“He’s just a good human being,” said James ‘Jimmy’ Riley Jr.

Riley is the owner of Riley Plumbing and Heating, Seidel’s employer for the last 25 years. While technically his boss, Riley said Seidel is “like a son” to him.

In 1999, when Seidel graduated from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology with an associate’s in plumbing technology, he said there weren’t a lot of people hiring.

“Jim Riley (Sr.) brought me in, even though he probably didn’t really need me, and I’ve worked here ever since,” he said.

Mike Seidel of Riley Plumbing and Heating was a finalist in the Plumbing National Championships.
The event was filmed and will be aired on CBS Sports on Dec. 13.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Finishing what he started

Before Seidel became a master plumber, his uncle, Dave Wendle, said he was a “skinny little kid” with a good work ethic.

“As a matter of fact, his grandfather was a pipefitter and boilermaker in Tyrone,” Wendle said.

When asked how he got into plumbing, Seidel said “tinkering with my grandfather,” but admitted to initially not wanting to be a plumber.

“I entered vo-tech in the construction class and was removed because I wouldn’t do a haircut,” said Seidel, while sporting a bald head. “I had real long hair then.”

Seidel tried electrical but “didn’t really care for it,” then met the plumbing teacher to ask if he cared about long hair.

“He said ‘absolutely not,’” Seidel said. “So, that’s all. I entered (the plumbing program).”

Seidel wasn’t done trying out programs, however. When he took the entrance exam at Thaddeus Stevens, he wanted to be an auto mechanic. While his scores weren’t high enough for their automotive program, they were enough for plumbing.

“I remember asking my instructor if I was going to get anything out of this program or whether I was wasting my time,” Seidel said. “He … made a comment to me about finishing what I started.”

Seidel said he was there for two days, but took the comment to heart and, if not for that conversation, probably would have dropped.

“My mom always said to me, if I didn’t go to school, I’d be a ditch digger,” Seidel said. “And, to be honest, when I started (at Riley’s), all I did was dig ditches. We spent a lot of time breaking up basement floors and replacing sewer lines. I thought, ‘man, I went to school to do the exact same thing I wasn’t supposed to be doing.’”

Crunching numbers

Seidel had an accelerated apprenticeship due to his schooling and became a master plumber by his late 20s. He had also studied estimating and said Riley Jr. asked him if he’d be interested in doing an estimate for a project.

“It was a job we had already completed, so we knew exactly what it cost,” Seidel said. “I beat (Jim) Sr. by 3 or 4%.”

Seidel’s been doing estimates for about 16 or 17 years at Riley’s, he said, and it remains a friendly competition.

“We are generally close enough that he gets one, I get one,” Riley Jr. said.

Riley said Seidel is an even better person outside of the office by working benefits for cancer research and donating to those in need.

“He doesn’t say too much about it,” Riley said. “You might find out about it, but a lot of stuff he does behind the scenes.”

The feeling goes both ways, as Seidel said “the Riley family is one of the nicest families” he had ever met.

“It’s very family-oriented,” Seidel said.

It was actually Riley’s son, Michael Riley, who told Seidel about the Plumbing National Championships.

Making progress

Seidel said 2024 was the second year for the ServiceTitan Elite Trades Championship Series’ plumbing program.

“They’ve done electrical, automotive and even HVAC for years,” Seidel said.

The competition had three rounds, the first of which required completing online testing. The top 20 scores qualified for round two, and the top score automatically progressed to round one. Seidel said they had five minutes to correctly answer as many multiple-choice questions as possible. The most he achieved was 112.

“I would check my score with my oldest daughter, Paisley,” Seidel said. “I just couldn’t get out of number two.”

For round two, Seidel received an at-home kit with a timer and box of fittings. He was asked to film himself building a predetermined assembly and performing a pressure test in 20 minutes. From there, the top five were given an all-expense paid trip to West Palm Beach, Florida, to compete head-to-head with tradespeople.

Just short

During round three, each person in the plumbing championship was given an hour and a half to complete hooking up a water line, setting a shower valve and adding a hose bib.

“It’s amazing how fast an hour and a half goes in that scenario,” Seidel said. “Especially when I hear that little timer say 30 minutes.”

Seidel admitted the first-place winner was the only person who actually finished the project.

“Maybe if I had another six or seven minutes,” Seidel said with a grin.

While Seidel won $7,000 for his efforts, what he really wanted was “the shiny thing” — the golden pipe-themed trophy.

“That’s why I entered,” Seidel said. He also mourned the large novelty check he never received because he had planned to hang it in Riley’s office.

Wendle thought Seidel would come in first because “he puts his heart into everything he does.” He described Seidel as a “jack of all trades” who “deserved a little recognition.”

Seidel “never would have said a word” about placing in the championship if it weren’t for his family spreading the word, Wendle said.

Riley said he also thought Seidel “had a good chance at winning the thing.”

“To come down to one of the top three people — I can’t say enough about him,” Riley said.

When asked if he thought Seidel would compete in the championships again, Riley said yes.

“I will find it hard to believe if he’s not there next year,” Riley said. “He doesn’t want to settle for second best and I think he can do it.”

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.

The Seidel file

Name: Mike Seidel

Age: 46

Family: Wife, Jess; daughters, Paisley, 11, and Cali, 6; sister, Kendi; aunt and uncle, Patti and Dave Wendle.

Education: Altoona Area High School and Greater Altoona Career and Technical Center Class of 1997; associate’s degree in plumbing technology from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Lancaster, Class of 1999.

Employment: 31 years in plumbing, four at the GACTC, two at Thaddeus Stevens and 25 at Riley Plumbing.

On air

The 2024 Plumbing National Championships were filmed and will be aired on CBS Sports. Times have not yet been announced.

Dec. 13: HVAC and Plumbing

Dec. 20: Automotive and Electrical