"Drip ... Drip ... Drip ..."

For all of you homeowners out there, this sound may be your very worst nightmare! Whether you have a 400 square foot studio or million dollar estate home in Altadore, water can cause thousands of dollars in damage in a matter of minutes. When I bought my brand new Walden townhouse (by Homes by Avi ) in 2014, I did not expect to hear this horrible sound for at least another three or four years ... but it became a reality just a few days ago.

I came home from yoga one evening and caught a faint sound coming from the furnace room in my garage. At that very moment, I felt a knot tightening in the pit of my stomach, and knew I wouldn't like what I saw when I opened the door. Apparently, the bypass flow-through humidifier drum had calcified (because of the hard water we have in Calgary) and was leaking water all over the floor! I immediately shut off the water to the humidifier and enlisted the help of my trusty neighbours to find the right professionals to help me out!

All Plumbers Are NOT Created Equal!

My good friends and neighbours from Swank Media Inc. recommended I contact Proven Plumbing. This was honestly the first time I had to call a plumber and didn't know what to expect. Prior to this, the only plumbers I actually knew were the "Mario Brothers" (Mario and Luigi on my Nintendo gaming console)! Aside from that plumbers would come to fix things in my apartment when I was at work and the management company would let them in. Needless to say, when I met both Adam Michalski and Emil Dominiak (the co-owners and founders) I was a bit taken back.

When I first went to their website, I wasn't sure if calling the "Calgary Luxury Plumbing Company" was the best idea. In fact, I actually didn't even know there was such a thing! Until that moment I had thought every toilet worked the same and everyone heated their house using a furnace. Well ... I was mistaken!

It would only make sense that custom built, million dollar homes have more effective, efficient and convenient solutions that ensure everything is working like clockwork. In addition, people are more conscious about the environment and are looking for more sustainable ways to live comfortably without harmful wastes and unnecessary pollution. Regardless, I was quickly learning how "high tech" the field of plumbing had become ... and I was incredibly intimidated!

When I started my conversation with Adam and Emil I told them straight up that:

• I didn't own a "luxury" home.
• I wasn't building a million dollar home with specialized plumbing needs.
• I didn't have robotic toilets or fixtures that could speak multiple languages.
• I had no desire of putting in-floor radiant heating into my townhouse.
• I was quite content with my normal water heater and didn't want to go "tankless".

They just laughed and reassured me that although they specialize in luxury homes, there was no plumbing issue too small that they wouldn't be happy to help me fix. I immediately knew I was working with the RIGHT people!

When Swank Media recommended them to me, they warned me I would be pleasantly "surprised". First of all, I wasn't expecting to see the owners of the company at my doorstep ... and was shocked at how young these two successful tradesmen were! Proven Plumbing, currently involved in large, multi-unit projects for Trico Homes and other major developers in the city, is headed up by two incredibly innovative and passionate plumbing entrepreneurs ... under the age of 30! These two characters immediately had me intrigued and I wanted to know more about how they became million dollar plumbers.

Who REALLY Needs a Luxury Plumbing Company?

Over the past twenty years Calgary has grown to become a sought after location for estate properties and high end communities. Some of the richest neighbourhoods in the YYC include:

• Brittania (average home price - $2.28 million)
• Roxboro (average home price - $1.39 million)
• Bel-Aire & Mayfair (average home price - $1.35 million)
• Mount Royal (average home price - $1.29 million)
• Eagle Ridge (average home price - $1.13 million)

This does not even include the new infills being built throughout Calgary's various historical neighbourhoods and trendy locations. Although I may not need the types of specialized services Proven Plumbing has to offer, there certainly are a lot of people in Calgary who do!

For example, many of these higher end homes are considering hydronic heating systems as an alternative to a traditional gas forced air heating system. These systems are more comfortable, more economical to run on a monthly basis, and provide superior health benefits. But ... the installation needs to be precise and requires more work to set up properly for optimum results. When you invest over $50,000 in a heating system for your home you want to enlist the EXPERTS! That's why Proven Plumbing is known as Calgary's Luxury Plumbing company. They have experience doing the hardest jobs for the most expensive homes.

Proven Plumbing = Proven Results

In the end, Proven Plumbing saved the day and installed a new humidifier for my home. They were kind, courteous, knowledgeable and ... SUPER FUNNY! The truth of the matter is that they are tradespeople, who are very good at what they do, and who just want to help people solve basic problems and make their homes comfortable. Whether you just want the water to run (without leaking) or you want your toilet to talk to you while you "number two" ... they are there to do what they can to make your day!

FYI ...

I had so much fun getting to know the boys at Proven Plumbing that I've decided to moonlight as a member of their team! Stay tuned for the new series, "The Chronicles of Adam and Emil", on www.provenplumbing.ca !