Plumbers Earn a Premium and Gratitude for Fixing Yule Clogs
Henry and Marjorie Lipson were anything but jolly on Christmas morning.
They had 16 relatives and friends coming over for a 5 p.m. holiday party at their Sherman Oaks home, a 25-pound turkey waiting to be cooked -- and a clogged kitchen sink.
“I don’t know how much longer I can wait,” said Marjorie Lipson, frustrated that she couldn’t start preparing the feast. “Talk about nervous!”
It’s times like these that plumbers such as Louis Serrano of Northridge join police officers and firefighters among America’s pantheon of public service heroes. Serrano, employed for six years by the Roto-Rooter Service and Plumbing franchise covering Los Angeles County, is a member of that hard-to-find breed of skilled worker available for duty on holidays.
On Sunday, he worked Christmas and Hanukkah miracles with his pliers and snakes. When he arrived at the Lipsons’ ranch-style house about 10 a.m., the couple’s immediate reaction was typical of many holiday customers: “Thank God!”
Serrano, who has done Christmas duty several times in his plumbing career, tries to shrug off the high anxiety he faces from customers on the holiday. “Emergencies tend to be inconvenient, but that’s why they call them emergencies,” he said. On holidays, particularly in the evenings, Serrano added, customers’ emotions come to the surface. “They are usually either really desperate, or happy to see you.”
American homeowners open their doors to plumbers an average of 1 1/2 times a year and spend about $400 annually for the work, according to estimates by the Home Improvement Research Institute in Tampa, Fla.
It is unclear how much of that $3.2 billion in business happens on Christmas, but industry veterans say most consumers try to wait until holiday rates -- roughly double the standard charges -- are no longer in effect.
Still, the people who want a plumber on Christmas really want a plumber on Christmas. This is the season when eager kitchen helpers jam garbage disposals with too many potato peels, when out-of-town guests flush the wrong things down the toilet and when holiday celebrators accidentally drop precious jewelry down bathroom sink drains.
Or, as Bill and Karen Holman of San Gabriel discovered on Christmas Eve, long-standing problems with a main line leading to the city sewer system can flare up at the wrong moment.
The Holmans were entertaining a houseful of relatives when suddenly two of the guests came out of separate bathrooms and reported that the toilets were overflowing. Bill Holman said a young nephew broke the news by exclaiming: “I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it!”
By close to 11 p.m., when the clog was cleared by plumber Juan Jimenez, the Holmans tried to laugh about the night’s events. When it happened, though, it seemed like “my worst nightmare,” Karen Holman said.
The holiday tension was evident at the home of the Lipsons, who have entertained at home on Christmas Day for three decades.
Henry Lipson, a retired pharmacist and drugstore owner, explained that the family’s regular plumber came to unclog the sink late last week and pronounced it fixed. Marjorie Lipson, a real estate agent, complained that her now “former” plumber failed to respond to four phone messages that the Lipsons left over Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.
Even plumbers who advertise that they are available 24 hours a day and on holidays often aren’t, she said.
They turned to Roto-Rooter. When Serrano arrived, he diagnosed the problem and gave the Lipsons notice that unclogging the sink drain with his blade-tipped “junior snake” would cost $259, versus the customary nonholiday rate of $156.50.
The Lipsons just wanted to be sure they could reach Serrano later if the sink clogged again. “I want your name and number, cellphone -- every other number,” Marjorie Lipson said.
“No problem,” Serrano replied with a chuckle.
The apparent shortage of Christmas plumbers comes despite premium wages for the workers. Kevin Bailey, a vice president with the Los Angeles County Roto-Rooter franchise, said his technicians -- plumbers above the rank of apprentice but below the supervisor level -- earn about $50 per hour on holidays, versus $30 per hour regularly.
Bailey said he has few problems finding holiday staff, but others in the business are reluctant to work on Christmas.
Wayne Gilbert, president of family-owned Curtis Plumbing in Sherman Oaks, said he ordinarily keeps someone on call on Christmas but essentially is closed then as well as on New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and July 4. “The staff just enjoys having those particular four days off,” he said.
Not everyone is inclined to call a plumber, even when trouble strikes on Christmas.
“This house would have to fall down before I’d call a plumber on Christmas Day. They have a life too,” said Maureen Ogle, a historian in Ames, Iowa, and author of “All the Modern Conveniences: American Household Plumbing 1840-1890.”
Ogle stayed true to her convictions about five or six Christmases ago when she was preparing a meal for about 10 relatives and discovered about half an inch of water covering much of her house’s basement floor. Ogle got a plumber the next day and found out that the water had come from the kitchen sink drain, which was jammed with potato peels.
Ogle, who started her history of plumbing research while working on her doctorate in history at Iowa State University, speculates that the need for plumbers to make house calls probably emerged back in the 1890s. Around that time, she said, plumbing was becoming more mechanically complex and plumbers themselves were emerging as recognized craftsmen and organizing themselves into labor unions.
Modern-day plumbers who venture out on the holidays receive lots of appreciation, and absorb the anxiety. “When you’re driving up to the house, you literally have people on the porch waiting for you,” said Patrick Gregory Jr., who with his father owns Action Plumbing and Rooter in Eagle Rock. “It just touches your heart.”
In Sherman Oaks, as Serrano finished his work about 11 a.m., the Lipsons already were starting to put their frustrations into perspective. They both thanked Serrano and wished him a good holiday.
Henry Lipson said he was “much relieved.” Marjorie Lipson expressed similar sentiments, but also thought ahead, in case holiday disaster struck again.
“I’m very happy,” she said, “that I have his cellphone number.”
