Over the decades, these Lynnwood plumbers have seen it all

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 5, 2019

This is one of a series of Herald Business Journal stories about legacy businesses in Snohomish County.

LYNNWOOD — The folks at Day and Nite Plumbing & Heating have seen and heard it all — and a lot of it’s coming from your pipes.

Grease balls. Shower curtains poking through the toilet drain. Gurgling pipes.

In 1986, plumber Bruce Davis Sr. bought a small plumbing company in the Lynnwood area.

Day and Nite, in business since 1954, “had a good name so we kept it, ” said Bruce Davis Jr., the firm’s general manager and part-owner.

Back then, it was Davis Sr., a couple business partners and a truck

Now it’s Davis Sr., his son Davis Jr., 30 employees and a fleet of vehicles. “My dad bought out the last partner in 2007,” Davis Jr. said.

The company is located at Martha Lake “but we go all the way up to Stanwood,” he said.

The name says it all: Day and Nite Plumbing.

They’re on call 24-hours a day, seven-days a week. They specialize in plumbing, heating and cooling emergencies — crises that trigger migraines and give you that sick, sinking feeling but rarely make it into a Facebook feed.

At least once a year, for example, the company responds to an “I’ve flushed my ring down the toilet” emergency.

“Our track record is pretty good,” Davis Jr. said. “We’ve gotten quite a few back.”

Winter brings the frantic frozen-pipe calls.

They’re sneaky. Often you don’t know you’ve got a cracked pipe until it warms up and you think you’re out of the woods, Davis Jr. explained.

When the pipes thaw and a flood appears, you need to shut the water off immediately, said David Lalonde, the company’s plumbing division manager.

Easier said than done.

“About 10 years ago, during a big freeze, we realized that many homeowners don’t know how or even where to shut off their gas and water,” Davis Jr. said.

“We will now come out to your house for free and show you how to shut off the water and identify it with a tag,” he said.

Apartment buildings have their own bugaboos.

Jason Morrissey, a company technician, was called to an apartment because the bathroom drain was blocked.

Another firm had removed the toilet in an unsuccessful attempt to clear the drain.

When Morrissey arrived, he saw half a shower curtain sticking out of the toilet drain.

The apartment manager was beside himself — how could someone do this?

Fortunately, Morrissey knew to check the adjoining apartment and bathroom.

The toilets on either side of the wall were back-to-back and shared a common drain.

When the other company tried to clear it with cable snake, they “unknowingly broke through the toilet in the other unit, and the cable snared the shower curtain,” Davis Jr. said.

“The whole time they were trying to pull a shower curtain from one unit to another through the toilet drain,” he said.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something new will bubble up.

“We never know what we’re going to be up against until we get there — no matter how weird,” Lalonde said.

Janice Podsada; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3097; Twitter: JanicePods