Meet the team
The people who show up at your door
K&D is 34 people, 22 of them technicians. Here are a few of the faces you're most likely to meet, on the phone or in your basement.
The family
Stan Kowalczyk · Founder
Stan started K&D in 1987 with one van, one phone line and, as his daughters put it, "a Polish-English dictionary of patience." He's a master plumber who learned the trade the old way, sweeping floors at a supply house and apprenticing for years before he ever ran a job on his own.
These days Stan is semi-retired, which in practice means he answers the phones on Saturday mornings, wanders through the shop most weekdays, and tells apprentices stories about cast-iron drain stacks that they will not appreciate for another ten years. If you call on a Saturday and get a gentleman who asks how old your water heater is before he asks your name, that's Stan. Answer him honestly. He'll know.
Ask him about: the winter of 1994, when he thawed 61 frozen pipes in nine days.
Agnes Kowalczyk-Reyes · President, Master Plumber
Agnes has been riding in K&D trucks since she was twelve, and she's held an Ohio master plumber license since 2004. She runs the company and the plumbing side of it, which means she signs the paychecks, reviews every estimate over $5,000, and still takes the occasional service call when a job is tricky or she just misses it.
Agnes is the reason K&D posts its prices on the website; she figures if you're going to stand behind a number, you might as well put it where people can see it. Outside work she has coached girls' softball in Hilliard for eleven seasons, and she will tell you, without being asked, that a good shortstop and a good plumber have the same skill: knowing where things are going before they get there.
Ask her about: repiping old houses in Grandview and Upper Arlington without tearing out every wall.
Dana Kowalczyk · Vice President, Heating & Cooling
Dana spent eight years as an HVAC technician in the Air Force before coming home in 2008 and convincing her father that a plumbing company should fix furnaces too. She's a licensed Ohio HVAC contractor, NATE-certified, and the person who built K&D's heating and cooling department from one truck to nine.
Dana designs most of our system replacements herself, including the load calculation, the duct check and the "do you really need a bigger unit?" conversation (usually the answer is no). She's our in-house skeptic about any shiny new gadget, and our biggest fan of a properly sized heat pump.
Ask her about: why most Central Ohio houses have an air conditioner that's too big.
The office
Marisol Ibarra · Service Manager
If you've called K&D in the last sixteen years, you've probably talked to Marisol. She joined us in 2009 as a customer service rep and now runs dispatch, scheduling and the customer service team. Customers call her "the voice on the phone," and more than a few have asked to speak to her by name, including one woman in Westerville who sends a fruitcake every December.
Marisol has a gift for figuring out what's actually wrong from what you tell her ("it's making a whooshing sound but only when the dishwasher runs") and sending the right tech with the right parts. She speaks English and Spanish, and she can tell you, to the minute, where every one of our 19 trucks is.
Ask her about: nothing, while she's on the other line. She'll get back to you.
In the field
Terrence "T" Booker · Lead Plumber
T has been with K&D for 21 years and is our drain and sewer specialist. He's run a camera down more sewer lines than anyone in the building and can tell a root intrusion from a bellied pipe from a collapsed clay joint on a two-inch screen in about four seconds. He'll show you the footage, too, because he thinks you should see what you're paying for.
T trains most of our new plumbers, leads our trenchless sewer repairs, and keeps a running list on the shop whiteboard titled "Things Found in Drains" (current leader: a set of dentures, Worthington, 2017).
Ask him about: what not to put down a garbage disposal. Bring a notepad.
Kenji Watanabe · Lead HVAC Technician
Kenji joined us in 2014 and is our go-to technician for heat pumps and ductless mini-splits. He's installed cold-climate heat pumps in houses from Powell to Grove City and keeps his own spreadsheet of how they perform through Ohio winters, which he will happily share with you, at length.
Customers say Kenji is the most patient explainer they've ever met. He believes the best install is the one where the homeowner understands the thermostat before he leaves, and he'll stay until you do.
Ask him about: whether a heat pump really works at 5 degrees. (Short answer: a good one does.)
Riley Sanderson · Apprentice Plumber
Riley is in the third year of our four-year apprenticeship program and rides most days with T. Riley came to us from a career center program in the area, already handy with a torch and eager to learn everything else. In a little over two years Riley has gone from carrying the toolbag to soldering copper, setting toilets and helping on water heater installs, and is working toward a journeyman card.
Riley also built Gus's dog bed out of an old water heater drain pan, which has made Riley Gus's favorite person in the building.
Ask Riley about: what it's like to learn the trade from people who've been doing it for decades.
Gus · Director of Morale
A basset hound rescued in 2019, Gus supervises the front office, howls at departing trucks and accepts biscuits from all staff. He has no license of any kind. Read more about him on our story page.
And everybody else
Behind these folks are 22 technicians, a parts and warehouse crew, a customer service team, and an accounting office that would like you to know they are very nice people even if they do send the invoices. Every technician on our team is licensed or working under a licensed supervisor, background-checked, drug-tested and trained in-house before they ever ring your doorbell. When one is on the way, we'll text you their name and photo.
Want to work with this crew? We're hiring plumbers, HVAC technicians and customer service reps. See current openings.