Duke's Plumbing & Sewer Service

We had a leaking water heater and called Duke's for an estimate.  We were unable to reach anyone directly so we left a message.  Our call was returned about 90 minutes later.  After explaining the problem, two servicemen were dispatched and spent about 20 minutes surveying the problem.  We were told the water heater needed to be replaced and that the pipework was also faulty.  We were told to expect a telephone call within the hour with an estimate and a repair date.  We waited a full 48 hours and left an additional message on their answering machine (none seems to available to answer the phone) and still no response.  Today we called another reputable plumber for an estimate.  We were told that the water heater itself is fine: the problem is a faulty valve.  And surprise, surprise, the pipework isn't at all faulty!

They analyzed the problem correctly. It was a fairly expensive repair and involved digging up a lot of the front yard to reach the line and then replace it. They showed me the section of the pipe that was affected my the tree roots. They had two workers at my home for 2.5 days working with the heavy equipment. They declared it an emergency with the city so they were able to get the work done very quickly.

the two guys were reasonably nice to talk to, considering they take advantage of your desperate situation, and charge you a ton of money for what winds up being 10 minutes of work. I think there should be a service call charge and a hourly rate. this would end the feeling of being used, but they just made up the price and even negotiated with me on that, offering to sell me a drain system camera check for extra $200. when i said NO, they offered to do it for free, and admitted it would not help anything anyway. i feel the price was not commensurate with the difficulty or time involved with the job. I will never call them again, despite that they did fix the problem with no issues. There is a company (Any sewer any drain is the name) in NYC that charges only $49.95 for ANY drain job... if only we had that company where I live. If they can do it this cheap, what does it say about people who charge 7 times more?

I didnt know that used car salesman could be plumbers until now. I was desperate since a clog on the second floor was causing sewage to back up into the bathtub. The salesman/plumber who came to the house first was the worst. He took a good look at the system from the basement to the attic, then formulated the plan detailed above that he said could only be done with two people. The second guy from Dukes appeared to be more willing to help solve the problem. He located a trap in the basement, inserted a strainer device, and put a snake up the pipe from the basement. Apparently that was the best thing to do. The clog immediately gave way. I am thankful for that guy. However the used car salesman was the problem. He immediately insisted that they still used the power hoses to flush the system even though the crazy plan to insert the hose from the attic never took place. He wasted no time in charging me over six hundred dollars for what amounted to less than a half hour of work, and probably not more that one hour of time in total. If you're looking for value steer well clear of Duke's. That is, unless you want to deal with at least one plumber who is a used car salesman. I suggest Austin. They have at least one old, angry, ornery, coot who does plumbing, but the owner seems like an honest guy.

Plumber arrived promptly for estimate. At time of estimate for full job, plumber capped off water supply and charged for that piece, then did estimate for remainder of work. We called about a week before we needed the work completed and were able to schedule for the day we preferred. The plumber arrived on time and did the work in about 1/2 day. All installs work well. Several things we found unusual: 1. capped off roof pipe vent in basement, leaving the 4" pipe at the roof open--we capped it off ourselves so that the pipe wouldn't collect rain water and leak in the walls, since water couldn't drain out anywhere (in its place an under-sink vent was installed on the drain pipe in the sink cabinet), 2. water supply to the dishwasher from the supply crosses along the floor of the sink cabinet--taking away any use of that portion of the floor of the sink cabinet, 3. we were told by the plumber at the time of the estimate that he would supply all the parts. Having purchased the dishwasher install kit already, we were planning to return it to the store ($20), but the plumber used it and did not reduce the price charged, 4. a lot of water was left on the basement floor and tops of two cabinets after the job was completed.

We have been using Duke's for about a year or so and have always very been happy with them. They are very professional, courteous and prompt, from the person who answers the phone to the people who do the repairs. The most recent visit - we need to re-do our only bathroom because of a leak in the old pipes, so we decided to add a half bath in the basement to serve as an alternative. Joe recommended a locator to find the sewer line and searched the line for us to the street. He and his assistant came promptly and are always ready to give us clear explanations as to our options. Luckily, the sewer line runs to the area where we want to put the half bath, and the rest of the line was all clear. Will do another report when Duke's does a larger plumbing job for us in the near future.

They showed up very quickly. I don?t think that they got the idea as to what is that I wanted them to do.

I called in the morning and was told someone would arrive before noon. I was called before 10 and was told someone was on the way. He showed up shortly thereafter and started work immediately. Unfortunately, it was going to be a bigger job than expected and he went to get more supplies, but he was called away to another job that he had to go to as he was the only one who could do that work. So he was told to come back the next morning. He arrived at 8 and worked for about 1 1/2 hours. He was polite, effecient, and friendly and did a great job. Even though it cost quite a bit, our pipes were quite old and worn, so I'm sure any other company would have charged the same or more.