I received a notice of defect from the water department advising that my sewer lateral was leaking. Anyone who has come home to a threatening notice from any government agency knows that sinking feeling in the stomach.
After some searching on Angie's list, I called My Plumber and spoke to Bernie, who was able to come out within the next day with Michael to take a look. They looked at the notice and explained my options. The truth was there weren't very many; while I had my suspicions about whether the notice was valid (did they do the right test? why would there be damage to the street several houses away?), it needed to be taken care of.
Having a sewer lateral replaced is a huge hassle, but My Plumber helped it go smoothly. Bernie gave me a very reasonable estimate, which included all the permitting required, concreting back over the sidewalk and bracing the utility pole outside my house if necessary. I paid the deposit, and the next week his crew came out and dug up the pipe. They were able to visibly inspect the lateral and confirmed that it was damaged. At that point, with the sidewalk and street ripped up in front of me, I was actually relieved that it hadn't been in vain.
Unfortunately, the concrete contractor wasn't able to make it out that day which meant that the sidewalk was still open, covered only by a couple of pieces of plywood. That night (it was Monday) it rain an incredible amount. I went into the basement and there were pools of water. A new crisis broke out as I paced about the house, trying to rescue items that had been stored down there.
My basement has a had a little bit of water in it before, but never actual pools of it. I called My Plumber and Bernie and Michael were able to stop by late the next day. After seeing just how much water the basement had gotten, they explained that it probably didn't help the sidewalk was open, but that it wasn't the main cause. They helped me put together a game plan to figure out the next step. Then they went above and beyond by literally staying into 10 on a Tuesday night to help rip out the completely soaked carpet and mat. They opened the wall and found a hole in the side of my house that had never been cemented properly, as well as a hose that was never installed to drain properly into the system. From there, we cut out the wall, finding mounds of mud and crud with some mold. A complete and utter mess, but they stayed as long as it took to get the carpet out and cut open the wall so I could start the process of cleaning it out.
Flash forward after I'd had a chance to clean out the walls, scraping everything out. I made a new appointment to get the hole plugged as well as some pipes that were open in the house. They had to cancel an evening appointment, but made a new one for a couple of days later, which was fine because I had a new problem on my hands: the air conditioner condensation pump stopped pumping. I bought a replacement, but the installation proved a bit too difficult for a layman like myself. Friday morning, Bernie and Michael showed up, a few minutes late, but as courteous and professional as always. I went off to work and left them in the house, which I felt comfortable doing with these guys (as Bernie noted, he has his own home - and the plumbing probably works better there). They made all the fixes, cemented the pipe, and even got the condensation pump all wired in correctly.
So far it has been a few weeks later. While we have not quite had rain like we did that one night, there have been several storms and the basement has stayed dry. The A/C is working correctly to boot.
This was my first major house crisis in my home owning experience and I was glad to have My Plumber walk me through it. They told me how to do some things myself so I wouldn't have to pay thousands extra, and helped me plan my way through a very stressful time.
I would definitely give these guys my business again, for small and big projects. They do it right, with permits, at a fair price; I don't think you can ask much more than that.