Tradeswoman of the Year, plumber Ella Star is building her own tiny house

May 20, 2023

It took seven changes of job before plumbing apprentice Ella Star could finally get the support and training she needed to launch her career.

Star is one of two plumbers who shared the Tradeswoman of the Year award at the recent NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction) Excellence Awards – the other is Billie McDonnell of South Auckland Plumbing.

But Ella Star doesn’t like to dwell on her experiences as a young apprentice in a traditionally male trade. And this is despite the fact her story had her audience in tears at the annual awards.

Ella Star has moved on from what she describes as “the usual misogyny, and a lot of challenges being a woman in a man’s world”. “I finally found a company in Auckland that supported me and the light finally came on – this is how it is supposed to be. There are good people out there.”

Star, who now runs her own business, Plumberella, in Christchurch, says she intended her main market to be “women who lived alone with kids”. “I know a lot of plumbers, who are really just giant teddy bears, but they can look intimidating with mohawks and tattoos. That was always going to be my point of difference. Also, I have a customer service and hospitality background, and I like to take the time to explain things to clients.”

Star says she chose plumbing as a trade after feeling helpless following the Canterbury earthquakes. “We were basically glamping in our houses for several weeks on end, and I didn’t like not being able to do anything useful. I wanted to do something helpful, interesting and also inspiring.”

Plumberella’s success, and indeed the award, is a reflection of Star’s abilities, and her confidence. And she has been confident enough to take on her own building project – a tiny house, which is going up on land owned by her godparents.

“I had a very unconventional upbringing,” Star says. “I grew up in communes and yurts, and I don’t need a lot of space. I found myself living in a three-bedroom house with a double garage and I thought I literally use just 30% of the space. I would prefer to live in a smaller house and use 100% of the space.

“Building a tiny house was an achievable way of building a dwelling without getting into debt up to my eyeballs.”

Star’s steel-framed tiny house is a “really cool collaboration with a lot of my female friends who are also tradeswomen”.

It’s a group she meets regularly, and they are all there for each other, working on a quid-pro-quo basis – builders, painters, sparkies, welders and plumbers. “One has taught me how to install windows. At some point in the future they will need some plumbing done.”

Star admits plumbing is a very physical job. “My tool bag alone weighs 18kg. And I am under houses, up and down scaffolding, and onto roofs. It is tough, but so worth it. I’m a bit of a plumbing nerd. At the end of the day I feel good and it’s endlessly rewarding. Even just changing a tap for someone when it’s broken can be a huge deal for them. And the privilege of working in other people’s homes is not lost on me.”

And yes, there are moments when the job is seriously unpleasant, but not always in ways you might expect. “The worst grossness I encountered was when I was doing maintenance work in the Wairau Valley on a tenanted property.

“The waste disposal unit had stopped working, and it was three days before I got to the job. The tenant had filled it with short ribs and turned it on. By the time I got there the smell was horrific. I would rather deal with a fully blocked toilet than deal with that again.”

And the runner-up in the “grossness” stakes goes to a job she was called to at a meatworks. “The drain into the scuttle room [where the disembowling happens] stuck, and I was up to my shoulders in a drain full of sheep guts and poo. I coped OK, though I did require a disinfecting shower afterwards.”

Being part of a large group of women tradies who are very quick to support each other is invaluable for Star, and she is eager to inspire others.

“There are so many women coming through the trades now, in all areas, and NAWIC is looking to grow the reach a little more. It’s still reasonably underground, but if we can grow the sisterhood a little bit, it will be a great thing.”