This interview is with Dimitar Dechev, CEO at Super Brothers Plumbing Heating & Air.

Dimitar Dechev, CEO, Super Brothers Plumbing Heating & Air

Can you tell us about your background in plumbing and HVAC services, and what led you to specialize in serving the Sacramento area?

Sure. My path into plumbing and HVAC started not long after I moved to the U.S. from Bulgaria in 2006. Back then, I was just trying to get my footing — I worked for a few contractors and picked up everything I could. What stuck with me early on was the responsibility. When someone lets you into their home to fix a leak or restore their heat, it’s about more than just the job — it’s about trust.

In 2013, I launched Super Brothers because I saw a gap in how service was being delivered. I didn’t want to build a volume-driven business — I wanted something more personal, something rooted in doing right by people. Sacramento felt like the natural place to plant that flag. It’s my home, and I’ve always believed good work starts local.

Over time, we grew — from plumbing to full-scale HVAC installs, heat pumps, tankless systems, and energy retrofits. California’s push for efficiency and rebates didn’t just shape the work; it pushed us to stay sharp, stay compliant, and help our customers navigate that shift. These days, we’re not just solving problems — we’re helping homeowners adapt their homes for what’s coming next.

What was the pivotal moment or experience that transformed you from a technician into a business owner offering top-notch plumbing and HVAC services?

To be honest, there wasn’t one Hollywood-style moment where a light bulb went off and I said, “Now I’m a business owner.” It was more a slow build. I spent years in the field as a tech, going from house to house, fixing emergencies, working for other companies. Over time I kept seeing the same pattern: shortcuts on installs, rushed jobs, customers left confused about what was done and why. I’d leave a job thinking, “If this were my company, I’d never do it like that.” That thought started showing up more and more until it was hard to ignore.

The real shift happened when I stopped looking at myself as “just a technician” and started paying attention to the whole experience — how we answered the phone, how we explained options, how clean we left the job, whether we’d be proud to go back to that house a year later. At some point, it became clear that the only way to do things the way I believed they should be done was to build my own shop around those standards. That’s how Super Brothers was born: out of the decision to take responsibility not only for the work at the wrench level, but for the entire service people receive when they let us into their homes.

When you’re called out to a home for what seems like a simple HVAC or plumbing issue, what are the red flags that tell you there’s a bigger problem lurking beneath the surface—and how do you communicate that to homeowners?

A lot of “simple” calls stop feeling simple as soon as you walk through the door. With plumbing, I pay attention to things the customer might not link together: stains on ceilings, soft or warped flooring around bathrooms, rust on old shut-off valves, low pressure in more than one fixture, that kind of thing. On the HVAC side, uneven temperatures between rooms, a system that’s constantly turning on and off, loud ducts, or a unit that clearly looks older than everything else in the house usually tells me we’re not just dealing with a dirty filter. You also start to recognize past DIY fixes — tape where there should be proper fittings, mismatched parts, creative wiring. Those are big red flags that there’s more going on behind the scenes than the “little problem” they mentioned on the phone.

When I see that, I don’t walk in and announce a disaster. I show them what I’m seeing. If there’s a stain near the “small” leak, I point it out. If the duct is crushed or the drain line is patched three times, I’ll snap a quick photo in the crawlspace or attic so they don’t have to take my word for it. Then I lay things out in plain language: here’s the quick patch, here’s the real fix, here’s what I’d do if it were my house, and here’s what each option costs. My job isn’t to scare anyone into a big job — it’s to make sure they understand that constantly treating symptoms is usually more expensive in the long run than dealing with the actual problem. Once people see the full picture, most of them make a pretty sensible decision on their own.

Many service businesses struggle with pricing their work fairly while remaining competitive. How do you determine what constitutes ‘quality service’ versus cutting corners, and how does this philosophy influence your pricing strategy?

For me, “quality service” starts long before we talk numbers. It’s in the stuff most people don’t see: taking time to diagnose properly instead of guessing, using the right materials instead of whatever’s cheapest on the shelf, pulling permits when they’re needed, sending techs who are trained and insured, and leaving a job in a state I’d accept in my own house. Cutting corners usually looks like the opposite of that — rush in, slap on a quick fix, leave no documentation, and hope you don’t get a call back. You might save a bit in the moment, but you pay for it in callbacks, bad reviews, and a team that learns the wrong habits.

Our pricing follows that philosophy. We build our numbers around what it actually costs to do the work correctly — proper parts, enough time on-site to do it cleanly, fair pay for the techs, insurance, training, and a real warranty we’re not afraid to stand behind. I’m not interested in being the cheapest quote on the table; I’m interested in being the company you don’t have to call twice for the same problem. When I explain a price to a homeowner, I’ll tell them exactly what they’re paying for and why. Some people will always chase the lowest bid, and that’s their choice. The customers we want usually prefer the job done right over the job done fast and fragile.

You’ve mentioned that referrals are a key indicator of your personal brand’s success. Can you walk us through a specific example where exceptional service on one job led to multiple referrals, and what made that experience so memorable for the customer?

There’s one job I still think about when people ask me about referrals. A woman called us out for what she thought was a simple water heater swap. When I got there, it was clear the heater was just the tip of the iceberg — old galvanized lines, signs of past leaks, terrible water pressure in half the house. I could’ve just swapped the tank, taken the check, and left, but I walked her through everything I was seeing. We sat at her kitchen table, and I sketched out two paths: a quick replacement that would “work for now,” and a full plan to replace the heater, repipe critical sections, and clean up a few old code issues. I told her what I’d do if it were my house and let her think it over. She called me back the next day and said, “Let’s do it properly.”We treated that project like it was our own place. Covered floors, cleaned as we went, checked in with her at the end of each day, and didn’t disappear after the final invoice — I called her a week later to make sure everything still felt good. A month after that, her neighbor called and said, “You did Lisa’s house — I want the same level of work.” Then her sister reached out. Then, a realtor friend she’d told about us started recommending us to her buyers. All from one job. What made it memorable for her wasn’t just hot water and good pressure; it was feeling like someone actually slowed down, told her the truth, and stood behind the work. That’s the kind of reputation you can’t buy with ads.

What’s the biggest mistake you see homeowners in Sacramento making when it comes to maintaining their plumbing or HVAC systems, and what’s your go-to advice for preventing costly emergency calls?

Honestly, the biggest mistake I see is waiting until something is screaming for attention. People will ignore slow drains, small leaks under a sink, toilets that “sometimes” run, or an AC that’s been sounding rough for months. In Sacramento, we get hot summers and cool, damp winters — that puts real stress on both plumbing and HVAC. When you ignore those little warning signs, you’re basically giving problems time to turn into ceiling damage, slab leaks, or a system that dies in the middle of a heat wave.

My go-to advice is boring but it works: treat your house the way you treat your car. Change filters on schedule, don’t pour chemicals down every slow drain, and get your systems checked at least once a year — once before summer for HVAC and once a year for plumbing if your home is older. If something changes suddenly — pressure drops, strange smells, new noises, a water bill that jumps for no reason — don’t wait and see for three months. Call someone while it’s still a small fix. Spending a little on maintenance beats waking up to a flooded hallway at 2 a.m. every time.

When training new technicians to deliver the same level of top-notch service your business is known for, what’s the one skill or mindset that you find hardest to teach, and how do you help them develop it?

The hardest thing to teach isn’t how to sweat a joint or wire a thermostat — it’s ownership. A lot of new techs focus only on the task in front of them: “I was sent here to fix this leak” or “replace this unit.” Getting them to see the whole picture — the house, the family that lives there, the long-term impact of what they do — that’s the real work. Ownership means you care about the result after you leave, not just clocking out with a completed ticket.

We build that mindset by pairing new techs with veterans who already think that way. I want them to see how an experienced tech walks a job, how they explain options to a homeowner, how they double-check things nobody will ever see. In meetings, I’ll ask simple questions: “Would you be okay with this in your own house?” or “Would you recommend this solution to your mom?” It sounds basic, but it resets their thinking. Over time, the good ones start catching their own shortcuts and fixing them before anyone else notices. That’s when I know they’re starting to get it.

Can you share a situation where you had to make a difficult ethical decision between what would be most profitable for your business versus what was truly best for the customer? How did you handle it and what did you learn?

One situation that still stands out was a call for an older HVAC system that had been giving a family trouble for a while. By the time I got there, they were already convinced they needed a full system replacement because another company had told them, “It’s not worth fixing, just swap everything out.” A full change-out would’ve been a big ticket for us. But when I went through the system, checked the static pressure, inspected the coil and the furnace, it was clear the main issue was a failed blower motor and a few neglected maintenance items. The equipment was old, yes, but not at the end of its life.

I sat down with them and laid out both options: here’s the cost of a proper repair with realistic expectations for how long it might last, and here’s the cost of a full replacement if they wanted peace of mind for the next 10–15 years. I told them honestly that if it were my house, I’d repair it now and start planning financially for a replacement in a couple of years instead of going into debt on the spot. They chose the repair. Short term, it was less profitable for us. Long term, it paid off in a different way: they called us back for yearly maintenance, and when they were finally ready to replace the system, they didn’t even get a second quote. That experience reminded me that saying “no” to the quick win builds a kind of trust you can’t buy with marketing.

Looking at the evolution of plumbing and HVAC services in Sacramento over your career, what’s one change or trend you’re seeing that other professionals in the industry should be preparing for right now?

The biggest shift I’m seeing, and the one a lot of guys are still sleeping on, is the move toward electrification and higher efficiency being driven by codes, rebates, and utility costs. In Sacramento, that shows up as more heat pump systems, heat pump water heaters, tighter building envelopes, and customers asking questions they never used to ask: “What will this do to my energy bill?” “Can I get a rebate for this?” “Will this still make sense in five years?” It’s not just about swapping out a furnace anymore — it’s about how the whole house works as a system.

If you’re in this trade and you plan to stay in it, you can’t treat that like a trend that will blow over. You need to get comfortable with newer technologies, understand local rebate programs, and be able to explain the pros and cons to a homeowner in plain language. That means more training, more time in classes, and less relying on whatever you learned 15 years ago. The tech is changing, the regulations are changing, and the customer expectations are changing with them. The companies that lean into that now will be the ones still around when “gas vs. electric” isn’t even a debate anymore.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for the interview! I hope my experience was useful to you!