CALLAHAN PLUMBING & IRRIGATION

I had used Callahan Plumbing in Lemont several weeks ago on the recommendation of a neighbor to replace a corroded natural gas line outside for my new Weber natural gas grill. I was very satisfied with the work. Fast forward to the Thursday before 4th of July weekend and I woke up to my son telling me the toilet on the main floor was backed up and water was coming up through the shower drain when he flushed. I went downstairs to the basement to discover waste water leaking from the toilet flange upstairs and all of the waste lines in my home completely full of water. I immediately called Callahan Plumbing before they opened for business and got their 24-hour answering service. The receptionist advised me that they would get a hold of the on-call plumber who would get back to me. About 20 minutes later the co-owner, Oscar Gutierrez, called me back and I explained my problem and answered some of his questions about my waste lines. Based on what I was telling him he feared the worst; that the cast iron pipe leading outside my foundation that my main PVC waste line connects to, had a break somewhere. Nonetheless, he wanted to be sure it wasn’t a bad clog or roots growing into one of the joints. He told me that all of his plumbers were in the middle of jobs, but he would have someone at my home by early afternoon. In the meantime, he advised me to unplug my ejector pump, turn off my water supply and not use any toilets to prevent any more waste water from going into the drain lines. About 1:30pm three of his plumbers showed up. They had a nifty device with a hose that attached to the clean out trap near the foundation to relieve the backed-up waste water into a thirty gallon garbage bin a little at a time until the lines were all clear. Because of this device none of the waste water spilled into my basement. It wouldn’t have been pleasant. Once the water was cleared and the clean out trap cap opened, they worked for about an hour and a half trying to rod through the main sewer line but all they kept pulling out was mud, waste and whatever the builders had thrown as garbage near the foundation before backfilling it. This was confirmation that the cast iron drain line had cracked or caved in and was no longer connected to the city sewer line. The plumbers told me that they hoped to at least get a partial connection so we could use light water or take showers, but unfortunately it was not going to be the case. Being a holiday weekend and already late in the afternoon it wasn’t likely that the Village would be able to provide a permit until the following week. I did make contact with the Village of Lemont building department while the plumbers were still on site. They were very understanding and advised that because of the situation they would allow work to begin as long as I came in first thing Monday morning to file the permit application. They spoke to one of the plumbers and advised them that the finished work would need to remain open until an inspector gave the okay to fill it and close it back up. The plumbers told me they were going to put their tools away as it was already late in the day and have Oscar get back to me. A short while later Oscar called me back and empathized with my situation. He asked me if I had the option for my family to stay elsewhere for the weekend, which I did. He related that his plumbers weren’t scheduled to work the following day, Friday, as it was a holiday for them. He related that he could get them to come in Friday, but it would have to be charged at emergency work rates. The other option would be to wait until Monday morning, since he had the flexibility to move some people around, and it would be charged at the regular rate. I could not afford the cost to have it done Friday and was appreciative that he could start as early as Monday without the added cost. It was just bad timing for me because it happened right before the holiday. I agreed to Monday. First thing Monday morning Oscar and a few of his plumbers arrived at my home and began work. They had to dig about 6 feet deep and about eight feet out from my foundation to get to the entire buried cast iron pipe and to the Village’s connection. Upon digging it was confirmed that the cast iron pipe had completely separated about eight inches from the foundation and over the years the line had dropped about 12-18 inches below where it would have connected into my foundation. They spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon in the hot sun digging and getting the cast iron pipe out. By about 1pm they were able to make the new PVC connections and get everything tested. Thank goodness everything was flowing normally again; the things we take for granted sometimes! We had to wait about an hour and a half for the Village inspector to check out the work and give his final approval, then they backfilled the hole and cleaned up any mess that was made. By the time everything was cleaned up and hosed off you really couldn’t tell that the front of my home had been dug up. Callahan Plumbing was able to do the work without removing a large decorative bush in the pipe’s path and without disturbing a small weeping cherry tree that was nearby. The work was done professionally and they cleaned up everything afterward. I thought the cost was very fair and reasonable under the circumstances. Callahan Plumbing has definitely earned the right to be my “go to” plumber anytime I need plumbing work done. It was obvious from the inspection and the rapport they had with the Village that they knew what they were doing. I highly recommend them without hesitation

It was fine. They were on time and if they were running late they call.

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It went really well, the price was fine, and I'm happy with the work.

The day after my daughter was born, I came home from the Hospital to find our Hot Water heater spewing water out of the top of it.  Callahan is a local plumber, so we gave them a call first, they came right out with a new one and installed it the same day.  They're my go to people for all my plumbing work and can't recommend them enough.

they worked very hard and did a good job

Called and came out same day. Had a sewer that was backing up through our first floor toilet. Anthony and Dave were very informative and professional. They were able to pin point the location of the problem and got right to work. My husband and I were extremely satisfied with the quality of service and will definitely use Callahan for any future plumbing needs!!!!

They were very good. They're close to where I live. They were very professional. When I used them, it was an emergency call and they were there within a half hour and the prices are reasonable for a plumber. Hopefully I won't have any more problems, but if I do, they will be the first one that I'd get a hold of.

Callahan did a great job with minimum disturbance of my front yard. After upgooting a bush,digging up a hole and replacing the broken pipe they filled everything back in replanted the bush and you could hardly tell . Almost 1 year later and everything has grown back and sewer line works great.

Would recommend them for any job based on their professionalism and quality of work.

They have been here a couple of times. They've been fantastic! He's a little bit expensive but he is well worth it. They really do a good job. They are our regular plumber now. We used Callahan before about 3 or 4 times, and he was always great. It was fantastic. We thought that the hot water heater was a little bit expensive but I don't know what hot water heaters go for. We didn't really shop into it. The old one was broken and you can't fool around. When you have to get one, you have to get one. The thing is fantastic. They came out here and they did great work. They are always polite. His wife, Denise, handles all the calls and she is really nice. They are just great! So far everything has just been great. He is a busy guy. If it is an emergency, he will get here right away. They are very good on their response. He will check out whatever needs checking out right away. They are here right away, probably a little early. As a matter of fact one day they were probably sitting out there for a good 20 minutes before we got there so they were excellent. They are very professional. They clean up after themselves, and they don't leave a mess. I think he really knows his stuff. We are very happy with them.

These guys did a great job and cleaned up all the mess very well. Phil came over the day we called with the leak but it took a week to get them in for the two day job. It was that bitterly cold weather so I know they were busy but we would have preferred sooner. Once they came they did excellent work and we are having them come back to fix the dry wall ceiling (which they also do) and to dig up and replace the pipe running from the house to the septic.

Anthony, the plumber, arrived on time and took measures to keep my house clean. We discussed the problem I was having. He recommended replacing the check valve. He said this would make a more secure connection between the sump pump and the discharge line than trying to reinstall the existing check valve. I gave him the OK to proceed. He further suggested replacing the sump pump. I said I preferred not replacing the pump since it didn't get heavy use. Anthony investigated the lines leading into the sump and said the keeping the pump would probably be OK. Anthony proceeded replacing the check valve. He removed the old valve and about two and a half feet of old copper pipe. He soldered in a new copper fitting. The rest of the installation including the valve was plastic. He ran water and checked for the proper operation of the new valve. The new valve didn't leak and was much, much quieter than the old valve. Anthony wrote up an invoice which I signed and paid with a credit card.

I was very happy with the work and have peace of mind knowing the new check valve won’t be squirting water or leaking into my basement.

They came out and inspected the job and scope of work, provided an estimate and came in at the low end of estimate. The plumbers showed up on time, completed the job in a very diligent manner, cleaned up the work area. We are very happy with their work and would recommend them highly to others.

It took a day or two to get a hold of Phil at Callahan Plumbing, but after getting through he came over, gave me a fair price in labor to use the material I had to bring our plumbing up to code (replace all of the galvanized and Schedule M copper -- Schedule L is minimum code for Lemont). Anthony was the primary lead in completing the job, and he did great. We did have a minor leak attributed to a failed seal on our line, but the end result met and exceeded expectations. Well done!

They came out immediately to fix my problem and really explained to me what they were doing. I can't say enough good things about them. I have had them out twice within the last two weeks. They are great people and a local company. A lot of our neighbors have also used them and I have never heard a bad word about them. The workers that come out are wonderful and very polite. Their pricing is fair and they are very professional.

He was honest and upfront.

We enjoy their work. They are not cheap but very reliable and dependable. They have always done a good job with everything. I have never had any problem with them. If we have any questions we call them, and they come right back. We felt we had a problem with the switch on the sump pump, and they came right back when we called them. They adjusted it, and the switch was fine. We don’t mind paying a little extra money because the service they give us is unbelievable. I am sure I could find a cheaper provider, but it is not worth it; I think they are worth every penny. We would rate them highly and would use them again in the future.

Overall it was a great experience. Everything was explained prior to the work performed. They were professional and very friendly. Would highly recommend them.

They were very easy to deal with and were responsive. I had talked to many national companies and heard about those companies over the radio too, but they wanted like $5000 to get the work done. They then gradually lowered the price. They called me back a week later and said $4000. They finally came down to $3500. However, when I talked to Callahan Plumbing and Irrigation, they sent a guy out to look at it. They gave me a price of $1500 which was way better compared to the others. They did excellent work. They did exactly what they said they would do. They said that they could do the work on a certain day and they completed everything in one day. Everything turned out perfectly and I was very happy with them. They are very professional, competent and honest. They charge good prices. I would definitely use their services in the future too.

I called Dan's number and he came out the next day, his price was right, he was on time and he did exactly what needed to be done.

I believe this company needs to improve. I called on a Tuesday and was told I would get a call back on Wed. I didn't get a call, so I called him back because I really wanted this company to do the work. The company had an emergency they had to tend to, so the owner said he would call first thing Thursday AM. He didn't call until the afternoon. We scheduled a time for Friday at 1PM with a phone call beforehand, letting me know that they were on their way. I did not get that phone call. The rep that came was very good. He discussed the problem and the solution with me and made it very clear what needed to be done. Besides the communication problems, this is a good company and I would use them again in the future.

Dan came to the house with less than an hours notice. Checked out the problem and determined noises were most likely from pipes expanding and there was no water leaking from the system. He showed us how to tell if there is a leak anywhere in the plumbing system. He turned off the water at the main valve and turned it back on and noises stopped. He didnt charge us to come out. In the past, Dan came to fix water leaking from the shower faucet handles. He gave me 2 options with pros and cons for each. He ended up rebuilding the faucets and fixing the problem for about $150.00. We have a lot of plumbing on our to do list and well be calling Callahan to complete the work. They always call back and schedule appointments quickly. Theyre on time and honest. We will be loyal customers as long as we live in the area.

They are a good company to deal with. They are polite and courteous and answer all my questions. They are busy so you have to try to reach them early as opposed to later but they were quick to communicate with me. They fixed the leak and I feel the pricing is reasonable. I would use them again.