Tara V.
01/11/2011 12:00:00 SA
After seeing the reviews here I decided to call Mark at JB Plumbing and Heating about my toilet, which would not flush- at all, in addition to overflowing onto the floor three times in the past week. I called at 3pm Monday and he said he could be here the next morning but understood if I wanted to call around, as it is the only bathroom in my house. I said okay, let me call you back and went to look around for other plumbers. After an hour of looking through reviews of any plumbers I could find I was feeling more and more desperate for a reliably reviewed one, so I called Mark back. He took down my information, verified my street's location (a small side street that only exists for a few blocks) and the arrival time. He said he had a job scheduled for 7:30 in the morning and asked what my schedule was like and what time I needed to leave for work in the morning and offered to come over beforehand at 6:45am. I said that I'd be home all day and he said he could come at 6:45 or 8:30 and left it to my preference- we agreed on 8:30. At 8:30 the next morning he was at my front door handing me his card and a call magnet (to 'verify his identity' and all). He looked at everything that needed done (a working toilet was the priority, he also looked at the sink and shower which need repairs of significantly lesser urgency) and after seeing the toilet and asking about any other draining issues, said I needed a whole new toilet. This is exactly what I expected to hear- it was very old, had clearly been replaced in bits and pieces (which he also noted) and was way overdue to be replaced- I'd even been told last April by another contractor, who had previously proven trustworthy, that it was really on its last legs. Actually, I was downright thankful to hear that he'd replace it (rather than trying to sell doing some patchy stuff that maybe would buy a couple more months and end up being more expensive, as some lesser apt contractors might be prone to do). He took down my landlord's number and said he'd call her and get back to me.
Five minutes later I got a call saying he was out front. He'd spoken to my landlord already, got an okay to do work on the toilet (and the other work next month, by my landlord's preference) and asked about my schedule. He said he wasn't sure he could get it in later today after another job, but would pick up a new toilet for me this afternoon and could be here in the morning, impending snow storm allowing, and would call me later.
Two hours later I got a call saying he was on his way to pick up the new toilet and could be here in half an hour if it was okay with my schedule. I cleared everything I could out of the bathroom (because it is very small) and he was here in exactly half an hour. He and his assistant, Steve, unloaded everything (still in original packaging), parked and were working within ten minutes. He estimated thirty minutes for the work. Steve put drop cloths over all the carpeting outside the bathroom and under their toolbox, took all the pieces from the old toilet outside in boxes as soon as they were coming out, kept everything neat and orderly and had all the new pieces assembled and ready to go. They checked in with each other that each item was ready and all tightening and whatnot was done and seemed to be a good and conscientious team. Due to poor craftsmanship (i.e. totally wrong) by a prior contractor, a tile piece, which was stuck with the old toilet, came up and needed to be patched, which they took the time to do very nicely. The job took maybe forty minutes rather than the estimated thirty, but in forty minutes they took out the old toilet, boxed and disposed of (took with them to dispose of) all the old pieces and all rubbish, bits, etc. created, replaced the entire toilet (and seals), patched in the floor around it (an unexpected ten minutes), cleaned the bathroom and their prep area and were completely finished.
I would definitely recommend Mark (and Steve) to anyone. They were professional, very courteous, prompt, remarkably efficient and kindly entertained all my questions about whats and whys. In 22 hours I went from initial contact to having a completely new toilet and clean bathroom. Mark really seems like the kind of contractor that does the work that needs to be done and does it right because his reputation is attached to it. This is a number I will definitely keep in my phone for future use and will call again for my sink and shower repairs later.
-On another note, I happened to be off and home for the day already, but I would feel comfortable with these two coming in and doing work if I couldn't be here.