Gaithersburg Plumbing Inc
About us
Gaithersburg Plumbing, Inc. knows the dynamics of all residential and commercial plumbing service and is dedicated to providing our customers with quality service at competitive prices. Choose our certified installers and licensed plumbers whether you need to repair your gas or water line or you need to install a water heater.
Services we offer
Gas & water leak repair, anti-scald tub & shower faucets, complete bathroom, faucet & fixture installation, gas piping installation & repair, icemaker line installation., kitchen, laundry & utility room installation & upgrades, new toilet, sink, sump pumps installation & service, trenchless underground water & drain piping installation & repair, water heater repair & replacement, water piping installation & repair
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 75% | ||
| 11% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 9% |
I can't speak to the price, and of the comparisons I was able to make they came in lower than the others willing to do this work which involved busting into my sidewalk (this was necessary to get to the valve - why the valve was placed in the sidewalk stymies me - there's lawn to the left and right but the builder puts the valve in the sidewalk - duh),digging into my lawn (minimal digging), pulling out the old pipe and replacing with new. Not too many did this sort of work and in all honesty the guy from WSSC I talked to recommended Gaithersburg.
The work they did on the whole was good. They were on time, got the job done when they said they would, I cant' complain about their overall professionalism when it comes to the actual work.
Here's my beef: The sidewalk they broke up consisted of four chunks of cement, two in at about 15 lbs, one at about 40 lbs, and one close 100 lbs. When they finished the work I was told that they would put the cement back in so that the sidewalk could be used. I didn't really think anything about this, I knew I was going to have to hire someone to replace the cement that was taken out and I had no consideration of the cement that was going to have to be disposed of, I assumed the people I hired to re-do the cement would take care of this.
I bring in a person to take care of replacing the cement and the first question they asked me was what do I want to do with the old cement, and why was it put back into the sidewalk the way it was? They made it clear that it was not part of the job for them to take away the old cement.
I called Gaithersburg immediately and was told they don't take care of the cement. They break it up for you but they don't haul it away. Ok, great, but you'd think that they would tell you that when they do the job, something along the lines of "Hey, you need to figure out how to take care of the cement we broke up for you because we don't haul that stuff away", instead of "We'll put it back for you and do you a favor so your neighbors can use the sidewalk" - uh huh, in retrospect my neighbors would have been better off with a piece of plywood there given that this would tell them that something was wrong with the sidewalk vice installing the old broken up cement there, in turn creating a potential trip hazard but otherwise creating a cover for their not hauling the cement away.
Bottom line: No one on site told me I had to take care of the cement, the contract I have with the company for the job doesn't address the cement, I had to find out that it was up to me to haul the stuff away on my time and dime, something I wouldn't have necessarily liked hearing at the start of this but would have at least begun to deal with when the work was being done instead of weeks later when I realized that I was left with the cement.
Jerry from Gaithersburg plumbing came and did my quote. He took the most time of the four of them and with a careful evaluation determined that trying to replace the sewer by digging a trench would create huge problems with the foundation of my front porch. So he recommended pipe bursting and gave me a very good price for it. It wasn't the lowest price altogether, but that came from a company that was digging a trench, and had not identified the porch foundation issue.
It took a little work to get a date, but then everything went smoothly from there. They arrived on time, got the work done in one day, and we were only without water/sewer for about 6-8 hours. The inspector came two days after, and then they closed up the job. I was nervous about the part where they cut a huge hole in my cement slab and patch it up, but that went great, no problem at all - the cement patch looks great!
The yard where they had to dig a hole (smaller than the trench would have been) was left with a mound of clay and straw over it. It looks pretty bad but I'm not sure what the alternative would be. Grass seed doesn't grow too well in July...
I would absolutely hire them again for this or another job. I wish I'd done this work last year :) and saved myself the trauma of repeated sewer backups.
professional quote a job at one price proclaiming everything is included down
to taxes, permits, parts and labor…and then extra charges start to trickle in
during the install. Lure them in with
one price and then ding them when your old water heater is already out in the
truck and you’re staring at real problems if they don’t proceed.
I read the reviews in Angie’s list about Gaithersburg
Plumbing and overall was an A throughout the list of categories with only price
being dinged with a B. I accepted that
rating as often in my experience you get what you pay for. I purchased my own water heater, which saves
you money by not incurring the mark up from a plumber, but also opens the door
to the nickel and dime approach as basically they’re not responsible for
anything inside that box your water heater came in from the store.
My problem started with the estimator. Great guy – good at his job – cares about the
customer – just made an oversight that ended up getting a little messy. As I mentioned before I purchased my own
water heater. The estimator should have
done his due diligence to check that the interface between that water heater
and their replacement task was solid. No
check was done and during install the technician discovered that no dielectric
water heater nipples came with the water heater. I’m not sure if WSSC mandates this or if it’s
just good practice (which simple google research indicates it is). Despite the Gaithersburg Plumbing jingle you
get while on hold stating that they stock their trucks with parts unlike other
plumbers…my poor tech had to hit home depot.
He indicated to me that the parts would be ballpark $50. I found that steep being that it was an
oversight of the estimator…and so I decided to look up the cost of the parts on
homedepot.com. Come to find out they’re
at most $10. So, I’m being up-charged
$40 for gas and labor for the tech to go buy the parts. I called Gaithersburg Plumbing to discuss
this and as many other reviews here have indicated – the response was chilly.
The lady in the front office tried to sweep me under the rug
with the usual verbiage they spit out at people who dare to ask why they’re
being nickel and dimed. First they told
me that’s what the parts cost. I
countered with my online research. They
she tried to throw her field tech under the bus by saying that he told her the
parts cost that much. I told her he told
me the parts were roughly $10. Then she
came back with the fuel surcharge. I
then asked her why the estimator missed it in the first place. Back and forth like this for 15 minutes after
I even said I’d kick in $10 for the parts.
After being on hold yet again as this girl consulted with
whoever was making the decisions for Gaithersburg Plumbing this day she came
back with a very icy offering that stated I could pay the cost of the parts,
which now was $12 and change, plus a $10 surcharge for gas and have the thing
installed or that her tech would reinstall my 22 year old water heater and
leave. I asked her if the $10 dollars
was really worth a trashing on Angie’s List and she said that was her final
offer.
So, to Gaithersburg Plumbing management/ownership…I hope
your $10 was worth it.
P.S…nothing but respect for both the estimator and
especially the tech (who had to deal with the bad karma generated by
Gaithersburg Plumbing management) who ended up suffering an 8+ hour install
which was estimated at 1.5 hrs.
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