I founded MCM Plumbing® with one goal: to build a plumbing company in Merced that customers can trust for honest, reliable, code-compliant work. My dad always said I’d do something important, and I carry that into every job.
Growing Up Working
I grew up around work. Summers and some weekends I helped my grandpa in his Livingston almond orchard, irrigating, pruning, harvesting and clearing brush. My dad worked for a local contractor. I’d tag along to his job sites sometimes, though I wasn’t really involved, and at home I was the one handing him tools and holding the flashlight while he worked on his trucks and vehicles.
In middle school I got into trouble a lot, so I spent a year living with my godfather and going to school in Hilmar. After school I helped him at the dairy, and that’s some hard work. It’s also part of why I feel at home on the dairies we work on today. My godfather now runs Lopes Septic, a local septic pumping company.
The orchard, the dairy and my dad’s garage taught me to follow directions, stay focused and take pride in working with my hands.
Learning the Trades
I ended up at Valley Community School because I didn’t do my homework. I did my schoolwork, but I had strong feelings about homework after school. It turned out to be one of the best things that happened to me. That’s where I joined the Workplace Learning Academy, a Merced County Office of Education program, and started on real construction sites at 16. My instructor and mentor, Mr. Steve Macha, taught me general construction from the ground up: site prep and grading, concrete, framing, basic electrical and plumbing. He taught me not just how to build, but why it has to be built right. I finished Construction I in 2004 and Construction II in 2006, and that year I was named the academy’s Most Improved Student.
That background still matters on every job. Whether we’re cutting through a driveway to replace a sewer line or opening a wall to repipe a house, I understand the whole building, and I know what it takes to put things back right.
From Service Tech to Contractor
After graduating in 2006, I went to work for a local plumbing company and worked my way up to service technician. I picked up a little knowledge from everyone I could, absorbed what I needed, and fine-tuned my skills along the way. In 2011 I paid my own way through a 40-hour backflow prevention assembly tester course and became an AWWA certified backflow tester.
Back in 2009 I had bought a house in Merced so my dad could live closer to the hospital. Even when he was very sick, he kept encouraging me. He always told me how smart I was and that I could do anything on my own. Starting my own company and being self-made is what he wanted for me.
After he passed in 2013, I tried to fix the house up so I could live in it. By then I was self-employed, working out of town in Sacramento as a subcontractor doing backflow testing for the Rio Linda Water District. I struggled, and I ran out of money. I sold the house and used what was left to buy a used van and plumbing equipment. That was the real start of MCM Plumbing, and those years taught me how to work with public agencies and keep a business running on my own.
Building MCM Plumbing
In March 2015 I earned my C-36 Plumbing contractor’s license and officially launched MCM Plumbing out of a family garage. I added the C-34 Pipeline license in 2018 and the Class A General Engineering license in 2025. Today we work from an office in Merced and serve homeowners, businesses, schools, water districts, and federal and public agencies.
What We Focus On Today
Those licenses let us take on bigger underground work that takes more than a plumbing license: sewer line replacement, trenchless pipe bursting, septic systems and drain fields, and underground water and sewer lines. Over the years I’ve invested heavily in the company and in specialty equipment, and that’s what sets us apart from other local companies. As the owner, I’m still hands-on in the field and work beside my crew on a lot of our jobs. I read the plans and prepare the bids myself, so you’re dealing with an owner who stays involved, not a middleman.
Training & Certifications
- California Class A – General Engineering, March 2025
- California C-34 – Pipeline, September 2018
- California C-36 – Plumbing, March 2015
- AWWA Certified Backflow Assembly Tester (course completed 2011)
- Presby Environmental / Infiltrator: California Advanced Enviro-Septic Design & Installation, 2021
- Jet BAT Plant: trained and certified in installation, service and maintenance inspections (Valley Septic Supplies)
- Workplace Learning Academy: Construction I (2004) and Construction II (2006)
See all of our licenses and certifications.
Carrying the Legacy Forward
Every part of this, from the orchard, to Mr. Macha’s classroom, to the responsibility I carried for my family, shaped who I am as a contractor. I believe in doing the job right, being honest, and leaving things better than I found them. MCM Plumbing is my way of honoring those lessons and my dad’s faith in me.
