Capitol Hill Video Drain Services

The company's owner-operator, Gary C., drained and removed the old water heater and installed the new machine.  A week or so before taking on the job, he stopped by to look over the work that would be needed and give me his price.  Both at the time of his estimate, and when he stopped by to do the job, he called in advance and rang my doorbell at exactly the time that he said he would arrive.  He arrived with all the fittings that he needed and completed the job in about 1.5 hours, more quickly than I had expected.  Moreover, while waiting for the old water heater to drain, he noticed -- and fixed -- a sliding door that had come off its track.  It was clear to me that this was a fellow who believes that things are supposed to work properly and was troubled to see something easily fixable (for him!) that had not been fixed.  There was no charge for fixing the door.

When he was done with my job, I asked him to stop by the home of a friend who lives several blocks away and had a toilet that kept flushing on its own.  Gary immediately diagnosed the problem as merely a bad flapper and, rather than charge for a service call, accepted only a few dollars to pay for the cost of a new flapper and left his business card, asking my friend to remember him if my friend needed plumbing services in the future.

I would use Gary again in a heartbeat for any plumbing services and recommend him highly.

By the way, "Capitol Hill Video Drain Services" seemed to me to be an odd name for a plumbing company.  Gary explained that he uses some sort of special camera in assessing drain and pipe clogs.  He said the camera enables him to locate the problem point precisely, saving yard digging, etc., when tree roots or whatever clog underground pipes.  Apparently, this is a common problem in areas such as Capitol Hill, where pipes are decades old and often buried under brick or cobblestones.