2025 December

The back of a man and a woman sitting down, listening to an instructor giving plumbing lessons.

Editorial Opinion | Kristen Bayles

Beyond the classroom: finding fulfillment in the trades

A personal look at the lessons today’s plumbing apprentices teach us about skill, pride, and opportunity.

December 19, 2025

I'm grateful my family showed my brother the value of trades. After my great-grandfather's plumbing business closed, my dad became a welder and shared his skills with my brother during many afternoons in the work shed, like an apprentice learning from a master.

Heating Perceptions | Scott Secor

The hazards of servicing old boilers

From crumbling wiring to failing antique controls, the cost and liability of servicing decades-old heating systems often outweigh the benefits.

Scott Secor

December 19, 2025

Today, we still get calls about older systems. The potential customers often think their house or building is the oldest we have ever seen. I suppose people think every other building on their block has removed the old steam or hot water system and replaced it with something more modern.

Teacher helping a college student studying plumbing. Both are wearing protective goggles while using a saw. Other students are in the slightly blurred background.

Guest Editorial | Phil Hotarek

Recruit character, teach skill

How everyday interactions can reveal candidates with the heart, grit and service mindset the trades desperately need.

Phil Hotarek

December 11, 2025

You can teach anyone to sweat a copper joint or wire a circulator pump. What’s much harder to teach is attitude, curiosity, pride in craftsmanship, and the ability to make a customer feel at ease.

Vivid close-up of a chrome faucet dispensing fresh water, symbolizing hygiene, cleanliness, and home efficiency.

Contractor's Corner | Dave Yates

My water stinks: Behind a common customer complaint

What started as a customer complaint years ago comes home, and sparks a deeper look at water quality, anode rods and aerators.

Dave Yates

December 2, 2025

Well, isn’t this just great: the faucet they purchased from the big box story stinks and now that’s my fault?! On arrival, I could not detect any odor at all, but they insisted there was an odor - except when I was there.

A plumber cutting PVC pipe with a band saw at a construction site.

Cautious growth through critical change: 2026 Plumbing Industry Outlook

Markets stabilize, regulations intensify, and AI accelerates: industry leaders share where opportunities will emerge.

Natalie Forster

December 5, 2025

Contractors and engineers see a marketplace that is stabilizing, even if margins remain tight. “We remain cautiously optimistic about plumbing industry market conditions in 2026,” says Jason Pritchard, president of the Plumbing-Heating-Contractors—National Association (PHCC). He notes that while uncertainty remains, moderate growth is expected for plumbing and HVAC contractors, though high prices driven by tariffs and inflation will continue to shape consumer behavior.

The Glitch & The Fix: Zone 3 failure

Can you figure out why this boiler circulator failed?

John Siegenthaler, P.E.

December 16, 2025

Can you speculate why heat delivery in zone 3 was insufficient before the helper pump? How could the piping system be improved, considering the wasted length of PEX-AL-PEX tubing from the manifolds to the floor panels in figure 2?

Daniel Pritchett, Josh Vogt and Cody Green, the winners of PHCC’s 2025 Apprentice Contest.

Plumbing Apprenticeship

The enduring power of plumbing apprenticeships

Centuries-old training traditions still guide young professionals navigating a fast-changing industry.

Kristen R. Bayles

December 17, 2025

Did you know that plumbing apprenticeships can be dated all the way back to the European medieval period? Back in the 1300s-1500s, Masters of trades would take on young, unskilled workers and teach them their craft in exchange for their indentured servitude, wherein they would work for years without pay while they honed their craft.

Close up of contractor using a wrench on piping.

The future of jobsite piping: pre-fab and push-fit

As labor shortages and rising costs squeeze contractors, off-site fabrication and push-fit technology is transforming how plumbing systems are built.

Kristen R. Bayles

December 15, 2025

Across markets, contractors report that moving labor from unpredictable jobsite conditions into controlled fabrication environments is yielding measurable gains: fewer errors, improved safety metrics, and installation timelines compressed from weeks to days.

Overhead shot of exterior of Methodist Cedina Medical Cetner in Celina, TX.

Project Profile

Case study: Solving for shower safety and layout flexibility

How drainage innovation supported the first hospital built in Celina, Texas.

Madelyn Young

December 4, 2025

On complex healthcare projects, where schedules are tight and teams are balancing multiple design and compliance requirements, drainage will often receive less early attention. However, in patient environments, it’s a critical component that directly affects safety, accessibility, and maintenance.