Mark Lindsay plumbing has a new home

BY GINNY RAUE
WEST MILFORD — For more than half a century, Mark Lindsay and Son Plumbing and Heating has been a recognizable business name in West Milford. John Lindsay opened the company in 1962 and today his son, Mark, is at the helm.

Mark Lindsay, 52, purchased the business from his father 24 years ago but his experience in the trade started long before that.

“Since I was 12 years old, I worked summers, weekends and holidays. My father would put me on something and say ‘don’t leave until you figure it out’,” he said.

Lindsay had other ideas in mind for a future career - he wanted to become a chef. Packed and ready to head off to college, his father stepped in and talked him out of going.

Sometimes parental direction and tough love work out well and today Lindsay is the owner of a thriving business.

A life-long resident of West Milford, Lindsay graduated from West Milford High School in 1980. Married to Cindy, the couple have three children: Deanna, Mark and Miranda. And then there’s the new light of their lives, one-year-old Payton, the daughter of Deanna and her husband Paul.

On the move
When Mark Lindsay and Son Plumbing and Heating first opened for business, it was out of John Lindsay’s home on Macopin Road. The company relocated to the Belcher’s Run area and then to Lakeside Road. On Oct. 4, a grand opening celebration was held at the new Mark Lindsay and Son facility on Union Valley Road, just off Route 23.

Moving the business and preparing the new 6,700 square foot facility took four months and Lindsay said he hopes it’s their last move. His wife said it definitely is.

“It’s huge and beautiful,” he said.

The building also allows space for a showroom and, sometime in the future, a retail sales area will be opened.

On the job
Mark Lindsay and Son Plumbing and Heating is a full service business encompassing all aspects of the installation and repair of plumbing, heating, cooling and water treatments. Lindsay has 17 employees under his watch with all technicians certified in their area of expertise. Bathroom remodeling is one more facet of the business. The company services portions of Bergen, Essex, Morris, Orange, Passaic and Sussex counties.

When the weather goes to extremes, super cold or sizzling hot, and the heating or air conditioning units go kaput, it’s all hands on deck. At other times it may be simply a running toilet or dripping faucet. Whatever the customer’s needs, emergency related or otherwise, a call to Lindsay will result in personal contact during office hours or after closing when Cindy Lindsay will answer the call.

When Councilwoman CarlLa Horton snipped the ceremonial ribbon at the recent opening, Lindsay and his staff were all smiles.

“I can’t do anything without good employees; it’s a team effort,” he said.

He enjoys working from and in West Milford and highly values his customers. “Without them, there wouldn’t be us,” Cindy added.

He also likes the diversity of the jobs in town; propane, oil, well pumps, city water and then there are the dark caverns to conquer.

“I love the crawl spaces in West Milford,” he said. The presence of cave crickets evidently produces an exciting work environment.

Lindsay wished to thank the local people who have been so good to him and he looks forward to leading his business into the future. And then he said, “Be sure to also mention that I’m good looking.”