Rajkamal R.
04/03/2020 12:00:00 SA
I struggled with the star rating and choose a 3 only because I wanted the owner to notice this review, call me back, and see if he could consider lowering the price of the work his skilled technicians completed today. For the record, I have already paid in full.
This company deserves a 6 on a 5-point scale for the quality of the work, the responsiveness, the integrity, and the skill of its technicians. But they only get a 1 for their pricing. One master plumber and a solid technical plumber worked on our issue for exactly 4 hours and we were given a bill for $2,300! This works out to $287.50 per hour per employee.
Our problem was that we had a slab leak and our master bedroom floor was getting hot. The issue was local and even during the free diagnostic visit, the master plumber, a skilled magician called Damien Raines, identified the problem and proposed a solution to re-route hot water through a separate pipe and bypass the leaking pipe. I only have the highest words of respect and appreciation for every aspect of my engagement with Damien.
His quote was $1,800 - $2,400 and I immediately gasped, because the quote didn't include other repair caused by their work, such as if they cut sheet rock out to insert their pipe. We had to get these done on our own. Damien assured me that if the work was straightforward, he wouldn't charge me towards the higher end of the quote. He estimated about six hours for the job.
He and his assistant started work at 3:40 PM the next day and were done by 7:40 pm. The problem was not complex in the sense that the leak was only in one pipe. The pipe run was straight, from the water heater to the problem area. They found the leak in about an hour.
To reroute a new pipe, I admit that the work done was more involved as they had to cut nearly 10 square holes in the ceiling and drill holes through the joists to run their backup PEX pipe. But it took them only about 2 1/2 hours to do this part of the job, with about 30 minutes to clean up and finish the paper work.
The work and the professionalism of the two plumbers were outstanding. The office secretary was prompt. Their system of sending email and SMS updates is excellent.
But when someone estimates work that takes about six hours and completes it within four hours, and still charges us at the highest end of the quote citing complexity of the task - I don't know what to make of it.
The way I look at it is that if I am paying hundreds of dollars an hour, easy pieces and complex pieces are all rolled in to the rate. Besides, there was not much material cost either. PEX pipe costs about $100 for 300 feet; they must have used about $15 worth of pipe. This job was all labor.
I would have been glad to pay $1,800 for the work, but Damien said the price was $2,400. I asked for a discount and Damien agreed to lower it by $100. I honored our commitment and paid $2,300.
So, why am I writing a 3-star review? It's because plumbing issues are nearly always an emergency. If the slab leak is not fixed in time, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars in foundation repair costs, not to mention the headaches. Home owners seek comfort in knowing that a skilled technician can fix the problem. Talking to Damien yesterday made me feel assured that the problem would soon go away.
And to their credit, it did. But their work, skilled though it was, didn't merit paying out $287.50 per hour per technician. Because, according to Home Guide, the average plumber rates are as follows:
The cost of a plumber ranges from $500 to $800 for large repairs, and $125 to $350 for small jobs like repairing toilets, sinks, faucets, or bathtubs. Most plumbers charge between $45 and $150 per hour, and some have a minimum service call out fee or a flat rate of $75 to $250 on average.
homeguide.com/costs/plum…