Hill's Plumbing Contractors

On time,knowledgeable ,honest

I called Hill?s Plumbing for a simple shower leak.  I chose him because he was straight ?A? rated, and he was close to my somewhat remote home.  (I like to use providers in my neighborhood whenever possible, and keep my money in the community.)  My husband, who has plumbing experience, said that the problem was merely a problem with the mixing valve, which has a cartridge that required replacement.  He didn?t do it himself because he was unable to extract the cartridge, so we
opted for a plumber.  I also wanted them to replace the on/off/hot/cold handle, as it kept falling off.  We had a new shower valve trim set which we had bought when my husband had planned to do the job. 
It was a very slow leak, so it wasn?t urgent.  I had to cancel our initial appointment, and told him we?d reschedule in a week or two.  When I was ready to reschedule, I left one message, then two days later another.  I still didn?t hear from him and was ready to find someone else when, about four days later he called me Sunday night and asked if he could come first thing in the morning.  I gladly accepted.
Mr. Hill arrived in a big truck dressed out for plumbing with his logo on the side, which boosted my confidence.  However, he also arrived with a helper, which I didn?t think was necessary for the job at hand.  I immediately politely asked him if a second
person was really necessary, and he said he always works with another person.  So I figured, well, that way it will go in half the time.  That was not the case.  I had no reason not to trust him at this point, so I was not watching the clock.  Mr. Hill had to leave twice for supplies during the course of the repair.  (So much for his fully dressed out truck.)  He told me that the original materials used to make the (12 year old) shower were not ?standard?.  My husband begs to differ.  I don?t know if he included that time he was gone in his price or not.  He removed the mixing valve altogether, and, rather than just replace the cartridge, which he said he didn?t have, installed parts from the new shower valve trim set.  He asked me if I wanted to use the new shower arm also, saying it would only take a few minutes, and I said go ahead.  He also replaced the pipe from the valve to the shower head with hose.  I don?t know why he replaced the pipe ? there was nothing wrong with it and it had nothing to do with the leak, or why he didn?t use original pipe, unless maybe it got broken in the process.  I think this resulted in the reduced water flow.
He gave me the bill for 1 ½ hours.  To my surprise, it was $190, 180 for labor and 10 for parts/glue.  That?s $120 per hour for a ?lead? plumber and a helper.  I can accept $60 or so an hour for a licensed plumber.  I can accept $15 or so for a helper.  But this was not a 2-man job, and certainly not a job to pay for two ?lead? plumbers.  Also, Mr. Hill left all the garbage, except the original mixing valve, and expensive piece that would still be usable with a replacement cartridge.  My husband was furious.
When they left, they told me not to turn on the water for 3 hours, as they had to use glue on a joint and it takes that long to dry, so
they could not test the job before they left.  (My husband says the joint in question should not require glue if properly installed, and in fact, glue was not used on that joint before.)  When they left, I looked in the shower.  They had left a terrible mess, dirty, muddy and messy, with all the stuff left that they hadn?t used and trash strewn around the bathroom (except the original mixing valve).  The on/off/hot/cold handle was turned to an odd position, so the ?off? position was at about 2:00, rather than the usual 12:00 position.  It was about 3pm when I was able to turn the water on, and I didn?t take a shower that afternoon.
In the morning, my husband got up at his usual 4:30 am.  He got out of the shower livid.  There was no hot water, and there was a steady stream running down the wood wall from the shower arm to in front of and behind the shower wall.  At 5:00 am my husband called the business phone, which was answered by a woman.  He politely contained his anger, and she said
Mr. Hill would be out to fix it the same morning.  He did indeed come out early, although his attitude now was markedly sour.  This time I watched from another room, as much as I could see.  When I saw that they were having trouble re-installing the shower arm in the proper downward pointing position, I told them to just put the old one back on, which they did, and that stopped the new leak from the shower arm, although the arm is now wiggly and loose.  They also replaced the new mixing valve that they had installed the day before.  He said that the new one they had installed the day before was also faulty.    
Our house is almost 100 years old and in a constant state of repairing and remodeling.  It may look a little shabby to some.  Perhaps that is why Mr. Hill thought it would be okay to use less than standard quality in the pipe he chose to replace with a hose, among other things.  I am generally good-natured and courteous to workman, and don?t tend to hover over them because I?m mostly ignorant of what they are doing.  So maybe that?s why, when he found me home alone, he felt he could take advantage of me.
I believe the price I paid was completely out of line.  Furthermore, for that price, I should have had a clean, competent, flawless job.  I am saddened that my own neighbor would have done me this way.  After the disrespectful way I was treated upon his second visit, and the way I was taken advantage of, I was actually too concerned about the character of this person to report this issue when it happened, but have waited until I moved away and felt I and my home would be safe from potential retribution.

John Hill is a gentleman, you cant go wrong here.

He is excellent and he is very responsive! He was referred to me by my electrician. He is very honest and doesn't sugar coat things. He didn't try to sell me more than what I needed. He's a good guy that does an honest day's work for an honest price.

John was very nice and neat. I had him replace an instant hot water dispenser and repair a faucet and a couple of other things. He has been in the area a long time and I will use him again. He does all of the work himself.

al

After years of struggling with less than professional plumbers, Hill's Plumbing Contractors is a welcome resource. I never question their estimates or work, and trust that they are a good value. There is rarely a problem and if so they will return to the job and take care of the issue. I have used them often and they are willing to show up as quickly as possible.These are the only plumbers I use for a number of single family and multi-unit residential properties.