By SHELLY GUERRA

Strongsville Post editor

For 25 years, Sandy Plumbing has been the go-to place in Strongsville for all of your plumbing needs - from a leaky toilet repair or the installation of a new faucet to a remodeling or construction project.

The business, located at 11921 Prospect Road, is family owned and operated by the Cox family, who are longtime residents of Strongsville. Owner Marvin Cox is a first-generation plumber, stayed in the trade in the community he loves, and has never looked back.

Sandy Plumbing, which Marvin affectionately named after his wife, was built from the ground up - starting in the garage of the family home with offices in the basement.

"Strongsville has grown so much over the years. I have seen so much progress with the new homes, businesses and roads. I have dedicated my life to Strongsville and I will never move out of the community. It's been an awesome community for us to live and have our business in," Marvin said.

So when you hire Sandy Plumbing for a job, you are guaranteed honesty and loyalty that a family with deep ties in their community is proud to offer.

"Once you hire me as a contractor, you have me for life," Marvin said. "We take our job very seriously. We are family owned here in Strongsville and are here to stay. If you need me now or in 10 years from now, I will be there."

Not only is Sandy Plumbing the choice for Strongsville customers, but other clients rely on Sandy Plumbing's expertise from surrounding communities like North Royalton, Brunswick and Berea and as far away as Orange, Beachwood, Avon and Westlake - and all areas in between. After all, Sandy Plumbing has two certified master plumbers on staff and three employees who work in the field have attended four years of journeyman schooling.

Family ties and strong roots

The importance of family is everywhere you turn at Sandy Plumbing. Sandy remains just as active as Marvin in the family business, as an integral part of the office. Son Joseph is the office administrator and son Jeremy works out in the field.

"I have done other things, but my dad was always a plumber and I remember being 13 years old and being out on Saturdays earning extra money fitting toilet seats," Joseph said. "So it has been a part of my life and I am right back here in the family business."

Marvin is also a prime example of dedication to the family business. He is often the first one to open the doors at Sandy Plumbing, arriving well before the 8 a.m. opening time and is usually the last one to leave, often working well into the evening hours.

"He is so good about going out and doing service calls when they are needed," Joseph said. "Sometimes people just can't be home and he really tries to work it out with them. He'll go after work, in the evening or on a Saturday. He's really dedicated."

Marvin describes himself as a "hands-on" owner, and neither he nor Sandy plan on retiring from the business any time soon.

"I love to work and I like to work with my hands," he said. "I have such a passion for this business. We are here to stay."

It's no wonder. Marvin and his entire family's roots are deep in Strongsville.

Marvin is a 1973 graduate of Strongsville High School. He and Sandy were married by the late Mayor Walter Ehrnfelt and raised their four children, Joseph, Jeremy, Kara and Lisa in Strongsville, too. The Cox family is also very involved in community service - from sponsoring recreation baseball teams and soccer teams in the summer - to donating countless time, labor and materials for projects like the Catan Stadium and Safety Town.

"Strongsville is a great location. We have lived here all of our lives. It's where home is and we can't imagine being anywhere else," Joseph said.

Keeping customer service flowing

Sandy Plumbing's work isn't just about installing new hot water tanks, performing annual backflow tests or about that toilet that keeps running or the faucet that keeps leaking.

"People just want some help - whether it is someone who wants a laundry tray in their basement, or hot and cold water in their garage instead of just cold water," Joseph said. "Maybe someone will call us to run a gas line or to install a heater for a pool they just put in. We can do everything that involves gas, water or sewer."

Sandy Plumbing also will go out to potential clients to give free estimates on projects. They also have a showroom, where customers can come in and look at materials or order a wide variety of items from a catalog.

Much of Sandy Plumbing's work is new construction (which includes laying all the pipes for the basic sewer set up, roughing in all the water lines when a building's framing is constructed, and then completing the finishing work, which includes all the fixtures like toilets, dishwashers, bathtubs, and hot water tanks). However, service work and remodeling jobs are also a very important part of the business.

"We had to diversify our company to keep up," Marvin said. "We also get into some light commercial work, but I am really gearing myself toward the everyday residential customer. We are trying to make our niche in our residential, service and remodeling areas of the business."

Sandy Plumbing is also proud to be the city of Strongsville's service plumber, and has done work for both the police and fire departments, including Strongsville's Fire Station 4 headquarters on Prospect Road.

Staying afloat in a tough economy

Keeping the business going is a lot more difficult now, especially over the last two years when new construction plummeted.

"That was tough on us. You have to be more competitive now and you have to work harder now that you did five years ago just to keep the business alive," Joseph said. "We saw a lot of plumbing businesses go under last year - a lot of businesses in general - but we made the pact that since the whole family's livelihood is dependent on us surviving, we knew we had to make it. We decided sometimes it's easier to give up, but we fought."

As times have changed, so has the family business in order to stay afloat.

"I have learned a real valuable lesson about how fragile our business and the economy are," Marvin said. "But even when business picks up, I would never forget about the little guy. I want to keep the service base that I have started."

That means that Sandy Plumbing does its best to work with the customer.

"We are not a 24-hour business, and we don't want to be. But we try to accommodate people in the evening and we do a lot of Saturdays to make it easier for them," Marvin said

Sandy Plumbing employees also try to give their customers an approximate time of when they will arrive for the job, upon request - and when you call Sandy Plumbing, you will talk to a person - not an automated system.

Those at Sandy Plumbing say name recognition is key and they love when residents see their all-white vans with the logo of water pouring from a faucet, on the road around town.

"People call and say, 'I've seen your van,' or 'My neighbor used you and said I should call you, too.' We want to be known in Strongsville and want people to think of us for all of their plumbing needs."

Sandy Plumbing gets a lot of their business form word of mouth - and that's why it is so important to keep customers happy.

"We try to always be there for the customer," Joseph said. "Whether there is anything wrong, whether we have to go back to the job or just answering a question for them. We want people to know that we are here to stay and we will always be there for all of your plumbing needs."

Marvin agreed.

"We are here for the long haul and I take this business personally. We are not some fly by night business. We will be there for the customer today and will be there years from now."

Give Sandy Plumbing a call at 440-238-1850. The business, located at 11921 Prospect Road in Strongsville, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.