John is married to his lovely wife, Rebecca Mohuiddin, of 16 years and has three beautiful and adorable children – Simon (8), Lily (6) and Graham (3).

When you don’t see John on the job, most likely you’ll find him at home with his children or out running as he’s usually training for a race (even marathons!).

John has a wealth of knowledge regarding plumbing, but if there is one tip he could share, it would be this: “Be aware and pay attention to your plumbing in order to avoid troubles.”  By simply paying attention to your plumbing and realizing when small problems are occurring, you can easily avoid bigger problems in the future if you get the small problems fixed.

John is incredibly supportive of his staff.  ”John Baethke & Son employs people who are unmatched ANYWHERE.  They are simply the best!”  And with such a fantastic service team, John Baethke can boast of the numerous “Good Service” awards he has received due to the high quality of work the company performs.

John’s favorite quote: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzky

John’s favorite movie: “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968)

Each one of our technicians has gone through rigorous training with the Plumbers Local Union 130 and holds their plumbing license from the State of Illinois.  With 5 years of training as well as ongoing training at our company, every one of our servicemen is well qualified to do plumbing service work with a great focus on safety throughout the process.

In the process of hiring, each of our service technicians have gone through a background check to review any history that may be of concern.  A technician is then only hired if their background checks out appropriately.  Then, to guarantee our staff continues to live in a way we deem as respectful, we continue to train our staff as well as perform routine drug tests.  This is a process that is encouraged by the Plumbers Local Union 130 and The Plumbing Council of Chicagoland.  We have a zero tolerance policy should any of those tests come back positive.

We are confident that each of our service technicians have both the plumbing knowledge to complete the job to the highest quality as well as the character to be working in the homes of our clients.

Another fun activity that isn’t available year-round is ice skating!  There is the rink on Michigan Avenue in Millenium Park, but if that one is too crowded, walk a block or two east down Randolph and you’ll find another smaller rink (but usually much less crowded) to ice skate on.  If you don’t want to venture downtown, try out the ice rink at Wrigley Field!  It is open until February 26, 2012.

Have you ever had lunch in the Walnut Room at Macy’s on State Street?  Mosy on over to the Walnut Room for lunch or dinner through the end of the month and enjoy a view of the Great Tree that is decked out with 15,000 LED sparking lights and 1200 ornaments.  The Great Tree is 45 feet tall and has been a part of the Walnut Room’s holiday celebration for more than a century.

If you are interested in having your vulnerable pipes insulated, please contact our office at 773-276-5430.

Keep your water warm and flowing this winter!

November 2011 - PHC News recently released their Top 20 Under 20 list of the Top 20 plumbing and heating companies in the United States, based on business strength, with less than 20 employees.  John Baethke & Son Plumbing was listed as #13 out of the top 20 contracting companies, but looking specifically just at plumbing business strength, John Baethke & Son ranked #3 out of all the contractors polled across the United States.

“We are incredibly proud of our hard-working team who have made this recognition possible.  This award was only tangible due to the diligence of my technicians and office staff.  I am blessed to have such a skilled team who continue to work hard and provide the best plumbing service we can offer,” stated John Baethke.

To view the entire PHC News publication for November 2011, visit www.phcnews.com/pdf/phc11_2011.pdf .

Answer: The difference between hard water and soft water comes down to mineral content. Hard water has higher mineral content when compared to soft water. Although hard water isn’t necessarily harmful to a person’s health, it can create problems for industrial fixtures. With hard water, it can be more difficult for a lather to be created. Instead, a white precipitate forms (otherwise known as soap scum). Because hard water encourages the formation of precipitates, hard water can be a reason for clogged plumbing when build-up blocks the flow of water in pipes. Due to the problems that can result from hard water, it is often desirable to soften water. Softening water would include the usage of ion exchange resins. If you have questions about hard water or softening water, please give our technicians a call at Baethke Plumbing.

Stephen Dalka is the newest edition to our Baethke Plumbing team. Since he’s not the only Stephen in the office, we’ve already made it a habit to create some new nicknames for him, including Steve, Stevie, Baby Stephen and Esteban. So when he comes to your home to do some plumbing service work, feel free to call him whichever nickname you choose.

Currently, Stephen is an apprentice at our outfit, meaning that he’s in the midst of classwork and curriculum while also putting in a lot of hours on the job with our other technicians to learn firsthand from the best there is.

Outside of his duties here at Baethke Plumbing, Stephen really enjoys working on his car and also cruising threw new genres of music to try and find new bands and artists that spark his music interest. During the fall, Stephen also likes getting outdoors and building a bonfire. S’mores anyone?

Stephen’s interest in the plumbing industry comes from being the type of person who enjoys working with his hands, and seeing and learning new things everyday. He was exposed to the plumbing industry due to a good friend’s father being a plumber and learning a little bit about the trade through him.

Stephen’s plumbing tip: Always be careful where you put your drain because it could come back to haunt you.

Are your kids going Trick-o-Treating this year? This is usually one of the most popular holidays for children…(Who wouldn’t like being handed free candy while walking door to door?)…but it can also be one of the most dangerous holidays. Make sure your children stay safe these years by following these guidelines:

• Attach reflective tape to costumes and bags to help drivers see you.

• Make sure all relatively sharp costume items (such as swords and knives) are soft and flexible.

• Ensure no one is trick-or-treating alone.

• Take a flashlight with you.

• Examine candy before children eat any of it.

• Always stay outside of the homes you are trick-or-treating at unless the child is with a trusted adult.

• Walk on the sidewalks and not in the street.

As you can see by the headlines, lead in our drinking water is a major concern. What are acceptable levels? The EPA sets the limit at 15PPB (parts per billion), however most health professionals agree that no lead in our water is best. So what can YOU do? The first thing you can do is read your municipality water report. If you are in an older city, like us in Chicago, you are more than likely at risk for having lead in your water. Most of our older homes have lead supply pipes bringing water into our homes. Lead water pipes were used as recently as the 1960’s. So, are you safe if your home was built after 1960? Not necessarily. It was not until 1986 when President Reagan passed a law outlawing lead in plumbing solder and flux. There are hundreds of thousands of homes in the Chicagoland area that have lead services or lead solder in their pipes.

What can you do? If you do not want to filter the water you drink, one thing you can do to minimize lead exposure is to run your water for several minutes prior to drinking it. It is proven that the longer the water sets in lead contaminated pipes the more lead that will leach into it, so running the water will drain out all of the water that was sitting in the pipes absorbing the lead. Also, never use the water off the hot water tap for drinking or cooking. It is also proven that heated water accelerates the lead leaching into our water.

You are probably wondering what else you can do. There are water filters available that remove the lead from your water. Unfortunately, because of their design, whole house versions are not yet available. Two methods of removing lead from your drinking water are both point of use. The first is reverse osmosis. It is effective but it unfortunately wastes a great deal of water in the process of filtering. It also makes the water very acidic so you cannot have any copper piping on the outgoing side of the filter or it will rapidly corrode the piping. The other method of filtration that is very effective is block carbon filtration. The only drawback is that you cannot put the filter on an existing faucet. It needs to be installed on its own faucet that will allow for less restriction in flow. This is needed because the block carbon slows down the water flow in its filtering process. Another great benefit to the carbon filter is that it removes chlorine and Chloramines and the bad taste and odor associated with them.

Every home is different. If you are concerned about YOUR water quality, call the professional water quality experts at John Baethke & Son Plumbing. We will customize a solution that best address’ your health and safety concerns.

There are two different kinds of pumps used in the home today – each of them with their own unique purpose. One of them is used for the removal of ground water. The second is used to remove sewer waste from areas that are not served by a gravity sewer. These pumps are known as a sump pump and an ejector pump respectively. The sump pump can only move clear water that has no waste in it. The ejector pump is designed to move sewer water that contains human waste and paper.

Now to distinguish between the two different kinds of pump designs – the submersible and the pedestal…

The first – the submersible pump – is the more common of the two. That means that the pump and the motor as well as the switch all sit submersed under the water. Both sump and ejector pumps are made in the submersible design. Submersible pumps have been around for nearly a century but they have only been used in the home since the mid 1960’s and happened to gain popularity in the 1970’s as an inexpensive alternative to the vertical or pedestal pump.

The vertical, or pedestal pump as they are called by plumbing professionals, was the original style of pump that was installed in the home for both sump and ejector use. It is very uncommon to see a pedestal pump nowadays, though, since they are typically more expensive than the alternatives. The benefit of the pedestal pump, however, is that the motor and switch are both located out of the water. This design gives the pedestal pump a much longer life than that of a submersible pump. The average pedestal pump will last from 30 to over 40 years whereas a submersible pump averages between 5 and 7 years. You may wonder how the performance compares. The average submersible pump can pump between 25 and 40 Gallons per minute. The average pedestal pump will pump 120 gallons per minute.

So, back to our original question: “Why do so many people flood even though they have a pump?” The reason is that you most likely have a submersible pump, which can’t keep up with the torrential downpours we experience here in Chicago (especially this summer!). As a family business in the plumbing and sewer industry since the Great Depression (the first Great Depression I might add), we have seen many a house flood because of a submersible pump that could not keep up with the speed of water.

If you plan on being in your home for any significant amount of time, it makes the most sense to install a pedestal pump that has a long lifespan and you won’t have to worry about replacing it for few decades. If you are interested in learning more about pumps or would like to have one installed, please call our professional staff and we would be more than happy to design a system that will keep you safe, dry, and will last a very long time.