A Quality Plumber

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We had Gary out on a couple of occasions last Fall.  We had recently purchased our home and needed the plumbing/pipes in the barn redone since the original homeowner didn't install appropriate materials, i.e. copper pipe.  I also talked with Gary about wanting hot water in my (horse) wash rack, and he suggested installing a small "point of use" water heater to accomplish this.  The pipes Gary's crew installed have been fine.  The hose bib started leaking within a month of so of installation.  They did come out and fix the issue (a grain of something sharp apparently punctured the rubber washer inside the hose bib).  My biggest issue w/Gary was the installation of the point of use (POU) water heater unit.  After the first freeze we had in Nov. last year, the POU unit froze and broke.  Mind you, this is a $350 unit.  I called Gary, and he told me that we really needed to 'insulate' the unit, and recommended building a box around the unit and stuffing insulation in it to prevent this from happening in the future.  He admitted his workers should've discussed this with me.  So, Gary offered to split the cost w/me on a new unit.  So, $175 later he installs a second POU unit in the barn, we build a box around and insulate the unit.  Fast forward to New Years, when we're out of town, we have another freeze. And the unit freezes and breaks...again.  My housesitter was able to deal with the situation, but not something you want to be dealing with when you're 2 states away.  So, I call Gary.  Who proceeds to get belligerent with me while telling me this isn't really his problem and that they don't warranty freeze damage.  The cherry on top was him telling me to take my complaints and "tell it to the judge".  I've never dealt with someone so unprofessional in my life.  I ended up hanging up on him because I wasn't getting anywhere due to his abrasive, rude behavior.  A few days later my husband called the manufacturer of the POU unit to determine if it was OK to install these in a barn setting.  The manufacturer said that insulation wouldn't prevent damage to the unit, and it needed to be in a heated, enclosed environment. In other words, a room w/a space heater if it would be in an outbuilding setting.  I had a second plumber out to get another opinion on the unit as well.  The second plumber said that not only would they NOT recommend installing such a unit in my barn due to freeze risk, that they would also have me sign a waver to install such a unit saying I understood the risks of freeze damage.  The plumber also said there would have to be space heater if temps got below freezing, simply insulating it wouldn't work.  Hard lesson learned and we're out $500 for nothing.  If Gary would have done his job in the first place and educated me, the consumer, I never would have gone forward with the installation.  But being the supposed professional I trusted that this was a viable option. Big mistake.  I didn't have an issue w/Gary's workers, they showed up promptly and acted professionally.  Gary himself is a piece of work, and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.   Buyer beware, if he's even in business anymore.

unknown

The workers were very good. They were professional in every way, but the price was a bit high. When I compared prices, they were the highest, but they were the only ones available.

Fantastic!  I talked to Gary on Friday 6/27 - the job was lined up for 1st thing Monday, 6/30.  Gary handled the quote and pricing via email. It was very easy to set all of this up. David did the install. He was a super nice guy, very friendly and informative. Top notch; I would hire them again.

The plumber was a day late.   Totally not his fault.  My street is one of those streets that starts and dead ends and picks up somewhere else.  I had to go to work.  He called first thing this morning and I asked him to take his time since I work nights.  He said he would be over in 45 minutes.  He showed exactly on time.  He wore booties when he came in, assessed what the job was and then went and got the tools he needed.  I had already bought the faucet that I wanted to have replaced.   It took him all of 20 minutes to replace the faucet.  I paid and he gave me some cards.  He was professional and now I have a faucet that doesn't leak!  I couldn't be happier.

unknown

well done

I had a newly refurbished bathroom right next to the original laundry room, which only had an 18" high drain pipe for the washer.  I was afraid of having my beautiful bathroom ruined by an overflow, so I hired Gary to install those "laundry boxes" which have shut-off levers as well as a drain.
Gary did a workman-like job, and we haven't had a drop of trouble.

My contractor had not used a plumber to install the toilet.  I came home one night to find sewage all over the floor - not an overflow, oozed up between the Duraceramic floor tiles.
Gary predicted that the European-style toilet had shifted so the connections were off, so when a blockage happened, the leak happened under the toilet.  He pulled up the toilet and we saw that he had been right.  He also found that the original installer had not used the correct gasket.
Gary worked quickly and with good workmanship to replace the gasket, rebolt the toilet properly, and reset it.  He had to work in a small space, but he was very careful not to smack anything into the surrounding walls or cabinets, and he was very careful of my brand new floor.
I didn't rate him on pricing because at this point in my life I care much more about quality work than whether or not I could have gotten "good enough" for cheaper.

Gary was excellent in working fast and efficient.  Was excellent in providing suggestions for small problems that came up.  Cheaper then other bid we got.  Gary was flexible for timing for us.

This young chap responded to my call, he was working under his company license, the owner was never there.  He was pretty sure the sewer line runs to the back of the house, made an assumption that the pipes underneath broke from a heavy truck running over the yard, and the sewer backup would  be resolve after the line is replaced with PVC. Required 50% down payment .  Once the digging started, he found  more blockage along the line and it actually curves toward the front of the house instead, he demanded more money to dig beyond a certain point.  No matter what he did, the sewer backup was never resolved, he then recommended digging towards the front of the house where he believed was really clogged.  
I don't think this guy is experienced enough to be diagnosing anybody's plumbing problems.  It's a total breach of trust.  He was so worried about not getting paid that he threatened to report me to the state department of health.  Here I was trying to take care of the problem but unfortunately hired the wrong person!  Don't ever use this company, it will cost you more in the long run.  I ended up hiring a more trustworthy person to finish the job.