Fisher Plumbing, Inc. has been serving the plumbing maintenance needs of Knoxville and the surrounding areas since 1978. Master Plumber David Fisher and his son Justin Fisher along with their crew have proven invaluable time and again on projects with Lloyd’s Electric Service. Now, LES Facility Service, a division of Lloyd’s Electric Service, Inc., is proud to have Fisher Plumbing as a part of our skilled force of service providers.

Justin Fisher Talks Plumbing

Question: What is the most common plumbing issue you have encountered and how can people avoid it?

Justin Fisher: We have a variety of common things that come up. Pressure reducing valves (a valve which maintains safe, constant water pressure to fixtures) going bad is one of the most common things. It will cause the water heater to leak and a lot of noises, bumps and bangs. And to avoid that, they make very inexpensive water pressure gauges that you can pick-up at any hardware store. Put the gauge on your outdoor faucet and turn on the water to check the pressure and then do the same on your kitchen faucet. If you see any difference in water pressures, you may need to replace the pressure reducing valve.

Another thing, something that everybody probably has to deal with at some time or another – a lot of people get toilets that run and won’t shut off. A very simple, easy thing you can do is to take food coloring and put it in the tank. If the food coloring shows up in the bowl, that tells you, you need a flapper. If it’s not the flapper (if the food coloring doesn’t show in the bowl) it’s the little fill-valve that needs to be replaced. That can save a lot of money and it’s simple to do.

Q: What are some tools every home and business owner should have on hand in case of a plumbing emergency?

JF: A water meter key is the first thing because if you have a leak you’re going to need to be able to cut the water off. Next, I’d say have a pair of channel locks and a big crescent wrench. There are little valves under each fixture called water-stops. Those will often leak after a lot of use. The channel locks and crescent wrench are used together to tighten those valves. 9 times out of ten that will stop the drip. And those are probably the most versatile items you can have on hand.

Q: What is the least glamorous part of your work and how do you cope?

JF: The least glamorous part of my job? Say there’s a broken sewer line under your house, I have to go down in the crawl space to assess the situation and diagnose the problem and then I  have to fix it – and how I cope with that, is by making it clean. We use sheets of plastic, protective suits, respirators, solvents, Lysol – whatever is needed to make it as clean and as safe an environment as possible to protect my workers and me. I don’t have time to get sick and I don’t want my guys to suffer.

Q: What is the most rewarding part of your work and why?

JF: I love to see a job that is done very well with a high quality of workmanship. But most of all, I love to see a customer that’s happy. I love to see a customer that is well pleased and happy with the work that I have done.