Sarasota Plumber | Plumbing Service & Repair | FL

Two hot water copper pipes for the tub/shower faucet were corroded and leaking badly by the time I called a plumber. They were replaced with two new copper pipes. This required cutting out the old pipes and soldering in the new pipes. The water had to be turned off at the meter because of the soldering.

The bathroom fixture pipes had been rerouted through the dining room closet years before I moved into the house (not sure why). The dining room closet shares a wall with the bathroom (the wall that the fixtures are on. The leak started very slowly in the access panel in the closet, which is used for storage and not accessed regularly.

This allowed the leak to continue for some time unnoticed, until so much water had accumulated that it was seeping up through the bathroom floor tile and eventually into the carpeted hallway. I gave up trying to figure out where the leak was in the bathroom and decided it was necessary to call a plumber. Remembering the access panel in the closet, I decided to empty the closet before I called so the plumber would have easy access. Good thinking -- I found enough water on the floor of the closet to splash (maybe 3 gallons when I wet vacuumed it). All the boxes on the floor were saturated half way up so the water had definitely been accumulating for a while. After I got the closet emptied and took the access panel off, the water dripped into the foundation rather than into the closet which was some improvement.

Quickly, though, the second (and worse) leak began at the "T" intersection of the two copper pipes. I could not direct the water into the foundation and it was so bad I had to turn the water off to the entire house to keep it from flooding. Fortunately, when I called Pro Plumbing at about 10 AM on Wednesday, 07/14/10, they were able to send someone out that day. When an appointment is set, they give you a "window" of arrival time and mine was 2-4 PM. I was very pleased with that. Shortly after 3 PM, the plumber called to let me know he was just finishing up another job and would be at my house in approximately 30 minutes. He arrived on time and a good 10 minutes before the "window" closed. (If the plumber does not arrive within the window, their very reasonable $49 service fee is waived.)

Also, they are meticulously careful about being neat and clean while they are in your home. The woman who answered the phone (Denise, I think -- sorry, I am not sure) was very polite, professional and helpful. I always appreciate it when office personnel are easy to work with. The plumber -- Jeff -- listened to my synopsis, checked out the pipes in the access panel and wrote up a quote so I knew before he did any work I knew how much I'd be spending. The quote was lower than I was expecting (but I don't know much about plumbing) so I was pleasantly surprised. FYI, Pro Plumbing has tiered pricing -- level 1 is simple repair, my leak repair was a level 2, etc. Jeff also gave me an estimate as to how long the repair would take (because the water to the entire house had to be turned off).

He finished in slightly less time than he estimated. He was very polite at all times, a really nice guy. When the job is finished, the plumber checks out the rest of the plumbing in the house (a "safety inspection") to see what else might need repair now or in the near future. After the mess I had with the prolonged and undetected leak in the closet, I thought this was a brilliant idea. I actually knew of two other small repairs that were necessary, so it was especially helpful to me to get estimates on these and the few others that I was not aware of.

While doing the safety inspection, I asked several questions and Jeff answered them all graciously. From my experience, I would think all their plumbers are knowledgeable and thorough. Also, if you call and schedule any of the repairs listed from the safety inspection within 30 days of the original repair, the $49 service fee is waived. They also give you a $20 off coupon for the next repair, so that could be a minimum $69 savings if you can schedule within 30 days. A "Pro Club" member also gets an additional 10% discount. I chose Pro Plumbing because they are family owned and operated. They also have a great website that highlights their policies that show how important customer satisfaction is to them. Check out the details for "Pro Club" on their site. I think it's a great idea, especially if you have an older home. There are several "thank you" perks but what impressed me most is Jeff's comment that Pro Plumbing is a great company to work for. They are also a great company to hire. I will be scheduling a follow-up appointment within the 30 days and will update after that.

Jamie B.
Sarasota, FL