Emergency Services Furnace Regina Archives - Family Plumbing and Heating

Family Plumbing: A Jiu Jitsu Story

November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in air conditioner, Air Conditioning, boiler, Emergency Services Furnace Regina, furnace not working, furnace repair regina, Heating Furnace Regina, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, regina furnace repair, Regina Plumber

Last month Tyler and I competed in the Queen City Open, an annual Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament held in Regina every fall. Humble brag: both Tyler and I were able to walk away with multiple pieces of hardware. Jiu jitsu actually plays an important role in the formation of Family Plumbing and Heating. We get asked a lot if Tyler and I are brothers but we actually met through jiu jitsu.

Pretty shocking eh? I understand how one could come to the conclusion we must be brothers but I originally met Tyler on the mats of Complete MMA in 2016. The first time I remember talking to Tyler was at a Saturday open mat session. I believe Tyler at the time was training for an amateur fight while I was training just to try and avoid getting tapped out too many times in a row. We paired off and I remember making some (likely hilarious) joke to try and break the ice rolling with the guy for the first time. Tyler neither laughed or even cracked a smile and I could tell it was about to get serious. The next five minutes went by in a blur as I proceeded to get tossed around for the remainder of the roll. At the time Tyler had just been promoted to blue belt while I was a lowly white belt with about 4 months experience under my belt just trying to get by. I didn’t talk to Tyler again for almost another 2 years. I usually only saw him when we crossed each other on the mat. My beginner class would be wrapping up as his advanced class was beginning. My next convo with Tyler wouldn’t take place until 2017!

Fast forward to my first day with Ambassador Mechanical. I was told to meet at the new Superstore building that was going up on Albert Street. Once I arrived I was told to find “Tyler” and we would be working on some items that needed to be corrected. I found “Tyler” and right off the bat felt like I knew this guy from somewhere. (I guess everyone looks different in coveralls and a hard hat.) It took me about 30 minutes to place him but I finally figured it out.

Me: Hey man, I think I know you.

“Tyler”: Yeah man, I think we’ve met before.

My belief was he only said this to make me feel better.

Me: “I think we’ve rolled against each other at Complete.

“Tyler”: Yes! That’s it.

After that moment I found it pretty sweet at Ambassador, having a work buddy to prattle on about what’s the best open guard and how to defend against leg locks. Soon we ended up going our separate ways work-wise but were able to keep in touch through Complete MMA, eventually forming Family Plumbing and Heating. While operating Family Plumbing with Tyler has been awesome because it’s so easy to run a company where both owner’s share the same values for workmanship and customer care, it also helps that we can motivate each other in training. Speaking for myself, there are definitely some early morning classes I would have hit snooze on the alarm for if wasn’t for the fact Tyler would be waiting with some chirps once the work day began. Both Tyler and I owe a big thank you to Complete MMA and it’s founder and head instructor AJ Scales. Without Complete, Tyler and I may not have ever gotten to know each other as we did, Family Plumbing might only be a dream in the back of our minds, and we would not have a venue to learn and train in the great sport of jiu jitsu.

– Brenden

Bad luck and the litter box

September 30, 2019 by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in Emergency Services Furnace Regina, furnace not working, furnace repair regina, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, regina furnace repair, Regina Plumber

As a homeowner it’s the little things you don’t know exist that can give you the biggest headaches. Sometimes these issues are seemingly invisible, but for techs they stand out like a oversized stop sign. We recently encountered this type of invisible headache and assisted a homeowner with changes to improve the comfort in their home.

We were called out to a no heat (yes, it’s that time of year again). The homeowner explained that starting last year they’ve been needing to replace their furnace filter monthly (as opposed to every 90 days), and now their furnace had completely stopped working for them! On site diagnosis proved that the high limit switch was tripping, shutting down the furnace. This switch measures the temperature of air leaving the furnace and will shut down the unit if it senses the temperature rising too high for safety concerns. Over time if the high limit is tripping often, each time it will open at a lower and lower temp until even normal operating temperatures shut the furnace down. When a furnace is not working due to over heating there is almost always a more major problem as to why the furnace cannot distribute the heat fast enough.

As a tech, this is when we team up with the homeowner. We put our HVAC knowledge together with the knowledge they possess about their home’s operation. At this point we found out about the constant filter changes. Plugged filters reduce the return airflow, easily causing a build up of hot supply air. So we look for what is causing the filters to get so damn dirty…..And then we found it.

Several small holes had been drilled into the return elbow, likely a DIY repair to increase the amount of return air needed. Sitting directly beside those holes was the cat’s litter box. Everything made sense now, the blower fan bringing in return air was also bringing in particles from the litter box that was eventually clogging the filter. The homeowner had no idea, for them this was an out of the way spot where their cat could splat in private. With the new information we provided they were able to find a new spot for the litter box that wouldn’t affect their home comfort as well as solve their need for excessive filter changes. Following up with he homeowner everything was back working again, besides the cat being pretty miffed about the change.

Moving into the Fall and Winter it’s always a good decision to have your furnace maintenance/inspected no matter its age (even the new ones can have problems). A maintenance will provide you a baseline for how your heating system is likely to operate during the incoming cold months and help prevent breakdowns BEFROE they happen. We can get your HVAC system working to peak efficiency and provide a heads up for any issues that may be coming your way.

Feel free to call us @ 306-519-3722 to further discuss having a maintenance completed.

Thanks,

Brenden

Started at the bottom now we’re here.

August 9, 2019 by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in air conditioner, Air Conditioning, boiler, Emergency Services Furnace Regina, Heating Furnace Regina, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, Regina Plumber, Uncategorized

This time last year Tyler and I started Family Plumbing and Heating, one year later we’re on the beach sipping mixed drinks and lighting cigars with hundred dollars bills….Just kidding, we just spent our weekend roughing in a house out in Weyburn. But seriously, it’s been a great year one.

The past 12 months have flown by for Family Plumbing and Heating. Tyler and I took a big leap of faith starting up the company even though a lot of people around us told us it was too slow of an economy for a new plumbing contractor to make it. In extremely rare moments of weakness I will admit I had my doubts we wouldn’t need to pick up part time jobs to supplement our incomes. (Do people still sell Avon?) With assistance from friends in and out of the construction sector though we hit our stride as soon as we left the gate. We were also able to secure working relationships with some awesome property management companies within the city.

We needed bring in some extra help for this year’s home show

A major turning point was when we entered the 2019 Regina Spring Homeshow. It was our first major event as a company and it couldn’t have gone better. We were able to meet so many great people and introduce ourselves and our belief in building personal relationships while providing premium service. We can’t wait to come back for the 2020 Homeshow with an even bigger booth and even bigger prizes! Before the home show Family Plumbing was a full time gig for us, after the home show it became no days off.

We were able to raise over $700.00 for the YWCA

Rounding out our first year we organized a barbecue fundraiser for the Regina YWCA where we were able to raise over seven hundred dollars for the Isabel Johnson Shelter. Tyler and I both work to put a lot of effort into making sure our company does whatever we can to help give back to the community that does so much for us. Along with our fundraisers we have also become a sponsor of the North Regina Little League and work with the Oxford House of Regina to help maintain and improve their homes.

But none of this could be accomplished without the help of our friends and families supporting us and especially to all the great clients who have allowed us into their homes and gave us an opportunity. We look forward for things to come in Year Two!

Thanks

Brenden

Summer BBQ!

July 8, 2019 by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in air conditioner, Air Conditioning, boiler, canadian tire, Emergency Services Furnace Regina, fundraiser, Heating Furnace Regina, hot dog sale, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, Regina Plumber, Uncategorized

Every once in a while, when the temperature outside is just right and somewhere out in space a couple of planets are lining up for the first time in a kajillion years… I really dig a burnt hot dog. Don’t ask me why I do, I don’t know. Any self respecting grill master looks at me in disgust when I make my request but dang if it doesn’t hit the spot!

But enough about my secret BBQ guilty pleasures, today’s post is about Family Plumbing and Heating’s upcoming fundraising BBQ. This Saturday, (July 13, 2019 in case you’re a little late to the party when you’re reading this) we are setting up a table outside the Canadian Tire in East Regina for a hot dog and hamburger sale.

Tyler and I are always looking for ways for us to interact and give back to the community that has allowed our company to grow over the past year. Earlier this year we signed a multi year agreement with the North Regina Little League to become an official sponsor as well as help out around the dugout. Our next big outing is this coming weekend. Funds raised from the sale will go to help the Isabel Johnson Shelter.

YWCA’s Isabel Johnson Shelter is a safe place for women and children in need. In 2017, they provided shelter for 72 women and 64 children. Sadly, they had to turn away 759 women and 291 children due to lack of space. In 2018, they were able to serve 367 women and 108 children. But again, an even larger number were turned away.

We thought this would be the perfect organization for our fundraiser. We couldn’t think of anything better than making sure that kids and moms in our community have a safe place to live. We really want to be able to make a positive impact on the community that has given so much to us. And as always family is behind everything we do – we want our own families to be able to participate and give back too. We sure hope to see you there!

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in Air Conditioning, boiler, Emergency Services Furnace Regina, Heating Furnace Regina, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, Regina Plumber

And that’s a wrap on the 2019 Spring Home Show! It was quite the weekend and was incredibly fun. Tyler and I had been working hard the past months getting our booth together. Neither of us had ever been in a trade show before so the experience was something new to both of us and we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We are already cooking up some ideas of what we would add to our booth for next year’s show. (Can you start planning too early? Is a laser light show allowed?)

We met a lot of great people and are thrilled with the exposure Family Plumbing and Heating received from being apart of the event. Thursday started off a little slow and had me second guessing our decision to enter the show but as I walked into the building at 1:10 Friday (Yes I know the doors opened at 1) and saw the lineup out the door of people waiting to get in, I knew we were in for a pretty busy weekend.

If you asked us what we would do differently next year we would probably start by getting a bigger booth. This is both our first year in business and first time at the show so we decided to stay small so we wouldn’t over extend ourselves but we found while we were designing our booth that we were becoming too limited in what we wanted to display. We’d also like to develop more interactive displays for next year. Most of the plumbing/HVAC contractors that attended the show (us included) had quite a bit of product on hand, but if we can’t show off how it works is it really worth it? Third, I’d bring a dog. If this weekend taught me anything it’s that everyone has to stop and pet a puppy. The bed bug booth beside us had brought their bug sniffing dogs and were the stars of our row. Until I brought out the big guns….the kids!

Smith, Georgia, and Ginny showed up and were gracious enough to step in and act as my marketing team handing out pamphlets. Smith especially took to his new role in the company and showed us his inner used car salesmen. He was handing out pamphlets left, right and centre. At one point he turned to me with excitement

Smith: I’ve handed out 80 million flyers!

Me: Wow bud, good job.

Smith: If I hand out one more it will get all the way to the Mayor! Then the mayor will have to use you guys for his office.

But there is no rest for Family Plumbing and Heating and no time to nurse our home show hangover. It’s back to work ASAP out in the field. Once we get back into our rhythm we will be able to draw for the awesome prizes we were giving away this weekend and contacting the winners. We would like to thank everyone who helped us with getting to the event and lended a hand this weekend. A special thanks goes out to our families, the suppliers who helped us out with our displays and prizes, and a big thank you to Colby and Amanda for helping out inside the booth. Hope to see everyone again next year.

– Brenden