Vancouver Plumbing and Heating 604-437-PAPA (7272)

Wow ! My last post was Oct 31st - my how time flies !
I always have so many ideas to write about ! I am going to try to update my blog every Friday or on the weekends so I can be consistent !
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas !
With a new year comes new goals and visions.
Every year I organize a goal setting session with the Papa's. We go through personal and business goals. It really gives clarity and something to work towards. If you haven't already done so, I do encourage to take 5 minutes and set some goals for the New Year. You will feel amazed when they unfold in front of your eyes ! That feeling of accomplishment is priceless.
Hope everyone stays safe this evening and parties responsibly. I will be on switchboard to handle any emergencies that come. So here is my last post of 2011. Hopefully I will be more consistent in the new year !

Happy New Year Vancouver ! 2012 !!!!!

I know you all have been anxiously waiting for this !!

On our last day of advertising with the Kid Carson Show on The Beat 94.5, Kid sang a special song to Papa.. and here it is ! Thanks Kid !! Enjoy Vancouver !!

Wow !! I didn't realize that it's been over a month since I posted last !! I can't even believe how time flies !
I have had a lot of ideas of blog posts so might as well list them and start one by one:
1. Heating Season has arrived ! Want to talk about furnaces, boilers, choosing the right heating contractor and the Energy grants that are available.
2. Papa's last day advertising with the Kid Carson show - which was Sept 30th. We sponsored the show for August/September.
3. Simple toilet repairs - Papa Glenn will go through some toilet repairs which can be done at home as well !
4. The trials and tribulations of waiting to get an iPhone 4S - including me being pushed into a bush by some very determined Apple fans !
5. Some projects we are working on : including Fundraising for Canuck Place and a Blanket drive for the homeless.
6. The Vancouver Home and Interior Design Show: Top 5 Questions asked by customers.
7. Important of being accredited by the BBB !
Well I think the above 7 should keep me busy for at least a week !!
So be sure to stay tuned !
I leave you with a quote from Steve Jobs and a picture I took today with my new iPhone 4s from the Vancouver Convention Center.

Saturday September 17th, 2011 found us on the rocky shores of the Coldicutt Trail in White Rock for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Papa Plumbing chose this area for our cleanup mainly because there was no one signed up for this area. This was Papa Plumbing’s first year coordinating a clean-up.

I spread the word through various social media outlets, tweeting and posting the event on Facebook. I also tweeted various media outlets, such as the Vancouver Sun, The Province, Peace Arch News, News 1130.. hopefully they got my tweets and promoted the event as well.

Our favorite recording artist Bif Naked helped by retweeting our cause. So did our favorite radio show host Kid Carson ! We also had tweets from our fellow twitter/facebook followers wishing us luck ! This alone made us happy as in our own way we are bringing awareness to this cause.

The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is an annual event hosted by the WWF and the Vancouver Aquarium.

Their mission is to promote understanding and education about shoreline litter issues by encouraging Canadians to rehabilitate shoreline areas through cleanups.

Their vision is a fully engaged and committed Canadian public keeping all Canadian shorelines free from litter.

In 2010, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup celebrated its 17th anniversary with 47,027 registrants nationwide.

Shoreline litter has an impact on wildlife, our ecosystems and on people. You can read more about the impacts here: Impacts of Shoreline Litter

We wanted to help this worthy cause and so signed up to be site coordinators for Coldicutt Trail in White Rock. Though our site did not attract the crowd like Kits Beach would have, we still had a turn out for that rainy day ! I brought 2 of our apprentices: Papa Gordon and Papa Darshan, and 2 White Rock residents who saw the cause on Facebook also joined in: Sandy and Don Nelson.
Oh yes and the rain did stop just in time for our clean-up !

It is a fair hike down the shoreline and because of this I wasn’t expecting that much garbage to be down there.

Well we were sure in for a surprise !! I had to send Papa Darshan up for more garbage bags ! As we walked the shores, we found garbage everywhere !

At the top of the trail is this rock.. I am not sure how Mr Coldicutt would feel about all the garbage that is polluting the park, after all he donated it for the enjoyment of the residents NOT for it to be a garbage dump !

We covered a distance of approximately 2.2 kms. Here is a list of what we found:

Plastic Bags: 11
Balloons: 6
Beverage Bottles: 4
Beverage Cans: 17
Caps/Lids: 11
Clothing,Shoes: 6
Cutlery/Plates: 7
Food Wrappers/Containers: 8
Pull Tabs: 1
A huge pile of residential garbage
Rope: 3 ropes - 10 foot , 4 foot, 7 foot
Bait Container: 1
Buoys/Floats: 1
Crab Trap: 1
Fishing Line: 3
Strapping Bands: 1
Tobacco Packaging/Wrappers: 6
Cigarette Lighters: 1
Car/Car Parts: 2 ( truck spark plug wire, car seat)
Can of Butane
Pet excrement in Bag
Freezer Door
Length of ABS plumbing pipe
1 Dead seagull in plastic bag
1 Dead Jellyfish in plastic bag

1 Sony Walkman with headphones

We were all in disbelief when we saw the pile of residential garbage. Clearly someone went through a great deal of effort to get it there. We were not cleaning a walking trail, it was a rocky shoreline. Perhaps it could have also been a boat who dumped it.

We filled up 6 contractor size bags each.
Bag 1: 26 lbs
Bag 2: 35 lbs
Bag 3: 37 lbs
Bag 4: 26 lbs
Bag 5: 28 lbs
Bag 6 + plumbing pipe: 19 lbs
TOTAL: 171 lbs over approximately 2.2 kms of shoreline

Now our friends Sandy and Don took up their bag that they collected - 26 lbs - I have no idea how they hiked up with that bag ! Awesome job Sandy and Don !!

We ended up taking the bags one by one down to Marine Drive where we brought the Papa van.

It felt like quite the trek with those heavy bags on our backs  - Papa never backs down from a challenge ! We sure did feel good when we were done !!

We had lunch at The BoatHouse and learning what we did for the Shorelines, the manager Colby gave us a great deal on our lunch.. that was so nice of him and his staff !! The staff was also very proud of us !

I had the vegetarian linguini.. it was so delicious !!

Special Thanks to The Home Depot on Scott Road/72nd Ave in Surrey for donating our clean up supplies. They graciously gave canvas gloves and contractor bags.

It was a very rewarding experiences for us and we are definitely looking forward to next year !!

Here is a link to the City of White Rock’s website about garbage collection and you can call them with any questions: Municipal Operations Department 604-541-2181

Lets keep our shorelines clean and litter free !! Thank you to all the volunteers and Thank you to Papa Darshan, Papa Gordon, Sandy Nelson, and Don Nelson for making our clean-up extra special !!

 

Garburators/Garbage disposals definitely get rid of food waste easier. Instead of scraping your dishes into the garbage, you can simply flush it all down the drain, run the garbage disposal and it disappears - like magic !!

Your garbage disposal has a motor attached to rotating blades which are located in a chamber below your sink that is attached to your drain. When you put food down the garbage disposal and turn it on, these blades shred the food into small enough pieces that it can pass safely through your drain pipes and out into the sewer system. The shredded food then runs with the water back into your main drainage system and passes out of your house. They provide an environmentally responsible alternative to transporting food waste to landfills. They can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Important Fact: NEVER reach into the garbage disposal when it is running. If you need to reach in, make sure the unit is switched off. It is even a good idea to shut off the power to the garbage disposal entirely so that it cannot be turned on by accident while your hand is in there.

Smells funny? A foul odor could develop from the garbage disposal after a period of time. This is common and easy enough to fix, but you will have to get down into the garbage disposal to get rid of the smell. The smell simply comes from residue of the food you have put down the garbage disposal and that needs to be cleaned off so the smell will go away.  Make sure you have the garbage disposal turned off completely before you reach in to take parts out to clean them.

You can also put baking soda, vinegar or half a lemon down the garbage disposal and run it in order to combat a persistent smell or to keep one from developing.

Papa Plumbing, Heating & Drainage Ltd commonly supplies and installs Badger 5 garburators with the following features:

• 1/2 Horsepower Heavy Duty Motor (Quiet Dura-Drive® Induction Motor).
• Rugged Galvanized Steel Construction (For Disposer Durability).
• Space-Saving Compact Design.
  
  

Don't ever worry as Papa Plumbing is able to diagnose any issues with your garburator / garbage disposal. Just give Papa a call 604-437-7272 and we will sure to be send a technician over.

You will never have this problem:

Looks like its going to be a beautiful week in Vancouver !! Enjoy your long weekend and Happy Back to School !!

 

Problem: Squeaky pipes.

Only your hot water pipes will squeak. The sound occurs when the pipe expands in its strap causing friction.

 Solution: a rubber cushion between the pipe and the strap.

Call PAPA for a free quote to fix the squeak: 604-437-7272 !

 

So my week continues in my hometown of Calgary ! Checked in today with the technicians and Big P aka Boss and everything is running smoothly. Seems to be the regular jobs: burst pipes, furnaces not firing, drains backing up ect. September should be a very busy month, and it will continue until at least Feb. Papa is ready ! We are so going to rock it !

If you know me, you will know I LOVE social media. I tweeted our dear friend Erin Ireland that I am in Calgary and she immediately replied back that I must try Pulcinella !! So out we ventured to Kensington for lunch. The staff was so attentive and very helpful ! Our hostess explained to us that the pizza is authentically made in a 1000 degree oven for 60-90 seconds. Wow HOT !!
The Pizza: Fresh ingredients, thin crust, fresh made dough, fresh tomato sauce - priceless !! They also don't cut the pizza and it's supposed to be eaten authentically - just like a sandwich the hostess said.

This is surely a must in Calgary ! Pulcinella - the jewel of Kensington !

Here are some more details of Pulcinella :

Hours: Sunday 1130am - 10pm Monday to Thursday 1130am - 11pm Friday & Saturday 1130am - Midnight
Address: 1147 Kensington Crescent NW | 403.283.1166
Website: http://www.pulcinella.ca/

Thank you Erin Ireland for the excellent recommendation !

Papa's Poll: 5 stars  !!

“You ever go to a big party, go in the bathroom, flush the toilet and the water starts coming up? This is the most frightening moment in the life of a human being. You’ll do anything to stop this. You’ll lose your mind and start talking to the toilet. ‘No please, don’t do this to me!’ ” Jerry Seinfeld

 Yikes.. has that ever happened to you? Here is a tip if it ever does: if you flush once and the water rises dangerously high, DO NOT flush again! You should quickly remove the tank lid and push the tank ball down to close the flush valve.

Once that's under control, lets explore the different drainage cases that could be happening:

Scenario 1:  If the bathroom sink does not back up but the toilet is backing up then the blockage is somewhere in the toilet or drain line.The clog may be the result of an object dropped into the toilet, such as a toy or a washcloth, then it is best to try to fish it out, rather than force it farther along. Other clogs resulting from normal flushed waste may be cleared with the use of a plunger or closet auger. First lets try to use a plunger to dislodge anything that may be trapped in the toilet bowl drain.

If the bowl is full, put on some gloves and bail out water until the bowl is only half full. 

If the bowl is empty, add water to fill it to half full. Make sure to have some towels around the area to avoid a mess !

 Place the plunger in the bowl and completely cover the drain opening. With the plunger completely under water, press and pull it rapidly for 15-20 seconds. If you see something stuck in the drain opening, you can use a stiff wire to drag it back into the bowl. If you dislodge the item, pour a gallon or so of water into the bowl before you flush.

The water should drain to its normal level and stay there.

Scenario 2: If the sink (or some other bathroom drain) is backing up, then the clog is farther along in the drain line. A cable/auger would need to be used in this case. You can try yourself by renting one from your local Home Depot or call PAPA to come in. We have cables of all sizes, and if need be a high pressure hydro jetting machine.

Scenario 3: If drains elsewhere in the house are backing up, then the problem is likely to be somewhere in the sewer line. The best thing to do in that case is to call PAPA ! 

 

I leave you with this plumbing song by Weird Al.. he is hilarious !!: 

"B-b-b-baby, I can tell you've got a big problem

 

When I flush the john, then your shower goes on

(Baby) Now watcha gonna do?

If Drano's a joke and your plunger is broke

Baby, call the mensch with a monkey wrench

(Baby) He'll be there for you"

 

"Got a problem with plumbing?

Gotta blame it on something

Blame it on the drain it was cloggin', cloggin'

Blame it on the faucet that drips all night

If hairballs, grease and goo

Won't let the water through

Blame it on the drain, yeah, yeah"

 

ENJOY YOUR SUNDAY VANCOUVER !!

 

 

 

 

In the Lower Mainland? You can basically use these coupons anywhere in the Lower Mainland, from Hope to Horseshoe Bay !!

Hope your Monday went well Vancouver !