Friday, November 27 is the busiest plumbing day of the year. Win it by staffing in advance, pricing it in your price book, dispatching by map and getting paid on site before the truck leaves.
Plumbers have a name for the day after Thanksgiving, and it is not Black Friday. Every disposal that ate potato peels, every guest toilet that met a box of wipes, every kitchen line that took a quart of turkey fat gives up within the same twelve hours, and the phone starts before the coffee does. We told homeowners this morning how to avoid being on your list. Plenty will ignore us. The companies that make real money on it decided three weeks earlier who is working, what it costs, who goes first, and how the customer pays. Here is that plan.
Staff It: Decide Who Works Friday Before Anyone Books a Flight
The worst version of this day is learning on Wednesday night that two techs are out of state. Open House Fly Pro this week, pull up November 27 and 28, and ask the crew to mark availability now. Availability and time off are approved in one tap, so the schedule is real by Friday the 6th. Then build the day around who said yes.
A fair rotation beats a volunteer list
- Two techs on from 7 a.m., one on call after 3 p.m., the owner dispatching
- A holiday rate for the crew that is written down in advance, so nobody negotiates in a driveway
- Thanksgiving Day itself covered by one on call tech with a published emergency price, nothing else
- Friday’s techs get Monday light or off, and the calendar shows it
If you are hiring a helper for the season, the SBA hiring guide covers the paperwork, and adding them to House Fly Pro costs under $5 a month. The whole app works in Spanish.
Price It: A Holiday Rate Card That Lives in Your Price Book
A customer standing in two inches of gray water wants a number, fast, that feels fair. Build a Friday rate card in your House Fly Pro price book this week, star the six jobs you will quote all day, and every quote goes out by text in under a minute with the holiday rate applied. Weekday ranges below are typical 2026 prices; the holiday column adds the $100 to $300 surcharge most shops publish for after hours and holiday calls.
| Friday job | Typical weekday price | Holiday Friday price |
| Kitchen drain clearing | $150 to $350 | $250 to $550 |
| Disposal reset or replacement | $250 to $500 installed | $350 to $700 installed |
| Toilet clog or repair | $150 to $350 | $250 to $550 |
| Main line clearing or hydro jetting | $350 to $800 | $500 to $1,000 |
| Water heater no hot water call | $150 to $400 diagnostic and repair | $250 to $600 |
Say the price before the truck rolls
Text the quote while the customer is still on the phone. They tap, accept, and the job is on the calendar with the price locked. No surprise at the door means no argument at the door, and it is the biggest reason a holiday call ends in a five star review instead of a dispute.
Dispatch It: Sewage First, Then by Map
Not every Friday call is an emergency, even when the caller says it is. A fixed order keeps the real ones on top and your trucks from crossing the county three times before lunch. We laid out the freeze version in our freeze season dispatch guide; here is the Thanksgiving version.
| Call | Priority | Dispatch note |
| Sewage backing up into a tub or floor drain | First, any truck | Main line, bring the jetter |
| More than one drain slow at once | Second | Main line likely, same truck as above if nearby |
| Kitchen sink full, single drain | Third, grouped by map | Cable and camera, 45 minutes |
| Disposal hums or will not spin | Fourth, try the reset by phone first | Often fixed in a two minute call |
| Guest toilet, one bathroom of several | Fifth, same route | Plunger coaching by text, then visit |
On Gold, dispatch with live GPS tracking puts every truck on one map, so three kitchen calls in one neighborhood become one loop. Every customer gets an on my way text with a live ETA the moment the tech leaves the previous job, and the job timeline shows them booked, on the way, arrived and done. That cuts the “are you still coming” calls, and automatic reminders handle Saturday’s follow up visits.
Get Paid on Site: The Invoice Goes Out Before the Van Door Closes
December is a terrible month to chase November money. On House Fly Pro the tech finishes, the checklist is complete, the photos are attached, and the invoice with a pay link hits the customer’s phone while the tech is still packing up. They pay by card, Apple Pay or PayPal, payouts go to your bank with free withdrawals any time, and 100% of the tip goes to the tech, which matters on a holiday. For big jobs, set the payment choice per job: half up front on a Monday main line replacement, payment on completion for the drain clearing. We walked through the whole money side in our guide to deposits and getting paid faster.
Photo proof settles the Monday phone call
The grease plug, the cleared line, the disposal full of celery. Attach the photos to the job and the customer sees them in their timeline. When someone calls Monday to say the drain is slow again, you both look at the same pictures, and the conversation is about a second visit, not about whether you did the work.
Turn Friday Into January
A Friday emergency customer is the easiest recurring customer you will ever sign; they just watched you save the weekend. Before the tech leaves, offer a yearly drain maintenance visit or a water heater flush each fall. In House Fly Pro, recurring services auto rebook and auto charge, the reminder goes out before each visit, and next November they are on your calendar before the turkey is thawed. On Gold, automatic review requests go out after each job, and reviews that say “came out the day after Thanksgiving and fixed it” are the ones people read in December. Crews in crawl spaces in late November cold should read the OSHA winter weather page, and the SOS safety alert covers a tech alone under a house at 8 p.m.
What the Whole System Costs
Everything above except GPS dispatch and review requests is on Silver at $19 a month with three team members included. Gold at $49 a month adds twenty team members, one shared calendar, dispatch with live GPS, automatic review requests, QuickBooks sync and a free transfer of contacts and calendars from Housecall Pro or Jobber. Platinum at $99 covers large and commercial plumbing companies with fifty team members, multiple service locations, purchase orders and proposals. Every plan is month to month, 14 days free, no contract, no hidden add ons, and yearly plans give you two months free. Jobber publishes $49 to $499 a month and Housecall Pro $79 to $329, with extra team members at about $29 and $35 each, so a five person shop pays roughly $165 to $219 a month there versus $49 on Gold. More than 1,500 pros have signed up, and one honest line: House Fly Pro is software. It will not send you Friday’s calls. It makes sure the ones you get are staffed, priced, routed and paid.
The busiest day of the year is 24 days out. Build it now. Crew availability in one tap, a holiday rate card in your price book, dispatch by map and a pay link on every job. Start your 14 day free trial and have the Friday plan done this week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Friday after Thanksgiving the busiest plumbing day of the year?
Because every household cooks a large meal on the same day, often for twice the usual number of people. Potato peels, stuffing and grease go down disposals, guest toilets handle a year of use in a day, and problems that were already building fail at once. Calls peak Friday morning and stay heavy through the weekend.
How should a plumber price holiday emergency calls?
Publish a holiday rate card in advance rather than deciding on the phone. Most shops add $100 to $300 to the standard price for after hours and holiday calls. Put the rates in your House Fly Pro price book, star the common jobs, and text the quote before the truck rolls so the customer accepts a number up front.
How do I get paid on site for a holiday plumbing call?
Send the invoice with a pay link from House Fly Pro the moment the job is marked complete, with the checklist and photos attached. The customer pays by card, Apple Pay or PayPal on their phone, payouts go to your bank with free withdrawals, and the tech keeps 100% of the tip. For large jobs, take half up front.
How much does House Fly Pro cost for a plumbing company?
Silver is $19 a month with three team members and no hidden add ons. Gold is $49 a month with twenty members, GPS dispatch, review requests and QuickBooks sync. Platinum is $99 a month for large and commercial companies with fifty members. Every plan is month to month with 14 days free, and extra team members are under $5 a month.
