Category: Customer Service

Customer Service

Customer Service

As we celebrate 50 years of service it is important to remember we would not be here without our customers. We value our customers and their opinion of our service, good or bad. Without it we cannot continue to grow and change as the needs of our customers do.

The Customer

  • Is the most important person in the company
  • Deserves our most courteous and attentive treatment
  • Does not interrupt our work; he/she is the purpose of it
  • Brings her/his needs; it is our job to fulfill them
  • Does not depend on us – We depend on them
  • Is part of our company, he/she is not an outsider
  • Is part of our business
Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday

The original building 50 years ago. Check out Our Lady of The Lakes above the doors. What you ask, “is Our Lady of the Lakes?”

The original building owner, Herman, created a handmade wooden ornamental piece, named Lady of the Lakes, which at the time was proudly mounted over the front doors of the building (unlike today, Lake Mahopac was visible from our location on Route 6). Herman told us that she will look over the business. She now hangs on the wall in our conference room.

Why Winterize?

Why Winterize?

It is coming and it can’t be stopped. Its wrath can be devastating to your home. The cost to repair the damage can destroy your household budget and decimate your family’s savings fund. There is nothing we can do about it. It hits us every year.

Winter. Why should you think about the winter now? Not too many of us have the spare time to do more than one item per weekend from the “honey do” list. There are 9 weekends between now and winter. Subtract the number of weekends you already have things planned that you’d rather not do; factor in the weekends you hope to go play outside in the fresh air; then guesstimate how many “surprise” weekends you’ll spend entertaining the in-laws. You’ll find that you have very little time for only a handful of projects. How do you prioritize?

The fixes and improvements we should do now that will benefit us most during the winter aren’t usually realized until it is actually winter. Getting ready for winter isn’t only about preventative measures. Be proactive. Consider some of things that you can do now that will make your winter life a whole lot better later.

Bee and Jay Plumbing strongly recommends you do not wait until it’s too late to winterize your indoor and outdoor plumbing.
whyWinterize_frozen-hose-bibIf you live in your home throughout the winter, there should be little need to winterize your plumbing. However, there may be places that are subject to freezing in crawl spaces or in pipes in poorly insulated exterior walls. Freezing water in a pipe under pressure can cause the pipe to burst which has severe damage potential (think about what’s under those pipes). For these areas simple insulation and/or heat tape may do the trick. Generally, you should not worry too much about freezing in drain pipes, except in the traps, beneath sinks, tubs, and showers, they do not hold enough water to cause damage if frozen.

 

If you have a vacation home that you are leaving for the winter, or are going to be out of town for a few weeks during the winter, we suggest taking further steps to winterize your plumbing, including fixtures (toilets, sinks) and outdoor hose spigots. There are some things you can do without the assistance of a plumber, if you have a whirlpool tub with an air-pump turn it on for a few moments to empty any water that may have gotten into the jets. In the laundry room, shut off the valves to the wash machine. Drain the hoses and then drain any water that may still be in the washer itself. You can do this by briefly activating the pump-out cycle of the wash machine.

If you do not already have one, it is a good thing to have a faucet installed as low down as possible in your fresh water system. This will allow you to drain all of the fresh water out of the system when not in use. As long as most of the water has been drained out of the system, there is no real need to flush the system with anti-freeze.

However, you might pour a bit of antifreeze into drains where there are traps. Traps are those curves in the pipe under the sink. They hold water as a means of preventing fumes coming back up the pipe and into the house. Instead the fumes go up the stack and out of the house at a point above the roof. Water can freeze in the trap, but a bit of anti-freeze should prevent this in all but the coldest conditions.

If you have a boiler for your heating system it is a good idea to run the heat system through a cycle or two to check for air in the system. If you hear banging (not ticking) or the sound of rushing water, it may be time to bleed a radiator or two.

The harsh cold winter and all of its devastation will be here soon. As the fleeting warm weekends between now and then fly by, make your defense plan and prepare. It could prevent you from having to climb the ladder in a sub-zero snowstorm, and save your house along with your wallet.

We’ve Been Busy

We’ve Been Busy

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last blog. We know you’ve missed us… and we’re sorry. Here’s what was keeping us from you.

Hurricane Irene! She hit us hard here in Westchester and Putnam Counties. We did a record number of sump pump replacements as well as flooded basement pump-outs.

WeveBeenBusy_hurricane-1

Power outages for numerous days resulted in multiple emergency generators to provide temporary power for all of our municipal districts. We basically worked around the clock maintaining water service for all of our customers in the area.

Residual power surges and brown-outs kept us busy responding to many of our residential customers whose submersible pumps and controls were damaged.

We replaced a few hot water heaters damaged by severe flooding. One customer had 4 feet of water in their utility room for us to pump out before we could replace their entire hot water heater complete with pipe, valves and wiring.

 

We’re hoping for a dry autumn, to bring life back to normal for our Techs and our valued customers.

DIY Tips For Preventing Drain Clogs

DIY Tips For Preventing Drain Clogs

PREVENTING DRAIN CLOGS

No plumbing problem is more common or more frustrating than a clogged drain. Drains can usually be cleared easily and inexpensively, but taking some simple precautions will help you avoid stop-ups. Proper disposal of kitchen waste will keep sink drain clogs to a minimum.

Following these suggestions can help keep the cash in your pocket instead of down your pipes!

  • Don’t pour grease down the kitchen sink. Ever.
  • Don’t wash coffee grounds down the sink. Throw them out.
  • Be sparing with chemical cleaners, particularly if you have brass, steel, or cast-iron traps and drainpipes; some caustic chemicals can corrode metal pipes and leave you with issues worse than clogs.
  • If used no more than once every few months, cleaners containing sodium hydroxide or sodium nitrate can be safe and effective.
  • Clean floor drain strainers. Some tubs, showers, and basement floor drains have strainers that are screwed into the drain opening. You can easily remove these strainers and reach down into the drain with a bent wire to clear out accumulated debris. And be sure to scrub the strainer.
  • Clean pop-up stoppers in the bathroom sink and the tub regularly. Lift out sink pop-ups once a week and rinse them off.
  • Every few months, remove the overflow plate on a tub and pull up the pop-up assembly to reach the spring or rocker arm. Remove accumulated hair and rinse thoroughly.

DIYclog-drain

Welcome to Bee and Jay on WordPress

Welcome to Bee and Jay on WordPress

Welcome to Bee and Jay Plumbing on WordPress!

This is a place where we intend to share with you some tricks of the trade, post some how-to videos, and keep you informed on the latest and greatest plumbing & heating innovations…..

We welcome and encourage as much feedback as possible- the more you tell us what you want to read about, the more we’ll be able to give you!

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to FOLLOW us on Twitter and LIKE us on Facebook!

Happy blogging!

WPWelcome-team-centered-with-border