At just 18 years old, Averie West is already getting a firsthand education in what it really means to work in the plumbing trades. A first-year apprentice with Frasier’s Heating, Cooling, Plumbing, Electrical, a full-service company in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, that handles everything from everyday repairs to minor remodels, West has been around the industry most of her life — but only recently made the leap into it full time.
After graduating high school, she committed to the trade, and for the past several months has been working full days in the field alongside a mentor, learning the craft one call at a time.
Her typical day might include one to three service calls — anything from fixture installs and freeze-ups to troubleshooting minor repairs. Sometimes she’s hands-on, helping complete the work herself. Other times, she’s absorbing as much as possible, asking questions and building a deeper understanding of how systems function inside real homes. That curiosity, she says, is what keeps the job interesting.
Like many apprentices, some of her most memorable lessons have come in unexpected ways — including the day she discovered that a well pump replacement would require a boat ride to an island. Other days are defined by grit and growth, like helping on her first whole-home repipe, hauling galvanized waterlines out of a tight crawlspace and setting her first toilet. The work can be demanding, but West embraces the challenge.
Raised around the trade by her father, a plumber and former business owner, West says her interest started with something simple: holding a bucket to catch water during a job and becoming fascinated with how a home’s water system works. Today, she’s building her own path in the industry — one that blends practicality with personality. She still keeps her nails done, relies heavily on rubber gloves to protect them and believes plumbing offers something few careers can: job security in a world where not everything can be automated.
How many years have you been in the industry: I have been working for a year and a half, but once I got out of high school, I’ve been working full time for several months now.
What is the typical day on the job: A typical day on the job looks like going out with a mentor on one to three calls in a day, anywhere from minor repairs to installs of equipment or fixtures and freeze-ups. Depending on what it is, I get to be the one to help fix the issue. If not, I ask a lot of questions to better understand the scope of what is going on.
What is a job you’ll never forget: So far, the one job I will never forget was the day I was told that we were going to change a well pump at an island. I never realized that it was on an actual island. Come to see when we pulled into this parking lot that we were taking a boat to an actual island for the job that day. I was a little unprepared, but it was a very interesting experience.
What is your favorite piece of equipment: By far my favorite piece of equipment are rubber gloves. I still enjoy doing my nails and get asked all the time about my long fingernails and how I manage to do my job. I go through a lot of gloves for an extra protective layer and just to keep my nails as nice as I possibly can. Otherwise, I would have to say the SAWZALL.
What is the most challenging job you’ve worked on: I haven’t been working for too terribly long, but I’d have to say the most challenging job I would have had to work on was helping with my first whole home repipe. I was just learning how to do drain piping and set my first toilet myself. I also carried a lot of galvanized waterlines out of a tiny crawlspace that day.
What got you involved in this industry: My dad was the one who got me involved with plumbing. He is a plumber as well and has owned two companies when I was growing up. A few years ago, he asked for my help on one of his jobs. All I was doing was holding a bucket above my head to catch water while he was cutting waterlines, and from then on I thought it was pretty interesting how a house’s water system worked.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve heard or came up with: I’d have to say that the best piece of advice I have been told is to always wear gloves in the winter! Especially when working with frozen pipe wrenches. I didn’t like to wear gloves when I first started working, but I learned fast.
If you weren’t working in the plumbing industry, you would like to: If I wasn’t going into the plumbing industry, my other passion would either be taking care of pets and animals, or I love to do my hair and nails all the time so I would go into cosmetology.
Crystal ball time. What is your outlook for the plumbing industry: My outlook for the plumbing industry, I have to say that I feel like it is doing well. I guess it’s one thing that robots will never be able to take over. They can do all the computer and science types of things, but they can’t go into someone’s old home, diagnose a problem and glue two pipes together.
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