August Update

 Sewage Lines!

We helped a local business clear out their sewage lines. We love working with our local fellow business owners to ensure everything is operating smoothly (hehe). If your toilets or drains seem to be moving slow, give us a call today and our friendly expert plumbers are are happy to come and investigate! 

(360) 647-2255

info@BarkleyPlumbing.net

Lending a Hand in Bellingham

 Quick customer appreciation post! We had the pleasure of helping Ms. Kim this week, her hands-on approach almost got her a spot on our team. Always feel free to give us your input before, during, and after service we're all ears!

Clearing Sewer Drain Stoppage in Silver Beach Bellingham

 It's a beautiful day in Bellingham to clear a sewer stoppage! Our plumbers stopped by the Silver Beach neighborhood to take care of a blocked sewer drain. This drain runs through a hill described by the property owner as "steep and confusing". Not a problem for us here at Barkley, give us a call and we'll solve it all💪

Before-and-After Faucet Installation

The Barkley plumbers had the pleasure of installing this brand new bathroom sink fixture today. Following the renovation of our client's bathroom, our plumbers secured all bathroom attachments and finished the job off with this matte black faucet.

Barkley Plumbers on Whatcom News

We're proud to say that the Barkley plumbers of Bellingham support our local journalists over at Whatcom News! So proud that we just had to save a screenshot😀 

Bellingham Sewer Pipe Blockage

Take a look at this massive sewer root blockage we found today-

A small trade-off for the gorgeous foliage we have here in Bellingham, luckily it's a simple fix for the Barkley Plumbers!

Bellingham Freeze

 

Bellingham Freeze-Broke Hose Faucet

The Big Freeze won't be soon forgotten by any local plumber; we never worked so hard repairing water pipes under worse conditions.

It ain't over yet. In this picture is the smallest break I've seen this year. When the faucet was turned on, the smallest amount of water would dribble out. The sharp-eyed tenant spotted it right off.

Watch for unusual wetness around your wall when the faucet is turned on.

Leak in Bellingham Driveway

 It's that time of year when yards and driveways get dug up to replace the leaking water pipe.

Bellingham Water

Bellingham Water pipe

Water Heaters in the Attic

This job was scarier than that movie with the similar name.

It got done, though. Easy Peasy, it was.....

Water Heater 98226 Barkley Plumbing

Water Heaters Bellingham

Bellingham Covid Sewer

 This was done during the height of the pandemic scare. To say everyone--from the city to the team--was distracted by events is a huge understatement. 

It was particularly bad because my sinuses were in full revolt. I freaked out the team and homeowners.

Masks are difficult when you're breaking up six tons of 75 year old concrete, so it was bad all the way around.

It'll last 50 years or more (the sewer, not my sinus condition), so all's well that ends well.

A few things that I see on a daily basis.

Bellingham sewer clean out

Bellingham telephone line

Ferndale Wa utilities

Website address change

I've switched the Google listing website from the old ballplumbing.net to the new barkleyplumbing.net.

Ballplumbing.net will still exist on the web and this blog will still be under the ballplumbing name, but that's about it for actively using the Ball name. I doubt ballplumbing.net will be updated. I've a hard enough time keeping all this in motion.

I still think it's a great name, Ball. George Washington's mother's maiden name was Ball, for Goodness Sake.

Barkley Plumbing is dba under Ball Plumbing Services, LLC, still.

Price Increase

Wowsers!

Prices of everything are going up!

Why am I whining about it?

I've got to start collecting the $40.00 service charge that's listed on the Prices page. I'm serious this time.

I lowered the multiple item discount to 10%. Still cheap at half the price.

Fall in Bellingham

Not much of a summer, all told. I sincerely hope we have a mild winter...

Some people took advantage of the slightly warmer weather to get those not-so-little plumbing jobs done, though.

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa pipe corrosion

I had no end of fun with that corrosion. Really wanted to smoke it, but the homeowner stopped me. Stoopid coppers never lets me have fun. Seriously, though, it looks like the pipe is ready to go any second now. Always be aware of your pipes.

Yes, that whole system was replaced.

Bellingham Water Pressure Regulator Valve: PRV

So what does a water pressure regulator valve (PRV) look like and where does it go? The valve is put on the main water line before any fixture or hose bib and it's usually located under the building. It's usually all brass, but there's a plastic and brass model that's more common in our little slice of heaven.

I use a double union model (pictured) because it's easier to replace; should only take 5 minutes to do the actual replacement with the same model. Shutting down the water, setting up and crawling to the valve takes some time.

New installs can take up to two hours depending on the job.

Ball Plumbing's new helper

This young guy decided to show some initiative and jumped right in. He didn't work out, though, as I caught him sleeping on the job. The job was in Whatcom County near Bellingham, WA.'s city limits.

Bellingham Wa Plumbing Rooster

Warm water toilet

I found this mixing valve at a customer's new-to-her house in North Bellingham, WA. It mixes hot and cold water for the toilet. I've never seen this on a regular toilet and didn't find any reason for it.

It doesn't hurt the toilet, I guess, as bidets are built the same as a toilet? My customer elected to keep it for her own mysterious reasons. No, I didn't ask and don't want to know..lol.

Warm water toilet in N. Bellingham, WA

Sewer Clean Out Bellingham, Wa

Anyone who has had the a sewer stoppage has heard the question, "Do you have a clean out?"

This is a sewer clean out Ball Plumbing installed recently. Yes, it's 15' deep!

Installed a customer-supplied kitchen faucet

She calls us from Lowes, while waiting in line to purchase a cheapo Moen kitchen faucet. That wasn't the problem, though.

The problem was what a local plumbing company did to her before she found Ball Plumbing. They quoted pre-tax $479.00 installed for a similar faucet or $279.00, if she bought the faucet. When she balked, they charged her $49.00 call out charge.

I installed her kitchen faucet for the one hour minimum of $132.00, pre-tax. Took 40 minutes.

So, her cost was roughly $250.00 using our plumbing service and buying her own cheapo faucet. She saved $229.00 off the top. Well, add in the $49.00 service charge and it's lowered to $180.00, but that's still a savings.

If she would have bought our really nice stock model Delta kitchen faucet, her cost would have been pre-tax $375.00 for a really nice kitchen faucet. But, that's still $125.00 more than she wanted to spend in her Roosevelt neighborhood home.

Ball Plumbing charges $132.00 for the first hour, which includes travel and one hour of labor.

For each additional 15 minutes, it costs $22.00.

Really, it's cheap at half the price.......yuck yuck.