Hiroko Fukuda
Owner and licensed plumber
Runs the schedule, does the first walk-through at every new house and decides when it's time to start closing a shore.
About the shop
Why we're called Ice-Out
Ice-out is the day the ice leaves the lake. Up here it's when spring actually starts, and it's the day our phones start ringing.
Hiroko Fukuda started the shop to do one job properly: open and close lake houses without leaving the owner to wonder. Ten days after ice-out the list is long, and by October it is longer. We keep it small enough that the person who opens your house in May is the one who closes it in October.
One crew for your house, spring and fall
A tag on every shutoff we touch: date, what we did, who
Photos by text after every visit
A written price before any repair
The crew
Five of us, one shop on Woodmere Avenue
Four of us do most of the visits. The fifth is the apprentice who rides along each season.
Marcel Visser
Lead plumber, openings and closings
Blows out more lines in October than anyone should, and keeps a thermometer in the truck from November on.
Eleni Toth
Caretaker coordinator
Books the winter checks, sends the photo reports and calls you when something looks off.
Dmitri Vasiliev
Plumber
Water heaters, pressure tanks and lake pumps. Carries spare intake fittings in every season.
On file
License and insurance
The details come from the shop's business record, and the license has a link to the state's own lookup.
Licenses
Plumbing Contractor · MI Lic. 000000 · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory AffairsVerify
Lets a business take plumbing jobs and pull permits for the work.
Insurance
General liability insurance
A certificate of insurance is sent on request, before work starts.
How we work
What we do at every house
Tag the shutoff
The date, what we did and who did it, on a tag you'll find on the main valve next time.
Photograph the work
The shutoff, the water heater and anything that isn't right, texted to you before we leave.
Write the price down
No repair starts until you've seen a written price and said yes.
Come meet the crew by phone
Call the shop and ask for whoever would open your house.