Be Sure to Check Out Carroll Magazine

To all of our Carroll County residents be on the lookout for the Feb/March addition of Carroll Magazine. We are offering the magazine's readers a special through the end of March, just what you need to get you through to the Springtime.

For those of you who don't know, Carroll Magazine is local magazine run out of the old post office on Main Street in Westminster. It covers businesses, events, school, and other community happenings in Carroll County. It also provides small local businesses such our Apple a great way to reach almost every household (or so they say) in the county.

It is a great magazine so be sure to read it and check out Apple's special

Yelp! I need somebody

The Beatles may cringe at us paraphrasing their lyrics this way, but they did record on the Apple label, so we think it’s okay!

We’d like to ask for 5 minutes of your time to help us grow our business. If you feel comfortable, could you please go to Yelp (www.yelp.com) and write a review for us? Here’s a link to our profile: http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=plumbing&ns=1&find_loc=westminster%2C+md (you will need to copy and paste, sorry.)

While we hope we’ve earned 5 stars and glowing reviews we certainly encourage you to rate and rank as you see fit. It should only take you a few minutes (even if you have to create profile).

For those that don’t know about Yelp, it’s purpose is to connect people with great local businesses. They are one of the world’s largest sites for user generated content when it comes to reviewing local businesses. It’s becoming bigger and bigger and more people are using it every day to find great local restaurants, dentists, plumbers, etc. We anticipate that as more and more people begin to use the internet to not only find companies but to drive their buying decisions, sites like Yelp will become extremely popular when it comes to finding local service based businesses. There are others out there, but Yelp just raised $100MM to help it expand and we certainly want to make sure we are positioned to take benefit from their increased presence.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer and any reviews/ratings you contribute!

Don't Forget About Winter

We had a customer call us today because they went to use an outside faucet and water was pouring out from underneath the laundry tub. Turns out they had left the bleeds open on the valves when they winterized the outdoor faucet.

Obviously, the unseasonably warm weather has people out enjoying some midwinter yard work. Not to ruin anyone's dreams of an early spring, but winter will undoubtedly come back. So remember, once you are done using your outdoor faucets, water hydrants, hose bibbs, or whatever other gadgets you have outside, make sure to turn off the shutoff valves inside and drain as much water from the lines as possible.

Don't let yourself wake up to a flooding basement!!

Peppermint Test Results

Well, depending on how you look at it, the Peppermint Test did or did not work. We never did get the peppermint odor in the house. However, with my supreme confidence in the test (my dad wouldn’t have led me astray) I now know that the odor is not coming from the drain & venting system. So, we were successful, but disappointed. Ben really wanted to smell the peppermint and locate a leak. Maybe a reach back in time to his grandfather’s era of doing the trade. Three of us did the test: Ben, my son and heir apparent to our business, Dan, our rooftop minion, and me, the master plumber himself. We purchased two 1 oz vials of peppermint oil. Expensive stuff-almost $25.00 per vial. I could only find it at the Manchester, MD Pharmacy and they had to order it. We took along two 2 gallon insulated jugs. We boiled about 1½ gal. of water, poured it into a jug and sent Dan on his ascent with the oil and hot water. I must say, it was a cold and breezy day and Dan was a trooper…until he wasn’t. Ben and I sealed ourselves in the nice warm house (rank does have its privileges) and waited. We could hear Dan pour the oil, place his funnel and then pour the hot water. Oh yes, we gave Dan a funnel for pouring the hot water in the vent pipe. We selected what we thought to be the vent most remote from the main sewer exit from the house. While we waited for odor, we boiled another pot of water. After 15 minutes we had no peppermint smell so we decided to try again. Dan had a good idea for the second round: he capped each vent opening on the roof with a Fernco cap to help build a little pressure in the system. Not sure if it worked, but it was a good idea. So, after the next dose and 15 more minutes of smelling around pipes, toilet bases, in vanities and under the laundry tub we concluded that the drain/vent system was indeed airtight and is not the source of the odor. Dan started calling from his cell begging to be released from his appointed task. Seems he was not only getting very cold, the intense peppermint odor was making him sick. We packed up our ladder and insulated jugs, said our goodbyes to the lady of the house, and headed off to a local plumbing supply house for their Christmas Lunch. Ben took the empty peppermint oil vials for air fresheners in his car. I imagine Dan doesn’t even want to see a peppermint candy cane this Christmas!

- Pat

Peppermint Test

Tomorrow (Friday, 12-18-09) we are performing a Peppermint Test for a customer. Our customer is getting a severe sewer odor in his basement family room and we simply cannot find it. So I remembered a test my dad told me about...The Peppermint Test. My dad was a plumber in Baltimore from the early 40's until his passing in 1982. He left me with a great many secrets of the trade...a Peppermint Test is not a secret though. It was, and still is, a recognized method of testing a plumbing drain, waste, & vent system for leaks. Here's the procedure:

Purchase an ounce or two of 100% peppermint oil (I can only find it in the pharmacy and we had to order it from a local drug store). With an accomplice on the roof of the building, boil a pot of water-about one gallon. Place the water in a thermos type container and hand it along with the oil to your buddy hanging out on the roof. Then go into the house and close all window and doors. Have your helper pour the peppermint oil down a plumbing vent pipe and follow it with the very hot water. Your helper is to stay outside the whole time. Meanwhile, you can start sniffing around the house for a peppermint odor. You will smell it if there is an air leak in the drain, waste, vent system. The odor will get stronger as you get closer to the leak. I plan to check around toilet bases, under sinks, behind the bathtubs, where drain pass through the basement floor and around clean-out plugs. This particular house has a funky drain connection at the basement floor where I suspect we'll find the leak. Your buddy needs to stay outside while you are smelling around since he will have peppermint odor on his clothes and can "blow" the test by bringing the odor into the house. Also, don't open the peppermint oil on your way to the job...you'll destroy your nasal night vision..so to speak.

I'll let you know how we fare.