“We focus more on customer relations, so they get somewhat of a personalized relationship with their service provider instead of just getting a dispatcher or a call center somewhere,” Christian says.
He is describing the company he started in September 2023, Streamline Plumbing and Drain, based in Alabaster. Customers know him as Christian or as CJ, and the idea he describes shapes most of what the company does. Most of the work is emergency plumbing for homes and businesses: the burst pipe, the sewer line backing into a tub, the drain that will not clear. The crew works seven days a week, and the company lists itself as open around the clock.
“Primarily emergency service work, so that’s kind of what we’re most experienced in,” he says. Remodels and new construction fill in around those calls. The service area runs through Shelby and Jefferson counties, from Pelham, Helena and Calera to Hoover, Chelsea and Bessemer.
Emergency work tests the personal relationship he is talking about, because the customer usually has water on the floor and no time to shop around. The company aims to get a plumber out the same day. One customer described getting in touch with CJ and having one of his technicians at the door less than an hour later.
That first call often turns into something longer. The company’s own account of its commercial side says most of its business clients, from restaurants to apartment communities, started with a single emergency and stayed on for regular service.
The work itself follows a set order. For a routine clog, the crew starts by cabling the line. If a stoppage does not clear, an HD camera goes into the pipe to show what is there: roots, grease, a cracked joint or a sagging section. For grease-heavy lines, root intrusion and clogs that keep coming back, the company uses hydro jetting, high-pressure water that scours the pipe wall back toward its original diameter. Christian holds Alabama master plumber license MP-4609, and the company backs its labor with a one-year warranty.
Christian treats that warranty as part of the bargain. “We try to do what we say we’re going to do, and we honor our warranties and we honor our work,” he says. Customers get a two-hour arrival window, which he says gives them a realistic sense of when the plumber will pull up, since even a job done 100 times can run long.
The personal relationship does not stop with the owner. When customers write about a visit, the company’s replies usually name whoever came out. Ben arrived a few hours after one call. Charlie checked his repair for hiccups before leaving. Jacob came out on short notice and had a household running again within an hour.
Christian says he leads by example, and he does not leave his standard for the crew to guess at.
“All of my technicians know where I stand on work quality and customer service and customer retention,” he says.