Have tools, will fix your faucet

Joel Salvador has been a plumber his entire working life, and loves it

Joel Salvador Title: Plumbing supervisor Job: Oversees and provides technical assistance to a staff of 14 plumbers and three plumbers' helpers, and provides price estimates to potential customers

Joel Salvador has been a plumber for more than 30 years, ever since he graduated from Kailua High School in 1975 at age 17. His first employer was his uncle, Ronald Dee, who owned a small plumbing company based in Kailua.

These days, Salvador works for Diamond Head Plumbing, based in Kaimuki, whose motto is, "If you can see Diamond Head, call us." Salvador said last week that the motto probably ought to say, "If you can say it, spell it, we'll be right there," since the company actually serves customers all across Oahu.

Salvador's role with the firm, which he joined 13 years ago, is to supervise the work of its 14 plumbers and three plumbers' helpers. He provides them technical assistance -- from the office by phone and on-site -- helps track down hard-to-find parts and fixtures, and provides price estimates for potential customers. Five years ago, he was named company vice president.

Salvador, 50, is married to the former Tammy Jones, with whom he lives in Ewa and has a daughter, age 25, and two sons, ages 22 and 12.

Mark Coleman: How long have you been working for Diamond Head Plumbing?

Joel Salvador: Thirteen years.

Q: When did you become plumbing supervisor?

A: I've been plumbing supervisor going on eight years.

Q: How many plumbers do you supervise?

A: Altogether we have 14 plumbers, and about three helpers.

Q: As the plumbing supervisor, do you do any of the work yourself?

A: I do a lot of the technical work, yeah.

Q: And what does that mean?

A: That means if the plumber out in the field has problems, they call me, and I try to help them solve the problem.

I'm also the plumbing estimator for the company. So if somebody calls and says they want to repipe, or change the location of their washing machine or a fixture, I go and prepare an estimate.

Q: What are your hours?

A: I come in at 5 o'clock in the morning and I leave at 4 in the afternoon.

Q: And what about emergencies?

A: Yes, we provide emergency service, 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Q: So you're on call for that?

A: Yes, yes. Each plumber takes turns -- a week each -- and if any plumber has problems, they call me.

Q: How many clients a day do they visit?

A: We have roughly maybe anywhere between 35 to 40 clients a day.

Q: What's the typical plumbing job?

A: A typical plumbing job is going out early in the morning, spending an hour at a customer's house and making a fixtures or faucet repair, or fixing a commode.

Q: What's the weirdest thing you ever found backing up a toilet?

A: (Laughter) I pulled out a Tonka toy from a commode once. It was lodged right in the trap, and it was pretty big. It was about 6 inches in diameter. It was very strange how it got lodged in there. But you'd be amazed what can go in there.

I also pulled out a tennis ball. Children, you know.

We also pulled out ... A jeweler called us once; he had dropped a 1 1/2-karat diamond down the drain. We found it and gave it back to him. It was stuck in the trap. He was lucky in that.

Q: What are some of the common problems in older homes and buildings?

A: Right now in Hawaii there's a lot of homes, all out in the Kaimuki area, as well as in Waimanalo, that have the old galvanized piping. And what we are trying to do is to have those customers call in, and we come out for free and make an estimate and make those assessments for them, changing from galvanized to copper.

Q: What's wrong with galvanized?

A: Well, some of the galvanized piping has this lead-type of a pipe which causes electrolysis. The electrolysis can cause corrosion on different types of metals. So a lot of times, when electrolysis is in your pipe system, you get low volume pressure. And that causes the pipe to corrode, and you end up getting a leak. Then what happens is you get a high water-consumption bill or a high electric bill, because you have a hot-water or cold-water leak, and at that time, they call us to do a leak detection. We have this special equipment that locates hot or cold water leaks.

Q: What about banging pipes?

A: If the pipes do the hammering, sometimes, that is due to maybe a washer is loose in a fixture, or there is air in the system. If there is air in the chamber, what you would need is an air arrestor or an air chamber, which traps the air into this tube and stops that hammering sound.

Other problems that occur from old homes is the fixtures, which in Hawaii can be so old that it's hard to get parts. So we have special orders. If you took a picture of my desk, I have hundreds of catalog books, all the way back to 1952.

A lot of these customers have a sentimental attachment to some of these fixtures -- I'm not kidding; things that look like flowers and dolphins -- and there's no name to the fixtures themselves, no brand name. So what we do is, we go back, take a picture of it, and we go through our catalogs and try to locate it, then what I do is I contact the representative that used to carry that fixture and try and order parts from it. And sometimes it can get very expensive.

Q: Are there any simple things homeowners should do to fix their own plumbing problems before calling a professional?

A: Well, it's always good to know the type of fixtures at your house. That makes it easier to get the washers if you know the brands of fixtures. That cuts down the work to about a quarter of it -- getting the right parts. And then, of course, you just need the right tools, and need to be a little mechanically inclined.

Q: What would be some of your typical tools on the job?

A: Typical tools would be a crescent wrench, a screw driver, a channel lock and a handle puller.

Our latest technology is called a freezing clip. It's a clamp that goes over that piping and it turns that water into ice. So that way, if you have a broken water pipe, we can make a repair by cutting the pipe open without shutting off the water.

We also have another type of machine that is fairly new -- in fact, it's just out this year. It's called a crimping tool. Instead of welding or soldering, it's a tool that crimps the fitting and pipe together. Isn't that cool? You know how much time that saves? You're not using lead, you're not using flux (a substance used to help metals fuse together), and you're cutting your labor down to half the time.

Q: What would be some good homeowner-maintenance ideas with regard to plumbing? For example, what do you think about regular enzyme treatments to keep the pipes clear?

A: I like that. I'm for that, especially if you have the old-fashioned cast-iron piping. Enzymes do not corrode that old-fashioned type of piping. Actually, it prevents them from having corrosion.

Q: What is it you like most about your job?

A: I love my job. I started plumbing when I was 17 years old -- right out of high school. My uncle used to own his company, and I was working with him part time, and then I thought I'd get into it. So I joined the plumbing union, and I worked with this old company called Durant-Irvine. That was a real good company. From there I went to Hi-Grade Plumbing, and I never even think twice of working anything else.

Q: What is it you like least about your job?

A: No, I love my job. I really do. A lot of people always find something wrong with their job. With plumbing, it's something new every day. You learn something new every day. I've been in this trade going on 33 years, and you'd be surprised; there's always something new out there.