Gundlach's Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning

Gundlach's Plumbing was established in 1900 by Max Gundlach Jr. and his partner A.C. Wroot. They opened a plumbing repair shop on the corner of 20th and Chester under the name Gundlach & Wroot. In 1927, I. Rees Jones bought into the business (for a grand total of $4,666.00) and shortly after expanded its services to include tinning and sheet metal work. Our state contractor's license is No. 1338 - we still get funny looks on the low number! In 1930, the business was officially renamed and incorporated under the name Gundlach Plumbing and Sheet Metal Co. Ltd. Shortly thereafter, the business relocated to 2324 Chester Ave., a former horse stable and automotive repair building. In 1934 Cecil and Lee Jones joined their father's business. The family worked together to bring air conditioning services to their growing business. Cecil received training in New York at the Carrier factory. You can still find old water cooled systems that were built from scratch by Cecil and Lee in some of Bakersfield's older homes and buildings in town...and yes, they are still running today. Max Gundlach passed away in 1941 and his widow, Gussie Gundlach, sold the remainder of the business to the Jones family. During the 1950s and 1960s Gundlach's became one of the largest mechanical contractors in town, completing such projects as: Minter Field St. Francis Church Memorial Hospital's maternity ward ...and several local high schools In 1985, Gundlach's discontinued the tinning and sheet metal fabrication side of the business in order to focus on service and remodeling work for plumbing and air conditioning. They relocated to 2313 K St. before moving to 1330 32nd Street. In April of 2004, Trent Jones (the son of Cecil Jones) and his daughter Jennifer Starbuck sold the long-time family run business to Ken and Shelly Wonderly. Ken had been in the business for over twenty years and had worked for some of the largest mechanical contractors in the country. Under Ken's leadership the company has expanded its state of the art solutions for plumbing and air conditioning customers. We are building on a rich history and demonstrate a commitment to future growth, Gundlach's offers its customers "today's technology with good old fashioned integrity."