Have a Safe and Dry Holiday Season.

What do we mean by safe and DRY?  Well, the safe part speaks for itself, but by dry we mean no plumbing problems.  No one needs another thing to think about when having guests over or using the garbage disposal more.  A lot of appliances will get an extra workout this time of year that’s for sure, so we hope that your season is free from those worries.

Always rest assured that if you live in the Kansas City area, Poor John’s Plumbing will be there whenever you need us.  Since faulty plumbing knows no holiday and neither do we.  If a toilet needs fixing, if a garbage disposal needs repairing, if a water heater goes bad, we will be there to fix or replace it and we will do it on a holiday budget because our prices are always lower.

Check out our website at www.poorjohns.com.  Go to the prices page.  Generally, plumbers don’t have pages like that on their website.  We WANT you to see our prices before you pick up your phone.  Please note that we have different phone numbers to serve various areas of the Kansas City metro area, to give you the fastest service possible.  Happy holidays from our family at Poor Johns to yours.

Enjoy One of Kansas City's Favorite Holiday Traditions

Kansas City Southerns Holiday Express Train

Recurring daily, December 16-December 20 - Time: 9 am- 7pm
Region: Crown Center Area
Address: Union Station, Sprint Festival Plaza, 30 W. Pershing Rd., Kansas City, MO 64108

Plumbing Tips for Winter.

Guard against poor heating in bitterly cold weather.  This is the core of the worst thing that can happen to any home in Kansas City this winter.  Regular maintenance of your heating system even after the first cold snap is recommended.  Your heating system runs at full capacity at sub-zero temperatures so that is a good time to have it tested.  A professional with an OHM meter can tell if the element needs to be replaced.

Then there is your hot water system.  It seems that it fails just when you need it the most.  Here is one tip that you may follow.  Try to allow at least 10-15 minutes between any two showers in your home.  This will keep the temperature consistent.

This time of year with harsh temperatures creating serious plumbing problems you need the help of a professional.  In Kansas City that pro is Poor Johns Plumbing.  For decades we have been serving the Kansas City area 24/7 365 days a year.  Visit our website at www.poorjohns.com to find the right phone number to call for help in your area of the KC metro.

Remodeling your Kansas City area Bathroom.

This might be a great time of the year to turn your attention to that bathroom remodeling job that you have been putting off.  Putting into play how much of a budget that you have, consider also how many times each day does someone in your family use the facilities within the bathroom?  How you use your bathroom for showers, long baths, and the obvious should factor into your remodeling decisions.

Of course it depends on WHICH bathroom you are remodeling.  You may have several bathrooms in your home that all have different functions.  The master bath is the second most important space in the house next to the kitchen.  Design work may be much more intricate than it would be in, say a family bathroom where members of your family spend only the time that is necessary.

Your Kansas City area plumber, Poor Johns, wants to help you design that dream bathroom that will become the pride and joy of your household.  Our technician will visit your home to determine all of your plumbing needs.  And best of all, our estimates are free of charge!  Start the magic of the new bathroom of your dreams by calling Poor Johns Plumbing serving the greater Kansas City area.  For the best phone number in your area please visit their website at www.poorjohns.com.

December Events - The Great Bend

Seasonal Events happening in Kansas
As always, everyone loves to come to Great Bend for the holidays! The award-winning Trail of Lights and Santas Around the World are just a couple of highlights to add to your calendar!

 

When Should You Start to Worry about Freezing Pipes?

Let’s tackle this issue before it’s too late.  We all learned in school that water freezes at 32 degrees.  However, researchers say that might not be the case with the plumbing pipes in your home.  According to the Building Research Council at the University of Illinois, that temperature threshold may be closer to 20 degrees.

Tests were conducted on residential water systems subjected to winter temperatures.  It was demonstrated that, for un-insulated pipes installed in unprotected spaces, the onset of freezing occurred when the outside temperature fell to 20 degrees or below.  Other factors can cause the pipes to freeze at temperatures above 20°. These include pipes exposed to windy, cold air which flows in due to a crack in an outside wall or lack of insulation. 

Isn’t it better to stay ahead of the curve?  This upcoming winter in the Kansas City area may be as brutal as the winter of 2014-15.  Don’t take chances with your infrastructure!  For all of your winter needs contact Kansas City area plumber Poor Johns Plumbing.  To find the best phone number for your location visit, our website at www.poorjohns.com.

Hey, NY Mets fans: Our top 5 lists to help you have fun in KC

Our top 5 lists to help you have fun in KC 
"So here you are, in Kansas City for the World Series.
Thing is, you’ve never been here before. What to do? And what’s all this about barbecue? Here’s a list of things and places that baseball enthusiasts will fall for in the City of Fountains. New York Mets fans: we may not want you to win, but we’d love for you have a good time in KC."

Halloween Family Fun!

Great Pumpkin Fest
New in 2015, the Great Pumpkin Fest allows families to enjoy Halloween Haunt before the park transforms into dark and scary!  So bring your little ones for scare-free Halloween FUN!

Upcoming Changes in your Plumbing Needs

With the changing season your plumbing needs may change.  Things that go wrong with your plumbing infrastructure in the dead of winter may be unusual and severe.  A leaky toilet, a flooded basement, a bad sump pump, and much more don’t observe any calendar.  They happen when you least expect them and turn your household upside down.

It is important to trust a professional plumber even if you believe that your do it yourself skills are enough to tackle the task.  You could turn a minor problem into a major one very quickly without the proper tools and expertise for the job.  Make the sensible decision.  Don’t become one of those amateur fixer-uppers that ends up with thousands of dollars of damage and plumbing bills.

The most important thing to remember this time and any time of year is that you want a plumber that can fix what needs fixing anytime and can handle any job.  It is imperative to have a family plumber that you trust just like a family dentist or a family auto mechanic.  Get to know Poor Johns Plumbing. They handle all plumbing tasks all the time.   If you live in the Kansas City area please visit their website at www.poorjohns.com for a list of the phone numbers that is nearest to you.  Trust Poor Johns for ANY plumbing problem.

Cleaning Your Septic System

In the Kansas City area many residents are not connected to a city sewer.  If not, you will probably have a septic system.  The average homeowner probably knows little or nothing about the operation and especially the maintenance of that system.  If it overflows you and the neighbors will know more than they ever wanted to know!

By design, these systems are fairly simple. All drains in the home converge to a single pipe that leads to the septic tank buried outside.  When the waste water from your toilet, shower, sinks and washing machine leave your house, it's combined. When it hits the septic tank, however, it begins to separate.  As simple as their design may be, septic systems require the homeowner to monitor them before problems arise.

Do you want to “monitor” the waste in your septic tank?  I don’t!  That is why you call the plumbing professionals at Poor Johns Plumbing, serving the Kansas City metro.  Their trained technicians will tell you whether you need routine maintenance, repairs or total replacement.  For a list of phone numbers to call in your area visit their website at www.poorjohns.com and call for a free estimate.  Leave the dirty work to the people with expertise. 

Can You Leave Your Swimming Pool Open Year Round?

If you own a swimming pool in the Kansas City area you know that harsh weather is just around the corner.  There are actually pros and cons on the subject.  You should get to know both before you make what seems to be an obvious decision to close down your swimming pool until May.

Pools are a beautiful site no matter what the weather.  If the water is still moving it is a comfort to listen to.  If you leave your pool open, the amount of algae that will grow over the winter will be greatly diminished when you actually start swimming again in the late spring.  This will save you a few days of removing excess algae next spring.

On the negative side, your pool water could freeze in very harsh temperatures and harm your entire plumbing system.  The extra electricity that you use in the winter may cost hundreds of extra dollars.  Whatever you decide to do know that you can always trust Kansas City area plumber Poor John’s for all of your plumbing needs.  Visit their website at www.poorjohns.com for a list of phone numbers that apply to your area.

Remodeling Your Bathroom

If you have been putting off that bathroom remodeling project now may be the time.  Perhaps you have hired a general contractor and now they need to sublet the plumbing work out to a Kansas City area plumber.  Make sure that the plumbing work is done by a licensed plumber or you may regret it later.

When you are ready to redesign that bathroom, basement, or rec room call the best plumber in the area…Poor John’s Plumbing, serving the Kansas City metro for more than a quarter of a century.  The best part is there is no need to worry about paying a service charge or estimate fee as all our estimates are free of charge!

If you have further questions contact Poor John’s Plumbing today.  We offer standardized pricing for many basic plumbing repairs and installs.  For all of the appropriate Kansas City area phone numbers visit our website at www.poorjohns.com.

Natural Gas Lines

How much do you know about the installation of a natural gas line?  Unless you live in that world I will guarantee you that you need a professional.  Does your local gas company require a permit be pulled and an inspection performed before you can proceed?  They probably do.

Water heaters, furnaces, dryers, stoves, and many other appliances require an energy source to operate.  More often than not that source is good old natural gas.  Poor John’s Plumbing will be there to help you every step of the way.  We will pull the permit, examine the system, make necessary repairs, perform a pressure test and handle the inspection. If you need a complete re-piping fear not…we will handle it for you!

Poor John’s Plumbing serves the Kansas City Metro.  Visit our website today at www.poorjohns.com for the phone number specific to your area.  For all of your plumbing and natural gas needs in the KC area call Poor John’s today.

That Annoying Sound

What is the most annoying sound in your bathroom…careful!  It is the constant running of your toilet that is no longer working properly.  Have you ever thought about this…you could be wasting up to 200 gallons of water a day or even more because of that creature in the corner!  Is it kicking off and on for no reason?  Maybe it is even leaking all over the floor.

Whatever the issues you have with your bathroom fixtures Poor Johns Plumbing of Kansas City is ready and able to help.  Many toilet repair issues are done on a flat rate so you never have to worry about a plumber taking his time to run up the bill.  Even if your toilet is NOT leaking it may be costing you money and you are not even aware of it.

The most important thing to know is that the professional technicians at Poor Johns Plumbing will always be upfront and honest.  They will give you the most cost-efficient repair option possible.  They may even be able to troubleshoot your problem on the phone and save you a service call.  How about that.  Call Poor Johns Plumbing of Kansas City today at (816) 455-5520 or visit them on the web at www.poorjohns.com for other phone and location options. 

Sewer Drain Season

Summertime is the time to tackle the main sewer drains.  Just as road construction is everywhere - so are the larger plumbing repair jobs that everyone in the Kansas City area tries to put off until the ground is accessible to deeper digging.  At Poor John’s Plumbing, serving the greater Kansas City area on both sides of the border we GUARANTEE our work.  It is important to have a job done right the first time without being concerned about recurring problems.

For main sewer drain service Poor John’s offers a 90 day guarantee against tree roots.  What does this mean to you?  If Poor John's augers your main drain and we pull out tree roots and it backs up again within 90 days we will come out and auger the line again.  If, on the other hand ONLY tree roots are pulled out then the job is no charge.  That’s right NO CHARGE for pulling out only tree roots!  Plus there is a 1 year guarantee against leaks on anything that we install.

All in all you cannot do better, faster, or more honest work for the price than Poor John’s Plumbing.  Visit our website at www.poorjohns.com to find any and all of the areas of the Kansas City metro that we serve.  Whether it is routine maintenance, the replacement of a worn-out plumbing fixture, or a full blown plumbing emergency call Poor John’s Plumbing of Kansas City at (816) 455-5422.  You will also find other convenient phone numbers on the website.

Summer Excavation.

With warmer weather there comes the opportunity to do the bigger excavation jobs that were impossible to do in the colder weather when the ground was hard.  The window is open and the excavating begins.  You should be aware that most of the plumbing in your home lies underground.  We see the leaky faucets and the broken toilets, however the root of the problem may lie deep beneath the surface of your home.

For many jobs particularly those that involve heavy machinery a permit is absolutely necessary for the project.  “Pulling” those specific permits is a task that the average Joe is not prepared for.  You need a professional who pulls permits all the time.  More than that, you need to hire someone who will not charge extra for the time and effort that it takes to acquire those permits. 

Poor John’s Plumbing, serving the Kansas City metro will never profit from the costs of pulling permits.  They are charged to the customer at the exact cost that Poor John’s had to pay to secure them in the first place.  No matter whether the job is under your basement or in your front yard, Poor John’s Plumbing will take care of the entire task from start to finish.  Call Poor John’s today at (816) 455-5420 to get a complete estimate on your excavation project.

How to Choose a Plumber

Did you know that the word plumbing comes from the Greek which means lead because that is what ancient pipes were made of?  The next time that you need a plumber don’t just rush to the web and make an uninformed decision.  Your plumber should be like your dentist or auto mechanic.  He is someone you can trust to always fix your plumbing problems at a reasonable cost.  Plumbing is the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures for drinking water systems and the drainage of waste.  It is generally NOT a task for a weekend warrior who may think that they are handy.

Plumbing jobs may entail many different types of work.  You may need a new septic system.  Perhaps a sewer or drain needs cleaning.  What about clogged toilets or broken water heaters?  An amateur or do-it-yourselfer can do even more damage making the project much more difficult for the professional, which you will eventually have to call anyway.

In the Kansas City area that full service professional plumber is Poor Johns Plumbing.  Why pay sky-high prices when you can get the same service for much less from Poor Johns.  It’s a cute name with the best professional service in the KC area.  So the next time you have an emergency or need preventative maintenance give Poor Johns Plumbing a call at (816) 455-5420 serving all of the Kansas City metro area including Johnson County and Liberty Missouri.