Zimmerman Plumbing & Heating Service

Long wait. Minimum service call fee was promoted as an "average call" and actual could be less as determined by service provider. Additional cost based on travel from previous job was a complete surprise and an additional charge. I understand travel to my location from office, but not based on travel time from previous job further than the office.

Plumber arrived within stated hours and finished the work promptly.

No estimate was given prior to work, then toilet repair occurred. He checked to make sure it flushed but only with the toilet cover off. When cover was replaced the mechanism did not work properly and leaked. I asked for a call back to fix it and my call was not returned. Very unprofessional.

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I think the all A ratings I gave them sums it up.
I would add the gentlemanliness of their management, also an A.

I highly recommend Zimmerman for plumbing. They do an excellent job, are very professional, efficient and clean up afterwards. My dishwasher was rather complicated and they took the time to make sure it was hooked up correctly as indicated in the instruction manual. They care about their work and want to make sure you are happy. I also had them fix a broken pipe during another service call. They pinpointed the exact location of the break in the pipe (behind the drywall) and proceeded to cut as small a hole as possible to fix it.

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I had called Zimmerman at random from the phone book in a previous week for a leak in a cold water pipe. That went fine; just the usual plumber cost to repair the leak. The man who came (first name John, last name can't recall) said we should consider having the incoming pipe on that side of the house replaced, because it's very old and might leak again. He ballpark quoted between $500 and $800 dollars, saying, "If it goes well, $500. If it goes badly, $800." It seemed to me that he was giving that enough thought and leeway that I didn't need to get a written, formal estimate. That was my big mistake! They came on time when the replacement was scheduled. Very cheerful people and everything, and did the job. It took the amount of time I though he had had in mind. They said a half day, and they were actually working for less than four hours, so that shouldn't count as some kind of major disaster. But suddenly when it came to billing time, the cost was nearly $1200!! He said that the materials cost more than he had estimated! But the labor alone was $896. And that meant he hadn't budgeted at all for materials. I paid it. I wish now that I had protested and asked to speak to someone else, but my kids were waiting for me to take them out to lunch. I am more annoyed the more I think about it. It seems to me that he took advantage of me for not having gotten a "real" estimate. I won't swear that I would never, never use them again, e.g., for emergency plumbing service. But I am going to attempt to avoid them. Also, he hadn't made it quite clear enough what pipes would be replaced. In our first conversation he gave the impression that all the old pipes on that side "up to" the place where it "switches over to copper" would be replaced. Then when he arrived it turned out that he hadn't mean to include all the pipes in the laundry room, so that will have to be a separate job and expense. I'm still trying to figure out how that "miscommunication" happened. I see there is another review here on Angie's List where the same type of thing happened to someone--much higher bill after work was done than previously estimated. So people should be careful with this company. Always get a written and binding estimate for anything that isn't an absolute emergency. They act nice, seem nice, but they may have a habit of overcharging.

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The tech was punctual, polite, and even kind when he delivered the bad news about a major repair. This tech also returned the next day with another company they work with, Clean Earth, who did the actual dig. Courteous, under the quote price, timely.... I have no complaints.

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I first called Zimmerman in March/April for an over the phone quote about installing plumbing for our wetbar. At that time, they quoted me $675 and said it would be a 3-4 hour job. For the appointment, Zimmerman showed up right on time and the gentleman walked through what I wanted and estimated the job to take 3.5 hours. In addition, he had another gentleman come along who was in training. During installation the pair had to re-do some of their solder joints because they kept getting leaks. This changed the install time from 3.5 hours to 5.5 hours. When going downstairs to inspect the work after they were done, I noticed that both men were wearing their boots on our two-week old carpet and had been resting tools and equipment on the carpet as well as other furniture in the room. Due to this, we had a couple grease stains we had to clean out of the carpet and clean the furniture. At the same time, I was given a bill for $1100, much higher than the original $675 estimate. The team had charged for one person, 5.5 hours, as well as 2.75 hours for the trainee in addition to materials. With it already being more than expected, and the issues with respect for our house, I asked to talk to a manager. The manager allowed the men to leave without receiving payment and promptly contacted me the next morning to discuss. After some negotiation, the final bill ended up being $900. I still was not very happy with the price, but they were atleast willing to talk with me rather than saying "no". I have had good luck with Zimmerman once previously at another location, but this job will have me trying out other plumbing companies in town.

They are excellent. I would use them again.

Great service, on time and friendly.

They did a great job. They're very professional and cleaned up well afterward. They were also very prompt.

Our water heater was leaking so we needed a new one, but wanted it installed in our basement instead of on the main floor of our house where the old one was. After checking Angie's List we called Zimmerman Plumbing and Heating Service. They sent a serviceman out the same day and we explained what we wanted done. He looked over the gas and water lines and the area where we wanted the new water heater to go and explained that we would need a power vent water heater for that area vented out through the wall. He was very nice and professional, answering all questions and giving a rough estimate of $2,500.00 for the job.  It was too late in the day for him start and he had to pick up a different kind of water heater than what we had before so he said he'd be back in 2 days to do the install.  The serviceman was back in 2 days, on time and got right to work. He was very good about answering all of our questions, and explaining what he would have to do. He laid tarps down over all carpeted areas that he would be walking over. It took him just over 6 hours to complete the install with new gas and water lines and a new vent through the wall. Everything was very tidy and neatly done. Very professional.  He gave us an itemized bill showing every part used and came in under budget at $2,327.00.  He did an excellent job and I would definitely call Zimmerman Plumbing and Heating Service again.

Replumbed kitchen sink and line in basement.

Zimmerman representatives included the person in the office who handled the scheduling as well as the plumber who installed the new toilet.  Both were very professional and the whole experience took place without a problem.  It was refreshing to have a company perform a service without the drama we have experienced with other businesses.
We will definitely use Zimmerman again!

Travis was the technician. He was friendly, professional, and a hard worker. He explained what was wrong and what was needed to correct both problems. Within an hour the work was complete. 
I've had some bad luck with plumbing since moving into this house, and the two previous companies I have gone to were bad news. I would highly recommend Zimmerman, as they are now my go-to plumbing professionals.

They explained to me that for the size of the house and for the style that I had the top of the line product wouldn’t work because they had to replace the whole radiator and by putting the high efficiency boiler I wouldn’t be able to see the benefits of it.  The price was the lowest.  They had to order boiler from Chicago which is 2 hours drive from our house by truck.  They ordered it once and somehow it got into the wrong truck and it never came in.  At that time it was freezing as it was February.  They ordered it again and it happened again.  I would have gone and got it myself.  They were here on time when they said they are going to be.  They were apologetic and tried to call me and told me what is going on.  If it was my business and if this would have happened I would personally drive and pick it up.  If it was summer time it wasn’t a big deal.

Very professional.  Kept me informed of progress and quick to finish job after handyman could not complete.  Definitely would recommend.

Overall, I found them to be prompt in getting me a quote and in getting the new equipment installed at a reasonable price. I shopped around, and Zimmerman didn't try to sell me more than I wanted or needed, which I appreciated. I have used them for plumbing repairs as well and they do a professional job.