No job too nasty for master plumbers – Rapid City Journal

Curtis Watson vividly remembers the day he literally swam through sewage underneath a modular home. Thats the kind of toughness a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division and a plumber of 34 years shows when faced with a dirty job.

The hillside homes sewer had separated because a pipe shifted and completely came apart, leaking raw sewage. Watson put on a contractors rain suit which he threw away when the job was done and fixed the sewer as quickly as possible.

Thats all in a days work for Patriot Plumbing, the Piedmont-based business Watson owns. He prides himself on employing a team of plumbers who tackle the dirtiest, toughest jobs in the region.

The companys general manager, Roger Olson, describes Watson as an intense personality and a good guy to have on your side. Ancient-plumbing conundrums, broken toilets and clogged drains dont intimidate Watson. In fact, they intrigue him.

We do the things nobody thinks can be done or wants to do. It doesnt matter how nasty or complicated we tackle it, Watson said. We find a way to get it done.

Patriot Plumbing services residential and commercial plumbing throughout the Black Hills. The business specializes in updating plumbing when homeowners or business owners remodel or need repairs. Watson and his team also install plumbing in new-construction homes and businesses, and they install water purification systems, standard and tankless water heaters and well systems.

Patriot Plumbings team includes four master plumbers three of whom are veterans and four apprentices who go out on jobs with the master plumbers to learn the trade.

Though Watson will work on custom homes by request, he prefers the complexity of dirty jobs over straightforward tasks such as installing brand-new plumbing.

I do historical remodels, and making something new out of something old is very challenging. It can be dirty and messy and complicated and mean. There can be safety issues, especially on jobs that require working on unstable earth, Watson said.

One of his current jobs is an 1893 house in Deadwood thats being remodeled. Taking something very, very old and making it modern and new you have to step back and figure out how to put in what (the homeowners) want with what you have, Watson said.

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Watson and his crew often are called to repair bad plumbing in newer houses, as well.

Were finding a lot of that. The contractors that build them do an inadequate job. I come into customers homes and make it right, Watson said. We do a lot of bathroom remodels, kitchen remodels, burst pipes, leaks. We replace a lot of toilets because these newer ones dont work very well. We have toilets we (install). They arent cheap, but they work.

For the dirtiest of dirty jobs, Patriot Plumbing has a truck called the rescue unit. Its for getting to places most vans cant go, and its equipped for almost any plumbing problem we come across, Watson said.

Watson sets high standards for his team of plumbers and encourages them to follow his mantra.

Being a plumber is not just what I do, its who I am, Watson said.

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No job too nasty for master plumbers - Rapid City Journal