Two days ago, 2 guys took 8 hours to replace a gas water heater. Last time I had one replaced it took TWO hours and one plumber. It was a comedy of errors; though the workmen were friendly and personable, they were not competent with this job. Even after an eight-hour install It leaked all night through a loose hot water fitting and had been finished very sloppily-- gobs of pipe joint compound covering the gas line connection, dripping solder down the pipes, balls of solder left on top of the tank. I called Sean, the owner, to come back and fix the leak the following day. He first said that he wouldn't be able to make it to my house until between 4-6, but did arrive by late afternoon to fix the problem. After he tightened up the leaking dielectric union, he proceeded to clean up the messy job his installer had done, all the while insisting that his tech had done a decent job. After Sean left, we were having problems getting the temp right on the tank-- even at a low setting it was coming out of the faucets piping hot. I called a licensed plumber, thinking I would ask him to come check on the job and make sure it was done properly and he informed me that I had needed to pull a permit and use a licensed plumber in the first place to do this job in Forest Park. So, I called the Village Hall and explained that I hadn't realized the need for the permit for a water heater (boy, do i now!) and I was told that the plumbing inspector could come and assess the water heater as soon as Sean pulled the permit (retroactively). Sean was informed he needed the permit, but did not return the Village's calls. I was advised to stop payment on my check until he got the permit, so I called Sean today and left him a message informing him that I would be stopping payment on the check, but as soon as he got the permit I would reverse the "stop payment". Sean immediately called me back and informed me that if I did not pay him by the end of the day he would be putting a lien on my property and taking me to court and I would be paying all the f***ing court costs. He did call the Village Hall to say that he would be getting a permit, and told them that it was an "emergency" job and he was planning on getting a permit right after the job, but it slipped his mind with his busy schedule. Of course, I met with Sean on Friday, January 10 and the installation was scheduled for Monday the thirteenth. Perhaps this company does a brilliant job putting in furnaces and air conditioners for commercial properties, but since they send unlicensed techs out to jobs requiring some amount of plumbing experience, I would never trust them for a residential job, especially not for a water heater. The truly frightening thing is that Sean was adamant that his techs had done a good job. I would have had more faith in him had he admitted that the service was not so good. Plus, the bullying and threats were not too pleasant either. read more