Three days ago, I first noticed that the ground next to our driveway was very wet. I opened the cover to our water meter and discovered the meter moving slightly. I called the local water district to get their input. They dispatched a technician to give an assessment. It was his belief that the leak was on my side of the water meter. He invested a considerable amount of time explaining the situation. Having no experience with this, I asked, off the record, if necessary, if he could he recommend someone qualified to do the repairs. As fortune would have it, my local water district has a short list of those companies that were qualified. Pursuing the list further, I asked him, if there is anyone one that list that he personally had worked and felt competent to do the job, that he would recommend. He had mentioned two or three, but focused in on Stuart Plumbing. I decided to give them a call. I spoke with Billy. It was early morning the next day. Billy said he had an employee that he could send right over. Rene' was here within the hour.
Looked at the soggy ground and concluded that he would have to excavate a 4" X 4" hole to confirm what needed to be done. Two hours later, Rene's two-man crew had the hole dug, I could see a fine stream of water coming from the coupling from the 1 1/2" line from the meter, when the water was turned on. A closer view showed that the large root from a 30+ year old Peruvian Pepper tree had pushed the existing PVC pipe junction up to cause the coupling to crack slightly. Rene' said that he would need to rebuild the main connection with Schedule 80 PVC pipe, along with other connections. This would insure, as much as possible, a worry-free connection, once the root was removed. The cost would be in the low four-digit category. This I was not prepared for. I sought out a friend who knows about such things. He said that the cost is about right. My friend does a similar work and for less work then would be necessary for my job, he requires a $1,500 charge most often. I called Rene' asking how soon he could do the job. Rene' said it could be done the next day. Rene' bought the parts he believed were necessary.
About 3 1/2 hours later, the new PVC junction glued in place, Rene' asked that we not turn the water on until the following morning to give the PVC connection to cure as much as possible. Fortunately, we had foreseen this and had filled several 5 gallon containers with water before the water was turned off. With a 107 degree temperature that day, we both agreed this would be adequate to cure the connection. The following morning, Rene' came by to refill the excavated hole with the soil that was removed the previous day. By 9:00 A.M. Rene' had filled the hole. I paid the amount in full and thanked Rene' for the job that he had done.
Now, anyone who reads this review will probably ask why I did not do my due-diligence and get several estimates on this job. My reasoning is that first and foremost, Stuart Plumbing was recommend to me by someone whose judgement I trusted. Secondly, having additional estimates would only have prolonged having the water turned off. Thirdly, there was no guarantee that anyone other than Stuart Plumbing could do the job as soon as Rene' said he could do it.
Could I have saved some money going with another company? Perhaps, I'll never know, but this one thing I am certain of. The job is completed, both to my and Rene's satisfaction. There is a 5 year warranty on the parts Rene' used and a one year warranty on the workmanship. I watched Rene' and his crew work in the hot sun. I could see that he knew what he needed to do to do the job correctly. For that, I am grateful to Rene' and Billy and Stuart Plumbing. I would highly recommend them for any future plumbing needs that you may have. read more