Winston's Plumbing and Heating / Sewer and Drain

Winston and his crew helped us out on two occasions, first to replace our water heater and second to swap out some old galvanized plumbing.
He and his crew are very pro and courteous and we were very happy with the results. I truly appreciated winston's ability to provide us with several options depending on what we wanted to accomplish and our budget.

Erin and Winston are great to work with and I had a very hard situation because I rent. Winston's crew was polite and clean. Erin was very communicative and both were very understanding of what was going on. They got the work done efficiently and for a fair price. Well worth the investment for any plumbing issues.

Winston and Erin are so easy/nice to work with, I've worked with them on several projects including removing and replacing stucco from the front of my home, installing air conditioning, lining in my crawl space, and plumbing work. Not only is Winston great but his team is really nice too- it's fun having them around the house.

I had a Clogged toilet. I called Winston's Plumbing at 9:00 AM. I got a call back shortly after. Set up an appointment for later in the day. I got a call around 1:00 and was told that Winston would arrive between 2 and 2:30. He was on time, snaked the toilet and found a gold loop earring that was causing the clog.  He was pleasant, courteous and efficient. Happy day.

I came to this company to get emergency plumbing work done, and ended up getting that satisfied, plus my electrical problems fixed and a tutorial on lighting the pilot to my water heater that seriously came in handy much sooner than I expected.

 Long story short is that I got robbed for my copper plumbing and became aware of it the day after I got the key to my new house.  Winston Plumbing was recommended to me by the person that put in my security system.  I called him and let him know what happened and a seriously beautiful thing happened-- I got a plumber that not only replaced the pipes that got stolen but also helped me to receive full payment when my insurance company balked at paying for the damage and tried to call part of it vandalism.

It gets even better.  He is also a certified electrician and was able to fix all the non-working light sockets--plus put in new ones and helped to make an old house become much more livable.

Best--His prices are reasonable.  He consults and teaches and the teaching part of his services came in very handy.  After my washer and dryer were installed,  I discovered that the pilot light had gone off on the  water heater   Luckily a few days before, Winston had shown me where the pilot light was, then how to light it so I wouldn't have to wait for PG&E, unless  I was concerned with something other  than a pilot light going out.  

To wrap it up---Winston Plumbing got me water when I most needed it  to move in at reasonable prices; in addition; the company  was certified to met my electrical needs,  then me teaches (how to light the pilot which saved me time and worry).  Calling him is a win-win when you have plumbing and electrical problems and I found out he builds container gardens.  Five Stars

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As a new homeowner, I was so relieved to find a plumber and contractor I can depend on. Winston and his team are very knowledgeable, responsive and attentive to detail. Over the past four years, Winston and crew have installed a new more efficient centralized heating system, a dishwasher, two toilets, and he has fixed a door and a variety of smaller things as well. He is priced competitively and follows up to check that things are working well. Even when he is very busy, he's always been able to show up or send one of his guys in a super timely manner, or stop in to fix a leak before or after a long work day.  Winston is a great and trustworthy guy.  I highly recommend team Winston!

Fantastic experience. Winston's a great guy and explained everything clearly. Fixed not just my heater, but replaced my faucet too. I felt like he understood the dynamics of my household to not oversell me. My heater was thoroughly cleaned and  thermostat replaced. We now have a new faucet and washers to help with water pressure. Fantastic! One stop shop!

Couldn't get a return phone call. Left two voicemail, 1 week apart. Its been several weeks and no return call. Guess they do not need the business.

This review is waaaay late. Sorry Winston! Winston's Plumbing Heating & Electric was suggested to us by friends after the sewer main backed up into our basement, flooding our laundry room and art space with the human yuck factor. Winston and his crew came through with the quickness and assessed the situation, explaining to us what was going on and what the options were to move forward. Our situation was pretty major, since it was the line all the way out to the street, backing up out of the floor drain in our laundry room. Thankfully, we have home owner's insurance (USAA rocks!) and we had to get them involved. Winston worked with our insurance guy to see what was covered and what was not, yadayadayada, deal was made and they got to work fixing the mess. Draining, sanitizing, all that required stuff. It only took a few days, and mostly that was because our insurance guy couldn't come out right away (it was a weekend). They replaced the line with minimal floor and landscape disturbance and we were happy flushers in no time. The crew was very cordial and respectful and Winston himself was very very knowledgeable, explains things well, and seems to be a generally happy guy (big smiles). It really was a pleasure meeting and working with him. Situations like these usually end up with a we pay, you do relationship. With Winston, it's a lot more than that! We highly recommend this company for plumbing needs, and if his heating and electric skills match his plumbing skills, then you're covered.

This is long over due.  Last year around Christmas, my water heater leaked.  Luckily Winston was around to help.  He and his crew did a great job at a fair price.  Most important, they were able come out during a very busy and personal time of year.  I hated asking for help during the holidays, which people should be celebrating with their families.  But it was really cold and not having hot water was a real hardship.  

I saw a bad review by e.t. In all fairness, I also had some scheduling issues.  Since I was working from home, it was easier for me to deal with.  However, I understand e.t.'s frustration.  My suggestion, if you can't take an entire day off, is to use a lock box.  Winston is trustworthy.

Nothing quite compares to the feeling of getting soaped up in the shower in the middle of the night then discovering you've got no hot water. When this happened, I called Winston the next day. WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE! They were polite, understanding, very friendly. Winston came the very next morning, apologized for running late even though he was not even late at all (he arrived at about 8:55 for an 8:30-9AM window), fixed my water heater in pretty much no time, and even advised me on putting a cap on another gas line. He didn't even charge me for the repair because it was so quick! Then we hung out and talked about local restaurants.

Best visit by a service professional ever! Will be calling them for all my plumbing repair and home improvement needs.

Prompt and expert trenchless sewer line replacement.  Best price too.  Went to extra mile to take care of everything.  The crew was great.  Smoothly and expertly took care of whatever came up.

Where do I start with Winston...First off I should say that I called Winston when the one bathroom I have backed up into the shower...it was not only gross but put me in a very interesting situation.  Winston and his crew found out that the sewer pipe broke in the front of the house (thx Oakland tree roots!).  Winston was amazing.  He dug everything up the next day and in less than 24 hours I had running bathroom.  His crew was great to work with.

Well that was just the start...Winston let me know that he not only did plumbing but also did electrical, windows and full remodels.    I just purchased the house so I had a lot of items I could use his help with.  Winston updated my kitchen (it is night and day from where it was), installed new windows, new electrical, new plumbing throughout the house, put in a new front porch, completely changed my backyard into a paradise...the list is actually continuing as I type.

His rates are reasonable, but more importantly his work is amazing!  He gets it done right the first time and won't leave the site until he is happy with the work (I think his crew painted one of my walls 10+ times because he just wasn't happy...I couldn't see it but what do I know).  He also gives you great ideas (like the skylight in the kitchen which completely changed the room).

Lastly he is just a great guy.  Lives and works in Oakland.  Gotta support the local community and working with him made the decision so easy. If I could give him six stars I would.

Winston is smart and friendly and has solved plumbing problems both large and small in my old house. It's a huge relief to me to know I can call on Winston!

Another overdue review!  We initially heard about Winston from neighbors.  We have used him over the years for jobs large and small - replacing toilets to re-plumbing the entire house.  For the re-plumbing, he spent time helping us decide exactly what portions of the existing plumbing needed to be replaced for maximum benefit for our dollars spent. We ended up spending considerably less than the other quotes we'd gotten and are very happy with the result.

Winston is knowledgeable, super-friendly,  always takes the time to explain what's going on, and is sensitive to the unique features of our older home.    He also does electrical, remodels, etc.  I haven't needed that yet but he'll be my first call when I do.

Winston and his crew replaced our super-old-rusted-through-actually-burst water heater this week. We got four bids from plumbers and Winston's was not only the lowest, but he also could have a crew over and get our water heater replaced the quickest.

Both Winston and his crew were friendly and very professional, and actually ended up finishing almost an hour earlier than they estimated, meaning we had hot water again that much sooner. The new water heater works perfectly (no more leaks into the basement! or carbon monoxide hazards!)

I especially appreciated how great of a job they did cleaning up after themselves - things were actually cleaner when they left than they were before they got here.

Winston obviously knows his stuff, and I will definitely be calling him for plumbing needs in the future.

Winston is amazing to work with! He and his crew recently completed a fireplace job for us: installing a gas insert (purchased from Berkeley Tubmakers!) and installing a tile surround as well. From the quoting phase all the way to cleaning up, Winston, his crew, and Erin were great -- fantastic communication, always willing to listen, easy to work with. They billed exactly in line with the quote (awesome), and Erin was always quick on email responses. The crew was solid too -- Kept the house clean, was very mindful of our space, and even when we had some very specific requests for how we wanted the tile to be installed (we're very detail-oriented/picky), they had no issue doing the work as requested. Can't ask for anything better. The final job ended up beautiful and we're already talking to Winston about some additional work in our master bath. Can't recommend Winston & Co. enough.

The crew at Winston's Plumbing did a superb job with our plumbing and bathroom remodel project. Winston did a thorough assessment of our leaky pipes and made some excellent suggestions around re-doing our bathroom for greater comfort, functionality, and beauty. In the days that followed, that vision became an awesome reality!

Winston's crew is top-notch: they're respectful, professional, thorough, and hard-working. We especially appreciated their careful attention to protecting our furniture and floor from scratches or dust during construction. After many long hours, our new bathroom looks first-rate, and everything works perfectly!

I would have given Winston's Plumbing five stars if it weren't for some miscommunication issues around delivery of materials and costs. But even these hiccups were resolved with earnest effort and in a reasonable amount of time.

We highly recommend Winston's Plumbing for your home repairs and improvements!

Do not waste your money with this so call business unless you're in the business of getting ripped  off. They do not honor their work which says alot about one's character.

My outside drain was stopped up with water overflowing and against my entrance and one day after Kevin the owner supposedly have fixed it, it began to do it all over again. I phoned and text him several times only to get the run around. A month goes by and a lost of a $185.00 initial pay to him, needless to say he never came back.

Off the hook! Winston's Plumbing, Heating and Electric is as good as it gets. Winston has helped us troubleshoot plumbing problems - and always solves them to code and with expertise.

Winston is the real deal. He couples old-fashioned, trustworthy service with modern technical know how. Winston has skillfully troubleshot our tricky furnace problems, aided by his extensive knowledge about both heating and electrical systems. His work is thorough and topnotch and he takes the time to explain things to laypeople.  He and his partner, Erin, respond promptly and professionally and are a pleasure to work with.  I also appreciate that they give back to our community.  They rock!

Wilson and his crew turned up fast and offered a large number of options from affordable to high end to address our blown hot water heater. His team showed up on time, was courteous and efficient and got us hit water in just a few days. I would definitely use again.

My husband found Winston via Yelp to install radiant heating. We purchased a house without any central heating set up and is one of the older homes in the area that hasn't had much work done to it in recent years. Winston came out to give an estimate and gave us a plethora of ideas of how we can update the home without breaking the piggy bank! He's always very professional and seems genuinely excited and very well versed in what he does. His crew came in to install the radiant flooring and we also had them change out all the old plumbing and install the new water heater. They did such a AWESOME job!! The heating works great and all the lines to the water heater are laid out meticulously. I've never seen such thorough work and everything came together without a hitch in such an orderly manner. It was a dream to work with Winston and his team. Erin from the office was always very responsive and prompt with our quotes and changes. This is definitely the crew with the best A game in the business!!! We're going back to him for more work, it's been such a positive experience!

Winston is the man. He has a deep knowledge and expertise of plumbing and a can-do attitude which makes working with him a pleasure. He was able to assess our issue and repair it with confidence and agility. Winston put in long hours to fix our job and stayed until the work was done. Our job took over five days and Winston absolutely came through with flying colors. He's got a very strong team that he works with and his estimate was on target for the final cost. I absolutely will continue to use Winston as our family Plumber and if other issues come up around heating or cooling systems, I will also use his services. This is the type of Service I am looking for and I strongly recommend Winston Washington for your plumbing challenges. To make things better, he's a really nice guy.

On New Years Eve in the middle of the big rainstorm our sump pump shorted out and our finished basement began dimming with water. Winston responded very quickly. Within a few minutes he got the situation under control and referred us to a company that could help with drying out the walls. Winston was very helpful with our homeowners insurance claim. His clear explanation helped us get our claim in quickly and accurately. I cannot say enough about how great Winston and all the people working at Winston's Plumbing have bee. This was not the way I imagined 2023 starting but with Winston's help it is all set right. I would recommend Winston's Plumbing 100%!

I could have did the job because I am a man, but you know I just didn't have the right tools and time is money.  It's just nice to have someone do the job that you could have done yourself.  He just does it faster and makes it look easy at a honest cost.  I'm still a man though.

We had a sewer line backup and called a rooting company to come out and clear out the clog and diagnosis the problem. They ran a camera down the clay pipe sewer line and found an offset and root blockage. After clearing the roots, they gave a price for repairing the damaged part of the sewer pipe and another price to replace the entire clay pipe sewer line to the edge of the street. Repair costs were more than half the cost to replace the entire line using a trench-less method. Since EBMUD and many cities served by it are requiring that old, leaking sewer laterals be replaced, I got price estimates from 3 other plumbing companies, including Winston's.
Winston's price was a little higher than the lowest price, but its scope of work was more comprehensive and we hired the company to replace the entire clay sewer lateral. Work started 3 days after we signed the contract and moved along quickly. The only delays involved scheduling inspections by EBMUD and the city of Oakland, and both of those inspections were passed.
Winston's owner and his workers were professional, courteous, and responsive to our needs. Since our driveway is shared with a neighbor, scheduling, cleaning up, and keeping the driveway passable at the end of the day were important, and done perfectly.
I was a contractor myself for 35 years and can attest to the professionalism of Winston's and the quality of the work they did. I intend to use them again to replace the clay pipe sewer lateral at a rental house I own that is 100 feet long, 130 years old, and seriously compromised at many places along its length. That project will also involve cleaning up some plumbing under the house that so that it meets current plumbing standards.
Don Link, North Oakland

My heating went out at 2am last night. called them at 10am the next day. The receptionist called me back to schedule at 11am. Winston showed up at 4pm, fixed the heating. Came back the next day to fix: plumbing on dishwasher, put a new igniter on stove, install new lighting (He's an electrician) in the kitchen and the hardware on a malfunctioning shower (plumbing). What else needs to be said? I've tried to use 2 other guys over the last 2 years who were much more expensive  and could never seem to get me on their schedule.

I was so relieved to find Winston on Yelp with such great reviews after experiencing a plumbing emergency, where my upstairs bathroom was heavily leaking down into my kitchen. I called and was so pleased when I was offered an appointment the very next day at noon. I quickly cleared my work schedule and requested a half day off to take care of this nightmare of a situation. The next day at noon while waiting in my home, I get a call from the scheduler stating that she made a mistake and actually scheduled us for the following day at noon. While I was irritated, given that I was already home from work and had sent our dog with our dog walker for the afternoon so that we could focus on this, I understood that mistakes happen.  I immediately called her back and let her know that it was fine and confirmed that the next day at noon would work for me. I, again, rearranged my schedule to be home at noon. At 11:56am, I received an email stating that Winston was swamped and not able to come to my home until the following week.

I am completely disappointed and now stressed about having to scramble to find someone else to help us address this emergency.

I wonder if the 5-star reviews are coming from folks whose appointments were actually honored. I would recommend you get confirmation from Winston himself before clearing your schedule for an appointment with him

Winston helped me with a complicated sewer problem by working with the City of Oakland to get them to fix part of it and saving me thousands of dollars over what other plumbers were telling me it would cost.  He is honest and smart and really understands his work including stuff about property easements which came into play in my situation.  I couldn't get a clear explanation of the work and why the cost was so high from other plumbers.  Pipe Spy quoted me $14K for what sounded like more work than I needed.  When I asked them to just quote me for the part of the pipe that was installed incorrectly, they came back with $15K!  None of the others mentioned Oakland being on the hook for any of this or offered to deal with them.  I think Winston's total cost was around $1K--it was spread out over a number of visits and his work with Oakland.  It also included installing a back-flow valve.

The only thing I would caution is that it takes a lot of phone calls and emails to keep things moving along but I'm finding that's true with many trades people, even the good ones.

I have been working with Winston since I bought my house 6 years ago.  He can do it all.  He installed my heating, my plumbing, and fixed a bad sewage back up.  Winston is reliable and thorough.  The first time I met Winston he walked me through the entire heating process and took all the time I needed to make sure I knew exactly what was going to happen.  When I needed to make an insurance claim, Winston helped guide me through the process while him and his team got to work immediately.   Winston cares about his clients and is a true professional.

Very happy with WInston. He replaced the valve on my ancient gas heater in 2014 and did a great job, then this year the unit was not working again. He came out on a Saturday and diagnosed the problem (the pilot was not working correctly) and fixed it, no charge!  I feel lucky to have him close by and will definitely go to him first for any issues I have going forward.

Winston was quick and professional when it came to fixing a leaking pipe in a rental property I own in Oakland. He explained everything thoroughly and fixed the pipe within hours of calling him.

Winston and his team did an excellent job when the water line to our house was ruptured by a tree root. He came out and gave us an estimate the day after we called, and his estimate was 55% of a competitor's estimate. A day later, his crew started the work. They expected it to take 2 days, but it took 4 (not their fault; they discovered a whole bunch of concrete they had to break up, which should not have been in the location it was.) Anyhow, I was dreading the price increase due to the extra work, but Winston only added a very small amount to the final bill. I almost felt as if I should have paid more.

The work was done very well, on-time, and everything is now working well. We will definitely call him for our next plumbing/remodeling project. Oh, apparently he does electrical and drywall too. Thanks Winston!!

New home owner ...and finding your people is rough.  This was an incredible experience.  Winston was prompt and friendly.  He came through and talked with my little nephew for a bit and we went to check the broken heater out.  He quickly saw the error and explained the cause and what would help to maintain the water heater long term.  He got the estimate to me quickly and even though I had called to set up the appointment to replace the heater close to the end of the day, he and his crew came through and did an excellent job.  Highly professional, local, businessman who showed a business ethic that will make him my go to!

Thank you Winston....your hard work, reliability, and amazing timing is very much appreciated. Your plumbing is state of the art , your crew is very knowledgeable, responsible and kind.
We can count on you always!

I'd highly recommend Winston not only for your heating issues (that's what he fixed for me) but as an overall knowledgeable person about home improvement needs. I called his company after this cold snap left my house really drafty. He was scheduled to come the very same day, came promptly and jumped right in, not with a quote, but to make the needed adjustments right away. I only needed some minor adjustments and cleaning, so was charged for a basic visit. But he also suggested two ways to remodel my house to retain more heat. He gave a sound estimate (compared to what others had told me) and gave me allot to think about that might move me towards the real long term solution to my heating problems. Very happy with his work and will use him again for sure.

I have to trumpet the other positive reviews about Winston's work and company. Like many of my neighbors, I had to repair the lateral sewer connection to the city line at my expense. Winston came out to estimate and quoted a good price to do the newer trenchless style replacement of approximately 30 feet of pipe up to my house (on a hill). He kept to schedule, and his workers were experienced and effective. The sight of them pulling a huge section of continuous pipe through the ground (which splits the old poor quality pipe) was quite amazing.  The work was done as promised and the sewer was connected again an hour before the end time they specified for it to be offline. When they re-paved the street, where the digging was necessary to connect to the city line, they also repaired an additional area that had a mini sink hole and ridge in it adjacent to their work area - without me asking. Really nice for them to do that. From conversations with Winston, I could tell that he is responsible and really attentive to customers, and he is also knowledgeable about many plumbing and electrical issues. He also has a good relationship with the city inspectors as I observed. His lovely wife/partner also was good to work with in terms of sending the contract, making minor changes at my request, and sending the EBMUD certificate guaranteeing the sewer connection for 20 years promptly.  I will definitely call Winston for future needs. Great experience.

I am a Realtor whose client just had a problem with a sewer lateral compliance certificate that was issued two years ago-long before my client had purchased the property. Winston's was the company who did the work at the time, and was hired by a Seller who is now long-gone. I called them on the off-chance that they might be willing to help me resolve the issue despite not knowing myself or my client.

Not only did they check their records from two years back THAT DAY to see what had happened, but they also CALLED EBMUD on my client's behalf TWICE just to make sure it was taken care of! They were absolutely instrumental in getting this issue resolved.

Given the lengths they go to when there's ZERO COMPENSATION for them, I can't wait to see how I'm treated when I actually hire them for a project. Service like this extremely rare to find now-a-days. Thank you all very much.  As I said before, should myself or any of my client's in Oakland need assistance, you're at the top of my list.

Had our shower installed by someone who 'said' they knew what they were doing.  It was unusable.  

After 2 guys said they would have to rip the wall out to fix it.  Called Winston and he was here the next day, quick clean of the valve and it's working great!  He also fixed our other water heater we'd been told would need to be totally replaced for over $4k, by swapping the shower head for $0.

Winston came before and took care of my apartment heating system
Then another unit heater had  a problem and Winston came to the rescue this time since he is my neighbor and it was not out of this way he came by and made a  couple adjustments for no charge now that's what I call great service !!!!if you need any repairs for your heating and plumbing services I very highly recommend Winston to take care of you he is very understanding and is very knowledgeable in his trades you can't go wrong in calling. Winston's Plumbing & Heating and Drain Services !!!!!

I am so happy to have found Winston thanks to Yelp!   I called him to give a quote on replacing an older gas heating unit that had been partially repaired several times.  After a very thorough analysis of the unit he showed me why it had not been been working and was able to rebuild part of the unit for a very reasonable price.   The unit works great now and I saved lots of $$$ from buying and installing a new unit.  As others have said- this man knows it all- he has also given me great advice on some  other household issues including electrical (poorly done by a previous handyman),  foundation work, rodent proofing,  and converting our hot tub heater to gas.  I am looking forward to working with him on these projects moving forward.  Appointment process was smooth and I was able to reschedule for the next day when commute traffic prevented me from making our appointment window.   I highly recommend him!