Drain King Plumbing a fixture in Corpus Christi

For nearly three decades, Drain King Plumbing has been serving the Corpus Christi community with honesty, reliability and expertise. The family-owned-and-operated business has grown into a successful company with a fleet of workers on call 24/7.
On March 1, 1991, Juan Sanchez left the plumbing company where he was employed for nine years to start his own independent operation. Drain King Plumbing was born.
Things weren’t easy at first. It was a home operation, and within the first year, his van was broken into and all his machines, tools and supplies were stolen.
His wife and office manager, Rosa Sanchez, recalled that time and how the newlywed couple rebuilt.
“We had to start all over again,” she said. “We had to dig into our savings — luckily we had that — and everything again.”
Nevertheless, Drain King Plumbing grew. Juan started to get so many calls that he had trouble managing the phone and doing the work, so Rosa left her position at a CPA firm to join his practice.
The company continued to gain traction and expand, so much so that they bought an office space with a garage to safely store their expanding fleet of vans.
Three years ago, the couple moved Drain King Plumbing into an even bigger space and are now equipped with four vans and seven loyal employees.
“We do everything that has to do with plumbing: water heaters, faucets, commodes, sewer lines, water lines,” Rosa Sanchez said. “We have a lot of customers: restaurants, stores, apartment complexes, Realtors. We get a lot of regulars because we’re reliable and honest.”
Her favorite thing about running a business?
“Helping customers,” she said with enthusiasm. “I get customers on the phone for, let’s say, a leak. They don’t know what to do. They’re confused, and once you start telling them the steps to take and how we’ll help, they get excited. It’s a good feeling when you help someone. I love the happy customers.”
As for the future of the company, Sanchez is looking forward to growth, especially with a younger generation now involved. A mother of four boys, her 24-year-old son, Daniel, chose to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“He would go with my husband as a helper, and he learned it,” she said. “He liked the trade, so he became a licensed plumber and started working with us.”
As her son’s boss, she assures that he does not receive any sort of special treatment.
“Just because he’s our son doesn’t mean all the rules don’t also apply to him, and he knows it,” she said. “Business is business. Yeah, I’m his mom, but that doesn’t mean he can come in whenever he wants. No. He’s never called in sick, and he’s always dependable.”
As for the rest of the employees, it feels like family. Many of them have been around since the beginning, and she sees them every day.
“Drain King is not just me and my husband,” Sanchez said. “Drain King is our employees, too.”
Drain King Plumbing is located at 1506 Morgan Ave. in Corpus Christi. Call (361) 882-6969 for more information.