David Ortiz!
And why would anyone want Manny Ramirez at the All-Star game? he was suspended for 50 games for using a banned substance! Not only is that not All-Star behavior, but he hasn't even played enough games to be considered an All-Star this year! Let's get real!
Just my opinion. What do you think?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saving Even More Money with a Home Reverse Osmosis System!
Daniel from AB&R Plumbing here again, and I decided that, since I was saving so much money with my new tankless water heater (see the previous blog entitled “Well, I finally did it!”), I decided to save even more on my drinking water.
I broke down and had a new Reverse Osmosis drinking water system installed in my Mission Viejo home.
AB&R plumbing has installed quite a few Reverse Osmosis systems recently, in both homes and offices. We have installed them in Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Trabuco Canyon, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Mission Viejo and many other cities in Orange County. I decided it was time to “take the plunge” and start saving money on buying bottled water.
A home Reverse Osmosis system basically gives you an endless supply of purified water that you can use for anything. For cooking, giving it to your pets, watering your plants, using it in the steam iron (or my new garment steamer – still not sure what this is!), making coffee or tea, making ice cubes, almost anything that you would want to make sure and use the cleanest water available.
If you are buying bottled water now, you have a few problems to consider.
- The cost – It can cost you more than $6.00 a gallon to buy bottled water. Sure you can pay less than this, but then you get into the next problem.
- Quality – how good is that water you’re buying? There is an internationally sold brand of water that says right on the label that it has 309 ppm of dissolved solids. This is almost as bad as your tap water!
- Convenience – With bottles, you have to go buy them, carry them home, they take up space to store them, and what happens to all of those bottles? Even if you recycle them (and most people don’t), it still is a lot of plastic! This means that a Reverse Osmosis system is “green”!
With a home reverse osmosis system, you will take the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) of your water down to less than 25 ppm (in Orange County, it usually starts at around 450 ppm). You have the system installed at your kitchen sink by a trained professional, we remind you when your filters need to be replaced (usually once a year), and it can usually be connected to your ice maker to give you purified ice!
My wife and kids love it! I had a line run to my ice maker, so it took an extra 40 minutes, but he was done in under an hour-and-a-half. It is very convenient (and pretty cool) to be able to get a drink of pure, clean water, right at my kitchen sink, anytime I want.
There are all kinds of options and add-ons: you can get an undercounter chiller or heater, you can get custom-finished faucets, there are pumps to increase your pressure (and they don’t use electricity), and more.
Give AB&R Plumbing a call and ask about having a home Reverse Osmosis system installed in your Orange County home today. You’ll save money, save time, and cut down on your use of plastic – which is very “green”.
I guess you could say you will save some green by being “green"!
I broke down and had a new Reverse Osmosis drinking water system installed in my Mission Viejo home.
AB&R plumbing has installed quite a few Reverse Osmosis systems recently, in both homes and offices. We have installed them in Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Trabuco Canyon, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Mission Viejo and many other cities in Orange County. I decided it was time to “take the plunge” and start saving money on buying bottled water.
A home Reverse Osmosis system basically gives you an endless supply of purified water that you can use for anything. For cooking, giving it to your pets, watering your plants, using it in the steam iron (or my new garment steamer – still not sure what this is!), making coffee or tea, making ice cubes, almost anything that you would want to make sure and use the cleanest water available.
If you are buying bottled water now, you have a few problems to consider.
- The cost – It can cost you more than $6.00 a gallon to buy bottled water. Sure you can pay less than this, but then you get into the next problem.
- Quality – how good is that water you’re buying? There is an internationally sold brand of water that says right on the label that it has 309 ppm of dissolved solids. This is almost as bad as your tap water!
- Convenience – With bottles, you have to go buy them, carry them home, they take up space to store them, and what happens to all of those bottles? Even if you recycle them (and most people don’t), it still is a lot of plastic! This means that a Reverse Osmosis system is “green”!
With a home reverse osmosis system, you will take the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) of your water down to less than 25 ppm (in Orange County, it usually starts at around 450 ppm). You have the system installed at your kitchen sink by a trained professional, we remind you when your filters need to be replaced (usually once a year), and it can usually be connected to your ice maker to give you purified ice!
My wife and kids love it! I had a line run to my ice maker, so it took an extra 40 minutes, but he was done in under an hour-and-a-half. It is very convenient (and pretty cool) to be able to get a drink of pure, clean water, right at my kitchen sink, anytime I want.
There are all kinds of options and add-ons: you can get an undercounter chiller or heater, you can get custom-finished faucets, there are pumps to increase your pressure (and they don’t use electricity), and more.
Give AB&R Plumbing a call and ask about having a home Reverse Osmosis system installed in your Orange County home today. You’ll save money, save time, and cut down on your use of plastic – which is very “green”.
I guess you could say you will save some green by being “green"!
Our Jetting is Better Than Their Jetting
We have customers who pay us more for quarterly jetting of their drains than they used to pay “someone else”, and they are happy about it.
How does that work?
Our jetting service is better than their jetting service for three reasons.
1)Experience: We have over 20 years experience in jetting drains. This means that we know how drain systems go together, what kind of “creative plumbing” we might run into, and – most importantly – what to do about the challenges we find.
2)Our jetter: We use a 4000 PSI diesel-powered jetter with a 500’ hose. This is a powerful tool (from US Jetting) that, unlike the over-glorified pressure-washers that most jetting companies use, will actually emulsify grease and wash it away. Less powerful jetters break off chunks of grease that float down line and become a problem further down.
3)Thoroughness: Most jetter companies just jet the drain mains. This is why they can charge so little; they come in, jet one or two lines, and are gone. It takes them very little time, but it is not nearly as effective as what we do.
How does that work?
Our jetting service is better than their jetting service for three reasons.
1)Experience: We have over 20 years experience in jetting drains. This means that we know how drain systems go together, what kind of “creative plumbing” we might run into, and – most importantly – what to do about the challenges we find.
2)Our jetter: We use a 4000 PSI diesel-powered jetter with a 500’ hose. This is a powerful tool (from US Jetting) that, unlike the over-glorified pressure-washers that most jetting companies use, will actually emulsify grease and wash it away. Less powerful jetters break off chunks of grease that float down line and become a problem further down.
3)Thoroughness: Most jetter companies just jet the drain mains. This is why they can charge so little; they come in, jet one or two lines, and are gone. It takes them very little time, but it is not nearly as effective as what we do.
At AB&R Plumbing, we jet from every floor sink, every cleanout, every floor drain, and every other access point we deem necessary. We jet the trap arms, laterals, mains; basically we jet everything we can reach. Just jetting the mains and not doing the trap arms and laterals, is like sweeping your hallways and not cleaning the offices.
So, we charge more for our quarterly jetting (or monthly or semi-annually), but you end up paying less in the long run. Since we are jetting as much of your drain system as we can reach, you will be less likely to need to call us out between quarterly visits because something clogged up. All of your lines will be getting cleaned during each jetting visit, instead of just the ones outside.
We have contracts with customers all over Orange County for quarterly and semi-annual jetting. We do restaurants in Newport Beach, Anaheim Hills, and Costa Mesa. We do Office Complexes in Orange, Costa Mesa, Tustin and Lake Forest. We do a couple of small malls, a few strip plazas and even a branch of the US Post Office.
Are there other benefits to using AB&R Plumbing as your jetting company? Yes!
Our technicians drive trucks that are well stocked with both tools and parts, and they have years of knowledge and experience to apply to almost any plumbing problem you may have. From clogged drains to leaking faucets, from no hot water to faulty mixing valves, from a toilet that won’t flush to installing a water softener, AB&R Plumbing is the one to call for all your plumbing needs. Residential, commerical or industrial...
If Water Goes Through It, We Do It!
Are there other benefits to using AB&R Plumbing as your jetting company? Yes!
Our technicians drive trucks that are well stocked with both tools and parts, and they have years of knowledge and experience to apply to almost any plumbing problem you may have. From clogged drains to leaking faucets, from no hot water to faulty mixing valves, from a toilet that won’t flush to installing a water softener, AB&R Plumbing is the one to call for all your plumbing needs. Residential, commerical or industrial...
If Water Goes Through It, We Do It!
Well, I finally did it!
This is Daniel from AB&R Plumbing here, and I finally installed a new Noritz #0841 tankless water heater in my Mission Viejo home. I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner!
My wife has been after me for a long time to install a new tankless water heater and we are all glad I finally did. Endless hot water from these Noritz tankless water heaters is really great. Most homes in Mission Viejo, and the surrounding cities like Lake Forest, Laguna Hills and Laguna Beach, are just perfect for new installations. My Mission Viejo tankless water heater installation, however, did present a couple of unique challenges.
Our old 50 gallon gas water heater was installed in the downstairs laundry room, and the gas line was only ½”. The original flue was galvanized and connected to the FAU vent. This does cause two issues because most tankless units require a minimum of a ¾” gas line and you need to install a stainless steel vent. Having to comply with these requirements was part of my original reluctance to complete the renovation. It wasn’t until my wife left for a trip out of town with the girls from www.calvarymissionviejo.com that I decided to finally take the plunge and surprise her with a laundry room make over.
Believe it or not, I hired my own crew to help in the remodel! The boys from AB&R Plumbing completed all aspects of this make over. Everything from demo, tile removal, drywall repair and of course all of the plumbing repairs needed to convert this outdated Mission Viejo laundry room to something more conducive to today’s demands. Even though I decided to remodel the whole laundry room, my main focus was the tankless water heater. We ended up removing the old 50 gallon water heater and rerouting all of the required plumbing for the new tankless water heater outside …. That’s right….. outside, www.noritz.com offers several outdoor models.
Once I was able to move all the plumbing and the water heater outside, this freed up a lot more space in the laundry room. We were able to install more shelves and a garment steamer. (What’s a garment steamer???? I don’t know … but my wife says she needed it and it “irons stuff”. Who knew!!!!)
Even though I decided to install the new Noritz #0841 tankless water heater outside, I could have still installed it inside as well. With some minor modifications, I could have easily utilized the original plumbing system that was installed in my Mission Viejo home. But now that we moved the new tankless water heater outside, I now have room for a garment steamer!!!!!
Life is good.
My wife has been after me for a long time to install a new tankless water heater and we are all glad I finally did. Endless hot water from these Noritz tankless water heaters is really great. Most homes in Mission Viejo, and the surrounding cities like Lake Forest, Laguna Hills and Laguna Beach, are just perfect for new installations. My Mission Viejo tankless water heater installation, however, did present a couple of unique challenges.
Our old 50 gallon gas water heater was installed in the downstairs laundry room, and the gas line was only ½”. The original flue was galvanized and connected to the FAU vent. This does cause two issues because most tankless units require a minimum of a ¾” gas line and you need to install a stainless steel vent. Having to comply with these requirements was part of my original reluctance to complete the renovation. It wasn’t until my wife left for a trip out of town with the girls from www.calvarymissionviejo.com that I decided to finally take the plunge and surprise her with a laundry room make over.
Believe it or not, I hired my own crew to help in the remodel! The boys from AB&R Plumbing completed all aspects of this make over. Everything from demo, tile removal, drywall repair and of course all of the plumbing repairs needed to convert this outdated Mission Viejo laundry room to something more conducive to today’s demands. Even though I decided to remodel the whole laundry room, my main focus was the tankless water heater. We ended up removing the old 50 gallon water heater and rerouting all of the required plumbing for the new tankless water heater outside …. That’s right….. outside, www.noritz.com offers several outdoor models.
Once I was able to move all the plumbing and the water heater outside, this freed up a lot more space in the laundry room. We were able to install more shelves and a garment steamer. (What’s a garment steamer???? I don’t know … but my wife says she needed it and it “irons stuff”. Who knew!!!!)
Even though I decided to install the new Noritz #0841 tankless water heater outside, I could have still installed it inside as well. With some minor modifications, I could have easily utilized the original plumbing system that was installed in my Mission Viejo home. But now that we moved the new tankless water heater outside, I now have room for a garment steamer!!!!!
Life is good.
Monday, March 30, 2009
"Joe the Plumber" vs. "Dan the Plumber"
It’s a “Battle Royale”!
It’s going to be a real knock-down-drag-out!
Who is the better plumber (for Southern California)?
- “Dan the Plumber” has never been on TV.
- “Joe the Plumber” has never fixed a leaky faucet in Aliso Viejo, or cleared a clogged drain in Rancho Santa Margarita!
- “Dan the Plumber” has never been featured prominently in a presidential campaign.
- “Joe the Plumber” doesn’t have a website, advertising his services, for customers all over Orange County, CA!
- “Dan the Plumber” has never been interviewed by a newscaster.
- “Joe the Plumber” is not a licensed plumbing contractor in California (License # 877283)!
Since this is an amateur bout, folks, it only goes three rounds, but I think the decision is obvious!
If you are a Southern California business or home owner, in need of standard or emergency plumbing repairs, “Dan the Plumber” wins all three rounds!
* Does your home in Mission Viejo need a new water heater?
* Does your Irvine business have a clogged toilet?
* Would you like a softener installed in your Laguna Beach home?
* Does your Costa Mesa business need to have the sewers jetted?
* Would you like to have a Reverse Osmosis system installed in your Tustin home?
Only “Dan the Plumber” can do all of these things and much more; “Joe the Plumber” isn’t allowed! (And his response time would be terrible since he lives in Ohio, or Indiana, or something.)
By the way… Who is “Joe the Plumber”, anyway? Does anyone really know? I mean, we have heard him mentioned in a presidential campaign, and then there was the guy on the news, but, is that the REAL “Joe the Plumber”?
“Dan the Plumber”, on the other hand, is a REAL person! He owns AB&R Plumbing (a full-service, 24-hour plumbing company, serving all of Orange County), as well as New Technology Plumbing (A commercial new construction and tenant improvement plumbing company). Some might say he is The Greatest Plumber in the World, but “Dan the Plumber” wouldn’t, he is just too modest.
It’s going to be a real knock-down-drag-out!
Who is the better plumber (for Southern California)?
- “Dan the Plumber” has never been on TV.
- “Joe the Plumber” has never fixed a leaky faucet in Aliso Viejo, or cleared a clogged drain in Rancho Santa Margarita!
- “Dan the Plumber” has never been featured prominently in a presidential campaign.
- “Joe the Plumber” doesn’t have a website, advertising his services, for customers all over Orange County, CA!
- “Dan the Plumber” has never been interviewed by a newscaster.
- “Joe the Plumber” is not a licensed plumbing contractor in California (License # 877283)!
Since this is an amateur bout, folks, it only goes three rounds, but I think the decision is obvious!
If you are a Southern California business or home owner, in need of standard or emergency plumbing repairs, “Dan the Plumber” wins all three rounds!
* Does your home in Mission Viejo need a new water heater?
* Does your Irvine business have a clogged toilet?
* Would you like a softener installed in your Laguna Beach home?
* Does your Costa Mesa business need to have the sewers jetted?
* Would you like to have a Reverse Osmosis system installed in your Tustin home?
Only “Dan the Plumber” can do all of these things and much more; “Joe the Plumber” isn’t allowed! (And his response time would be terrible since he lives in Ohio, or Indiana, or something.)
By the way… Who is “Joe the Plumber”, anyway? Does anyone really know? I mean, we have heard him mentioned in a presidential campaign, and then there was the guy on the news, but, is that the REAL “Joe the Plumber”?
“Dan the Plumber”, on the other hand, is a REAL person! He owns AB&R Plumbing (a full-service, 24-hour plumbing company, serving all of Orange County), as well as New Technology Plumbing (A commercial new construction and tenant improvement plumbing company). Some might say he is The Greatest Plumber in the World, but “Dan the Plumber” wouldn’t, he is just too modest.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Noritz Tankless Water Heater Rebates!
Are you thinking about having a tankless water heater installed in your home?
There are some definite benefits to having a tankless water heater installed, not the least of which is the savings on your gas bill. You should use noticeably less gas with a tankless water heater than with a standard “tank” water heater. How?
If you have a 50 gallon gas water heater in your home, you are essentially keeping a 50 gallon tank of water heated to between 115 – 120 F. It will depend on where you have the thermostat on your water heater set, but you are heating this water all day and all night. If you go on vacation, you are heating this water. If you spend the weekend in Vegas, you are heating this water. This uses a lot of gas
When you install a tankless water heater, you only heat water when you open the faucet.
A tankless water heater has a device in it called a flow switch. This senses when water is flowing through the heater and turns on the gas to the burner. If you open a hot faucet somewhere in your house, the tankless water heater will immediately turn on and make 120 F hot water. When you turn off the faucet, the tankless water heater senses the flow has stopped and stops making hot water. This means you only use gas while you are using water!
This could mean a substantial savings on your gas bill. What’s more, there are rebates available from the federal government, and maybe from your gas company. Check the Noritz website and click on “Click Here For Local Utility Rebates” in the lower left corner. There is a rebate from the federal government ($300.00) and there may be one from your local gas company (up to $525.00!).
AB&R Plumbing has a lot of experience installing tankless water heaters. These can be installed in your home, office, RV, wherever you currently have a standard water heater. They can run on natural gas or propane, so you can really put them anywhere. Contact us and find out how you can start saving money on your gas bill today.
There are some definite benefits to having a tankless water heater installed, not the least of which is the savings on your gas bill. You should use noticeably less gas with a tankless water heater than with a standard “tank” water heater. How?
If you have a 50 gallon gas water heater in your home, you are essentially keeping a 50 gallon tank of water heated to between 115 – 120 F. It will depend on where you have the thermostat on your water heater set, but you are heating this water all day and all night. If you go on vacation, you are heating this water. If you spend the weekend in Vegas, you are heating this water. This uses a lot of gas
When you install a tankless water heater, you only heat water when you open the faucet.
A tankless water heater has a device in it called a flow switch. This senses when water is flowing through the heater and turns on the gas to the burner. If you open a hot faucet somewhere in your house, the tankless water heater will immediately turn on and make 120 F hot water. When you turn off the faucet, the tankless water heater senses the flow has stopped and stops making hot water. This means you only use gas while you are using water!
This could mean a substantial savings on your gas bill. What’s more, there are rebates available from the federal government, and maybe from your gas company. Check the Noritz website and click on “Click Here For Local Utility Rebates” in the lower left corner. There is a rebate from the federal government ($300.00) and there may be one from your local gas company (up to $525.00!).
AB&R Plumbing has a lot of experience installing tankless water heaters. These can be installed in your home, office, RV, wherever you currently have a standard water heater. They can run on natural gas or propane, so you can really put them anywhere. Contact us and find out how you can start saving money on your gas bill today.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Money is Tight!
It is amazing how much difference a year makes.
A year ago, gas prices were in the high $2.00 range; up around $2.75 and higher and they were going up!
A year ago, people were still buying SUV’s, still building new office buildings, still remodeling their homes and more.
Now most of the car dealerships look like ghost towns, many of the office buildings have only 1 or 2 tenants in them and most people have put any kind of major home expenditure on hold.
So what do you do when you have to make the repair?
Obviously, everyone is trying to find the least expensive way to do things. A lot of people do it themselves, others find a neighbor or a friend who can help. But, if you can’t do it yourself and you don’t have a friend, what do you do?
At AB&R Plumbing, we do not charge by the hour. Period. If you ask what our “hourly rate” is, we will tell you about or flat-rate pricing. Are we affordable? You bet your boots!
Let’s say you call a plumber to clear a drain for you. He drives to your house, inspects the problem, pulls out his ½” snake machine and proceeds to try to clear the clog. If his machine is too big (or too small), he probably doesn’t have another one on his truck, so he has to go back to the shop to get the right size.
He charges you for all that time.
Your bill is going to include his time to figure out the problem, the time it took him to try his snake, the time to drive back to the shop, get the new one and drive back to your house, and then he still has to clear you drain.
At AB&R Plumbing, we have five (count ‘em; five) different sizes of snakes on our trucks. We don’t have to drive back to the shop to get the right size, we have it on our truck.
If we clear your drain with our ½” machine at 2:00 in the afternoon, it costs the same amount to clear the same drain with the same ½” machine at 2:00 in the morning. We do not charge overtime.
Something else that we can do that most other plumber cannot... almost everything.
At AB&R Plumbing, our motto is:
If Water Goes Through It, We Do It!
We do clogs, leaks, repair. We install softeners, toilets, faucets and more. We
Looking for an “affordable” or “Hourly rate” plumber, stop looking. Look at the flat rate pricing AB&R Plumbing offers. All of Orange County and beyond, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, every day of the year.
Well stocked trucks – both tools and parts – and well trained technicians. 24-hour emergency access to our supply houses. You can’t afford not to call us!
Now, on a totally different subject…
Is anyone out there watching Lost? This is one of the smartest shows I have ever watched! The plot twists make sense (not like some of the over-glorified soap operas that are out there), the characters are believable, you like some and dislike others. It is a great show!
I plan on – after it is all over – going back to the beginning and watching it again to see what I missed the first time. I love all the hidden stuff; the recurrence of the numbers, the connections of the passengers to each other. It is so smart.
Let me know what you think.
A year ago, gas prices were in the high $2.00 range; up around $2.75 and higher and they were going up!
A year ago, people were still buying SUV’s, still building new office buildings, still remodeling their homes and more.
Now most of the car dealerships look like ghost towns, many of the office buildings have only 1 or 2 tenants in them and most people have put any kind of major home expenditure on hold.
So what do you do when you have to make the repair?
Obviously, everyone is trying to find the least expensive way to do things. A lot of people do it themselves, others find a neighbor or a friend who can help. But, if you can’t do it yourself and you don’t have a friend, what do you do?
At AB&R Plumbing, we do not charge by the hour. Period. If you ask what our “hourly rate” is, we will tell you about or flat-rate pricing. Are we affordable? You bet your boots!
Let’s say you call a plumber to clear a drain for you. He drives to your house, inspects the problem, pulls out his ½” snake machine and proceeds to try to clear the clog. If his machine is too big (or too small), he probably doesn’t have another one on his truck, so he has to go back to the shop to get the right size.
He charges you for all that time.
Your bill is going to include his time to figure out the problem, the time it took him to try his snake, the time to drive back to the shop, get the new one and drive back to your house, and then he still has to clear you drain.
At AB&R Plumbing, we have five (count ‘em; five) different sizes of snakes on our trucks. We don’t have to drive back to the shop to get the right size, we have it on our truck.
If we clear your drain with our ½” machine at 2:00 in the afternoon, it costs the same amount to clear the same drain with the same ½” machine at 2:00 in the morning. We do not charge overtime.
Something else that we can do that most other plumber cannot... almost everything.
At AB&R Plumbing, our motto is:
If Water Goes Through It, We Do It!
We do clogs, leaks, repair. We install softeners, toilets, faucets and more. We
Looking for an “affordable” or “Hourly rate” plumber, stop looking. Look at the flat rate pricing AB&R Plumbing offers. All of Orange County and beyond, 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, every day of the year.
Well stocked trucks – both tools and parts – and well trained technicians. 24-hour emergency access to our supply houses. You can’t afford not to call us!
Now, on a totally different subject…
Is anyone out there watching Lost? This is one of the smartest shows I have ever watched! The plot twists make sense (not like some of the over-glorified soap operas that are out there), the characters are believable, you like some and dislike others. It is a great show!
I plan on – after it is all over – going back to the beginning and watching it again to see what I missed the first time. I love all the hidden stuff; the recurrence of the numbers, the connections of the passengers to each other. It is so smart.
Let me know what you think.
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