Owner and president Aaron Altman got his start in 2001 at the age of 23. He applied for an apprenticeship at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 501 serving Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. During his apprenticeship he worked on the job full time and also attended their plumbing trade school three hours a night, five nights a week, from august until June – for five years.
A couple of years after becoming a journeyman plumber, Aaron was laid off, as the housing market crashed. While waiting on the union’s “out of work, ready to work list” Aaron luckily found a job at Home Depot when they added an experimental position for a “master plumbing specialist”. Here he worked for three and a half years waiting for the Union to recover from the recession. Eventually, so much time had passed without a callback, and so many Home Depot customers asked Aaron to come do work for them (instead of just advising them in the store), that he finally decided to go into business himself.
He left the Union and Home Depot and started his own plumbing company. The company grew quickly through word of mouth referrals. Aaron never spent any money on advertising (besides a website and free online listings). Though successful and very happy with what he was doing, his family started moving out of Chicagoland.
First his sister moved to Arizona in 2012. Then his mother in 2015. His Brother and sister-in-law moved in 2016. His daughter started college at University of Arizona in 2018. His wife’s parents retired to Tucson in 2019. Aaron and his wife were all alone in Illinois and made extended visits to Tucson every three months. They loved the scenery, the weather, and the people. Every time they had to leave Arizona, it was harder and harder to go; especially when it was freezing cold in Chicago. Finally he and his wife made the decision to join their daughter and the rest of their family in Tucson.
He bought a house in North Tucson, sold his house in Illinois and closed down his Illinois plumbing business. To him, it was a real shame to shut the doors and walk away. He was especially sorry to leave all of the wonderful people he had met in his 10 years of service. many of which were repeat customers that he had developed a wonderful relationship with and truly cared about. They still call him sometimes to see how he’s doing out here (and to see if he’s coming back any time soon).
After spending a few months getting things in order with his new house, he’s gone back to plumbing. Starting over again in Tucson.