I was (and still am) VERY satisfied with the work Sam did on our property and the interactions and guidance I had from Tom. If you don't have time to read my review then please take away from it that they provide an amazing and honest service.
We've been in this house (built in late 80's) for about 4 years. The first prep for winter I did was turn the shut-off valves to the front and back outside water supplies. They probably hadn't been used in years and leaked like crazy; I ended up hurriedly replacing both myself but was entirely unhappy with one of them - it looked bad and I didn't trust my handiwork. It bothered me for the past few years.
Previous to buying the house, we had a home inspection (pre-covid, before things went crazy). He noticed some rust on the electrical panel, but nothing major - wasn't sure what caused it. Well, flash forward to February of 2022 and I can tell you: the laundry tub flooded. Someone routed the drain about 2 feet down through the exterior wall and, most likely, it froze on the coldest night of the year. We just happened to do laundry that night and it flooded. The only reason we caught it was because I had placed a water sensor in that section of the basement in the event my shoddy shut-off valve began leaking. Being a "smart" water sensor, we had it linked to the alarm in our house. My phone was saying "basement water sensor detected leak" - ya, that was an understatement - it was raining in my basement from all the water coming down from the flooding laundry room.
A few months later I just happened to be inspecting where our sump pump is and noticed the well was full - to the top! Again, a previous owner/contractor had done a poor job and connected the pedestal sump pump its drain pipe using a rubber coupling device. Well, it had slipped off and the sump pump fell forward; pinching its float and rendering it useless. I reconnected the system and tried to position it better; it ran for almost 24 hours.
So that's when I started looking for a contractor to fix a few things. One that I had come by looked at my handiwork and told me that I didn't need a plumber, I was one! "No dude," I thought, "I am no plumber - I have done quick fixes to get me by but that's why you're here, to help me". Perhaps he just didn't want the job, but his only advice was to raise the drain stack in the laundry room and the flooding wouldn't come back. Needless to say, I didn't hire that guy.
Then I had Tom come by. To be honest, I was hoping to just have the shut off valves replaced so I slept better at night. I figured, I keep thinking about these stupid shut off valves, so why not spend the money and sleep better? That, and to see what could be done about the laundry tub (now that we know why the electrical box has some rust on it from a previous flooding experience).
Tom did more than just look at them (2 of which he said were fine, but if they ever cause a problem to call him - load off my mind). He pretty much did a full inspection of my basement; and as he did I would add things like, "how much would a new sump pump be?" and "I want to get this humidifier working again, but that stem valve is crusted shut".
So he walked around, he inspected - I think he spent about an hour with me going over not just my concerns, but things he felt could be a concern in the future or that weren't up to code. I didn't even realize I had sharkbite valves in a few places, and that they weren't even code!
Not only did he listen and walk around, he took notes! He wrote down what he was seeing, and possible solutions. It was a very professional and satisfying consultation experience.
He sent a quote, I agreed, we set up a date and time and got the work done. To this, he had is colleague Sam come and do the work. Sam was every bit as professional and courteous as Tom. He was at our house most of the day, cleaned up after himself, and did a fantastic job. What we really sold me on their experience and quality was they changed the plan to deal with the laundry drain. The original plan was to just raise it somewhat so the water flowed down faster to stay stagnant in the pipe and freeze. But the two talked over the phone and decided it best to just keep the whole piping system out of the wall and go through the floor into the basement (I feel this is how it should have always been done). So Sam did that and now I find great satisfaction listening to the washing machine drain and seeing no water coming back up into the laundry sink.
We paid just under $1800 for the following work:
*new submerged sump pump with secondary high-level alarm
*backflow valve added to sump pump drain pipe
*re-piping of laundry room drain all the way to the drain stack
*re-piping of hot and cold lines to laundry room (thank god they did this *as I was dreading the task myself)
*new shut-off valve to one outside line
*replaced piping to water heater
*new shut off valves to water heater
*new shut off valve and tubing to connect to furnace humidifier
The professionalism and honest from Tom and Sam is second to none and I'm confident I hired the right people to do these "odd jobs" that added up to a full day of work.
So, I know I wrote a lot - and I've been meaning to write this review for months now - but I wanted everyone to get a good feel of the issues I was having and how awesome Tom and Sam are. They didn't blow off my concerns; they didn't try to do less to save time or money. No, they provided a top-notch service and were flat-out honest and upfront with me.
When I'm ready for my next plumbing related job, I will definitely be contacting Tom and Sam again.
Thanks for such a great experience!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,800.00
