Nothing fishy about top plumber

Frontiersman

WASILLA — If you’re looking to hire this year’s top plumber, you’ll likely have to do more than pick up the Yellow Pages.

Elwyn Fischer, of Elfish Plumbing, said he doesn’t advertise — you won’t even find Elfish Plumbing in the phone book — and works mainly through referrals.

“I might do some advertising eventually,” he said, joking that if the economy keeps going the way it has been, “I might have to resort to such tactics.”

Second- and third-place honors in the plumber category went to Alaska Goldstar Plumbing and Heating and Meadow Lakes Plumbing and Heating.

Fischer said he’s been in the Valley for 42 years and has been plumbing for 31.

“I work for really good people because good people refer me to them,” he said. “I’m pretty patient and I’m not cheap. But I try to do the best work and use the best parts.”

And he doesn’t unclog a whole lot of drains. He tends to stick more to new construction. Repair work can get messy, to say the least.

“I try to stay out of that if I can,” Fischer said.

As for the name of his enterprise, when asked how he came up with Elfish plumbing, Fischer said he wasn’t thinking about woodland sprites or J.R.R. Tolkein.

“I don’t know about that, that’s just kind of what we came up with a couple of years ago,” he said.

Elfish was a suggestion his son had and is kind of a mash-up of Fischer’s first and last names. It also, he said incorporates his nickname, “Fish.” Further, he noted, a Spanglish rendition of the name might yield a translation of “The Fish.”

The fish theme carries through in his company’s logo — a fish — and his slogan — “We’ll hook you up.”

“Might as well have fun if you’ve got to work,” he said of the process his family used to come up with the name.

Fischer said he does a lot of work but doesn’t really specialize in anything in particular.

“You know it’s hard to specialize too much in this Valley because everybody wants pretty much the same things,” he said.

Those things would be Kohler fixtures, fine Delta faucets, radiant heat. All are items commonly found in new Valley homes.

In 30 years plumbing, he’s seen the Valley grow and his industry evolve along with it.

“Things have changed. Materials techniques, people, how much we charge,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.