Dr. Walter S. Bowman Sr. is not your typical house builder. He’s a first-generation college graduate
with a PhD in Urban Educational Administration Supervision, Leadership, and School Policy from
Howard University. He’s worked as an educator, a research scientist, a restaurant owner, and a real
estate agent and is now a licensed contractor and builder. Just how does someone go from education
into construction? We sat down with Dr. Bowman to talk about his unique career path from educator
to licensed contractor and builder and how he was introduced to Viega while building a spacious
26,000 sq. ft. estate for one of his clients.
Bowman was first introduced to the construction trade by working for his father, who owned a small
construction company in South Carolina. While home on breaks from school, he’d work alongside his
dad, building and remodeling homes, learning everything he could about the business. Bowman shares
that, ironically, his father wanted him to attend college so he “wouldn’t have to work construction.”
In 2009, Bowman had an opportunity to buy a six-unit apartment building. He rehabbed the building,
which kickstarted his interest in flipping properties, something he calls “playing Monopoly in real life!”
Bowman started TeaBow Residential in 2016. In just eight years, his company has grown from just two
employees to 30 and revenues from $250,000 to just under $10m.
However, despite this exponential growth, Bowman remains focused on giving back to his community.
“It’s the responsibility of those in the community who have been blessed to uplift others by giving back
to that community,” he said. “I’ve truly found my passion. I could do this all day long and be happy.
And I still get to be an educator. I am always teaching my executive team and construction crews.”
TeaBow Residential was recently awarded a contract to purchase over 80 acres of land Allegany
County, Maryland. Bowman and his team met with local government officials upon seeing an
opportunity to invest in a community that has had no new construction in the past 30 years. Plans for
the acreage include single-family dwellings, apartment buildings, and townhomes intended to
revitalize that community. The project has already broken ground and will be completed within two
years.
team and their success to, he said it’s something they talk about every single day: CWBAP.
- Client obsession: If you take care of your clients, your clients will take care of your business.
- Work the system: Finding ways to make systems work for you and streamlining processes for
scalability (which is how they’ve completed projects in multiple states and offer an A-Z
approach for their clients).
- Be professional in everything that you do.
- Always ask questions: Bowman said that he’s always looking for people who are smarter than
he is so he can learn from them.
- Punctuality: Be on time.
A country estate just a few miles from the DC Beltway
Bowman and his firm’s current project is a 26,024 sq. ft. estate in northern Virginia that features 13
bedrooms, 15 full and 3 half baths, a movie theater, panic room, primary suite with steam shower,
outdoor shower, bowling alley, gym, massage room, golf simulation room, loge, cabana, pool, pool
house (with guest bedroom), club room, executive office suite, two apartment suites, an attic
penthouse, an art gallery, science lab, 400-gallon saltwater fish tank, basketball court, playground, and
koi pond among other luxury features.
%203D%20imaging.webp?width=1954&height=832&name=8808%20Old%20Domion%20Rd%20(Northern%20VA%20Home)%203D%20imaging.webp)
While researching PEX systems for this house, Bowman first learned about Viega. A quick call to his
supplier (Thomas Summerville) and Bowman was connected to Bob Beckwith, District Manager – Mid-Atlantic Region for Viega. Bowman was looking for a ManaBloc with 36 ports to connect the more than
130 fixtures planned for the house. Beckwith set up Bowman and his team with Viega’s training
services via a virtual training call to learn about Viega’s offerings with PEX, ProPress®, MegaPress® and
ManaBloc systems.
“While researching products for the build, I was looking at costs and value propositions. This home
would showcase the latest in HVAC and electrical, so I didn’t want to use traditional water lines. I
needed a PEX system that could expand and contract. I looked at the ease of functionality and whether
I could turn off any water fixture without shutting down the entire system. Viega really separated itself
from its competitors,” said Bowman.
“Bob went above and beyond,” Bowman continued. “He made site visits and was really responsive to
anything we needed. Whether it was additional training, pressure testing, or how to troubleshoot the
systems, Bob was able to provide all of that for us and connect us with training and engineering
services. It made the system very easy to install and saved us a lot on labor costs.”
Bowman went on to say that Viega checked all the boxes for him in terms of reliability and
accountability. Using Viega’s design services was seamless. “The plans actually played out really well in
the field,” he said. Bowman says the house has close to ¾ of a mile of gas lines. Viega’s MegaPress
fittings were easy to install, seal and make those connections. “The first pressure test hit 100%, making
for a superior product,” he continued. Bowman said the house is expected to be complete in
September 2024.
