Ala Wai Plumbing

So I called him due to his great referenced.  We mad and appt for him to come at 9 on a wednesday.  He didn't show up and not so much as a phone call.  Very upsetting I waited but nothing! Would give negative stars if I could.

I had Ala Wai Plumbing fix my leaking shower, install a toilet and a garbage disposal.  Each job was on time, professional and the cost was reasonable.  I will have him do some solar heater maintenance in a few weeks.  I recommend Ala Wai Plumbing.

I needed to replace a shut-off valve for the refrigerator water feeding line. Carlos was able to come same day and replaced the valve in half an hour. He did the job competently and cleanly. I am very impressed and can recommend him wholeheartedly. If I need any plumbing repairs in the future, Carlos will be my man to call. And did I mention the man is extremely nice too?
Thank you, Carlos!
Alex.

Excellent and very nice plumber.  I called and left a message for Carlos on a Saturday evening, not expecting any response but he called right back, and we set up for him to visit my house on Monday.  It started with a leaky set of kitchen sink drain pipes, and grew to include a rocking toilet, new sink drain, and then he discovered my kitchen faucet was leaking, too, and advised replacing it.  He recommended the Costco spray faucet, which I went and bought, and Carlos came back the next day to install.  We very much appreciated his quick response, his discovery of an additional leak we needed to fix, and he even returned a third time to redo a minor issue with the toilet, at no additional cost.  On cost - I considered his bill very reasonable for all the good work he did.  He is definitely our plumber now!

Not happy with the service. Unable to unclog the sink that I asked him to do, but still charged for service. I will not be using Carlos' service again.

I've never had to call anyone for plumbing work until recently and I am so happy to find these guys through yelp! I saw the great reviews and took a chance with them. I spoke to Carlos and he came over the same day and gave me an estimate. A week later we scheduled an appointment together. Carlos and Miguel came to my home and was quick and professional. With all the plumbing work that needed to be done, I was expecting it to cost a ton of money. However, these guys are super affordable! Will be calling these guys for any future plumbing problems!

Had a pipe that needed to be cleared...tried to clear it myself with no success.  Now the search for a plumber that will come on a holiday.  Found this company on yelp and decided to call.  Carlos answered and was at my house in less than 2 hours.  He cleared the drain and I asked if the pipe could be adjusted to a better slope...did that too.  The price was reasonable and the services was excellent.

I will always try to give business to the small local company rather than the large national company that just doesn't seem to value customer service like the smaller guys.  Glad I found Ala Wai Plumbing and will definitately be calling again.

Never having called a plumber before, I went to Yelp and decided to go with the company that had the highest reviews -- Ala Wai Plumbing. I called in the mid-morning on a Monday and ended up leaving a message. I received a call back within a few minutes. To my surprise (and relief), Carlos told that me that he could come out to my house that evening after I got off work. Needless to say, he did a very thorough job with my kitchen sink and dishwasher. I also learned something new that day, thanks to Carlos: every minute running your kitchen faucet uses 2.5 gallons of water but every load in your dishwasher only uses 4 gallons (8, if you have a large dishwasher)! Based on my positive experience with him, I would definitely recommend Carlos and Ala Wai Plumbing to my friends and family!

Drip, drip, drip...I can only imagine it's been doing that for a while as my wife and I have been away for an extended period of time. Based on my limited plumbing skills and knowledge, surmised that it must have been the angle valves in the kitchen and in the main bathroom's toilet. I cracked yelp's plumber section and narrowed my choices down to two, Ala Wai and Masuda's Plumbing. I called Masuda's but since I am located in Ewa Beach, he suggested I go with someone else since I would have to pay for travel (which appears to be par for the course for most plumbers)...so Ala Wai it is...and I was pleased.

I called up Carlos and explained what the problems were and what I wanted done. In addition to what I thought were leaky angle valves, I also wanted him to place a main shut off valve to the house (in addition to the existing main shut off valve) to enable us to shut the water off to the house while still allowing the sprinkler system to function in case we are away for an extended period of time. Made an appointment with Carlos...he was running late due to another call going longer than expected.

He showed up with his tools and proceeded to work...main shut off valve added in no time flat then it was in the house to look at the leaky culprits. He determined it wasn't the angle valves but the Kohler faucet in the kitchen (by the way, found out from our builders that Kohler has a lifetime warranty) and the water line leading up to the toilet's water reservoir. He also checked out our solar water heater (Ala Wai also does solar installations) and found out the solar water heater pump was not working and gave a quote and advice on how to replace it if we decide to do it ourselves.

Carlos took the time to educate and provide advice. A true professional. The price, I thought was a bit steep, $225 for the visit, but after talking to my brother in law who is a general contractor and does plumbing on the mainland, he stated those rates are reasonable. Oh yeah, don't forget to check out their bare bones website and print out the $30 coupon! With the coupon, it only cost $195 for the work.

I guess I found my plumber from now on.

We needed a last minute repair on our toilet. The water constantly ran and there was a dripping noise. Carlos (or who I assume was Carlos, I never actually got his name) was able to come the same day and quickly made the repairs at a fair price. After he left, however, we noticed that the toilet was not flushing correctly. We called him and he was gracious enough to turn right back around and take a look. In the end, everything works perfectly. I would definitely use this company again.

Carlos was great! Decided to call him after seeing the mostly positive reviews. Upon calling him his phone went straight to voice mail but he called me back not even 5 minutes later. Told him that my toilet needs to be fixed, he told me that he can come out right away. I told him that I was at work but someone was at home to let him in. He arrived in less than an hour and fixed the problem really fast. Upon finishing, Carlos gave me a call to let me know that he was able to fix the problem, this was after he already received payment...which was $110, very reasonable. I would definitely call him if I need to in the future...thanks Carlos!

i had a huge plumbing issue in my bathtub. i called  six other plumbers who either was way to expensive or not available til the middle of next week. the first plumber that came to my apt stated that he couldnt take out the object that fell in the drainage. so i called ala wai plumbing and told the guy exactly what the problem was. he came within an hour and it took him five minutes to snake out the object! .. OMG!! i was sooo happy and it was so inexpensive! thank you much..now i can bubble bath again and have a clean shower!

I seriously can't imagine that anyone could possibly give better VALUE and service than Carlos.

Carlos has come to fix things in our condo 3 times, and each time, he has been prompt, professional, and friendly.  

One of the fears of hiring a plumber is always the unknown cost, but with Carlos, he always seems interested in fixing things with the lowest cost possible for the customer.  He is knowledgeable enough to be able to give multiple options in any situation.  I never felt pressured to choose any particular option, and felt like he always equipped me to make the best decision possible.  I don't want people to get the idea that plumbing jobs with Carlos are going to be dirt cheap, but they are much lower than other quotes I've received, and the VALUE feels incredibly high for the price.

Carlos has always responded very quickly to my texts.  I have sent him videos of what is wrong (easier than trying to describe an issue over the phone), and he responds with his thoughts and we schedule an appointment for him to come over.  For our most recent issue, I texted him at 5pm, he responded at 5:45, came at 9 am the following day, and fixed what I thought would be a major issue within an hour.

On 3 occasions, Carlos has come to fix issues at our condo:

1.  Our shower cold water knob wouldn't turn on the cold water.  Carlos came, told me it was an easy fix and that he had a working knob in his van.  Fixed it in 15 minutes and the cost was much less than what I was expecting.

2.  Our kitchen disposal was not working, and he came to install a new disposal that I had purchased.  There were some issues with the height and size of the disposal, but he was quick to adapt and let me know what our options were.  Cost was much less than what I was expecting.

3.  Water was leaking from somewhere in our bathroom and was coming up from under the floor tiles.  Having inspected the shower, toilet, and sink myself and finding no leaks, I was afraid that there was a leak coming from a pipe in the wall, and was ready to shell out big bucks for a bathroom remodel.  He determined that it was the toilet leaking and fixed it rather quickly.  The cost was a fraction of what I was expecting.

As long as Carlos is in business, I will never think of calling anyone else for my plumbing needs.  Would give Carlos and Ala Wai plumbing the highest recommendation possible.

I had Carlos come by one of my apartments to replace some valves in the bathroom and kitchen. He was able to cruise to Wahiawa short notice and didn't attempt to rip me off like Steve's Plumbing (AVOID).  

Carlos was prompt, courteous and reasonable.  I would recommend Ala Wai and Carlos for all of your plumbing needs.

We had a problem with our waste stack that was cracked and dripping water.  Carlos showed up and quickly diagnosed the problems.  Once he got the proper parts, he got everything replaced in about 30 minutes and after testing, all was good.  I only saw one broken pipe and if I had tried it, the fix would have failed as there were two other broken pieces. Carlos is extremely efficient and comes highly recommended.

Carlos did a good job fixing our faucet leak so we booked him to repkunb our bstch and install a Kitchen faucet. Set the date by phone and confirmed it by text. We called when he didn't show and he didn't want to come to do the work as promised even after hearing we took off precious vacation hours to wait for him. Nice guy but not reliable.

Needed a quick turnaround shower valve replacement after my old cheapo one seized up. After struggling to even get a callback from half a dozen different plumbers, Carlos contacted me promptly and was able to give me a reasonable estimate and a concrete appointment.

Best part was he actually showed up on time! When does that ever happen? He sensibly allowed a decent block of time but got the work done significantly quicker. Work was up to par and results were exactly what I needed to get my shower working again.

Would definitely hire him again for future plumbing needs! Friendly service and professional results.

We had a slow drain in our bathtub upstairs.  My wife called Ala Wai Plumbing late this morning and spoke to Carlos.  Carlos was on his way to a job in Waikiki but offered to stop by after he was through at around 6pm.  He arrived promptly at 6, fixed our problem and left within 15 minutes.  He was professional and efficient and his rates were very reasonable and fair.  We will definitely call Carlos again for future plumbing issues and highly recommend him to others.

I found Ala Wai plumbing and Carlos on Yelp when I needed someone to take a look at the leaking water heater in a house I bought not 3 weeks prior. I knew there had to be someone better out there, and Carlos is it.

The first time he came out to install my new water heater in a new location in the house. He ran new pipe from below my deep sink in the mud room and routed all new copper piping to the new heater. Afterward, he helped me remove the old water heater and capped off the old pipes. Turns out, there was so much gunk built up in there the drain valve wasn't letting any water out at all! Luckily, he had a hand truck available to roll out the heater and all 50 gallons of water outside, where he gave me a hammer to whack the whole drain valve off. That was awesome. (Homeowners, flush your water heater at least once a year. Just hook up a garden hose to the drain valve, run it outside, then open the valve with a screwdriver and let it run for about 20 minutes, or until the water runs clear.)

For reference, A-1 charged me $197 to install some PVC pipe below my sink. Carlos charged me $450 for everything I said above.

Carlos visit 2. The regulator for my house was very old and in a weird position. Also, I didn't have one of the ball valve quick shutoffs. Carlos came out Friday morning while my wife was home and started digging to install the new valve and regulator, he thought it was odd where the regulator was, so he explored back toward the meter and found the old shutoff valve buried about a foot below the surface! He cut out all the old valves and installed the new regulator and shutoff closer to the meter and the side of my property.

The was a pipe size reduction he didn't expect, and he asked a buddy to come by with it. While we were waiting, I was telling him about a small mound I wanted to remove in my yard, he said he had a tool to make it a lot easier than just using a shovel like I planned. Then HE GOT IT FROM HIS TRUCK AND LOANED IT TO ME. Then HE BORROWED MY SHOVEL AND STARED HELPING ME. After that he showed me how to fix one of shower valves and loaned me the allen key I needed to do it. What does your plumber do on his breaks?

It's not easy to find a plumber who is knowledgeable, thorough, dependable and friendly, and who doesn't charge an arm and leg. I'm well satisfied. He changed the lavatory faucet in my bathroom which had been causing problems for me for a long time. Recommended.

Read about Ala Wai Plumbing in Yelp when I needed a bathroom faucet replaced and decided to give them a try. Turned out to be the right decision as Carlos (the plumber) was punctual and did the job quickly, and was true to his estimate for the job cost.
He is not listed in the Yellow Pages so you'll read about him either here on Yelp or his internet website for Ala Wai Plumbing.
If you need a good plumber, give him a try.

Carlos and Derek were super responsive, honest and thorough.  It was refreshing to deal with a company that was so skilled and customer service oriented.  A great find, I wish all my vendors were like this!

Amazing job! I would recommend them anytime. They are fast and reliable. We initially had a hard time removing the old drain so we decided to call in the professional to finish the job installing our bathroom sinks. Job well done. Thank you!

Carlos is an amazing, kind and friendly person PLUS he is a great plumber and communicator! He has done work on two properties we have lived in, one a historic home in Manoa and the other our condo in Waikiki. Both times he has listened carefully to our questions and has successfully addressed our needs (fixed toilet, unclogged drains, installed ice maker, and figured out sensor faucets), at reasonable rates. Furthermore, he has been helpful in helping us plan proactively so as to reduce future issues! Would recommend with A+ gold star ratings and our grateful appreciation. Mahalo!!!

I had a good experience with Carlos. I had to wait a few days to get the job done but he was pretty communicative with me over the phone about the job. He said he had lost my number and called me back a few days later when he found it. I will use Carlos again because he was pleasant, knowledgeable, professional and his prices are decent.

Carlos was easy to reach and came out
as planned.  He's a good plumber...he knows his stuff...found the leak and took care of it right away...thank you Carlos!
We will call you again.
Happy New Year's!

Carlos and Victor arrived on time and went to work replacing a kitchen sink faucet, p trap and water valve...as well as unblocking a clogged shower head and replacing a toilet seat...Carlos and Victor are very professional and highly recommended from this happy client...I will call them before anyone...and I have had experiences with other plumbers that were unpleasant...these guys are the ones...stoked...

If there's one word that screams $$$$$...it is Plumbing!  You never know the real value of a reliable plumber till you need them!  

I called Carlos after reading other Yelp reviews and had also tried calling other companies.  Carlos was very honest and straight up, yet very polite from the get go.  He responded and called back quickly (some companies never called back or called back 2 days later!).

After going to my unit and seeing what needed to be done, he gave me an honest assessment and told me that the Secondary item I had wanted him to check was just fine.  I had him look at the water heater and we discussed options- in the end, I really appreciated his honesty and input...and his price for all the repairs was very reasonable.

I'll be calling Carlos again!!

First review for me...just had to give props to Carlos for his recent work at my home!   He is fair, honest pleasant and has a very professional approach to completing the job.  Couldn't ask for more!

I had an old shower with very old handles/stems that needed changing.  I decided to do it myself and realized halfway into it that I was in over my head.  I had removed the cover and components of the diverter, but couldn't get the stem out.  I called up Carlos and he was able to come the next day.  He was able to remove the stem and fix what I started!  He tried to remove the other two stems, but they were stuck and the tool he was using didn't provide enough leverage.  We rescheduled a second visit.  I paid him for the first visit and the price was very reasonable.

Carlos returned with a better tool and tried as hard as he could to do it and then let me know that if he put any more pressure, the pipes behind could be damaged.  I was very thankful he tried.  He gave me some options and refused to take payment since he wasn't able to remove the stems.  I insisted to at least compensate for his time, and he finally agreed to take a much smaller amount.

I'm very happy with his service, integrity, and honesty.  If and when I decide to upgrade the bathtub, I will definitely call him!

The best plumber! Did a great job for a great price. He removed my old tub, installed a new tub and new toilet valve.

Carlos is always reliable AND  reasonable, he's the plumber you can trust...just a really great guy!

I was looking for the Plumber for a long time. From Yelp, I found one that has a lot of reviews but the company was located at Hawaii Kai. Then I found Ala Wai Plumbing. I read all reviews for Ala Wai Plumbing and decided to call Carols. As people said, Carols is very nice, hones and give a good fair price! I am really happy to find a hard working and reliable plumber. I will have another project with him in next month. I will  definitely recommend!

My husband was replacing our faucet and the knobs to turn on/off the cold and hot water when we suddenly heard a SNAP followed by water rushing through the house. What was originally a easy to-do home project, turned into a watery mess. LUCKILY, our master bathroom is above our garage - so the water seeped into the garage which was easy to sweep outside. We had no idea where our water shut off was (we just moved in) so we had to run and grab our neighbor for help. Around 2-5 minutes later (or a lifetime if you're watching water stream through your garage ceiling) we shut off the water.

My grandfather wanted to try his original plumber, but could not get a hold of him (We found out after the fact that he had retired). As I was in panic mode, I began searching for plumbers. But who would provide good, reliable service? Who would be able to come on a Sunday? How would we know? That's when the Yelper inside me came out - and I turned to Yelp!

I saw the first plumber - nine 5-star reviews, but on the opposite end of the island. We tried calling, only to discover that they were closed on Sundays. I kept flipping through more and more plumbers only to find that they too were closed on Sundays, or didn't do a very good job and left customers dissatisfied. I finally came across Rick's review. I'm normally pretty skeptic about single review vendors (I like vendors with LOTS of reviews to rely on - you find the good, the bad, and the ugly sometimes in all those reviews) but had no other choice. I was going to take the plunge - we needed our water back!

My husband called their 24-hour line for the West side and got a hold of Carlos. My husband continued to describe the problem - what happened, how it happened, the result, and what we could see. Right away Carlos was up front. He told us it would be a straight $120 fee to replace the pipe. We looked at each other like, Really? That's it? He's going to have to replace the pipe, cut into the wall, and come on  a weekend - and it's only $120? He also asked my husband to describe the pipe and let him know that he could pick up the materials before hand so he wouldn't have to charge us more if he came, looked at the pipe, went to go get replacements, and come back to finish the job.  He let us know he had an already scheduled appointment in the afternoon but could either come immediately or right after his appointment. We decided to go for the later time at 1:30.

I recieved a confirmation call at 1:03 from him saying that he had just finished a job in Waipahu and that he was on his way to us in Ewa Beach. We were definitely ready! When he arrived we had everything cleared out under the vanity and ready to go for him to work. He arrived on time (if not a few minutes early) and got to work right away! He took a look at our sorry, old, broken pipe before going back down to his truck to get his supplies. He returned and explained a couple different things to us so we could make a decision. He could either go through the wall by the stairs (dry wall) which would be easier, but leave a hole, or he could go through the vanity which would be a little harder (solid wood) but easier to conceal for obvious reasons. We decided to go for the under the vanity option. After he cut through he explained to us a second option. Because the pipe was outdated he could either go to Home Depot and get the exact replacement part (more time and money) or just give us an updated piece, but it would be in the wall (less time, same quoted price). We decided to just go with the updated piece. He kept working and was finished within 30 minutes! He did a test run, and offered to clean up before heading out. After he was finished, it turned out that replacing our pipe really was just $120 - no hidden added fees at all!

I definitely wanted to make sure that this review was thorough, mostly because this company doesn't have many reviews yet. We really enjoyed our experience with Carlos. We loved that he was honest, friendly, prompt, and up front about the cost for what he could do. He was a pleasure to work with, and thorough. We asked for a card, and will definitely make him our regular plumber from now on. He also does solar power if you need that done as well! We highly recommend him!

Thank you Carlos.
He had quite a major job and he tried couple ways to get me to save some money.
He is very passionate about his profession and cares about his customers.
He is very knowledgeable and did an excellent job.
Thank you and will always use you.
Bruce

I see I wrote my first review of Ala Wai Plumbing and Carlos in particular in 2013.

In the 8 years since then we've called on Carlos for a whole succession of plumbing problems and improvements, including replacing our kitchen sink, changing out the 50 year old bathroom faucet and showers, fixing leaks, clearing a backed-up laundry drain - which turned out to be a bigger problem than we'd thought - and I'm probably forgetting other things.

Every problem he's solved quickly, efficiently, and professionally with good cheer. He's patient about explaining problems, and his charges are always perfectly reasonable whether it's a problem he could tackle himself or brought in an assistant for.

I can't say enough good things about Carlos and Ala Wai. He's the only plumber we ever call at this point.

Carlo is the most friendly plumber I ever met. Reasonable charge, $300 to replace a one inch shut-off valve. He backs up his work, and came back to correct a leak issue after one week.

It's midnight, drip drip drip and we gotta get up for work at 5am.  Bad right?  Try calling a plumber and not getting an answer.  Double bad.
Yelp to the rescue. I looked up Ala Wai and read the reviews. I called Carlos and explained the problem with added sound effects. He gave me a really fair quote and arrived on time. He examined the offending toilet, got the parts from truck and in minutes he was done. I'm not exaggerating, I was nuking my breakfast and he was finished.  I was never so happy to spend $115 in my life. I highly recommend Carlos to everyone

Absolutely outstanding.  I called Carlos because my brother was cutting into a 1.5 pipe with a grinder to fix a clogged drain (long story).  Let's just say there was a lot of plumber's puddy on the sanitary tee.  Carlos said he would be able to come by between 12:00 and 12:30 and then texted an exact time (12:30). This was a great start.  He came in to look at the situation.  He disconnected the kitchen drain, identified that the clog was down in the main pipe beyond the tee. Cut out the damaged 1.5 sanitary tee, cleared the drain (yuck), repaired and replaced the tee.  He was doing so great, I asked him to look at some other stuff.  He replaced a drain for the washer and was able to exchange the existing 1.5 drain with a 2 stack.  This resolved a 10 year problem with the washer of overflowing on regular wash.  I was so happy that I asked him to fix the hot water emergency release that was setup to drain on the floor. Yikes.  He fixed that with CPVC and properly set it at the right angle and everything.  The guys were awesome.  Price was extremely reasonable. I can only say thank you!  Really excellent.

Very professional, he helped me twice when we lived in an older apartment and I was pregnant and suffering from serve morning sickness. He was so reasonable and efficient that since I have another plumbing issue I can't not want to call him.

From the first moment I spoke to Carlos I knew he was a professional. I was right. He is on time , comes prepared but most of all is an expert. He's also courteous and easy to work with. He did a very difficult plumbing job for me. I would never use anyone else. I only wish I could give him 10 stars instead of five!

Thank you to Yelp for helping me find Carlos!  He will definitely be my go-to guy when I need have any plumbing needs.  
I own a rental townhouse unit on the second floor above another unit.  I received a call from the resident manager one evening telling me that it looked like water was leaking from my bathroom into the downstairs unit and was coming through the drywall.  YIKES!  He said it didn't look like the water was flowing at the moment so it was probably a drain rather than a supply line so I didn't have to take care of it that evening.  
I found Carlos on Yelp and called him the next day.  He came out (on time as scheduled), made a small hole in the buckling ceiling of the downstairs unit and immediately diagnosed the problem as the overflow drain on the tub.  He tested floor drain and the tub and shower spouts at the same time to make sure that they were not leaking as well.  It was late in the day and he needed to pick up the replacement parts so he put some heavy-duty silicone caulk around the inner seal of the tub so my tenant could use the shower.  We scheduled a time for the permanent fix.  Once again, Carlos arrived (on time as scheduled) he made the repair quickly and his price was very fair.
He was honest and took the time to explain things.  He was excellent to work with.  Both my tenant and my downstairs neighbor told me how impressed they were with him and that they would also be recommending him to their friends, as I will.

Carlos does good work and fair rates.

I called Ala Wai after reading yelp reviews.  Carlos gets 5 stars for his courtesy, prompt service, honesty, good work on the job and fair price.  He came in, looked at the problem, explained what it was and fixed it.

As a property manager I've worked with numerous plumbers. Carlos at Ala Wai Plumbing has been my favorite by far. He's kind and professional. Easy to work with. Just a good guy who does good work. He's also very popular. If he doesn't reply to a text or call back right away I know to try again later. Never a problem. I definitely recommend Carlos but hope he doesn't get so popular that he can't fit us in to his schedule...I don't know what I'd do then :)