McVay Plumbing, Heating & Cooling

I called Mike at the recommendation of one of my neighbors who had used his services a few years earlier, and a Monroeville Public Works employee.  We were getting occasional backups of clean water from the floor drain in our laundry room.  After the latest backup after a heavy rainstorm, a Monroeville Public Works employee checked out the nearby manholes and confirmed that all of their sewer lines were flowing properly.  He theorized that groundwater was getting into cracks in the terra cotta drain lines at a greater volume than the root-infested drains could handle, which was causing the line to back up into my basement.  He recommended that I call Mike to have him check it out, especially because of Mike's trenchless line replacement capabilities (I have a nice, mature pinoak in my front yard that I didn't want to damage by digging up the whole front yard).  

Mike came out and ran a camera through all of the underground lines in the house, and got as far out to the street as he could.  He didn't charge me for the camera work (another plumber that I called wanted $200 to scope out the lines before giving me an estimate).  I looked over his shoulder to see what the camera was showing, and he was really patient, explaining everything to me along the way.  I was surprised at how generous he was with his time.  It was clear that there were many cracks in our drains, and just as many roots.  In some cases the roots were so bad that he couldn't get the camera through them.  His estimate was $5200 to install a cleanout and vent next to my house (none of the houses in my early-1960s neighborhood have cleanouts), and replace the sewer line from the house to the street using his trenchless pipe lining system.  He said the pipes inside the house were cracked and had a few roots, but they weren't bad enough to warrant digging up the concrete to replace them.

It seemed like a good price, but it was still a lot of money, so I got a second estimate a few days later.  Their estimate was $8000-$9000 (they wouldn't commit to an exact price because they weren't sure exactly how far they had to go to connect to the main sewer line).  They also recommended replacing all of the underground pipes in my basement for another $6000.  I called Mike and booked the job with him.  I asked him if he was sure that the pipes in the basement were still OK.  He said that he could replace them if I wanted him to, but he didn't think it was worth the money.

We booked a date about a month out.  I called a few days before the date to make sure that we were still on, and he said that everything was OK.  Two days before the job all of the utility companies came out to mark their underground lines.  The day of the job Mike and his assistant showed up promptly and began working.  The pipe lining technology was pretty cool, and everything went quickly that day; several neighbors even hung around to watch the process of shooting the liner into the old pipe.  Once the epoxy-coated fabric liner was fed through the old pipe, a balloon-like device was fed through the pipe and inflated from an air tank and air compressor to help keep the pipe in shape while the epoxy/fabric mix cured.  Since the temperatures got fairly cool that evening, the compressor had to remain connected overnight to maintain pressure inside the pipe in case the epoxy was curing more slowly than usual.  Since the air compressor was a bit noisy, I just pulled it inside the house so that it wouldn't disturb the neighbors when it kicked on overnight (I was going to a hotel that night anyway, so I didn't care if the compressor ran inside the house).

On day 2, they showed up bright & early again, and wrapped up the job.  The job was inspected by the county inspector, they connected the cleanout and vent stacks, reconnected the new pipe to the interior lines, replaced the dirt, fixed the landscaping, and put down grass seed.  Mike ran the camera through the new pipe all the way out to the street, and I could see that the line was clean.  He took the camera inside the basement and ran it through the lines under the house again to show how the interior lines fed into their new liner.  Again, he was very generous with his time.  The trenchless system is some pretty cool technology, and Mike seems to enjoy showing it off.

When it was time to settle up the bill, Mike explained the costs from the original estimate, and pointed out that his measurements were off by about 10 feet, and they had to use more liner than they expected to connect to the main sewer line.   But, he said it wasn't going to affect the price, though.  When I offered to pay a bit extra to cover the cost of the materials, he politely refused, and said that it just happens sometimes.

Overall, I was very happy with his work.  There were plenty of opportunities for him to push more services on me and try to increase the scope of the job, but he never did it.  I'd recommend Mike and his services to anyone.

Kelsey Grammar from McVay came to our house to do two plumbing jobs. She was courteous and friendly. She even wore shoe covers so she didn't track mud throughout the house. She got the two jobs done in under an hour. There needs to be more plumbers of her caliper.

McVay Plumbing is top notch. If you're looking for a great work done by a very professional company call McVay. Mike is a mad scientist who will get the job done with the least disruption possible to your current structure. Before signing up with them he spoke with me for 30+ mins explaining the whole process of what he does and why they do it this way.  I hung up from this conversation with no doubts I had chosen the right company for the job. All the work is completed and I still feel the same way. Seriously just call McVay.

Had a great experience with them today. Ran into an issue while remodeling a bathroom. They actually talked us through the issue over the phone. Sent photos via MMS all to try and save us the money of having to come on site. We still did need them to come on site they were here in about an hour and solve our issue within 25 minutes.

I would definitely use them again.

Finally I found a good honest company.  What a relief to just make one call and the job is done and very reasonable rates.

This is my first review that I ever wrote, I work in the Auto Industry where reviews are the most important feed back we get. I purchased a new house and the Dye test failed because there was a crack in the Sewer line, in the closing of the house $5,000 was set aside so this work could be done. After I moved in McVay Plumbing contacted me to schedule the work need to fix the issue. Job was done in a few days and I thought that was that. However when we tried to turn our front light on it tripped the breaker, puzzled I reset it and tried again and bang the breaker tripped again. I know something was wrong so after investigating I found that McVay Plumbing dug up the front light post electrical line and taped the exposing wires together so every time I turned on the light it tripped the breaker. You would think they would know better than to tape the wires together touching one another... After discovering this I called McVay Plumbing and spoke to Mike the Owner and asked him if he remembers doing the job and if he remembers digging up the Electrical line to my front light, he said NO. Not only did he say NO but informed me that when they dug there hole in my front yard that they never ran into a electrical line. I asked him who taped the lines together then since my breaker was not tripping until after they finished the job, he had no answer for me. So being that the electrical line was taped and sticking out of the ground that they dug up I asked him if it I was responsible to repair it and his answer to me was and I quote I'm not a Electrician Really?? That's what he told me... So I thanked him for his time in taking my call. I'm not a plumber, electrician or carpenter either. Knowing a little bit I started digging a hole so I could locate the other end of the line so I could splice them back together and have a working front light post. After digging down and finding the other electrical line under the ground I followed it up and to my surprise the other end was stuffed inside my bush right next to the hold that McVay Plumbing dug in my front yard. That would have been nice to know and would have made my Electrician repair job much easier. After saying a few obscenities about the fact that I had to take my time novice skill level and repair McVay's Plumbing error  I spliced the wire correctly and taped it up and buried it the way it should have been before McVay Plumbing said the job was finished and moved on to another. I was going to let it go and move on with my life but as much as I work hard to get excellent reviews from all of my customers (99.6% CSI ranking) I thought that if you are looking for any plumbing work done and you read this that it might help you decide on who you can trust to give you a complete job and not half ass.

This company stole $100 from us and then would not provide the dye test results. It was arranged by our real estate agent when selling our home in Braddock Hills. We no longer live in Pittsburgh, so we had to trust this recommendation from a distance, as we would not be in town yet for the closing when the dye test was done.

The first tip off should have been the fact that they would not accept credit cards, so there is really no way to get the money back. After supposedly performing the test, they informed the agent some work would need to be done, but didn't provide any further details. They would not return calls to the agent or us. I called several times and as soon as I brought up the address of the home, I was hung up on. When I called back and gave the woman the benefit of the doubt by saying I think we got disconnected, she told me WELL MAYBE IF YOU WASN'T SO RUDE I WOULDN'T HAVE TO HANG UP ON YOU. I asked for a supervisor but was just hung up on again. They kept the money and never provided any other information. Because we were in a hurry and selling from out of town, we couldn't do much.

I realize this review might sound like there is a missing part of the story, but it really is that strange. They supposedly did the test, left the agent a message about work and wouldn't return any other calls. You would think they would have wanted to at least try to rip us off on the supposed work that needed to be done!

Cody came in, took a quick look and set to work.  He was able to quickly replace an ancient faucet and revamp the drainage from our utility sink.  Awesome job, and at a fair price.

Two technicians came out to look at a clogged sewer drain and small sinkhole in the yard.  They snaked the drain for nearly an hour but did not unclog it stating clay and soil were discovered.  At that point, I was told a pipe had collapsed and the drain could not be unclogged.  I was asked to pay $199 for their failure to unclog my drain.  After they left, the actual plumber came out for the 5k quote to fix the collapsed pipe.  I was told the $199 would only be removed if I agreed to the fix.

Skeptical, I phoned another local company who sent a plumber out the next day.  He unclogged the drain in five minutes, which showed no signs of clay or soil, and we've been problem free since.  After hearing of this, McVay refuses to respond to inquiries about their lack of integrity.

I've been dealing with a complex estate situation, and I reside far from Pittsburgh.  The folks at McVay have been amazingly helpful, responsive, communicative, and supportive in resolving the requirements of the local municipality to remediate dye test failure.  They have my highest recommendation and gratitude.

I completely concur with previous reviews about Mike (the owner) and his errors with recollection of events.  His recollections or lack there are are oddly convenient and self-serving.

McVay plumbing was recommended to me by our realtor.  She specifically indicated to ask for Mike (the owner) to come out and do the work which we did.  He came out to our potential new home to conduct a sewer scope test.  He was unable to complete the sewer scope test and because the sewer line needed to be cleaned he could only get about 68 ft. in to the main sewer line.  He recommended that we have it cleaned and rescoped.  I then asked him if he came out to finish the sewer scope test if he would charge us again or do it for free.  In front of my husband and the home inspector he indicated that he would come back and not charge us since he was not able to complete the test.  Before he left I confirmed this with him again and he agreed.  Recently we found out that the sellers of the home had the sewer line cleaned with a plumber of their choice.  We called Mike McVay to come back out to schedule the sewer scope test so that he could complete what he started.

Today, when my husband called to schedule him to come and complete the test he first argued with him regarding the specific house in question.  Apparently, he had a hard time remembering the house my husband was referring to.  After arguing with him about the house he then he informed my husband that he was going to charge us an additional $175 (he originally charged us $200 for the initial scope test) to come back out and finish out the sewer scope test.  My husband addressed that he told us that he would come back and finish the test and not charge us again.  He argued with him again and ultimately said that he would charge us the additional $175.  I called him to address this and when I did he refused to acknowledge it and argued with me saying that he would never say that he would come back out and do it for free.  After reminding him of his words which he stated in front of more than just myself he refused to take ownership and honor his statement.  I promptly cancelled the appointment with him.  I am so disappointed that he had the audacity to lie to me and my husband.  I would never had expected him to come out and do the job for free if he had not indicated that he would do so in the first place

Next time we will definitely be going with a different plumber, hopefully one that is honest and can recall his business more accurately.  Any recommendations of such a plumber are welcome!

Biggest lesson learned, get these things in writing!

UPDATE! Mike called back last night and said that he would honor his word and come back to re-scope the sewer line and not charge us! I was really happy to receive this call and news, both of which were completely unexpected.  I welcome him to come tomorrow to so that I can update all of you with positive news regarding his professionalism and commitment to his customers.

I had a toilet that wouldn't flush properly. Service tech Josh spent half an hour replacing some inexpensive parts. Toilet still doesn't flush properly and was charged $450.

Two hours before our sewer inspection for a house we are trying to buy, we got a call canceling, with no replacement. We are in town only to do this! What a useless and unreliable service. Avoid these people.

I had my main water line break and got a couple quotes to fix it. These guys came out and looked at it and were very respectful and professional. We told them that the water company was going to shut the water off in ten days. They waited for six days to give us their quote that was higher by fifteen hundred dollars then any other. They tried to paint us into a corner knowing that our water was getting shut off. We opted to get our water shut off instead of paying them and went with someone else.

We've had McVay out to our house for a couple jobs, including installing a hot water expansion tank and most recently fixing a leaky shower drain. Both times they have done the work efficiently and well. The shower drain in particular was a bigger job, requiring them to drill into a concrete wall, and they got it done in good time and cleaned up after they were finished. We've been satisfied with how things are working after the jobs were done.

McVay has excellent customer service. They have a few dedicated people answering the phones and they tend to respond to calls promptly. Everyone is friendly and they've been able to get us on the schedule within a week or so for each job. I don't know much about plumbing but their prices seemed in line with what we thought the jobs would cost. Their estimates were accurate (but not free; they now charge $149 for an in-home estimate, but that is applied toward your job if you hire them).

I used  McVay when they started out and just used them again now.  They are solid, they do a great job, they are professional, and their office staff is super nice and together.  Great company!

Every time that I call for an issue, they are quick to respond and help.  The workers are friendly, won't take advantage of the situation and clean up completely.  I can't imagine using any other plumbing service - I found them through a friend's word of mouth.  Highly recommend!

My review stands as it was given.  Unfortunately there are many errors with Mike's (the owner's) recollection of the events:
1) Our house never failed a dye test.  I'm not sure where he's pulling that information from, but when we purchased the house, it absolutely passed the dye test.  I have no idea as to why he would add false information.

2) We were NEVER told that the entire line needed to be replaced (I verified this information with my husband in case I missed something).  In fact, upon the initial inspection of the line, Mike told us that there was nothing wrong with the line under and near the house.  Had we been told there was an issue, then we ABSOLUTELY would have fixed it.  We did not want this to be an ongoing problem by any means.  

3) We were also not told about the slope at the first drain cleaning.  We were told that everything looked fine (by Mike, the owner, both times).  It was not until the 3rd incident that we were told by one of Mike's workers that there was POSSIBLY a problem with the slope.  This was never determined to be a definite factor.  This 3rd visit by McVay was also the day before I called Mike to inquire about this problem.

4) Even though most of what was written by Mike was false, he never told me (or my husband) about anything that he wrote here.  When I called and asked about why this issue had not been addressed when the line was fixed the first time, I was immediately flipped out on, hung up on, etc.  There was no chance to avoid what Mike said to me or how I was treated by him because we were told that everything under the house was fine.  In fact, I have a pretty good inkling that the liner that was added created a ridge that is causing the line to back up.

As a final note, I have never been so insulted over the phone... by anyone, let alone a BUSINESS OWNER.  If Mike took his reputation so seriously, he would have never EVER called a client crazy, ignorant, etc.  I am someone who works with the public, so a lack of professionalism is what I cannot tolerate over anything.  This incident was described graphically because it was horrifically graphic - I would have been fired 10 times over for ever saying the things that he said to me.  Every person that I have told has been completely offended for me.  

I sincerely and with all truth and honesty do not recommend this business to anyone.

Wonderful company! On Monday, Ian and Randy came, they were so sweet and professional. They were dealing with my sewage problem. They worked so hard. They scheduled to come back today. Ian and Kelsey came to go on my roof. Both were very professional but felt like friends. I am very very satisfied with all their hard work. Thank you McVay!
Jan Smith