Plumb
Plumb is an app that lets a homeowner take a photo of their AC or water heater, get an instant quote with no sales visit, and save about 30%.
Needs right now
Small landlords and property managers in the Twin Cities who will put a few units on Plumb, so Minneapolis is running by the end of November 2026. Licensed crews in the Twin Cities and Tampa Bay. Introductions to large landlords and property managers, since one relationship puts Plumb under many units. And people who have taken a marketplace through cold start in a category where the customer buys rarely. I want their mistakes before I make them.
The pitch
Plumb is an app for home repairs and replacements.
A homeowner or landlord takes a photo of the unit. AI reads the nameplate and writes the scope of work, and a licensed local crew prices that scope. There is no estimate visit and no commissioned salesperson. We're building it as a vertically integrated, full-stack home services company, which will save owners about 30% on replacements starting out, and ultimately 50% by stripping out overhead and unnecessary processes. I'm building it because I've seen the numbers from the inside. I run a marketing company for home service businesses, and I spent much of the past year inside a Florida HVAC company. A 3-ton AC replacement in its price book is $10,300. It costs about $4,500 to do, counting the equipment, the crew, materials and the permit. The other $5,800 pays for sales commissions, ads, trucks, offices and the free estimate. The homeowner can't see any of that, so a fair quote and a bad one look the same. Minneapolis is the first city, starting with landlords, and Tampa Bay is second. Crews set their own prices and are paid what they already earn.
Problem
A $10,300 AC replacement costs about $4,500 to do, counting the equipment, the crew, materials and the permit. The other $5,800 pays for sales commissions, ads, trucks, offices and the free estimate visit. The homeowner can't see any of that, so a fair quote and a bad one look the same.
Solution
A homeowner photographs the unit. AI reads the make, model and size off the nameplate and writes the scope of work, and one licensed local crew prices it at the crew's own price. There is no sales visit, and the homeowner books, pays and messages in the app.
Progress so far
The app is built and in testers' hands, and contractor signup is live.
Our water heater pilot in St. Petersburg, Florida runs on the same model: a photo, a quote with no sales visit, and a subcontracted crew. It has done $26,000 of jobs with no ad spend as of October 4, 2026, and 12 of the first 28 leads became paying jobs. In the Twin Cities, 10 contractors and one landlord have agreed to launch with us, and 11 homeowners pay $1 a month to be first in line. We ran one job by hand in Minneapolis. A homeowner with a leaking water heater had hot water in about 18 hours, after two established companies would not give her a price. No job has been paid through the app yet. That is the next milestone.
At a glance
- Customer
- Landlords and small property managers first, starting in Minneapolis. A landlord buys a furnace or a water heater every few months, and a homeowner buys one every 15 to 20 years. Homeowners come next, starting with recent buyers who have no contractor yet. Licensed local crews do the work. They set their own prices and take jobs that arrive already scoped, with less admin.
- Business model
- Plumb takes a fee on each completed job and is paid only when the job completes. Crews set their own prices.
- Team
- 1 founder
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