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Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

nikolaihlebowitsh.substack.com

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Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#61

Post by brudgers »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #36
brudgers wrote: post #9

Plumbing, HVAC and other skilled trades operate almost entirely B2B, not B2C. The very premise of this article is why that is the case...people who don't understand what is required, what is good, and how construction operates shopping solely on price with unreasonable expectations. That $22k quote? That's how a company can pay for capacity during peak demand...i.e. paying skilled workers enough to make extra long ho…

So then where are the premium HVAC companies for the residential market charging a higher price but offering credible guarantees?

Those companies are doing premium work for good customers...or at least charging enough to make dealing with poor customers less an issue.

In the case of the author, the $22k quote is a good way of segmenting the market. Remember the author was just a prospect, not a client since the author choked on the price.

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#62

Post by brudgers »

mothballed wrote: post #41
MichaelZuo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So then where are the premium HVAC companies for the residential market charging a higher price but offering credible guarantees?

Best I can do is $1000 to change a capacitor that any tom dick or harry could do, and $10,000 to install a mini split that I literally did myself for $1000 in tools and watching 8 hours of youtube. The industry is largely a scam. There is no reason why you need a brick and mortar fixed business for many HVAC tasks. On one occasion, I knew exactly what was wrong but as a tenant so I could not perform the work myself.…

A building is where a business stores tools and inventory, provides desks with computers and phones, and parks the trucks at night.

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#63

Post by ruralfam »

Surprised no one has mentioned that Private Equity has rolled-up most HVAC operations. Not sure about Dallas, but what he describes certainly suggests that the Dallas market is controlled by PE. E.g.

https://prospect.org/2023/10/16/2023-10-16-private-equity-in...

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#64

Post by antisthenes »

brudgers wrote: post #26
sharts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just like you have many taco places on UberEATS/doordash, you could have many plumbing/HVAC companies to chose from along with common tasks, etc.

Uber Eats does not have to deal with past taco installations. HVAC repair does.

It's probably the plumbers that have to deal with past taco installations if we're being honest.

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#65

Post by mothballed »

brudgers wrote: post #58
mothballed wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly if you use greer or some budget-tier mini splits it's easier just to install a new one every time than to fix them. It would work for 99% of residential cases and be cheaper. A lot of the 'real' HVAC companies will basically push you to buy new shit if anything is broken anyways, so may as well use that model in a way that's actually economically efficient and just have teams of essentially unskilled unlicen…

If you already have a mini-split, that has some truth. Most AC's in Houston are not mini-splits. And the segment of the homeowner market that takes pride in doing the cheapest possible improvement is limited and not one that makes a lot of business sense to cater to as an HVAC company. Because not only does that segment not open its wallets wide (if at all) but also because cheap HVAC systems are cheap in part becaus…

If It weren't for the HVAC licensing gangster system where armed police would show up and stop me, I would absolutely start a company ripping out whatever broken system you have and with the business model is I would replace it with a small menu of mini split systems I have goons trained to install for cheap.

There is massive pent-up demand for this. Even poor people fix their HVAC system if they have a spare buck. I recently met an elderly lady (yard sale to pay her HVAC bill) who paid $15k, her hearing was shit and she seemed about dead, she wouldn't have given a single shit if it was a little louder. But in any case, I've installed many Daikins (for myself) and for not much more money they are as quiet as the sound of the moving air.

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#66

Post by hardtke »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #36
brudgers wrote: post #9

Plumbing, HVAC and other skilled trades operate almost entirely B2B, not B2C. The very premise of this article is why that is the case...people who don't understand what is required, what is good, and how construction operates shopping solely on price with unreasonable expectations. That $22k quote? That's how a company can pay for capacity during peak demand...i.e. paying skilled workers enough to make extra long ho…

So then where are the premium HVAC companies for the residential market charging a higher price but offering credible guarantees?

If you want to understand the state of these industries I highly recommend reading "How contracting because a race to the bottom"[0]. The crux of the problem is that unlicensed/uninsured firms will always undercut "quality" firms for small jobs. If you are getting a quote from a firm that actually pays workers compensation insurance it's going to be at a substantially higher price.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/magazine/contractors-cons...

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#67

Post by mothballed »

hardtke wrote: post #66
MichaelZuo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So then where are the premium HVAC companies for the residential market charging a higher price but offering credible guarantees?

If you want to understand the state of these industries I highly recommend reading "How contracting because a race to the bottom"[0]. The crux of the problem is that unlicensed/uninsured firms will always undercut "quality" firms for small jobs. If you are getting a quote from a firm that actually pays workers compensation insurance it's going to be at a substantially higher price. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04…

You can hire from a sole proprietor working on his own behalf. Since he's working for himself he doesn't need workers comp but yet can still be licensed and legally operating.

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#68

Post by seanmcdirmid »

amluto wrote: post #28

> An Uber-like, magical experience that you can trust to show up on time, do the right thing on your behalf, and fractionalize prices in an antiquated industry. I can summon an Uber and, by magic, I have a rather high chance of getting a distracted driver in a run-down car with a bunch of nasty air fresheners If Uber does this to me, I will still probably be unharmed at the end of the ride and I’m done which it. If a…

Ya, this is my thought as well, although I don't take Uber as much because the quality of the drivers is so iffy now. Maybe we should be asking why is there no Waymo for plumbing/HVAC instead?

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#69

Post by mothballed »

brudgers wrote: post #62
mothballed wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best I can do is $1000 to change a capacitor that any tom dick or harry could do, and $10,000 to install a mini split that I literally did myself for $1000 in tools and watching 8 hours of youtube. The industry is largely a scam. There is no reason why you need a brick and mortar fixed business for many HVAC tasks. On one occasion, I knew exactly what was wrong but as a tenant so I could not perform the work myself.…

A building is where a business stores tools and inventory, provides desks with computers and phones, and parks the trucks at night.

[flagged]

Re: Why is there no Uber for plumbing/HVAC? (and why there ought to be)

#70

Post by michaelsbradley »

mothballed wrote: post #67
hardtke wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to understand the state of these industries I highly recommend reading "How contracting because a race to the bottom"[0]. The crux of the problem is that unlicensed/uninsured firms will always undercut "quality" firms for small jobs. If you are getting a quote from a firm that actually pays workers compensation insurance it's going to be at a substantially higher price. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04…

You can hire from a sole proprietor working on his own behalf. Since he's working for himself he doesn't need workers comp but yet can still be licensed and legally operating.

My wife and I bought a house in 2022. It's an old home (built in the late 1800s) that underwent a gut rehab by a real estate firm in 2018-19, and which they subsequently ran as an Airbnb for several years owing to the pandemic and its effects on the housing market.

By 2024, it became apparent that while the rehab squad had done a really amazing job on most of the house, they also cut corners here and there and made some costly mistakes... well, costly to us.

We needed two major jobs done on the house, both for the exterior. I got several quotes from respected contracting firms in the St. Louis area, and the best price for Job A was around USD $40k while the best price for Job B was around $20k. Those were all multi-employee firms and promised to get the jobs done in just a few days once they could get started (booked solid for 5+ months).

Long story short, we ended up hiring a local solo contractor (never has helpers) with 40+ years experience who only takes cash and is something of a perfectionist (and dare devil!). Watching him work and talking to him about his work, it's clear he considers his efforts to be labors of love and a kind of art to which he is deeply devoted. He got the work done in a timely manner and was careful to abide by all the rules of the neighborhood association related to exteriors of historic homes. He charged USD $8k and $5 for the jobs, a massive savings for us! I'm not sure what we'll do in 20 years when we'll likely need another round of work and this guy is in his late 80s.

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