From 1922 to Today: The Story of Birnie Plumbing & Drains in Hamilton

Hamilton looked very different in 1922.

The city was growing, neighbourhoods were developing, and the plumbing and sewer systems we take for granted today were still evolving.

That was the year John Birnie started a sewer and cement contracting business from 129 Campbell Avenue in Hamilton.

More than 100 years later, the Birnie name is still on plumbing trucks travelling the streets of Hamilton.

A lot has changed since then.

The trucks have changed. The equipment has changed. The technology has changed. Even the Birnie brand itself has changed several times.

But one thing has remained remarkably consistent.

Birnie Plumbing & Drains is still a family business serving homeowners in Hamilton and across the Golden Horseshoe.

It Started With Sewers

Long before Birnie became known for plumbing, drains and sewer repair, the company’s roots were underground.

John Birnie began as a sewer and cement contractor in the 1920s.

The next generation brought another major change.

John’s son, Thomas R. Birnie, took over the business and modernized it. By the 1960s, Thos. R. Birnie was operating an electric sewer cleaning business from 40 Grosvenor Street in Hamilton.

Eventually, Thomas’s sons Roy and Bob joined the company, continuing what had already become a family tradition.

That history is part of the reason sewer work remains such an important part of Birnie today.

We have not simply added sewer service to a plumbing company.

Sewers are where the Birnie story began.

A Hamilton Plumbing Licence With a Very Small Number

There is a simple detail that puts Birnie’s history into perspective.

Our City of Hamilton plumbing licence number is 002.

That number is a reminder of just how long the Birnie name has been associated with plumbing and sewer work in Hamilton.

Today, Birnie Plumbing & Drains is also a BBB Accredited Business with an A+ rating. BBB records list the present plumbing business as beginning in 1946, when Thomas R. Birnie took over and expanded the operation established by his father decades earlier.

The Trucks Hamilton Started Recognizing

By the 1990s, Birnie had become a familiar sight around Hamilton.

The company’s trucks carried the memorable message:

“Sewer Trouble? Don’t Dig… Call.”

At the time, Birnie was already embracing an idea that would become increasingly important in the sewer industry: solving underground problems while minimizing unnecessary excavation.

But one of the biggest changes to the Birnie brand actually came out of a crisis.

The Yellow Pages Mistake That Created 5-Stinky

For anyone who lived in Hamilton during the 2000s, there is a good chance you remember the faces on the Birnie trucks.

That campaign did not begin as part of a carefully planned rebrand.

It began because of a mistake.

In December 1999, Bob and Roy Birnie discovered that the family business had accidentally been left out of the 1999-2000 Yellow Pages.

Today, that might not sound catastrophic.

In 1999, it was.

The phone book was one of the primary ways homeowners found plumbers and service companies. Because Birnie was missing from the new edition, some people even assumed the longstanding company had closed.

By January, according to the company’s history, call volume had fallen by approximately 50 percent.

At the time, around 15 employees depended on the business.

Instead of disappearing, Birnie adapted.

With help from people around the company and support from local media including CHCH, the business began marketing itself much more aggressively.

Eventually, the faces of the Birnie brothers appeared on the trucks.

Hamilton noticed.

The campaign became known as 5-Stinky, and what started as a response to a Yellow Pages mistake became one of the company’s most recognizable eras.

More Than 100 Years, Five Generations

One of the most unusual parts of the Birnie story is that the family connection did not end after the second or third generation.

The company has continued through multiple generations of the Birnie family.

Public company history identifies John Birnie as the founder, followed by Thomas R. Birnie, then Roy and Bob, with later generations including Jon and Rob and, more recently, Rob’s son Tyler.

That takes the Birnie story into its fourth and fifth generations.

Very few local service businesses get the opportunity to say that.

The Industry Changed, So Birnie Changed With It

A company does not remain in business for more than a century by refusing to change.

The sewer industry John Birnie knew in 1922 would be almost unrecognizable today.

Modern sewer cameras allow us to inspect the inside of underground pipes and show homeowners what is actually happening.

Hydro jetting equipment can thoroughly clean sewer lines using high-pressure water.

Trenchless technology can rehabilitate certain damaged sewer pipes without excavating an entire yard, driveway or finished basement.

Birnie’s current services include plumbing repairs, drain cleaning, sewer inspections, hydro jetting, sewer repair, excavation and trenchless sewer rehabilitation throughout Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe.

From “Don’t Dig” to Modern Trenchless Sewer Repair

There is a nice connection between the old Birnie trucks telling Hamilton homeowners “Don’t Dig” and the technology being used today.

Birnie has a long history with trenchless sewer solutions and describes itself as Hamilton’s oldest trenchless company and the first Ontario licensee of the Canadian-developed Formadrain system.

In October 2025, Birnie announced another step forward when it became the first Hamilton plumbing company to deploy LightRay UV cured-in-place pipe technology.

LightRay allows certain sewer pipes to be rehabilitated by installing and curing a new liner inside the existing pipe, reducing the amount of excavation required.

For a company whose roots go back to sewer contracting in 1922, there is something fitting about still being involved in how sewer repair evolves more than a century later.

Experience With Hamilton Homes Matters

Hamilton is not a city where every house has the same plumbing system.

Depending on the neighbourhood and age of the home, we may encounter clay sewer laterals, cast iron drainage, older plumbing materials, tree root intrusion, deteriorated sewer joints and infrastructure that has been underground for many decades.

That local experience matters.

A recurring drain problem may simply require cleaning.

Or it may be the symptom of roots growing through a clay sewer joint.

Standing water discovered during a sewer camera inspection could indicate a grading or structural problem.

A sewer backup may require more investigation than simply clearing the immediate blockage.

The goal should always be to understand why the problem happened before deciding what should be done about it.

That is why camera inspection and proper diagnosis have become such an important part of Birnie’s approach to drain and sewer problems.

Giving Homeowners Options

Plumbing and sewer problems can be stressful enough without making the repair process confusing.

A major part of good service is helping the homeowner understand what was found.

What failed?

Why did it fail?

Does it need to be repaired immediately?

Are there different ways of solving it?

What is the difference between a repair, rehabilitation and complete replacement?

Birnie’s current service approach emphasizes inspecting the problem, explaining the findings and presenting viable repair options before work begins.

That allows the homeowner to make an informed decision rather than simply being handed one solution.

What Hamilton Homeowners Say About Birnie

A century of history is meaningful, but a plumbing company still has to earn the next service call.

Public discussions among Hamilton homeowners show that the Birnie name continues to be recognized locally.

In a 2025 Hamilton Reddit discussion asking for plumber recommendations, one homeowner said they had used Thos. R. Birnie & Sons several times and had very good experiences. Another homeowner in the same discussion recommended Birnie after having a backwater valve inspected, describing the technician as friendly and knowledgeable.

In another discussion following basement drain backups, a Hamilton homeowner said Birnie had done great work for them.

Like any company that performs thousands of service calls, you can also find criticism online, particularly around pricing. That is one of the reasons Birnie’s current approach emphasizes clear, upfront pricing and explaining repair options before the homeowner approves the work.

A New Look for the Next Chapter

In 2025, Birnie Plumbing & Drains introduced a refreshed logo and visual identity.

But instead of abandoning its history, the new branding intentionally looked backward as well as forward.

The script styling was inspired by lettering used on older Birnie trucks, while the updated design was intended to represent the modern plumbing and drain company the business has become.

It was a fitting approach for a company entering its second century.

Modernize without forgetting where you came from.

More Than a Century Later, the Job Is Still Pretty Simple

Technology has transformed plumbing.

We can send cameras through sewers.

We can clean pipes with high-pressure water.

We can sometimes rebuild a damaged sewer from the inside using UV-cured liners.

John Birnie probably would not recognize much of the equipment inside one of today’s Birnie trucks.

But he would probably recognize the purpose behind it.

A homeowner has a problem.

Find out what is wrong.

Explain it.

Figure out the right solution.

And do the work properly.

That philosophy carried a small Hamilton sewer business through more than 100 years, several generations, changing technology, changing neighbourhoods, a Yellow Pages disaster and even a few unforgettable faces on the sides of trucks.

Still Serving Hamilton

Today, Birnie Plumbing & Drains provides plumbing, drain and sewer services throughout Hamilton and communities across the Golden Horseshoe.

We are proud of the fact that our story began here.

We are proud that the Birnie name has remained part of Hamilton for more than a century.

And while looking back at where we started is important, we are much more interested in what comes next.

After all, you do not make it through your first 100 years without learning how to adapt.

Here’s to the next 100.