From a Beechview basement in 1980 to today: the Wahl family story
My dad started this company in his mother’s basement in 1980 with her as his first employee. Here is the whole story, the way I would tell it at the dinner table.
Wahl Family Heating, Cooling & Plumbing started in 1980 when my dad, John Wahl, learned HVAC from his uncles at 19 and launched the business out of his mother’s basement in Beechview, with her as his first employee. I started as an install helper in 2006, went to night school for my plumbing license, worked for competitors to learn the trade, then came back and added plumbing. My sister Jen, a trained teacher, became President while I became CEO. We bought the company from our dad and then bought our Oakdale facility to keep growing.
How it started in 1980
My dad started the company in 1980. In his family, you were either a truck driver or an HVAC guy, so at 19 he went to work with his uncles and learned the trade. Then he decided to start his own business out of his mother’s basement, and she was his first employee.
From there he moved into a small building in Beechview. He rented three apartments in it, used one as his shop, and slowly took over apartment after apartment as he grew. Some of my very first memories as a kid are making sheet metal in that shop with my dad. He would go out, talk to customers, sell the work, come back and build the ductwork by hand, then go back the next day and install the system. That is how he built it.
The family behind the van
It really took a lot of good people. My grandmother and my mother were some of his earliest supporters. My grandfather on the other side painted the lettering on the company van, and that was part of the first advertising. He also ran a barbershop, and that shop was the other half of the advertising, word of mouth from a barber’s chair. It is a pretty cool Pittsburgh origin story when I think about it.
How I got into it
I always knew as a kid that I wanted to work with my dad, and I knew I wanted to build something. I have two older sisters, and I always pictured my dad and me running it together. It turned out my oldest sister Jen and I both joined in 2006. Jen started in the office, I started as an install helper, and we both grew from there.
During high school I started going to night school to earn my plumbing license. Part of that meant I had to work for other plumbers, so I went to work for some of my dad’s competitors. That was a great experience for me, seeing what I liked and what I did not, learning from how other companies ran. It did not exactly sit well with my dad at the time, but it taught me a lot. Eventually I came back, brought the plumbing trade with me, and we opened up our plumbing division. We have kept adding service lines ever since.
A teacher becomes a president
Jen was classically trained as a teacher and a communications expert, and funny enough those skills turned out to be exactly what made her a phenomenal President of this company, writing our procedures and policies, training technicians, all of it. She is President, I am CEO, and working together as a family has been interesting and genuinely rewarding.
Buying the company and the road ahead
At a certain point, in recognition of what we had put in, my dad gifted Jen and me some shares in the business. Then, as part of his retirement, we bought the company from him a few years ago. After that I had some aggressive growth goals, so we bought a large facility in Oakdale, and we have been building out new service lines and growing the company from there.
From the time I was a kid, I knew this was going to be something big. I could never join a company and be okay with it staying the same size. I have always been driven to grow and build things, and I know we are going to have the best home service company in Pittsburgh, if we do not already. After 46 years, helping our community the way we do is what makes all of it worth it. You can read more about where we are headed on our about us page.
The quick version
- John Wahl founded the company in 1980, learning HVAC from his uncles and launching from his mother’s Beechview basement with her as his first employee.
- He grew it out of a small apartment building, building ductwork by hand between sales calls and installs.
- David’s grandfather painted the company van and ran a barbershop, the company’s first advertising.
- David started as an install helper in 2006, earned his plumbing license at night, worked for competitors to learn, then came back and added plumbing.
- Jen, a trained teacher, became President; the two bought the company from their father and bought the Oakdale facility to grow.
Some of my first memories are making sheet metal in my dad’s shop in Beechview. He started with his mother as his only employee and built it one apartment at a time.
I always knew this would be something big. I could never be okay with it staying the same. We are going to have the best home service company in Pittsburgh, if we do not already.
David WahlCEO & Master Plumber, Wahl Family
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Call 1-855-GET-WAHLFrequently asked questions
When was Wahl Family Heating, Cooling & Plumbing founded?
The company was founded in 1980 by John Wahl, who learned HVAC from his uncles and started the business out of his mother’s basement in Beechview, with her as his first employee. That makes us a Pittsburgh family business with about 46 years of history.
How did David Wahl get into the family business?
David joined in 2006 as an install helper, earned his master plumber license at night school, and worked for other plumbers, including some of his dad’s competitors, to learn the trade. He then came back and added the plumbing division to what had been an HVAC-only company.
Who runs Wahl today?
David Wahl is the CEO and his sister Jen Wahl is the President. Jen was classically trained as a teacher and communications expert, which shaped how the company writes its procedures and trains its technicians. They bought the company from their father, John, a few years ago.
Why did Wahl expand beyond HVAC into plumbing and remodeling?
David added plumbing when he came back from earning his license, and the company kept growing service lines from there to serve customers fully and balance out a seasonal HVAC business. You can read about the full range of what we do on our about us page.
Where is Wahl located now?
After buying the company, David and Jen purchased a large facility in Oakdale to support aggressive growth and new service lines. We serve Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and the surrounding area within roughly a 20 mile radius.
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Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, since 1980. HVAC, plumbing, water treatment, sewer, and bathroom remodeling, all under one roof, all done the Wahl way.