A few weeks ago, I noticed that my water bill was high. The water pipes to the washing machine made a hissing sound and the dial on the water meter was turning for no reason. These are indications of water leak under my pier and beam house. I shut the water main pipe off to prevent further water loss and to keep the ground dry while trying to have the leak fixed ASAP. I used C&W Plumbing based on some good reviews online. Below is the chronological record of the repair process.
Day 1. I called C&W and described problem: Water pipe leak under a pier and team house.
Day 2. A technician came and performed a pressure test. He determined that the leak was on a hot water pipe, and quoted a price about $700. He couldn't work under the house alone by company policy, so we waited for the second technician who arrived in a couple of hours. It took them a few minutes to decide that the crawling space under the house was too tight. Another team will come next day.
Day 3. The lead technician and an apprentice with better fitness came. They located the leak, but the price went up to over $1200. With no running water in house for 3 days, I agreed to the price. To my surprise, however, they didn't have the materials at hand. They also said that the materials can't be obtained at just any hardware stores, so the fixing had to be done on another day. The following day was Saturday, and they don't work on weekends. I was frustrated, but felt a little better after learned that they could shut the hot water system off, and turned water main on so I can, at least, have cold running water for the weekend. But, as soon as the water was turned on, the pipe hissing and meter dial turning came back. Oops, you might have leaks on both cold and hot systems. I was so discouraged at the time that I considered re-piping that entire section of the house. The technician liked idea. He promised to make a plan and let me know the price ASAP. The water to the house was shut off again. I lost a lot of sleep at the night.
Day 4 (Saturday). Nothing was done.
Day 5 (Sunday). Nothing was done.
Day 6. First thing in the morning, I called and talked to one of the owners about my suspicion that the technician might have mistaken a cold pipe as a hot one. The owner said that he will send another team. A dispatcher called, the earliest time they could send someone was two days later.
Day 7. Nothing was done.
Day 8. Sam and Andrew came in the morning. They found no leak in the hot water system and fixed a leak on a cold pipe. At the end of the day, the water to the house was finally turned on with no sign of leak!
Final cost: $1153, with the purchase of one year service agreement (no fee for service call worth $49.00 and 10% off repair cost up to $150.00). This agreement got me to use them again, which is causing me lot of anxiety. I will review it later.
Every C&W crew members I have encountered was polite and courteous. They greet phone calls with how can I make you smile today?, and put shoe covers on before walking into my house. They did fix the leak. However, the company falls short on what also matter, time and cost.