The stick of deodorant that has inadvertently found a new home in the toilet.
The 3 a.m. flooding catastrophe.
The family members who don’t understand the mechanics of a garburator.
Andrew Henderson has seen it all after 15 years of owning his plumbing business, Unclog.it.
And while he’s a plumber by trade, Henderson can also double as a master in crisis management.
“I run into people all the time whose lives have been altered—their whole basement has flooded, all their family photos are gone, along with other things they can't replace,” Henderson explains. “I go in and try to fix those problems and give them peace of mind.”
Having started the business in 2009 alone and with only one van, Henderson’s team at Unclog.it now boasts more than 10 vans and fellow plumbers. The team handles all kinds of plumbing issues in apartments, townhomes, high-rises and more, covering the entire area from Chilliwack to Whistler.
A good chunk of Henderson’s expertise comes in the way of everyday, common issues around exterior drainage: storm water flooding, sewer line floods and identifying drips and leak detection.
But then there’s the issue of human error, which runs the full gamut from the mundane to the unthinkable: grease behemoths forming in drains due to excess bacon grease or inappropriate items flushed down a toilet – like a stick of deodorant.
Henderson has also seen other situations where the laws of physics were tested, to little success: rice, water or bread expanding exponentially when flushed down a pipe.
The Christmas holidays and Thanksgiving in particular are big days for the Unclog.it team, as kitchen sinks are tested beyond their limits.
“A lot of people have garburators and they don’t really realize that a garburator is not a blender,” Henderson says. “People put tons of stuff in sinks and toilets that really shouldn't go down there.”
And when it comes time to fix the seemingly unfixable, the revamped Unclog.it website offers personalized services that match precisely the plumber for the job. It’s not only a way to gauge a prospective plumber’s expertise, but also a key factor in instilling trust and building long-term relationships.
“I've had someone call me out to their house at 2 a.m. because they’re flooding, but they’ve asked me to wait outside because they don’t know me and they’re not comfortable,” Henderson explains. “I get it. But now when you go on to my website, you can see your plumbers’ profiles and select the specific plumber you want to help pre-emptively give you that trust factor.”
Henderson’s team is available 24/7, 365 days a year, with work that is backed by flat-rate quotes and warranties.
And there’s the intangibles that shine through Unclog.it’s customer service commitment: taking their shoes off when entering a home, using tarps to ensure a mess isn’t made and cleaning up adequately once a wrong is made right.
“We leave your house like we were never there because we respect our customers and their homes that much,” Henderson says.
