Plumber workwear in Staten Island starts at one address and one premise. The address is 519 Port Richmond Avenue. The premise is that you are going to be wet, on your knees, in a tight space, with sharp metal somewhere near your hands, and the gear has to keep up. We stock for that exact day, every day, eleven to eight, seven days a week.
Boots first. There is no version of plumbing where waterproof boots are optional. A leak in a basement, a drain you have to step into, a hot water tank that lets go while you are pulling the relief valve — your feet will be wet within ten minutes if the boot is not actually waterproof. Not water-resistant. Waterproof, with a sealed gusset and a real moisture barrier. We carry Timberland Pro Pit Boss in the waterproof spec, Red Wing Worx 5605, Wolverine Floorhand WP, and the Rockrooster waterproof six-inch for guys who want a lighter boot that still seals up.
Soft-toe is fine for most service plumbers. Steel-toe or composite if you are doing new construction or commercial — anything where a length of cast iron could land on your foot. Slip-resistant outsole is mandatory because every floor you stand on for the rest of your career has the potential to be wet. The Vibram and the MAXWear 90 outsoles both meet the SR rating; we put a sticker on the box for the ones that do.
Knee pads are the second thing. Plumbers' knees give out before plumbers' backs do, and the difference between a guy who is still working at fifty and a guy who isn't is usually a hard-shell pad with a gel insert that the guy actually wears. Stand-alone strap-on pads, or pants with the pocket and a slide-in pad. We carry both. The strap-on style is the one most service guys end up using because they go on and off when you climb in and out of the truck. Get the hard shell, not the soft foam — the soft foam compresses against a slate basement floor and you might as well not have it.
Pants. Reinforced knee, double-front, gusseted crotch — Carhartt Double Front B01, Dickies double knee, Carhartt Rugged Flex Rigby. The gusseted crotch matters more than people think — the squat and lunge pattern of plumbing is constant and a tight crotch is the fastest way to blow out a pair of pants in a week. We size from 28 waist to 50 in stock. Hemmed lengths from 28 to 36. If you need a longer or shorter inseam, we run a tailor on the building for hems and patches — a few-day turn, no fuss.
Tops. Long sleeves keep your forearms off the cast iron and the copper burrs. Carhartt Loose Fit Heavyweight long-sleeve henleys are the workhorse. Flannels for winter — we carry the Carhartt Hubbard and the Dickies sherpa-lined in a range of weights. If you are doing exterior work in winter — sewer lines, water-main repairs out in the parking lot — the Carhartt Yukon Extremes jacket is in stock through April. If your crew wants company logos on these, we screen and embroider on the building. Apply for a fleet account at /services/fleet-and-crew-accounts/apply if you want net-30 and volume pricing on five units or more.
Gloves. Two pairs in the truck minimum. A cut-resistant glove for sheet metal, copper, and cast iron — Kingston and Eurbak A4 and A5 ratings. A grip glove for general work — nitrile-dipped, washable, replaceable for under twenty dollars. The cut-resistant pair is what saves you when the band saw kicks back, when the strut channel has a fresh edge, when you are pushing copper through a ceiling and the burr catches. Cut levels A4 and above will stop the kind of slice that ends a workday.
PPE that plumbers actually need. Class 2 hi-vis vest if you do any street or curb work — DEP and DOT both require it on a road shoulder, and the cost of one ticket is a hundred vests. ANSI Z87.1 safety glasses with side shields, clear and tinted. A respirator for sewer work — half-face cartridge with organic vapor filters; we keep 3M and Honeywell. Hard hat for new-construction sites where the GC requires it. Earplugs for jackhammer and concrete-saw days.
Trade-specific small things. Headlamps with a USB rechargeable battery — under-sink work is dark, basement work is dark, and the day of the AAA-headlamp from a gas station is over. Knee-savers for tile floors. A waterproof tool roll — when the bag gets wet, the bag has to dry, and a roll dries in minutes versus a bag that holds water for a week and rusts everything inside it. Solvent-resistant gloves for primer and cement work — nitrile, not latex. We have all of this on a peg wall behind the counter.
Custom printing for shops. Company name on the back of jackets, embroidered on left chest, screen-printed on tees. Jobsite delivery across the five boroughs — call before noon, on the truck same day for most of Staten Island, next day for Brooklyn and Queens.
519 Port Richmond Ave, eleven to eight, seven days. If you finished a leak call at seven and your knee pad strap finally tore, you have an hour. We will be open.