DeBest Plumbing
Boise, Idaho

Striving to Be the Best

“Our goal with every project, big or small, is to maintain each client’s trust by providing professional, quality services that will exceed their expectation.” – Milford Terrell

by Joe Evancho

In more than three decades in business, DeBest Plumbing has grown from a small residential plumbing business to one of the largest full-service commercial contractors in Idaho that specializes in both plumbing and fire protection.

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Milford Terrell started DeBest Plumbing in 1973 as a primarily residential plumbing business with himself and a part-time assistant, 15-year-old Rick Garrett. In 1975, Joe Carleton and Lynn Healy joined the crew and set the stage for future growth.

DeBest has provided plumbing and fire protection for many of the major building projects in the Treasure Valley, as well as projects in McCall, Moscow and other areas statewide.

Garrett, Carleton and Healy have been with DeBest for more than 30 years each, and along with Terrell, they have seen the company grow from a small operation to one with approximately 175 employees and a fleet of more than 60 vehicles.

“When we started, we just did houses,” Terrell says. “As we grew, we would do one commercial job a year. In the late 70s and 80s, when the economy took a dive, we started to do larger commercial jobs out at Mountain Home Air Force Base.”

Once the economy rebounded, DeBest Plumbing started handling bigger jobs throughout Boise.

“The Grove Convention Center was one of the first big projects we did,” Terrell adds. “Then we did the Idaho Power Building, Bank of America Center, Boise Towne Square Mall and many of the peripheral stores in the area.”

The firm continued to work on major projects across the city, including most of the Albertsons grocery stores as well as large-scale medical and industrial projects.
“We’ve actually done a bit of everything,” Terrell says. “Our goal is to be on the cutting edge of what’s going on in Boise.”

The firm’s entire body of work has made it a go-to company when new ideas or technology are introduced. The relatively new ‘green building’ movement in construction is one example.

“One of the neatest buildings we’ve done is the Banner Bank Building, with its various green aspects,” Terrell says. “We learned a lot on that project that helped us move into this new and more environmentally friendly phase in construction.”

One of the Banner Bank’s features is a unique rainwater reclamation system that captures rainwater or snowmelt from the roof, as well as stormwater from 7.3 acres of public right-of-way north of the building. The reclaimed water is cleaned and then stored in a 20,000-gallon holding tank under the building. The water is used to flush toilets before it is piped into the Boise sewer system.

“There are new buildings coming up that are even greener than the Banner Bank Building,” Terrell says. “We want to be on the cutting edge of that technology.”
Terrell says all of his company’s projects are unique. “To say one is more important than another is unfair to all that we have done,” he adds.

Terrell started DeBest Fire Protection 15 years ago because he wanted his company to handle his customers’ every plumbing need.

“Before we start a job, we look at the whole system,” he says. “We are a one-stop shop, and our fire protection division filled a need that allowed us to grow.”

Terrell adds that the most important aspect of DeBest Plumbing is its integrity and its people.

“Our goal with every project, big or small, is to maintain each client’s trust by providing professional, quality services that will exceed their expectation,” he says.

Company: DeBest Plumbing

Location: Boise

Year Founded: 1973

Markets Served: Commercial, Industrial

No. of Employees: 175

Recent Projects: Grove Convention Center, Idaho Power Building,
Bank of America Center, Boise Towne Square Mall

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