The John E. Ruth Co.

Jim Arnold thoroughly discussed our options for the new water heater and provided a detailed estimate for all options. In addition, he was more than willing to allow me to choose and provide the shower fixtures for the renovation. The plumbers reviewed all the items that I provided for installation and made sure that there was no accessories missing that would prevent them from being installed in the manner that I wished. All the work was done quickly and competently. As always the workers were respectful to both me and our home. They cleaned up after themselves and did good work that I appreciated. I will continue to use them for future projects and recommend them to others.

I have always been very happy with the services I have received from John E. Ruth Co. I have always found Jim Arnold to be very helpful in discussing our options for projects and prompt in providing in depth estimates. The company has always been very punctual in scheduling work and on days that work was being done. I have always been very comfortable with all of the workers that have been in our house and felt that they were all very competent and easy to work with. I live in an old (1925) house and all work has been done in a manner that I felt was very respectful and careful. They have always worked through any unforeseen issues that have arisen in a deliberate manner and discussed the options and consequences with me prior to doing the work. I don't think that they are the cheapest plumbers around but have found them to be competitively priced and I appreciate that they are local, available in short order, and familiar with my house. I will certainly continue to use them in the future and will recommend them to others.

I have used them before in the past. I have probably spent about $5000.00 over the past tow years. They are very good. They cleaned up. They had to cut into the drywall which can be a mess. The plumber got down and cleaned the floor with water and rags and I appreciated that. They are very courteous, friendly, and timely.

Ruth Co. sent a service technician who "fixed" the problem. Two weeks later I got bill that detailed that the heating system needed new vent valves which they said they would order and install and possible clogged pipes to be determined when they installed the vent valves. Repeated inquires on my part lead to the assurance that they had the vent valves and would install them. Repeated calls from the tenant indicated that they had never contacted her nor had they been back. Its a month later and nothing has been done. I have engaged another contractor to fix the problems which were not about vent valves.

This is a perfect reflection of what happens with customer dissatisfaction on one job. I have used John Ruth a number of times over the years for various plumbing repairs in an older house, including: installation of 2 new faucets specially designed for "special needs" individuals, installation of new washing machine hoses, removal and installation of an entirely new sink and vanity cabinet, cleaning of clogged water drain. In each instance, the plumber who performed the job for John Ruth did a superb job (and it was the same plumber for each job). And as often happens, I have meant to indicate my satisfaction with the company by submitting a service evaluation report with Angies List. Life being what it is with other responsibilities, the moment passes and I neglected to submit a service evaluation report indicating my high degree of satisfaction. Now, a different plumber from John Ruth does not do a satisfactory job on perhaps the most simple plumbing task compared with the others and, unfortunately, I now have an incentive to submit a service evaluation form that reflects my dissatisfaction. So, I want to be fair to John Ruth Company and indicate that I had a high degree of satisfaction with their work in the past, but I take strong exception to the idea that they should not lose any money or time when one of their workers makes the wrong judgement call and did not do the job correctly the first time. As I told them, I have plans for a complete renovation of one of the two bathrooms after the winter, and unfortunately, I sincerely regret that I will not be contacting them as one of the companies to provide an estimate for that job.

During the deep freeze winter, I heard intermittent, brief, gushing water sounds from the basement through the water pipes. I could not pinpoint the source. I suspected some type of valve was faulty and determined that the water was being channeled out through the water main. After I got my next inflated water bill ;-) , I called John E. Ruth Co. I've used them before. The mechanic Mike G. came out with a helper, Justin, and he replaced the valves which solved the problem. The price included a $50 service call charge. As usual, they were a pleasure to deal with and professional.

We were very satisfied with their quote. They were very forthcoming and had some good suggestions.

Kitchen went well. Bathroom was more difficult. Didn't have the right parts but was able to perform a make shifht fix with different parts. Main thing, before he left the problems were resolved but it probably cost me a little more because of the additional time to fix the bathroom.

It went very well. It took a full week. They had to tear everything out. They removed the walls, ceilings, and drywall etc. They installed new flooring, drywall and the new handicap features we requested. They used mildew resistant paint. This really helps the problems we were having mold and mildew.

He had to install new handles in the shower as well. He did a good job and was able to get the problem resolved quickly. I liked that I did not have to wait for him to go and get parts or anything like that. I would use him again.

The initial evaluation was $100, and included an estimate of the work required to fix the leak and ensure that the upstairs bathroom would be watertight to prevent future leaking. They advised that the subfloor might need to be repaired and the flange might need to be replaced once the toilet was removed and they were visible for inspection. The subfloor was not damaged, but the flange did need to be replaced. I asked how much more it would be to replace the sink as well as the toilet, and was pleased with the combined price. Tom and Lesley, the team who came to perform the repairs, were very friendly and professional. They came one week after the estimate was performed, were punctual, and detail oriented. Tom noticed that the chrome trap arm from a previous sink repair had never been properly soldered and was just inserted loose into the wall, and he fixed it to prevent leaking into the wall. While waiting for the wax seal to harden, I asked him to evaluate my downstairs shower and he suggested some possible future renovations. At no extra charge, he even installed a shower massage that I had not been able to install correctly. I was very pleased with the quality of the work and the customer service.

I was not happy with the work done by the initial plumber that John E. Ruth sent. The work was incomplete, the quality was not what I expected for $100/hr, and was not happy with the number of hours billed vs. work actually done. I filed a negative Angie's List report, and forwarded a copy to the company. Jim Arnold of John E. Ruth contacted me. He came to the house, finished the job, and offered $100 off the bill. I accepted, and agreed to edit my Angie's List report accordingly. Jim was very polite, professional and friendly, and I consider that the issue is resolved to my satisfaction. If things had been done right from the beginning, I'd be comfortable with all "A" ratings. As it stands, I appreciate that the company made it right, but wish that things hadn't gone wrong in the first place... hence some of the "B" ratings.

The water pressure in the bathroom sink had decreased to a trickle. I called the company on a Monday morning and they scheduled someone to come out Tuesday morning (they offered to send someone later Monday if it was an emergency, but I opted for Tuesday). Doug arrived about 10 minutes early, and got right to work. He checked out the water pressure at other places in the house and then began to disassemble the faucet, beginning with the aerator. The clog was right there, a much easier fix than I expected! Unclogging that returned the water pressure to normal and revealed that the sink drain was very slow, so Doug offered to take apart the p-trap and see what could be done. He listened patiently to my explanation of what had happened the last time someone tried to take apart the trap (it connects to a very old pipe and was extremely difficult to reattach), and then carefully proceeded to take apart the trap again. Unfortunately, the trap was clean, indicating that the clog was farther down the line. Because of the age of the pipes, Doug was reluctant to try snaking the pipe and suggested letting it soak with a strong bleach solution to dissolve some of the soap scum. This worked like a charm. Then he got the trap back together with minimal issue and no leaking. Doug also discussed what would need to be done to fully repair these pipes, which involved cutting through the wall to replace the drain pipes.

Our sump pump became unconnected from the drainage pipes and was therefore running continuously. We had been out of town and came home to find this on a Sat morning. We had plumbers at the house by 2 in the afternoon and they were done within an hour.

Water intake of toilet was leaking. Called them, and they were able to come out a day earlier than expected. Plumber was very quick to fix the problem, friendly and told me exactly what had been wrong. I will be calling them again when I need a plumber.

The initial price was lower than 2 other companies we priced, but after a few unexpected issues turned up, the price was comparable. The workers who performed the job (Tom and Lesley) were always on-time, friendly, and listened to my concerns. They cleaned up after each day of work. Most importantly, they performed excellent work and seemed to take pride in a job well done. A small leak was found a few days later after the job was complete, and they came right out and fixed it (no charge). They took pictures of the job all along, and e-mailed them to me afterward. It turned out that I used one of the shots of the open wall when doing some other work myself.

I have been using this company for years. They are prompt and are reasonably priced.

Overall it went very well. I contacted Jim Arnold and he came out the next day to make the estimate. We discussed several options and they were all itemized in the estimate we received. When I called to accept the estimate I was told that it would take "a few days" to order the required heat exchanger and that he'd call to set up a day to do the work. I had to contact him the next week for status, but they had the part and they did the work two days later. There was some confusion locating the house's water shut off and whether that should be replaced, but that was my fault(what I thought was the main shut-off wasn't). But that was all resolved when the actual shut-off valve was found. When the system was apart they recommended replacing the expansion tank(whose bladder had ruptured, so needed)and a system filler valve which we agreed to so they came in slightly over budget($2000 vs estimated $1750). The two workmen(Mike and Mike)were professional and pleasant to deal with and their work was good. They finished the job that was quoted to take "most of the day" in little more than a morning even with the additions. The clean-up was excellent, they may have left the area cleaner than they found it.

Very prompt, professional service. Will use them again and refer.

Very well. Taken more then expected time.

The price for the well tank installation was around $300. The price to fix the toilet was about $115 and to unclog the bathtub was about $90. The initial call went well. Also when I called them again for the second and third times, they were great! They sent out very nice technicians that were very knowledgeable. The price was also very reasonable. They were very professional. I will use them again in the future and would recommend them to others.

My first call explaining our broken shower head pipe and faucet leak led to a very accommodating scheduling the next day. I had to cancel due to a family illness and they were extremely nice and helpful about rescheduling for me. Our bathroom sink faucet was leaking and we were unable to take it off to replace it. The plumber had a terrible time with it - hard water and acid made it impossible to unscrew - and eventually had to saw it off, with my permission. They were to put on a cheap plastic faucet until they could get the proper faucet to match the rest of our bathroom. Unfortunately, once sawed off, tubes underneath were pulled and a replacement could not be installed. So we were left with no water in that sink. They were to get me an estimate the next day or so for replacement and new faucet - I went in and out of town and called them after more than a week as we had not received the estimate. Apparently the estimate person had been on vacation and it was awaiting his return. When I explained I was connected with a very polite and apologetic person who called me back within the hour with an estimate. They came and replaced it the same week. During the first visit they also fixed the pipe to the shower head which was broken and leaking badly. Since I had the plumber and helper here, I asked if they could also move a sprayer hose on our jacuzzi to the other side of the tub and replaced the drain in the kitchen sink with one I had purchased previously. Overall the staff was very professional and quick to assist except for the forgotten estimate. All of the work is complete and works fine.

The plumber from the Ruth company resolved the issue of a leaky pipe which had baffled a number of plumbers before. He waited to make sure that the leak was fix and did not leave until he was sure the pipe would not leak again. Excellent work!

He was delaying the job so that he could make more money by spending more time on the job. Other than that, I had no complaints. He said some parts would not work and he made me pay for more parts.

This seemed like a very challenging problem. Mike came out and said he would give it his best shot. Thanks to his tremendous skill and professional expertise, he helped us avoid incurring the expense and mess of tearing out the ceiling. He unsoldered the brass tap and lowered the shoe connection, repiped the trap to waste and the overflow. The work was done in a timely manner, and with tremendous competence. Mike impressed us with his helpful and pleasant demeanor. He was a lifesaver!