Craig Bowie - Laser Plumbing Grey Lynn
AA Home Response contractor Craig Bowie says there's a lot more to plumbing than unblocking loos.
What's your background?
I was a Police detective for ten years before buying a plumbing business. I needed a change. I enjoy that every day is different in this industry. I'm now the Director of Laser Plumbing Grey Lynn. We've grown from a team of four in 2014, to 29 employees five years later.
How has business been since your company became a contractor with AA Home Response?
It's been very popular. We joined AA Home Response in April last year and since then, we've booked more than 300 additional jobs. We were thrown in the deep end - starting in the middle of a huge storm that hit Auckland. We had guys on roofs fixing leaks. But it's a great alliance. We're really please it's working for the AA as well as us.
Describe a typical day on the job...
Our guys will attend to broken taps, kitchen sink issues, roof leaks, gas leaks, hot water cylinder problems and drain and toilet blockages. Everyone thinks that's what we do day in day out, but unblocking toilets is just a very small part of our job. Laser Plumbing does things like hooking up waste and drinking water for events and we're doing the plumbing for the America's Cup Village on Auckland's waterfront ahead of the 2021 event. I have to figure how we're going to plumb it all - the problem solving side of things is good. It's very rewarding to solve complex issues.
What are the best bits?
The best part of any tradeperson's job is helping people. We arrive when they're in a moment of distress and people are so pleased when we can secure or fix what's broken. What may seem like a simple job for us can be really distressing for others. We'll end up having a cup of tea together and, for me, that's worth more than anything else. It's rewarding.
AA Home Response connects you with reliable AA Home Tradespeople 2/7, 365 days a years, for those unexpected emergencies around the home.