Situation: I've had a slow leak that comes and goes for a few months but it was getting consistent and getting worse over a three week period. I got a recommendation from Service Magic and had another plumbing outfit come and take a look, provide a diagnosis, and give me an estimate. After spending 15 minutes, and without providing possible root causes, the recommendation was to change out my entire shower unit for $3,000. I don't know a lick about plumbing but I know replacing an entire shower unit to fix a leak is not the first course of action.
Remedy: After a few more days agonizing on what to do since my sour experience confirmed what most of us believe about plumbing "professionals" I figured I'd turn to Yelp where real people give real ratings. I saw a few reviews and decided on Andy since he had a flawless rating although I was suspect since he only had a few raters. I believe in giving the little guy a chance. Andy came to my house on short notice and was very flexible in the time. Andy spent about 30 minutes doing a thorough investigation. He was knowledgeable and answered all my questions. At the end of the day, we couldn't confirm what was causing the leak without opening up a wall or floor (so we thought) and Andy recommended changing the valve cartridge as a start and provided a quoted. He even walked me through how to do it myself and where I could find the parts.
A couple of days later I took a shot at it and after about 10 minutes in, I just realized that I did not have the tools to do this job efficiently and effectively. I gave Andy a call and we set up some time. He came out, showed me his pricing sheet (he doesn't make up his quotes) and it was the same as what he said before, I agreed, signed the sales slip and he started the work. He had to run to the store since the parts he had did not match (older home) and did not charge anything extra. He walked me through every step and again answered all of my questions so that I could learn what he was doing. Andy tested everything and the job was completed in about 2 hours. (Note, that the work he performed was based on his experience as to what the problem could have been and not necessarily what was since I did not want to open up any walls or floors.) Great...I thought.
About an hour later, my roommate jumps into the shower and I hear this dripping sound. Obviously I wasn't sure and it made me have doubts. I gave Andy a call and he was over in about 20 minutes at dinner time. He opened everything again did a double check and he felt everything was good to go. Andy however was not yet satisfied. We talked about opening up the shower to be able to see the root cause but he stopped me because he wanted to see my other bathroom (it shared a wall). Through his diligence, Andy discovered an access way between both bathrooms. He was able to get back there, find the root cause, and made the appropriate adjustments. We ran the water; hot, cold, shower, faucet and everything worked without a drip. Andy made further recommendations on some work that could be done said nothing was urgent.
At the end of the day, a good honest plumber is tough to find. But I'm glad Andy is one of them. He wants to help you and not just make a quick buck. Not only did he do some work, but he found a long time customer. When I'm ready for those other projects he mentioned, he's first on my list to call.
Btw, he keeps the crack to himself. :) read more