Professional services in heating and plumbing in Monterey Bay Area
- Plumbing
- Heaters & Furnaces
- Toilet & Drain BackUps
- Sewer/Waste Line Locating
- Sewer Line Video Inspections
- Gas Line Installation & Repair
- Plumbing Installation for Remodels
- Plumbing Fixtures & Replacements
- Sewer/Drain Cleaning & Installation
- Clogged Drains, Hydrojetting/Snaking
- Commercial & Residential Emergencies
- Water heaters - Gas, Tankless, & Electric
- Backflow Installation, Repairs, Certification & Testing
It all started with holes in the ground. The year was 1956 and the population of Marina was about a 1,000. There were no water or sewer lines. It was all septic tanks and water wells, with each property having its own pump. That's when Harry Smith decided he could build a profitable business putting in water wells and septic tanks. Marina Plumbing and Hardware, Inc. was born to accommodate those needs. Marina Plumbing and Hardware, Inc. was a company of one. He had a used 1950 Dodge pickup truck, used for service, and a 1939 international well and pump truck. He was 28 years old, married to Georgette Barbier, and they had two sons, Harry Smith Sr., Harry Smith Jr. and Ben Smith.
Harry had $250 in cash and lot of nerve. Harry had ingenuity and he was industrious. He served his apprenticeship working, from the age of 18, for Henry Roberti at Castroville Hardware and Plumbing. From there, Harry moved to Nichols Plumbing in Monterey, where he eventually became a supervisor of the Nichols' crew. He held that job for about eight years, learning and honing his craft. Thinking that if he was able to run Nichols Plumbing, he could just as well run his own business and be just as successful, Harry decided to go on his own. He would make money for himself and run his own company, and succeed he did. The company expanded and by 1961, there were 6,000 people living in Marina.
All of the houses had plumbing. Marina Plumbing and Hardware, Inc. expanded again and again. By early 1970's, the company had 75 employees. Harry had started with a building on the corner of Carmel Avenue and Del Monte Blvd. The building housed Ace Hardware and the company office. Soon Harry needed more space and he bought the building next door to Ace Hardware, a building built by Ben's grandfather, Max Barbier; adding a display room and several offices. Using the slogan, "Don't Cuss, Call Us!" Marina's red and white trucks could be seen answering service calls all over the Monterey Peninsula and up and down the Central Coast past Big Sur. Harry worked on wells and water storage tanks at pt. Sur Naval Station. He was one of only a few plumbing and heating mechanics who knew how to work on steam heat and boilers. He put in the plumbing at Capt. Cooper School in Big Sur.
He worked with some of the Monterey area's largest builders such as Daniels and House, Geyer Construction, Tombleson Inc., Stone, Post and Flower Architects and Hugh Comstock Architect, the builder who brought the Hansel and Gretel cottages to Carmel. In 1982, Harry's son, Ben, joined the company like his father; he had to learn the business from the ground up. He worked as an apprentice, doing a little bit of everything. Now Ben is the owner and general manager of Marina Plumbing and Heating alongside his wife, Lanette Smith. Like his father, Ben is an expert in sheet metal work, something that runs in the family. Harry's father, who was killed in an industrial accident when Harry was a young boy, was also a sheet metal worker and an electrical engineer at a wool factory in San Francisco. His grandfather, whom he never met, was a sheet metalworker and his great-grandfather, John C. Smith, who came to America from England in the early 1800's, was a tin smith.
To be sure, the economy has caused the company to downsize but Ben Smith is still as busy as his father was. Ben has the expertise to install heating, air conditioning and plumbing in new construction as well as remodels. "Don't Cuss, Call Us!'' still applies. Ben's wife, Lanette and daughter, Ashley, handles the books and runs the office at their new building on Paul Davis Drive in the Marina Industrial Park. Ben and Lanette are passing down their knowledge and expertise to the third generation, to their middle son, Justin and daughter, Ashley.
