BRUCE HERMENAU PLUMBING & HEATING

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Bruce was recommended by one of my neighbors. I had trouble getting through to him as his voice mail box was full and he never picks up the phone. I managed to get to him via text messages. He came over to determine the scope of work and gave an estimate. He said he was busy and did not want to commit to a date saying and quot;I will let you know the day beforeand quot;. You will not know until the last minute on what day and time he is coming if at all.
We needed him to install laundry hook up in a half bath, install 2 tubs with surrounds (Kohler) in 2 other bathrooms. Mixing valves and faucets (Grohe) were on site.
Start of work. Nick (his apprentice young boy) came to install shower mixing valves. He spent all day installing 2 valves.
Next time both came in. It turned out Nick installed something wrong and it was being redone on my time, not theirs.
Tubs and surrounds went in. Faucets on site but they did not install them. Bruce demanded immediate payment which I foolishly complied with. The check was cashed same day.
That evening coming over back from work to look at the results I discovered a 1/2 inch gap between the tub and surround. Called Bruce, he said he and quot;thought it was supposed to be like this.and quot;
I pointed out that he install the surround incorrectly without adjusting the legs at the bottom. One of the tubs was grossly not plumbed. I made him come over the next day, on Saturday. Bruce agreed that he messed up but resisted to rectify it until I took the drill and started taking the screws out. Then he stopped talking nonsense and helped lift the surround. Looking at the caulk I asked what kind of caulk it was. Turned out it was the cheapest acrylic-based caulk. I asked Bruce if he saw orange stickers on the surround and installation instructions indicating to use only 100% silicone caulk. He said he did not. I guess I am lucky he used crappy incompatible caulk otherwise I would not be able to remove the surround. It took a lot of time taking it out of the tub area due to the fact it was assembled and interfered with the plumbing. Then Bruce left and I spent the next 4 hours with my wife cleaning up the old caulk, total of 8 man hours. The next day, Sunday, I called Bruce and asked to help putting it back on. He came in the evening and helped jostle it into the position and re-caulked with the silicone caulk I bought, then left in a hurry. I spent another 2 hours cleaning his mess and laying a bead where he did not.
Because the surround pieces were set while still on legs they are left misaligned and this cannot be corrected. Center piece is at a different height than side panels. I have to live with this uneven by 1/8and quot; gap.
Being unsatisfied with his performance I went with a reputable company (plumber Reggie) for future plumbing needs, e.g. plumbing kitchen and the rest of the 2-1/2 baths.
What we discovered next:
1. Nick set the rough ins for tubs too deep. The faucet could not reach the mixing valve.
2. Nick installed 1/2 inch rough in where 3/4 inch was needed for the tub faucet. Reggie needed to install an adapter.
3. Nick and Bruce worked on the mixing valve with a torch after installing the surround. Reggie showed me the melted piece. It is evidenced by the burned insulation, which was installed after the mixing valve was installed. In the process they melted a plastic hot water check valve in the mixing valve. I need to order and installed a new part. I recall Bruce having trouble closing this valve when taking the surround off. Now I know why.
4. Nick welded hot water to cold and vice versa. Reggie had to re-weld it properly after we discovered the shower faucet operating in the wrong direction.
5. Both tub surrounds were not plumb by 1 inch top vs bottom (58 and 57 inches respectively). I had great trouble installing shower doors and there is still a gap in the door, which cannot be closed.
6. Bruce did not put putty in one of the tub drains (forgot?), it leaked when tested.
7. Bruce did not hook up drain to the laundry hook up in the basement (forgot?!!) yet reported is as complete on his invoice. I am glad I found it before I ran the laundry. Had to ask another plumber to install the drain to sewer connection.
Bruce did not take responsibility for any of these issues, did not fix it nor did he reimburse me in any way other than helping me fix the surrounds in the first place. His voice mail box is full and he never picks up the phone regardless from which number I called. At this point leaving another message to him is pointless.
The only reason I did not take him to a small claims court yet is lack of time, I already spent my vacation time on house renovation including fixing his mistakes...
I spent more money on new plumbers for fixing his mistakes than I paid him and spend a lot of my own time.
Needless to say Bruce will never enter my door again nor will any my friends ever employ him.

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They were easy to deal with, professional, gave me a good quote, and followed through on everything as stated. High quality installation and solid communication throughout the process.

I called Bruce on a Monday and he answered himself. We set a time for the next morning early so I could get to work on time. He was prompt and was able to fix my two leaks. Very reliable, professional and friendly. I plan on using his services in the future if I need to.

After calling at least a dozen plumbers and HVAC contractors I decided to have Bruce install my new pellet boiler. Throughout the process Bruce was very responsive, concerned with what we needed and wanted from the install and otherwise professional. He and Nick did a great job and I'd highly reccomend them to anyone that may be looking for a quality plumber with reasonable rates. The distributor who sold me the pellet boiler came onsite after the install to commission the new boiler and he commented that Bruce and quot;really knows what he's doing.and quot; An all around good experience with Bruce.

great

I wasn't here when it was done but my husband said it went great!

Bruce found the problem and fixed the leak.He did a great job!!! Hire Bruce for all your plumbing problems, he is friendly,knows what he is doing and he is priced reasonably!!!

It went great.

When I placed a call Bruce to inquire about availability of his time, he returned my call within 24 hours. (This is rather rare in this day and age!). Arrived at our house about a half-hour late, but did show up! Very neat fine work.
We asked for an estimate for ductless air conditioner (he had all the info and a quote from another company), he promised to call us back within a few days, but unfortunately we never did a call back from him.
Overall, Bruce did meet my needs of installing a kitchen faucet in a timely and skillful manner. Good Job.
Don't promise to call back with a quote and forget to call back. It's okay to call and say, and quot;Hey, I really don't have the time right now.and quot;
Good communication is an extremely important tool for customer satisfaction.

It went great every time. Only negative is that it takes him a long time to bill - sometimes two or three years, so the size of the bill is pretty big when it represents several years of work.

Great job, great price, very pleased. We have a new dishwasher, which he ran before he left, and a new kitchen faucet. Thanks, Bruce!

I liked him. He was very pleasant, friendly, and polite. He was a nice guy. He did a good job. The overall experience was excellent. The price and quality of work were excellent. He was responsive, punctual, and professional. I would use this service again.

He arrived on time, was courteous, explained everything in language I could understand and gave me a fair price. Finally, he cleaned up before leaving and did it without being asked.

Everything went perfectly. Bruce stuck to his quote, did the job quickly and well.

As always with my experience with Bruce, his work is impeccable. The bathroom ejection pump works flawlessly. Bruce lives about 50 miles from my home, and I'm sure there are a hundred plumbers closer in distance. However, I try to use him whenever I can because I know he will do the work properly. In turn, Bruce tries to adjust manage his schedule and itinerary to fit me in when he has other work in my vicinity.

The tile guy Bruce Leman of Berwick Me came for 3 days and worked at least 8 hrs. a day and one day he stayed till 7:00 pm. He did a real nice job. Bruce Hermanau did all the plumbing in one day. He did a real nice job also.

I had a leak in a pedestal sink. Because of the sink's style and construction, one could not see where the leak was coming from. I described to Bruce the symptom over the phone and his first guess was a rotted trap. He brought various spare parts to optimize the chances that he would be able to solve my problem in one visit. And, he did it!

My regular plumber did not do toilet problems, as several other plumbers did not. Bruce answered his own phone, so I could get the ball rolling immediately, rather than talk to a secretary that had no clue what I was talking about and still have to play phone tag. He was knowledgeable, upbeat, patient, respectful and available. He was also cheerfully willing to work with me over the phone to help me determine whether the problem justified a professional, or whether I could handle it myself. There were house sitters living in the house at the time, but Bruce gracefully dealt with this discrepancy as well. Mr Hermenau was available when I needed him, was fastidious handling the fluctuating operation in a living space, and was friendly throughout. The job was a success, and I have not seen him since. Although I did receive an email from him wishing me a happy birthday, since we had to juggle the appointment time so as not to have him working during my daytime celebration .

The only word I can use is craftsmanship. Everything was done right. Bruce and his crew paid attention to detail, not only making it work right, but also making it look right. It's hard to find a good plumbing and heating company. This is a good one.