JH Peterson Inc

We decided to get a new disposal when the 10+yr old one that came with the house was making a funny noise and the water flowed back up after turning it on. We bought a new one and installed it. We had to adjust the p-trap to fit the new one and then it began to leak. What's worse, the water still flowed back up with the new one, which we realized meant the drain was clogged. JHPeterson was able to send a technician (Ray) within a few hours. Ray was great -- efficient, informative (explained all the prices/options up front), pleasant personality -- a true professional. [The "B" for punctuality is because Ray was about an hour early and the office didn't call when he was on the way as they said they would. In my case, this was fine since I was home all day, but I can see how this might be a problem for someone else.] Overall, I would use them again, for sure.

Plumber was on time, polite, professional. He recognized a deficiency in our boiler which had never been pointed out to me by previous companies (something that has to, by code, be replaced every 3 years for safety). He gave an break-out estimate before starting the work. He was so knowledgeable, that we called him back to do some rebuilds of toilets that were 5 years old, and leaking a bit. He came with an assistant the second visit. The under-sink plumbing repair was actually one which fixed my leaking dishwasher -- we have no air gap, and so he noticed that the cause of the dishwasher leaking was likely the way the pipes were put in. He moved them so no water could flow back from the disposal into the dishwasher (how it should have been installed -- originally installed by Greater Indoors). There was a small problem the next day when debris from the old plumbing (our house is 70 years old) had gotten into one newly rebuilt toilet back, and caused it to again leak. The company was prompt to get the same plumber out as quickly as possible and he re-fixed it and explained what had happened. Very pleased with their service from the office to the plumbers they sent. They are not cheap, but they are good.

JH Peterson came to give me a quote for a new water heater. The plumber was very nice, but quoted me $1943 to replace my 40 gallon water heater. This seemed a bit high based on what our inspector had told us to expect. The quote included a overflow tank. The plumber said we are required to have an overflow tank in DC, and apparently that is not actually the case. He also wanted to replace my shut off valves, even though the ones in place work perfectly fine. Another company came (another Angie's List A+ plumber) and gave me a quote less than half what JH Peterson quoted (same brand and size of water heater, although I am not sure it is the same model - I didn't get that specific information in JH Peterson's quote). The other company completed the work the same day. JH Peterson's quote was exceptionally high. They do offer a 10-year warranty on labor and maintenance. The plumbing company I went with does not offer a standard warranty of that length (their warranty is 6 years tank warranty, 1 year parts and labor from them, and 6 years parts from the manufacturer). The company that did the work offered me an overflow tank and a comparable 10-year warranty to JH Peterson's, and he was still $700+ cheaper than JH Peterson. If you are going to use JH Peterson, I would recommend getting other quotes to make sure you aren't spending extra money unnecessarily.

The guy came with his cell phone. He went downstairs immediately. He looked at the unit and looked at my radiators and took pictures of the connections to everything where the unit was. He came back the next day with a quote. I took his quote. It was as reasonable as any and it was high efficiency. He sent in a crew. They worked hard. He oversaw it. He came back to fix some electrical issues that needed to be cleared up. They cleaned up. When this guy's business is out of town, anybody with an old house who wants to switch over should do it now. This guy knows what he is doing and he is not flubbing on me. He has trained his guys. Such few people know how to do it. They vented everything. He brought other people in for that. It was fabulous in every way. For the price I paid, I get energy efficiency and $1500 back plus I didn't have to line my chimney because it was high efficiency. Low efficiency would have cost $8000.00 with all the other guys and I would have had to line my chimney. They also loved sending me chimney people who would have charged me $3000.00 or $4000.00 for it. It took me 6 months to figure that out. I even had a home inspector come to do it. The guy from JH Peterson knows his stuff. He is good. I feel like I was lucky. His staff said that when he retires, people who have this situation are going to be lost, and I agree. That is really true. It's very complicated going from oil to gas. He was the last one that I called. He was so competent and I felt that he was. A lot of me is intuition and I felt I could go ahead and say let's do it. It took me a year to find someone I felt comfortable with. He didn't sit around. He took pictures of all the connections and of the unit. He was professional. He was about 60 years old. He was comfortable with the whole thing.

It went exceptionally well. When I called, the company representative was polite and helpful, she gave me an approximate arrival time; she subsequently confirmed the time; the plumber arrived timely, even though the weather was horrible. I would definitely call this company again. This company might be a bit pricier than others, however the excellent communications skills and attitude of its employees more than makes up for the higher price.

The work was done professionally, with a minimum of mess and in timely manner. Peterson is not the cheapest way to go but, their timeliness, professionalism and courtesy are worth it to me.

When I was told there would be a $69 fee to come out and give me an estimate on some work, I said I understood and agreed, but that I thought it was wrong and that the estimate should be free. The woman I was talking then said, "have a good day," and hung up on me. I found that bizarre and totally unprofessional.

Overall, JH Peterson seems like a high quality but high priced company. When I called, I asked for some ballpark estimates on replacing/repairing an electric water heater. The dispatcher said that she had no way to estimate, although I later found out that JH Peterson has a pretty comprehensive (and expensive) price list for this kind of work. Not particularly honest--it seems that they are trying to secure the "dispatch fee" before giving you any information. Overall, the service call was scheduled quickly and the tech showed up promptly. He was knowledgeable and professional. I would probably call JH Peterson again for complex work, but leave the simple jobs to a lower priced plumber.

We have had nothing but good experiences with JH Peterson. They are always professional, and usually quite accurate about their timing. They explain our options carefully, and never pressure us to do unnecessary work. We recently had a leak form while we were on vacation, and we felt comfortable enough to authorize the work over the phone and let them complete it unsupervised - when we got home, everything was fine.

Went great -- Jim was punctual, friendly, professional, very willing to spend time to listen to what I had observed about the problem and patiently discussed the options and likely scenarios. He prepared an estimate first, on which we agreed, then he brought his equipment in and got to work. He worked efficiently and quietly (as quietly as you can snake a drain). He offered a great deal of thoughtful advice about the potential causes of the clog, including some design issues with our faucet and sink, and educated me on ways to avoid future buildups that might result in clogs. So it was a comprehensive service -- certainly more than just busting the clog (although he did that, and made sure it was really gone). Price-wise, I thought the charge was reasonable given the comprehensive nature of our discussion and the professional advice I received. But if all I had cared about was getting the drain snaked and being on my way, I'd probably say it was on the high side.

When I called on the phone I asked if there was a dispatch service fee and was told there wasn't a dispatch service fee. There was a little bit of trouble setting up the service time and it seemed to me as though because I mentioned I was a stay-at-home mom that was interpreted as this could be fixed anytime during the week. The service technician was disgruntled when he arrived, complaining of his boss calling and he seemed annoyed throughout, until I paid. The service provided was adequate, but I probably won't use them again based on the experience with the technician and the service fee.

After a spell of excessive rainfall the basement flooded. It was determined the cause was a clogged drain in the outside basement stairwell. I called JH Peterson and was given a sheduled visit for 2 days out. As luck would have it, the day after I made the appointment I received a call from JH Peterson stating they had an opening within an hour and wanted to know if it was convenient for me. I was estatic to get this done as quickly as possible. Ray came out and did an excellent job solving the problem in a timely manner. He listened to some of the other plumbing concerns we had and immediately developed a plan of action for us to execute when we're ready to attack. When it's time to tackle that problem we'll call them back to do the job.

I had a leak in my basement which the home inspector didn't really elaborate on besides saying it was coming from the hose bibb. I emailed J.H. Peterson and they quickly responded and scheduled an appointment with me. I was met by Ray who was polite and professional. He explained that there wasn't a leak but it was seepage from an outdated valve. He suggested he could pack the valve which would take care of the leakage and would be the most cost effective solution. I asked what would be the best long term solution and he stated replacing the turn valves with lever valves. As he prepared to do the work, he was contacted by his dispatch explaining another plumber had called out sick. Ray stated that he probably wouldn't have the time to properly install the valves due to the lack of manpower that day. I wasn't even expecting the work to have been done that day. We rescheduled for another day. He showed up the new day with an assistant and they knocked out the valve replacement much quicker than I thought it would take, the work was clean, he cleaned up scraps, and explained everything to me after it was done. Excellent work - I will definitely be calling J.H. Peterson for any other plumbing work I have.

Ray, the service technician, and his assistant, Cal, were very good. I felt very comfortable having them in my home as a woman by herself. He took his time and explained things very well. They were prompt, professional, and did a good job. I had follow up questions about one of the items and they contacted the technician directly to answer my questions. They also came out to check everything one last time for me. They also gave me information about the back up battery on the sump pump and let me know to consider replacing it. I feel that with the service contract I have with them, my home will be in good hands.

I'm new to Angie's list and called JH Peterson Inc. Plumbing to inquire about installing a whole house water filtration system since I'm in the process of purchasing a unit. I spoke with Ellen who informed with that they only install Milby systems and will not install a unit I purchase on my own. I was not familiar with that system, so I asked for more information. She told me to go online and look up Milby. I initially searched and could not find it, so when I called back to verify name and spelling, Ellen was quite agitated. When I asked if she could provide the specific web address or if she was using a specific search engine, she told me to "just type in Milby Company" in the search bar. That didn't work, and I asked if someone else could assist with identifying the website so I could research the system and determine if I wanted to change my plans so I could use JH Peterson's services since they seemed to be highly recommended on Angie's list. At one point, Ellen was nearly yelling at me that Milby was coming up and she didn't know why I couldn't find it, although she never offered to provide the specific web address. I politely told her I must have called at a bad time at which point, she changed her tone. Based on this customer service experience alone, I will not be using JH Peterson. I do hope the other companies on Angie's List at least offer better customer service. This was a very disappointing experience considering this company has supposedly won multiple Super Service Awards from Angie's List. I'm not even sure there's any value in that.

A professional, courteous, and altogether friendly technician arrived at the correct date and time and proceeded to fix the pipe. When it was done he showed me his work, which was top drawer. It was not inexpensive, but I did not expect otherwise (I did say professional, courteous, plumber...dah) I would definitely use them again, and in fact I purchased an annual inspection plan. Excellent!

It went great. From the moment I made the call to the time Ray left, our experience with JH Peterson was extremely positive. I received prompt and friendly service over the phone and Ray came out the same day to assess the situation. He returned the next day and removed the old and installed the new in a reasonable time, taking care to clean up after himself. Ray went out of his way to go the extra mile, as did all other staff I encountered at JH Peterson, and we will definitely use them again in the future. With respect to price, I sense that we may have been able to have this done at a lower price by another company (I did not shop around for estimates for this particular job), but we would prefer to pay a bit more and have high-quality workmanship and communication.

Had a drain clog and spent the morning trying to fix it myself. When that didn't go well wanted to get a plumber in that afternoon so I wouldn't have to take another day off of work. Peterson could make it the next day, but Ellen referred me to another plumber who she thought might be able to do same day. When that plumber didn't answer, I called her back to schedule the next day, she then gave me the cell number of that plumber and he was able to schedule me for the same day. Before I called Peterson I had called a few other plumbers who could not do same day and none referred me to someone who could. She was extremely helpful, especially because I was ready to schedule with them for the next day and she gave up business to help me out.

They made an appointment with me and then called on day of service to ask if they could come early which worked out even better for me. The plumber put on slippers over his work boots, and estimated prices for fixing all three of my toilets all of which had different issues with flushing and refilling. The estimate was really high - about $250 to replace the insides of a toilet which is a job I can do and have done myself - so I just had him do the one critical job of replacing a broken shutoff valve and fixing the worst toilet. He was neat and cleaned up and it works great. I paid by credit card.

We contacted JH Peterson for a second opinion after another plumber was unable to remove a baby sized washcloth that had been sucked down the bathtub drain. The first plumber was unable to snake the drain and told us that the pipes were inaccessible under our concrete floor and recommended a complete bath remodel and pipe replacement. Not wanting to completely remodel our bathroom, we contacted JH Peterson. The difference in professionalism was immediately apparent. I had a long conversation with Anne on the telephone. She was very knowledgeable and immediately put me at ease with our choice. When Brian came out to perform the work, he was extremely neat and professional. He clearly explained the situation to my husband and offered three increasingly drastic steps to remove the washcloth (none of which were nearly as drastic as the first plumber's recommendation) and explained how the pricing would work for each. He had a hard time snaking the drain and thought he might have to go to step 2, which would have involved cutting some pipe. He really didn't want to have to do that, so he made an extra effort to snake one more time and his persistence paid off. The washcloth was removed without any damage to our pipes, walls, or floors. While he was there Brian even fixed a leaky faucet and slow flushing toilet. We could not have been more happy with the work. JH Peterson was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. I'd give them an A+ if that rating was available.

They were a bit expensive. I did have a problem with the toilet after they put in the new part, so the next day they came back out and installed a new toilet. There was no additional cost for them to come back out.

I have been having plumbing issues for a while and was able to keep major disasters at bay until the other day when I ran a small load of laundry, and my bathroom exploded! With reality staring me in the face, I checked Angie's List. J H Peterson's staff contacted me almost immediately. They explained their fees and services up front, and sent me an emaile with a picture of my plumber, Brian, when I set up the appointment. I was told they would be here between 1-3, and thoroughly expected it to be much nearer to three. JH Peterson Called me at 11:58 to let me know Brian was on his way and would be there in about 45 minutes! I think Brian could see how nervous I was; I was expecting the worst! I have an old home that is not in great shape to begin with and was feeling totally overwhelmed. Brian and his assistant listened to my issues, examined the plumbing and provided me with an assessment, and a written estimate. At each step of the way, they explained what was going on, which made me much calmer. They even noticed that I had purchased a new toilet seat that I hadn't installed, and did it for me! I even got to take pictures of the root clump to amuse my co-worker! I had a great experience and would highly recommend J H Peterson to family and friends! Thanks!

We had a repeatedly leaking ice maker line. They came out and did estimate and then, at our request, waited to do repair until we had spoken to insurance. Work was fast and actually came in under the estimate. Serviceman very professional and kindly advised on items that may need future attention.

The service was terrific from the receptionist ANN to the plumber RAY. We were having company and it was a holiday. We were in a bind and the company followed through. We had a terrific experience. NOTE: I had called on 3-24-2010 at 9:00 p.m. and the company responded and were there the next morning. P O S I T I V E E X P E R I E N C E!

We used them about two years ago to fix a toilet and as part of that process, we signed up for their annual inspection. The installation of the new toilet was positive and professional but a little expensive. They followed up after a year to come out for the complementary inspection which was positive. When they came out and ran the inspection, they gave me a list of issues and a list of prices to make those repairs. Their costs were amazingly out of line and I told them that I had no interest in their services. They seemed to believe that this is an expensive neighborhood and that the people don?t know anything about mundane things so they were charging the Potomac Price which is five to ten times more than what it ought to have cost. I definitely won't use them in the future even though I loved their work in the first place because I am concerned about their business practices.