Two things decide whether a plumbing sticker works: the surface it goes on, and the way the tag is laid out. Quick answers are on our plumbing page. This guide goes further into both.

The surface is almost always the problem

Plumbing work takes you to the hardest surfaces in a building: sweating tanks, dusty crawlspaces, and powder-coated softener cabinets.

Two rules cover most of it:

Wipe the spot and let it dry. Adhesive bonds to whatever it touches, and on a dusty tank, that's the dust. Thirty seconds of cleaning does more than anything else on the job.
If the surface never dries, label somewhere that does. A cold line that runs with condensation all the time defeats any pressure-sensitive adhesive. Label the line while it's off and dry, or put the sticker on a dry surface beside it.

For rough or powder-coated surfaces, choose High-Tack vinyl. It's the same print with a much stronger adhesive, made for surfaces that standard vinyl won't grip. High-Tack vinyl explains when to use it.

Damp and dark is fine

A crawlspace or a mechanical room is easier on a sticker than a rooftop. Ultraviolet light is what fades print, and there's none down there. Our laminated vinyl is weatherproof, so damp and dust don't wear it out.

Laying out a service tag

Treat a service tag as a form, not as a logo with space left over.

Preprint everything that never changes: company name, license number, and phone number. That's why the tag exists.
Give the written fields real room: date, technician, and next service. A technician writes in the space provided. If the space is tiny, they write across your logo instead.
Choose matte, which takes a ballpoint pen as well as a permanent marker. A gloss sticker takes a marker, but a pen only to a degree. On a roll label, write on matte only, because writing on a gloss roll label scratches off.
Keep the text inside the safe area: 0.09" inside the cut on a sticker, and 1/8" on a roll label. A phone number against the edge is what comes back trimmed.

Plumbing service tags and inspection fields goes through each field.

Water heater and backflow tags

Send us the layout your inspector or water utility wants, and we'll set it up. If you only know the fields, tell us, and ask us for a quote to design the tag from them. Or start from one of our plumbing stickers, which are ready-made templates. You approve a proof before anything prints.

Numbering

Sequential numbering helps you track a job or a device. Our prices are for print-ready artwork, so adding numbering, QR codes, or barcodes is an artwork change. We can help: reach out for a quote. Tell us the first number, and we count up from it for the quantity you order.

Ordering

Minimum: 50 of a design on vinyl, or 100 on High-Tack vinyl or on a roll.
Production: 4 business days after you approve the proof, on vinyl or on a roll. Rush is available for a fee.
Reorders: an exact reorder of an approved tag skips the proof round, which helps when you order the same tag every year.