Julia B.
01/04/2017 12:00:00 SA
Victor is a gem. One of my best finds on Yelp thus far. Stop reading Yelp reviews and just call him. You'll see what I mean after you chat with him for a few minutes. (you may call a few other plumbers just to see the difference). His pricing cannot be beat since he owns his own equipment and has licenses required to do more complicated sanitation work (C-42), not just the basic C-36 license that other plumbers have (some aren't even licensed! so ask). Other companies hire him to do this work as a subcontractor and add a mark-up to that. This makes sense when the subcontractor doesn't have the people skills to acquire customers and do jobs on his own, but in this case, it's the complete opposite. On top of this, Victor understands the lifetime value of a customer and knows that to earn one's trust, you have to be honest, transparent and do what's right for the customer long-term. We got just that from him and are extremely satisfied with his work. We'll be recommending him to all of our friends from now on.
Now, here's the long version:
I had a clogged main sewer line, which turned out to be a much more difficult problem to resolve than we had previously anticipated. We had two different companies (top LA plumbers on Yelp) come out who couldn't resolve it by snaking and hydrojetting and started scaring us about what may need to be done. Everything was very vague and the pricing was all over the place. From $16K to $80K. The recommendations were also very inconsistent, which made me worried about their validity. Completely understand that there are so many things that may be uncovered once they're underground, but I had major concerns about being scammed into doing unnecessary work and being ripped off. Very common in this industry.
I'm an extremely thorough person and did my due diligence when looking for a plumber to do this complicated sewage work. I decided to quickly get up to speed on the latest sewage technology (e.g., trenchless pipe bursting, permaliner) to better educate myself to understand the different scenarios and options and feel confident in who I hire for such a big job. I read hundreds of reviews, put in both, Yelp and Thumbtack, inquiries, and interviewed dozens of the top plumbers in LA. They all sounded pretty much the same, until I spoke to Victor. He is an honest and highly professional plumber who is an expert in his field. He can provide the level of transparency and education that one needs when faced with a multi-thousand dollar plumbing situation. The rest of the companies I spoke with either didn't want to bother going into the details to educate me on the options and risks or simply couldn't articulate them to my satisfaction. Victor was a breath of fresh air. We spent an hour talking about plumbing over the phone on a Saturday afternoon. (it was quite fascinating!) That's when I knew that I could stop my search, hire him and cancel the rest of my estimate appointments.
Victor and his crew came out, assessed the situation, and provided our options and their implications. They broke ground the next day and worked efficiently for the next couple of days until our sewage woes were resolved. Our situation was complicated - our pipes were from the 1960s, we're in the Hills, and the main sewer line was made up on different materials. We had major root growth and cracks through our pipes. Of course, we could've hydrojetted, but the roots would grow right back and we'd need to do this on a 6-12 month basis for the rest of our lives. We ended up doing a permaliner and trenchless pipe bursting for two different segments of the pipe, essentially replacing the entire sewer line from our house to the city line. Victor's pricing was unmatched and he provides a lifetime guarantee on the trenchless pipe replacement and 20 years on the permaliner. He kept us updated throughout the entire process, showed us live videos of the progress and obstacles, and fixed everything!!! He even took a look at our indoor plumbing situation and provided his expert opinion on a few things we were considering. Trust me, this decision will save you thousands of dollars and peace of mind that you're getting the best quality work. Plumbing is no joke.