Chavez Plumbing Inc

I called Chavez Plumbing and made an appointment.  The crew was on time, but didn't really introduce themselves.  (They might want to work on that.)  But they were wearing company shirts, so I was comfortable letting them into the house.  The senior plumber spoke English very well.  We confirmed the work being done and the price.  They commenced working and were complete within the hour.  They cleared away the garbage and left the area clean.  Upon payment, I was given a 10% discount for mentioning Angie's List.  I would recommend this company.

quickly

We have used Chavez Plumbing before for major work (we were very happy).  In this case we had an outside water faucet that basically just got old and brittle.  My husband tried to remove it and replace it--with no success.  In the process, the handle itself broke apart.

We called Chavez Plumbing and scheduled the repair.  Even they had some trouble getting the old faucet off--but in the end success and not more leaky faucet.

I hope my description and the detail provided here will help others faced with a similar problem. We have had pinhole leaks in our attic pipes for 10+ years and a couple of surprise major leaks as well (requiring sheetrock repair and painting).  Unfortunately, we would just fix the current incident (usually with a pipe clamp) and move on.  This was not a good idea.  We would have been better off dealing with this years ago.

We discovered that our house was built in the late 70s when a slew of bad galvanized pipe hit the Houston market.

In October 2011 we had another pinhole leak in a pipe over the garage.  It made a big mess of the ceiling in the garage (looked like we were growing stalactites).  Once we accepted that we had to replace all of the horizontal pipes in the attic--we found that the next step was even harder (replace it with what, how much of the pipe had to be replaced, and who would we trust to do it?)

We got several estimates from different plumbers and nearly as many different solutions to our problem.  One of the major issues was should we replace just the horizontal pipes in the attic or both the horizontal and vertical pipes (the whole house).  For us--cost drove our decision (we replaced only the horizontal pipes).  In an average size house (2,000 square feet) it will cost $4,000+ for the horizontal pipes and $8,000 +/- to replace ALL of the pipes which does not include the cost of repairing the cuts into sheetrock that will be necessary to do the vertical runs.

Choices presented were to replace pipes with:

• new galvanized pipe (no one recommended this)
• replace it with PEX pipe (OUR conclusion was that this is best used in a new house installation and can be done one of several ways--with or without a control panel).
• replace it with CPVC pipe and insulate it (this is what we chose)
• one other choice is to spray some kind of sealant in your galvanized pipe, but we did not seriously consider this one.

In the end we chose to only replace the horizontal pipes and to deal with the vertical pipes (only we if have to).  Bottom line here is--you really don't have much of a choice--this is one of those times in life that you have to just suck-it-up and deal with it.

Julio Chavez, the owner of the company came out to look at our pipe and give us a bid.  He spent a considerable amount of time explaining the issue of replacing the pipes and our options.  He was very helpful and put up with our endless questions.  He also honored his bid even though we ran a bit over 30 days to make up our mind (you know how it goes, other stuff happens in the meantime). He also gave us a discount re the Angie's List referral.

Most of the bids that we received were about the same, so it really came down to selecting the company we felt most comfortable with doing this job--which is why we chose Chavez Plumbing.

Marco was the journeyman plumber that made the repair--with his sidekick "Polo" - I think they were trying to be funny :-).  They completed most of the work within one day (11/3/11); because of a scheduling issue they were not able to come back until the following Monday to complete the last part of the insulation.  They were courteous, cleaned up behind their work.  Marco was good at explaining what they had to do when we had questions. Marco checked and cleaned all of the aerators on the faucets before he left.  

The following Monday Marco returned to complete the insulation followed by Julio and the city inspector (11/7/11).

We did have one problem.  There was a leak (not overhead) that was caused by a relief valve on the hot water heater.  The drain for this was in the atrium and became a steady increasing drip.  We noticed it later in the day on 11/7.  It wasn't life threatening and after several e-mails and a phone call (I sent them pictures of it) we settled on a date to fix it (11/18).  It did not take long at all.  They replaced the relief valve (no extra charge). I found it very convenient to send the photos along with a description of the problem to Vickie (the office manager) who then did the leg work with Julio regarding a solution.  Vickie is also great to work with.

We had one other problem (not their issue)--once the pipes were replaced (11/9/11) the water flow rate was so much stronger that it blew off the spout in our hall bathtub.  The nipple rusted out. My husband tried to fix it but had problems getting the correct size nipple and finally gave up and called Mr. Chavez.  They came right away and fixed it for us.

We haven't had any issues from the replacement of the horizontal pipes.  The vertical pipes (which we did not replace) seem to be fine for now.

I am happy to recommend Chavez Plumbing for any job, large or small.  We are quite happy to have found a plumber we can trust!

At first, I called John Moore Services on my shower problem and a leaky toilet.  After their representative had arrived, I described both problems to the him.  He immediately began to "up sale" me services; giving me a three tier quote on Best Solution, Good Solution, and Immediate Solution for fix my shower handle and leaky toilet without truly examining the problem. 

Best Solution = approx. $999.00; Immediate Solution = approx. 499.00 (The shower handle by itself  was going to cost me at minimum $399.00)

I found Chavez Plumbing on Angie's list, gave them a call and they schedule my appointment immediately.  (I only had them look at the shower because I was still a little "shell shocked" about the John Moore quote.)  The two gentlemen, show up on time, came in examine the shower handle and cartiridge and determined that it was only a bad shower handle that became stripped.  The handle's cartridge (that is usually a expensive item") was fine.  It did not need to be replaced.  Total price for repairing the shower handle only with labor was $112.50. (verses John Moore Services that want $399.00)  Needless to say, I will be calling them back to repair my leaky toilet.

I woke up the Friday after Thanksgiving with a water heater leak from the drain valve. This is a simple repair, but I don't like to do plumbing. Within one hour of my call, Julio was at my townhouse. Within one hour after that, he was packed up and gone.
The only reason I didn't give an "A" for price is that I *always* think any price could be better, and I don't like to give blanket all A's.

The job took about 45 min from the time they arrived to when they drove off. The day before, another service (ARS) had tried and failed to clear the drain and said the only option was to install a new drain line, estimated at $2100. Next time I'll call Chavez first thing.

They were gr eat.

excellent. See details above.

I found them through Angie's List.  They were a little late, but they apologized for it.  They did great work.  It was a good experience overall.  They were reasonably priced too.

Mr. Chavez was prompt and came out on a Sunday.  He was fair/generous, extremely knowledgeable, efficient, and professional.

They were great. Always use them because they are so honest.

We were very satisfied with the work performed by Chavez Plumbing.  We had a leak in our sprinkler system in the front yard; turns out the roots from one of our hedges grew too close to the pvc pipe and broke it.  They dug everything up and replaced appx 3 feet of broken pvc pipe and did an amazing job of cleaning up.  You couldn't even tell there had been work done in the yard when they were finished.  We will definitely use them again...but hopefully we won't need to anytime soon = )

I was amazed that I got the quote and the entire project was done the same day.  I was even more amazed that it all happened on a Saturday.  I was so stressed that this was going on and I had to go on a trip the following week.  This project was done fast and I thought was reasonably priced considering how fast it was all done. 

Recently purchased home, I noticed the granite cracked around Jacuzzi tub decking, when I opened the access door, there was no concrete support bed or foam bed. so I gave Chavez a call and Julio himself came out and looked it over, told his crew exactly what to do, they made the repairs within 3-4 hrs and you couldn't even tell they pulled the Tub out, they did a professional job. thanks again Chavez

I woke up today and my toilet was not performing properly. I called Chavez plumbing in the morning and they said they would have someone out there between 12-2. They then called right back and said they could have someone there within the hour. Two gentlemen came to look at the problem. I just remodeled my bathroom and put marble down so I asked them to please remove their shoes. They had no hestitation at all. They initially used a snake to try to unclog the toilet. I asked them if that would scratch the toilet. They said it could if the individual did not know what they were doing. It turns out they had to go underneath the house to use the roto rooter to unclog the toilet. They were fast, effecient, professional and didn't scratch the toilet!

I have had the same plumber for 7 years but decided to try another one since my plumber messed up my remodel job and was messy every time he came over to do work. He also made some unprofessional comments.  I'll defintely call Chavez plumbing again.

My garbage disposal had stopped working, and was causing water to back up into my dishwasher. I tried resetting it, but it still wouldn't work. I called Chavez Plumbing in the late afternoon, and they were able to come over the next morning. The two guys showed up right on time. I told them what the problem was and they fixed it in no time at all. When they asked if there was anything else (not pushing at all), I had them check the toilet in my guest room that had an intermittent leak. They gave me a high and low estimate, depending on the issue. Luckily it ended up being a simple job, so it ended up being the lower estimate. Plus, they fixed a loose doorknob while they were here! I didn't even ask for that, and they didn't charge for it. Just decent people, and very punctual, efficient and professional. I was happy with the price (even before the Angie's List discount), and I won't hesitate to call them next time I need a plumber.

I recently purchased a home , the two sinks in the master bath were plugged, I called Chavez, they sent Boni out he quickly took care of that problem, also during the home inspection, the inspector noted the dryer vent had 3-elbows and the exhaust piping ran approx. 30' I tried to dry a batch of clothes and it took almost 2 hrs. Boni got under the home found me a much shorter route and used only 1 elbow, dryer works like a champ and the wife is very happy! Thanks Chavez

We purchase our 1968 typical Houston ranch house in 2009.  Since then, we have had significant plumbing problems from very low water pressure (could not use master shower) to "dirty" looking water.  The house's original galvanized steel pipes were very corroded and just plain nasty.

We contacted a number of plumbers about repiping the house and got a wide variety of answers, approaches, prices and recommendations.  I found Chavez Plumbing on Angie's List and called them in June 2011.  I felt very comfortable with them from the moment Julio showed up, The first thing he did was to check the pressure coming into the house...something nobody else did.  He walked me through the options and ways to address the problems.  He never talked down to me, but focused on educating me so I could make an informed decision.  We decided to repipe with PEX.  Within a couple days, we had an estimate from Julio.  Not only were we very comfortable with the company, but they gave us the best price by many $1000 of dollars.  We instantly decided to go with them, but had to hold off the work because of some travel we planned in the summer.

After a variety of situations that delayed our plumbing work, we contacted Vicki at Chavez Plumbing in September to see if the estimate still held.  They honored the estimate from June and started within a week of us contacting them.

The men who worked on our house were so professional and friendly.  They were incredibly respectful of our house and our family.  We expected to have the house totally torn up, with walls pulled down to do the repiping.  Actually, the process was very clean.  They were able to do minimal cutting in the walls, most of which I did not even see until I specifically looked for it. The whole process was completed in 3 days.  At the end, everything was cleaned up -- like they had never been there.  During the process, we made a couple changes (added some water lines for future renovation), and they easily accomodated the changes.  Vicki (at the plumbing office) was very responsive.  We communicated with her mostly via email.  Communications very extremely clear and we never felt like we did not know what was going on.  The final cost of the work came in exactly where we thought and there were no surprises.

I am so happy to have found a plumbing company I can fully trust, and I will always use them in the future.  I am totally satisfied with them and highly recommend them to anyone needing plumbing work.

Julio came the same week and cleaned out all my faucets free of charge. My water pressure was low because of calcium deposits. The water tank installation went flawlessly. I have an old house with old gas fittings, but he had all the parts to do the job right.

Chavez Plumbing is so wonderful. I have used them in the past and I am so impressed with how hard they work. Their receptionist is also very responsive and I always get a call back on the same day.

My experience with them was great.  They were good and very reasonable in their price.  They went and got the parts.  They didn’t insist on me like another company that said that I have to get the whole new thing.  They just got one part for me that I needed.

Excellent

It went great.  It didn't take him much time to diagnose and then repair it.

they did an excellant job in god time

Didn't proceed with services from this company