Just plumb fast

For speed skaters, track sprinters, downhill skiers, and Olympic swimmers, results are measured in seconds with the margin of victory often being a split second. Competitors work hard to shave off tenths and hundredths. And so it goes for competitors in the Fastest Plumber contest. Mountain-region winner Bill Roudebush of Spokane says that at the national finals where he competed on Nov. 9, “everybody was really super-fast.”

The Ferguson Fastest Plumber contest was sponsored nationwide for the first time this year by Ferguson Enterprises, a wholesale distributor of plumbing and builders products and plumbing products manufacturer Kohler Co. Contest entrants were tested on their plumbing skills and efficiency in three events:

•Toilet installation: Competitors were required to install a gasket on the tank; set it in place on the bowl and tighten down the bolts; then place the lid on the tank.

•Faucet installation: Quickly moving on, the competitors next inserted a centerset lavatory faucet into a sink and, through the lift-rod hole, tightened the faucet in place using a Phillips screwdriver.

•Multi-piece shower installation: Finally, with the stopwatch ticking, competitors placed a back wall on a shower-stall pan and interlocked sidewalls to the back wall. Ferguson’s Spokane branch manager Andy Wilson said, “For those guys, that event is like snapping together Legos!”

Wilson said local Fastest Plumber competitions were conducted in eight regions nationwide from April through September. He said about 500 plumbers competed in the Mountain region, which includes Washington. He estimates there were more than 20,000 contestants throughout the U.S.

Roudebush competed locally for the first time in July. A plumber of five years who works for Sturm Heating Inc., Roudebush’s winning time in Spokane was 2 minutes, 2 seconds – faster than the next best entrant by 28 seconds. For his efforts, Roudebush won $200 and an all-expenses paid trip to Green Bay, Wis., to compete for the grand prize of $3,000.

The finals were held in the Atrium of Green Bay’s historic Lambeau Field before this year’s Packers-Steelers game. Contestants, clad in Green Bay jerseys sporting their names, competed in head-to-head, single elimination contests. And, as they say, the game plays faster in the pros.

Roudebush was eliminated in his first round by just 1/20 of a second. However, based on his time, he still finished in fifth place and won another $200.

“A California boy won the competition with a time of 1:18.97,” Roudebush says. “His times improved each round – he was just fast!”

Wilson said Roudebush was impressive as well. “Bill did a great job,” he said. “He was cool, calm and collected. He had a job to do and he did it, only missing going to the next round by a fraction of a second – there were only two and a half seconds separating all the contestants!”

For Roudebush, who was raised in the farm country west of Spokane, the trip to Green Bay was as far East as he’d ever been. He says staying in a luxurious hotel, attending the football game after the competition, and all the other perks he received were very much appreciated. But for him the best part was meeting other plumbers from across the country and enjoying the camaraderie with them, he said.

“After the competition and game, we all went to the lounge at the Horse & Plow,” he said. “The winner was there. His name is Matt Millard. I got to know him. He’s an alright guy.”

Steve Sloan, plumbing division manager for Sturm Heating Inc., says the competition was a good opportunity for Roudebush, and in more ways than one.

“I was at the Ferguson [event],” he said, “and was amazed at how well Bill did. So I promoted him on the spot to finish plumbing – that’s where you set all the fixtures, trim out during the final stages of installation in a new home. We gave him a new company truck and everything. He’s been keeping up.”

As well he should. After all, he’s proven he’s one of the fastest plumbers in the country, hasn’t he?