Stairs has always been great for us. They were part of our home reno (two new washrooms installed…read moreupstairs), and have fixed any other plumbing problem that has come along, without drama. Today a plumber arrived less than 30 minutes after I called to deal with a non-urgent problem. He easily diagnosed the issue, went back out to get the correct parts, replaced the flappers, and tested things. He was also very friendly and polite.

The drain my washer connects to seemed to be plugged, as the water was backing up and splashing on…read morethe wall behind the washer every time I did laundry. I had purchased the house this way but I had also taken insurance for problems just like this. I called the insurance company to report the issue and they sent EG Stairs to my house. I was required to pay a $50 deductible. The plumber came in with a hand snake and inserted it into the floor drain in my basement, which is directly behind my washer. He hit the plug with the snake and attempted to "snake" through it. After a few minutes he told me that the pipe was crushed and they would need to dig up the floor to access the pipe. I was quoted around $700. I watch a lot of home improvement shows and have seen them use cameras for situations such as this. I asked him about sending a camera down to be sure before digging up my floor. He said something about that being expensive and that they didn't have one. I asked if I let them dig up my floor if he would guarantee that it would fix the issue and he replied, "no". After discussing the quote with the insurance company, they said that they were only willing to cover up to $500 of the repair. I was left with an uneasy feeling about having my floor dug up with no guarantee. I opted NOT to have them do the work and came up with a work-around. This worked fine for years but I was left with a mess in my basement after a complete plug. I called another plumber to get some advice. J D MacKinnon listened to what I had to say on the phone but felt he needed to see how things were run so he offered to come over and look at it. After a few minutes of being here, he said that he didn't feel the pipe was crushed given the age of the home (he had not done anything but look). When asked about a camera, he said that it would still need to be cleaned first and said that I could rent a power snake for that. He said a hand snake can feel like a wall if the plug is bad enough. This was all FREE advice. I rented the snake and was able to bore through the plug and continue the full 35 feet of the snake. After 2 runs with the snake my drain is flowing better than ever. I pulled out some fabric that seemed to be causing the plug. The total cost of the repair was less than $30 and some labor/cleanup by me. This is less than the $50 deductible I had to pay EG Stairs for a misdiagnosis and years of plumbing issues that could have been fixed if they had done more than run a hand snake down my drain. Long story short, go to another plumber. I would highly recommend JD MacKinnon.