Three generations of Pryors. One shop on Holgate.
Walt opened Pipewright in 1974 with one used van. Fifty-two years later his daughter runs it, his grandson leads the crew, and the phone still gets answered by a person.
Fifty-two years, four moments
Most of what we do today started as one of Walt's habits.
The people who'll show up
Nine licensed plumbers, two apprentices and three people in the office. A few of them:
Ruth Pryor
Since 1989
Owner, master plumber
Started sweeping the shop at 14. Wrote the first printed price book in 2004.
Lena Vu
7 years
Plumber, remodels
Knows every remodeler on the east side by their coffee order.
Theo Pryor
Since 2019
Field lead, journeyman
The one who'll crawl under a 1920s house and enjoy it.
Marcus Bell
11 years
Office manager
The person who answers the phone. Usually on the third ring.
Dan Okafor
22 years
Senior plumber
Water heaters, and explaining them to people who never wanted to think about water heaters.
Walt Pryor
1974–2004
Founder, retired
Still drops by on Fridays to tell everyone they're doing it wrong.
Four things we won't change
Walt's rules. We've added a website and a few trucks, but these stay.
A person answers the phone
Marcus or Ruth, 7 to 7. After hours, the plumber on call.
The price before the work
From the book, or a new price and the reason. Nothing starts until you say yes.
We clean up after ourselves
Booties, drop cloths, and the old parts leave with us.
We tell you when you don't need us
If a $10 part from the hardware store will do it, we'll say so on the phone.
Why people keep calling
Some of these families have used us for three generations too.
“They told me not to replace the water heater yet. Flushed it, swapped the anode, and I got three more years out of it.”
Anita K.
Milwaukie · Water heaters
“Booties on, drop cloths down, and they swept up around the crawlspace hatch when they left. Small things, but I noticed.”
Helen W.
Lake Oswego · Leaks and pipe repair
“My mum used Walt in the eighties. I use Ruth. Same price book, just more pages.”
Sam R.
Woodstock · Toilets