The first thing you notice about the plumbing in the grand Victorian and Art Deco apartment buildings in San Francisco, says Joe Tinsley of Fast Response Plumbing, "is just how old everything is!" While most residences and smaller buildings have replaced outdated galvanized pipes with modern copper, doing so in a multi-story building is a really big, difficult, and expensive job. Usually, that means pipes, valves, and other components of those plumbing systems only get replaced when something goes wrong...which is pretty often. And as we all know, once a leak has sprung, you need, well, you need a fast response!

That's why Gaetani has partnered with Joe, his wife Stefani, and their team of skilled tradespeople to bring fast, high-quality plumbing services to our residents and commercial tenants. Whether that's installing a new water heater, unclogging a pipe, or stopping a drip, the Fast Response team has a fleet of vans roving the streets of San Francisco at nearly all times of the day and night.

Ever heard the term "plumbers helper" when referring to a plunger? "We don't use 'em," says Joe. "They're really the 'resident's helper,' because people should keep one handy to quickly unclog a sink, drain, or toilet instead of letting the problem get worse. By the time we get called in, we usually have to use a long metal coil called a 'snake' because they can chew through anything."

The biggest challenge Joe faces is what he calls the "skills gap," where it takes younger apprentices several years to learn the trade well enough that they can go on a call by themselves. Plumbing is not just about knowing how to solder a pipe – there are a myriad of methods, materials, procedures, and, especially in San Francisco, complex building codes that one has to know inside and out to do a plumbing job correctly. And certain buildings such as the Gaetani-managed Fort Mason residences require even more attention because they are historic sites, so you rather than replacing a leaky, 95-year-old faucet with a new one, the old one has to be repaired or replaced with a custom replica that doesn't change the appearance.

According to Joe, there are some really interesting changes coming in the plumbing world that will begin to find their way into apartment buildings. The first is gray water systems that recycle water from drains, filter and treat it, and then feed it back into the system where it is used to flush toilets, water plants, or hose down sidewalks. The second one is heat-pump water heaters, which run on electricity but are far more efficient than either regular resistance electric heaters or gas water heaters, and have the added benefit of not releasing green house gases into the atmosphere or leaking potentially-explosive natural gas into living spaces.

Joe has a couple of important tips for residents, apart from keeping your "plumber's helper" nearby:

1. Most of the calls for clogged drains are in the shower. By using a strainer to keep hair and other materials out of the drain, the frequency of clogs can be reduced by 50%.
2. If your drain is slow, don't use the poisonous and hazardous bleach- or lye-based chemicals you find in hardware store drain openers: they eat through old pipes really quickly, which may mean you get a messy leak in addition to your clogged drain. Use your plunger instead – it's not just for toilets! Here's a video showing how easy it is: https://todayshomeowner.com/bathroom/video/how-to-unclog-a-bathroom-sink-drain-with-a-plunger/
3. Don't put anything but easily chopped up food in your disposal. Bones, metal, chopsticks, paper and cardboard packaging – all these things dull the blades, burn out the motor, and plug up the works.