The unofficial slogan of Hillcrest Heating and Plumbing 1991 Ltd. is “If Hillcrest can’t help you, no one can.” That’s a slogan that owners Rick Ratzlaff and Dave Lew live by every day. The two men see plumbing as more than just a trade—they see it as a way to experience extraordinary challenges and use their intelligence and creativity to solve problems for good.
One of the things Rick finds most interesting about plumbing is that each day is never the same. “Every day is different,” he says. “It’s not the same repetition as in other work.” Even something as simple as an overflowing sump pump or burst water main can present a new set of challenges—there might be several different ways of fixing something, depending on the location of the problem, the material used in the piping, and what’s surrounding the problem area. For Dave and Rick, plumbing is a series of challenges to be solved as elegantly as possible.
