Column: Making the fix, big and small

Preparing for repair on a refrigerator, Christopher Lombardi is owner of Absolute Repair Inc. of Putnam Valley.

“This old refrigerator is using so much energy that I wouldn”™t put any money into repairing it,” Christopher Lombardi told a homeowner. “Over time the amount you save on your electrical bill by replacing it will go a long way toward paying for a new refrigerator.”

Words of a refrigerator salesman? No. That”™s just the owner of Absolute Repair in Putnam Valley dispensing advice to a customer. As a result of such candor, Lombardi is invited back into these same homes to repair stoves, washing machines and other appliances.

Lombardi”™s ownership of the business traces back to his marriage in 1988, when he and his wife, Tracey, decided that they were going to raise their own children ”“ not ship them off to day care while both pursued careers. After the birth of a son, Tracey left her job as a senior accountant at Dynacast, a metal fabricator company, while her husband, a signal maintainer/troubleshooter for New York City Transit Authority, took on additional work.

“When the work load became too intensive, I had to make a choice. In l995 I opted to establish Absolute Repair and incorporated it in 2000,” Lombardi said.

Three daughters later the couple has remained true to their pledge to raise their own children. They withdrew the children from public schools and home-schooled each upon starting high school. The family continues to live in the Putnam Valley home that they bought at the time of their marriage and kept the business in Putnam Valley. Tracey is able to handle bookkeeping and payroll close to home while a secretary tends to other office details. At peak times, the business is staffed by four technicians and a parts department manager.

Lombardi has found clients generous in their appreciation. “After I repaired a rare kind of ice maker, the customer flew me and my wife in a private plane for me to tend to appliances in their Nantucket home.”

The Viking distributor for the Northeast rewarded the couple with a trip to Costa Rica.

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a distributor called Lombardi and said he needed someone sensitive to human nature to do some repair work for a woman who lost her husband in the towers”™ collapse. “That woman has been my customer ever since,” Lombardi said.

The Putnam Valley business owner was introduced to technology early in life. He was raised in Brooklyn”™s Marine Park section as the second oldest of four children of a Brooklyn Union Gas employee and his wife. He studied electrical installation/troubleshooting at William E. Grady High School, which specializes in preparing students for the trades. Upon graduation he took Civil Service tests, winding up at New York City Transit Authority, where he remained for 20 years, with 10 years overlapping with his ownership of Absolute Repairs.

School is never over for the Grady High graduate. Among clients are such manufacturers as Viking, Miele, Thermador, Bosch and LaCornue. All offer warranties and entrust Lombardi to make any repairs needed during the warranty period. For each client he has had to take training and become certified.

Lombardi is also a co-editor for the Time-Life “How To” series and authored a spiral-bound booklet on appliance repairs.

Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be emailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.