Barker and Sons Plumbing & Rooter

Our job presented multiple challenges for the technician. Due to a kitchen remodel by the previous owner, the copper lines were not easily found. They also proved to be very difficult to re-route. Will, the technician, handled each obstacle and managed to get our lines to the proper faucets in a timely fashion. He was on time every day, and really exerted alot of effort to make our job a success.

Excellent, knowledgeable technician explained everything in detail.
Here's an out-line:

• 1. Before doing anything, examined the existing (broken) water-heater.
• 2. Examined how the house was setup in relation to the existing water-heater.
• 3. Explained what the requirements would be to go tank-less.
• 4. Explained what would and would not work in my situation (the house), this included:
• 4a. Ventilation (exhaust) requirements.  Which in my case dictated that I could not use a model with passive venting - due path the ducting would have to take in my case.  That also dictated going to a model with a blower.  That also meant going out the wall for exhaust instead of using the existing vertical exhaust, since the existing ducting didn't meet the requirements for withstanding the heat the new unit would generate (compared to the old tank-based water-heater).  In the end, the hole in the wall is very similar (in appearance) to a dryer-duct.  Fortunately, my previous unit was located in the garage in the corner of an outside wall.  So, not big deal.
• 4b. Gas-supply requirements.  Which, in my case meant running a new gas-line to the unit.  The new unit required a 3/4-inch gas line, whereas the previous (tank) unit was fine with the existing 1/2-inch supply.  Fortunately, in my case (again) the my gas-meter is just outside the outside wall.  It's only about 10 feet way, but the line is longer than that due to having to go around the side-door of the garage.  So, they ran about 15-20 feet of new gas-line using a new "T" right from the gas-meter.
• 4c. Electrical requirements.  The old (tank) unit was pilot-light based, and had no electrical components at all.  The new (tank-less) unit, although gas powered, does require electricity to run the ignitor and other electronics.  It doesn't use a lot of electricity (since it doesn't use the eletricity to heat the water).  Fortunately, in my case the inside wall that is the other part of that "corner" in the garage is the back wall of the kitchen.  So, it was relatively easy to just add another outlet on that wall, tapped-into the existing electrical from the kitchen.  That work was done by an electrician they recommend, and was minimal in costs.
• 5. They removed and hauled-away the old broken tank-type water-heater.
• 6. They installed the new gas-line, exhaust duct and water-heater, hooked everything up, tested it, etc.
• 7. I opted to add a (recommended) water filter that goes between the water-heater and the incoming water supply.  This is done to minimize the impact/maintenance associated with hard-water causing "scaling" build-up in my new (expensive) tank-less water-heater.  I was told this was not 100% necessary, but reduces recurring (annual-ish) maintenance down to mostly just inspection and change the filter.

95% of all that work was done by ONE guy!  Other than the electrical (done by another person), it was all ONE guy!
As with any work done on basically an emergency basis, I didn't do a ton of price-checking/comparing, etc.  It might have been nice to have had access to a few more manufacturers and models.  In the end (1 year later now), I am very happy with the both the upgrade itself (from tank to tank-less) and with the vendor's work.
However, at the expense involved, I would recommend that anybody even thinking of going tank-less (which I definately recommend) to not wait until their existing system breaks.  It's definately not a cheap upgrade (just under $3.5k in my case - in 2012) .  Also for any new home buyers, do NOT assume you can just easily replace a tank model with a tank-less model later - there's way too many differences, and builders always seem to do the minimum necessary.  So, if you don't have an explicit need for say a 3/4-inch gas line - they aren't building the house that way.

unknown

I called to request check of slow-running sewer line. Barker and Sons came out same day, diagnosed problem, and gave me options on how to proceed. Since there were no cleanouts in fron of house, and inadequate diameter ones elsewhere, I decided to have th

m installed the cleanouts in front, which they did that same day working well into the evening and after dark.

Wil arrived in a timely manner, was very professional, and worked quickly.  I trusted what he told me, he didn't try to up sell me.  I like this company because they have a price list, so you know the repairman isn't making up the prices as he goes.

From start to finish the job went perfectly.  Barker and Sons hauled away the old water heater and left the work area clean when they were finished. The new water heater works great.  I would not hesitate to hire them again.

It went okay.

Frank and Juan were on time and were very friendly and professional. They ran into unforseen problems during the job but communicated everything that needed to be done in light of the new problem.

We called then for an estimate. there wasa bit of confusion about the work that was t obe done so they actually gave us a discount.

Very happy - very easy to work with
very professional.  Helps me learn about/understand differing types of heaters and GPM.

Frank was on time, called to update on his arrival time. Was friendly, efficient and did a good job.

Everything went well.  It seems a little expensive.  Was not here very long.  Work was fine but it seems everyone wants big bucks and trys to extract as much money out of folks as they can.  Parts were around $30 so labor was 240.  For a simple task that seems too high and he offered no Senior Discount.

Chris was very polite and informative throughout his visit. He explained everything and did not proceed unless I gave him the OK. I would have no problem calling this company again if the need ever arises.

I called Barker & Sons out to my home to resolve a sewer stoppage after a competing organization was called out and said they could not manage the job. The technician Chris arrived on schedule and I showed him the problem. He then inspected the plumbing and appeared confident that he could resolve the problem through existing sewer line clear-outs and he quoted two different prices, one to simply clear the line and another to clear the line and add to larger mainline clear-outs. As I believed at the time that it was just a simple clogged line, I elected to just have it cleared, which Chris did quickly and professionally. Within the hour my drains were operating normally and all appeared to be resolved...or so we believed.
The following day everything still was operating normally at first but once again the draining slowed, completely stopped and started to backup into the shower. Around mid-day I called  Barker & Sons to let them know the problem had returned and I was told that Chris would come out as soon as he was finished on another call. Unfortunately Chris was occupied for a number of hours and wasn't able to arrive until almost 6 PM. That wasn't really a problem, but I do wish his office had made a better effort to keep me apprised of his ETA. 
Chris inspected the line, this time using an optic camera to search for a line stoppage and up came a large mass that wasn't definable, but certainly appeared to our culprit. At this point their wasn't anything more that could be done this evening but to clear enough so the drains would work at least temporarily that evening. Chris would then return to install the larger clear-outs and completely remove the blockage the following day.
Chris and his assistant Frank arrived on time and started in right away. They excavated a 3-ft section of the garden and exposed the 4-inch mainline and removed a 3-ft section of the old clay pipe joint that was almost completely obstructed by solid plant root. They then installed a new section along with two opposing 4-inch clean-outs, reinspected the line with the optic camera the entire length of the pipe to where it connect at the street and was all clear. They then back-filled the garden and packed up their equipment. I think the whole effort took approximately 4 hours, but I wasn't really watching the time that closely. 
They appeared to take care special care to avoid damaging any plants or grass and they replanted the shrubs as best they could. For that are to be commended, but I did need to do a bit of clean up and plant repair, but nothing serious. 
As for pricing, this was one of those times that I didn't want to spend the time to get a number of quotes, but the first plumbers I called who couldn't do the work (who shall remain nameless, but  have a well-known add about smelling good) verbally quoted me more than double what I  paid for this job. The total I paid reflects the entire amount of work done over the three days.
Chris was great, very professional and seems to know his trade well. He worked quickly and efficiently and I would call Barker & Sons again. My only critiques are:
1) If your tech is required to return to complete a job, then his dispatch should give updated ETAs every couple hours just to keep the customer informed. This effort was a bit spotty.
2) Although Chris did offer to install the larger 4-inch clean-outs on his initial visit, without the visual diagnosis he used the following day, there was no reason to believe they were immediately necessary. Had he done so in this case, we might have been able to see that  plant root blockage and realize the pipe section had to be replaced. This may have allowed everyone to save some time and a couple trips.

I used this same company last year. It seems that everytime I want to have quests for the Holidays, I have some dumb thing go wrong. They were here on time, the technician was a darling young man and was very polite and very attentive. He did a great job and was in and out in a flash, and made sure that the bathroom was as clean when he left as when he arrived. I will always use them in the future.

Master bathroom both sinks were clogged, slow drainage.  Barker and Sons responded quickly to call, arrived on time, and fixed the problem quickly.  Service was friendly and efficient.

I called up the company and arranged an appointment on the same day. The service tech showed up on time and he opened up the waterheater and told me about the things that he saw that may be going on with the water heater. He was very knowledgeable and was able to determine that the problem with the water heater I had was a thermal coupler. He then noticed a bunch of rust flakes around the inside which he was able to vacuum out. I thought he did a great job at representing the company. The only problem that I had was that the price to fix this problem he had to get out of a price book and it was highly inflated. After doing a search on the internet for a thermal coupler for a water heater, it ranged from $4 for a universal one to $50 for a Brand Name one. Then I did a search on YouTube on instructions for how to fix the thermal coupler and it was pretty easy. I feel that the price charged should have been around $100.00 since he was only there for around 30 minutes. I've learned my lesson and will take into consideration the next time if there is a next time. I should have done my homework first. I would use them again because of the professionalism and quality of their work but I would try to negotiate the price before hand.

We were pleased that we could get a service call late on a Friday afternoon. Will arrived promptly, was friendly, and neat. He completed the cleanout and used the camera to show us what was going on with our line.

Frank come out and had to deal with my insurance company. Which with most in cooperative. Frank was very patient and tried to work with this insurance com.

Great. Came one hour after call. Friendly, efficient. knowledgeable.

They were on time and responsive to questions. He completed the repair and so far it is good.

Was great. Arrived same afternoon I called. Cleaned the clog properly. Left kitchen clean.

They were fantastic!!

Overall, it was a much better experience than it should have been.  This was a plumbing repair, and an amazingly pleasant one.