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Travis & Sons Plumbing is Contractor of the Month

Bob Travis of Travis and Sons Plumbing is named Contractor of the Month by the Fountain Hills Association of Licensed Contractors

Bob Travis started plumbing Fountain Hills in 1977, escaping New York’s cold, snow and rain. Fountain Hills was his “city of the future,” where he could work nearly every day because the weather is so consistently pleasant.

His company, Travis & Sons Plumbing, Inc., was named Contractor of the Month by the Fountain Hills Association of Licensed Contractors.

Bob laid some of Fountain Hills’ water and wastewater mains. He plumbed many early commercial buildings, including the water company building, Four Peaks School and several churches. After all,” he adds, “plumbing is non-denominational.”

He also installed plumbing in about 120 McDonald’s restaurants all over Arizona.

Experience differentiates Travis & Sons. “Back East, I remodeled older buildings, with every type of plumbing you can imagine. I’ve seen it all,” he says. “Now that people are updating their homes, that experience really pays off; you never know what you’ll find inside a wall.”

Today Travis & Sons focuses on homeowners updating their kitchens and baths.

Popular upgrades include “comfort height” commodes. “The extra 1-1/2 inches in height make it a lot easier to stand back up.

“Powder room vanities are looking more like furniture, with vessel sinks and faucets coming out of the wall,“ Bob says.

Bob’s advice to homeowners: “Keep an eye on the water heater. If it shows signs of a small leak, get it fixed right away for safety. As their houses gets older, people sometimes forget the water heater.”

One new plumbing technology is an on-demand pump at the water heater, tied to an automatic temperature sensor valve at the farthest faucet. “It pushes hot water to every faucet, and re-circulates cold water back to the water heater. The homeowner gets hot water quickly and reduces wasted water. It’s an easy retrofit because we don’t have to run a new pipe back to the water heater.”

Another new technology is PEX pipe, made of cross-linked polyethylene. “It lasts as long as copper, is easier to install and costs one-tenth as much,” Bob says. “It is self-insulating, so it saves energy and it won’t freeze.”

Bob and his wife, Linda, have three grown sons. “They worked in the business through college, but now they are out on their own,” he says.

The Fountain Hills Association of Licensed Contractors is a not-for-profit trade association promoting better contracting practices.

Association officers are: Roger Rambo of Rambo & Son Landscaping, Pool Service and Repair, president; Joe Ciotta of Joe Ciotta Plumbing, vice president; Al Donaldson of Double D Construction, immediate past president; Alice Blackerby of Fountain Hills Design Center, secretary-treasurer.