| 9 Refined Plumbing & Gasfitting a ll about people Proudly supporting Refined Plumbing and Gasfitting Most of Refined Plumbing & Gasfitting’s work is for new builds and renovations. T T Kim Newth REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT When young Dutch immigrant George Weitekamp took up plumbing in New Zealand in 1952, he could not have known just how influential his trade of choice would become for his family. After being trained by him, all four of his sons went on to become plumbers, all with their own successful businesses. In turn, their children are now also taking up the trade as the family’s third generation of plumbers. One of George’s sons is Mike Weitekamp, who with his wife, Joanne, owns and operates Refined Plumbing & Gasfitting in Palmerston North. Known as Manawatū’s Trusted Master Plumber, the business delivers high-quality plumbing, spouting and gasfitting services throughout the local area. Like his brothers, Mike completed his plumbing apprenticeship with his father as a young man before embarking on adventures of his own. Mike and Joanne travelled overseas for about five years doing voluntary work, and on returning home took up window cleaning and commercial cleaning to support their growing family. After again travelling overseas with his family in 2015/16 for a year, Mike finally decided to return to his original trade. By then, 15 years had gone by. “I started working at Tricklebanks in Feilding and was there for two years, which helped me to upskill before starting my own plumbing business in 2018,” he says. Throughout their 38-year marriage, Joanne has taken care of business/admin alongside Mike. The couple ran Refined Plumbing & Gasfitting on their own for five years, before taking on their first apprentice, Tommi, now nearing the end of his training. “Since that time, we have taken on another young apprentice, Hamish, and now my boy Carlos, who is in the first year of his apprenticeship,” says Mike. Two of Mike’s brothers have sons working as plumbers too, and his youngest brother also has his daughter as an apprentice. “It’s pretty rare to have such a strong trades story in one family across three generations. We’re very proud of that and all share the same ethos around working hard, providing honest, friendly service and quality results.” Third generation of plumbers The Master Plumbers guarantee is a further assurance to their clientele of a high standard of service. “Dad was a Master Plumber and my brothers are Master Plumbers too, so for me becoming a Master Plumber was a natural progression – it’s the gold standard,” Mike says. Refined Plumbing & Gasfitting offers competitive hourly rates with a 10% discount on labour for Gold Card holders. Most of their work is for new builds and renovations, with the bulk of demand coming from the local renovations sector. “Our point of difference is that we do roofing as well. We can retrofit and replace old roofing and will do the downpipes and spouting too,” Mike explains. “That’s quite a chunk of our work – we service both residential and commercial buildings.” Mike and Joanne say they are fortunate to work with some other great local businesses, including Stu’s Pumps & Filtration, Advanced Accounting, and suppliers Chesters and Mico Plumbing Palmerston North. “Strong working relationships are just so important and we’re very fortunate to have these other talented locals on the journey with us.”
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