Ford's Plumbing and Heating

It was a good experience. Professionalism was good. The interaction was good from the people I talked to and the plumber was pretty good. He did everything that we needed to be done and did his work pretty efficiently. We haven’t had any additional problems with it. They were very responsive each time we talked to them.

The water heater burst and the basement was flooded with several inches of water. Called Ford's, and they sent their on-call technician (on a Sunday), and the work was performed the following day. They cleared the water, removed the old heater, and installed the new one in a couple hours. When they were done, everything was working better than new.

It was an excellent experience. Ford's Plumbing is a 10+ rated company in my estimation. They were constantly on the phone with me to advise status. They helped me out with my home warranty insurance company, and were prompt and courteous. I couldn't have been more pleased. They followed up with a phone call and they spoke with my home warranty company on several occasions to help me get reimbursed for the work.

I called them out for a consult, but I didn't end up using them so I don't know if their pricing is competitive. It was fine.

Response was quick and workmen were both timely and professional. Was impressed by supervisor's thoughtful way of determining a recommended approach to handling the situation. Company followup to determine success of work was appreciated

Initially I called them because I had a clogged drain and my heater did not work. Thought they could fix both things instead of me calling 2 separate vendors. Left a message on their voicemail after 5:00 PM and they called me back the next day at 8:30 AM. Plumber came in to the property at precise scheduled appointment. Told him my HVAC heater did not work. He told me they don't fix HVAC, great! Ok, told him I had a clogged drain in the bathroom downstairs, most likely roots but unsure. Plumber went outside and did not find an access point. Told me he would need to use a camera scope into the pipes to see what is wrong. Since there's no access point from the outside said he would need to remove the toilet and use the camera from there. Toilet Removal: $250 Camera Scope : $225 Not knowing what was wrong with the pipes I opted for this service. Camera went all the way where water was backed up. Asked him what's wrong he said he's not sure. I told him what if we just snake the pipes to remove the roots. He told me snaking would damage the pipes and wanted me to sign a waiver. He suggested to dig and cut a hole in the ground to install an access point and find out the problem. Cost would be $975. I said No Thanks! Neither problem was fixed and it cost me $427 (10% off Angie's List). I called Roto Rooter and they snaked my pipes from an outside access point and now my drains works! I called another plumber the next week for a gas leak. Asked Roto Rooter and the independent plumber that if snaking the pipes would damage them. Both said No! W** is Fred's Plumber & Heating talking about?? They took my money, service was not completed and told me BS info! Access point is outside and I did not need to remove the toilet! Will not recommend, Will not refer! Called them if you want to feel like you are being ripped off!!

I originally called Ford's to snake out the sewer line because the drains in the house had backed up, a common occurrence here with clay pipes and the tree roots that love them. The office staff is super friendly and fast and had someone out that day to take a look. Unfortunately for us, our technician encountered a break in the pipe when attempting to snake the line (confirmed by camera). It ended up being a full break/collapse at this point and had to be repaired before we could even look at the rest of the pipe. Ford's quickly had another 3 guys out and digging up that piece later that day and once more the camera was on its way. Sadly, the rest of the pipe was in bad shape as well but Reilly was really fantastic about laying out exactly what our options were at this point and helped us weigh the costs and benefits without a hard sell. As bad as this is all sounding, it was actually good news (well, not "good" but you know what I mean). The pipe was still in good enough condition to do a lie-through repipe which ended up saving us from an even larger future cost. Apparently the line in the back of the house is buried 15-17' deep (not just a standard 5'-9'). Imagine if that part had broken completely and had to be manually dug up - the cost to replace it would have been double what we ended up paying for this job. It ended up taking 2 days to complete which was quite reasonable. And Ford's was gracious in working with us on this unexpected cost - they ended up deducting the service call fee ($129) plus the repair of the break in the line ($750) plus the Angie's list discount which was greatly appreciated. The lie-through pipe they use has a 25 year warranty. Every person I have encountered from Ford's has been friendly, polite, and prompt. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again (and I already have).

They came really quickly and found the problem. They had to cut a hole in the wall above the bathtub and replaced the risers which had never been replaced in 80 years. then another guy came in and fixed the sheetrock. They were extremely professional, the work was very well done. The sheetrock work was beautiful. Their costs are probably comparable to other licensed plumbing outfits but I still find the cost ridiculous. It was $1000 for about 1 hour of plumbing work and 2-3 hours of sheetrock repair, although the guy that did the sheetrock did have to come back to let the mud dry before sanding. You do the math. If I had more money to throw around I would use them again.

The repair was excellent. The plumber came on time and was a very nice clean young man. He quiclly resolved the problem and provided a discount since we were referred by Angies List. The bottom line is they were great! I would absolutely Ford Plumbing use in the futre and recommend them to friends that live in the area.

This is a complicated story. At first, I was really furious because I hired the plumbing company to replace one pipe, and they almost immediately told me that I needed to replace the entire sewer line. A $400 job quickly became a $4000 job . And then the foreman sent the scope through the sewer line outside the home and discovered another broken pipe. So now it was an $8000 job. I was frustrated, so I contacted the owner of the company, Robert Ford. He was great. I admit that I wasn't very polite when I spoke to him, but he handled my complaint like a pro. He took my comments very seriously and he immediately took action to make sure I was satisfied. HIs crew was excellent and the work was top notch, and he stopped in to make sure that everything was done to the highest standard. What he then told me changed my perspective completely. I now am totally satisfied by Ford Plumbing. I give them my highest recommendation. Here's the whole story, if you are interested in all the details: While cooking dinner one night, the kitchen sink clogged and the disposal backed up, so we phoned an emergency plumber to snake the pipe. That emergency plumber told us that we needed to replace a corroded old galvanized pipe in the basement. So the next day I checked Angie's List for a high rated plumber, and ended up choosing Ford Plumbing. The Ford crew showed up promptly and they were very courteous. Riley was the foreman. He was quiet and polite. After about 30 minutes, he came upstairs from the basement and said, "I have some bad news. While we were cutting out the old galvanized pipe, the bracket holding up your sewer line broke and the whole thing crashed on the basement floor and shattered. We need to replace your main sewer line." I saw that I had no choice, so I agreed to his quote of $4000 and let the crew continue so that we would have running water that evening. The next day, however, Riley told me to come look through the scope: he showed me that when he sent the scope down the sewer line to the outside, there was yet another broken pipe about 45 feet outside my home, buried in the ground. To fix this would cost thousands more. This time, I was pretty upset about this news. I called the owner because I felt like I had been set up for a ripoff: send in the crew to replace one thing, and then break some pipes and tell the customer that they must replace everything. But when I spoke to Robert Ford, the owner, he explained that it frequently happens that old corroded pipes wear out and must be replaced together, especially in old homes like mine. More importantly, he convinced me that he wasn't trying to rip me off. "There has to be a level of trust," he explained, "I've been in business for a long time, and I couldn't be in business if my crew ripped off customers. My business depends upon satisfied customers and repeat business." He did not offer to make any further discount: in fact he backed up his plumber Riley 100% and assured me that Riley had made the right recommendation. I found this convincing. Had he immediately offered a discount, I think I would have felt like it was a ripoff job. Instead, he stood by the work that his crew did 100%. He offered to come visit my home and review the work that the crew did. He took me around my home, explaining the work that the crew did and showing me why it was necessary. I was totally convinced that he was an honest businessman and a very serious professional plumber who cares a lot about quality and thoroughness. He also pointed out where the previous owner of my home had done some shortcuts to save money: I suppose that these cheap repairs had led to some of the problems I encountered later. His crew was really hard working and very professional. They cleaned up everything so that it was much cleaner than it was before they began. They had to dig a enormous hole in my backyard. They piled up the dirt on top of a tarpaulin so that it didn't smother the grass, and then they somehow managed to pack all of the dirt back into the hole when they finished the job. Just two days later it was hard to spot where they had dug. Later, Robert Ford kept in touch with me to make sure that I was satisfied. He recently came to my home with his son to do an estimate for a gas line, and they offered to do this installation free of charge. That was a very nice thing to do, above and beyond, and it was totally unexpected. i am convinced that Ford's Plumbing is a very good company with a commitment to quality. I recommend them highly.

I was replacing some of the plumbing in my bathroom. However, the spout was so old and rusted that I could not remove it. One of my prior plumbers told me it could not be fixed and I needed to tear out the adjacent wall, buy all new plumbing and then call him to install it. Of course, that sounded foolish. I looked at Angieslist and decided to call Ford's. They were able to schedule an appointment quickly. Ford's arrived on time and carefully evaluated the situation and suggested a good alternative. I was given an exact quote. They cut out the old pipe, separated the remaining galvanized pipe from the brass control and reinstalled new pipe. The spout was then attached and everything was perfect. They did a great job. Ford's is a pleasure to work with. Its great to find a very pleasant, professional, smart and honest plumber. I will certainly call them in the future. Thank you Ford's Plumbing !

I called them after I had noticed water leaking out under my foundation. It took a week to come and look at the issue as they were very busy. They quickly found the problem and provided a quote. Then it took another week to actually get a plumber to do the work as they were backed up. The person who arrived on time was polite and professional. He got right to work and about 4 hours later had replaced the faulty drain line under the home. The actual cost was 10% below the quoted price as the job took less time than expected. Other than the delay in actually starting the job the only other issue which was minor involved the new cleanout he installed. While they repared the hole around the cleanout pipe he did not repair the stucco. Other than that while Ford was not the cheapest quote I had they did the work properly and quickly and under the quoted price. I would use them again if I ever need future plumbing work.

The Plumber (Reilly) provided excellent service. He showed up early, explained to me (in layman terms) why I was having a problem with the bath tub pipes. Reilly, cleared the pipe fast and efficiently, and he also explained how I could avoid this problem in the future. Also, he applied the discount for being a member of Angie?s list, as soon as I showed him the member discount certificate. I am very pleased with Ford?s plumbing services, and would contact them again.

Very professional, clean, and organized. I will recommend fords plumbing to my friends and will use them again.

The estimator arrived promptly and gave a good price, made better by the Angie's list coupon. But when the technician came, he said that the gas meter and line were undersized for my house and that I should get So Cal Gas to upgrade the meter to a larger size. SoCalGas upgraded the meter for no cost. Then, Ford's came back to put in the earthquake valve, but now the line was 1.5" instead of 0.75" and the valve was much more expensive (2X). Anyway, Ford's HONORED the original bid and put in the larger valve at the original price of the smaller valve.

Received estimate promptly; although not the cheapest, decided to contract Ford's because of high ratings on Angie's List. The workers were on time everyday, they were polite, and professional. The quality of work was very good. What was less than satisfactory was that after digging to repair the sewer line, they discovered that additional major work was needed. The job was explained to me in detail and I was quoted $18,000 in addition to the first estimate. I was also told that it would take about a week and a half to complete. In fact, the process that was explained to me was not done, and it only took 4-5 days to complete. Thinking that the repair was easier than they initially thought, I assumed that the cost would be less, but that was not the case. I asked multiple times for an itemized statement to show me what I was paying for, but did not receive any, and was treated disrespectfully and rudely. When I questioned the cost because the work that was described to me wasn't done, and because it took much shorter than I had been told it would take, the response was something like, "would you have liked for us to take longer, because that can be arranged". I finally contacted the owner, Robert Ford, who apologized for his employee's behavior and gave me the itemization that I requested. I certainly expected better service for that kind of sum of money..........

Technician arrived about 30 min. late and took my guess as to the cause and location of the problem. (I thought he should have checked the situation himself.) He quoted a price of $1450 for the job and said the price was high because it would take all day. I said I would need to discuss this with my husband and would get back to him within an hour. After he left, I realized that I could not read the carbon copy of his description of the work, and what I could read did not sound like what he had told me. I called the office to request clarification. After many tries and being put on hold, I reached some kind of answering service person who said she would relay my message to the office, and they would get back to me. It has been over 24 hours, and they have never called. (In the meantime, we have another person doing the job for much less than half the Ford's estimate. The current plumber actually investigated the cause of the problem and found that it was not at all the same as my guess.)

We wanted to get the heater serviced and they weren't able to do it but they provided an estimate for an upgrade.

The technician showed up on time within the window the receptionist had given. I explained my water hammer problem to him, and during the 40-minutes or so that he was at my house, he turned on/turned off the faucets, flushed the toilets and looked at the pipes. He didn't have a single solution or idea on how to fix the water hammer problem. He even said at one point that he needed to make a call to someone to try and figure out what to do. When I explained to him that I had read on the internet that water hammer problems can sometimes be fixed by draining the water system and letting air back into the pipes, and suggested he try that, he looked confused. When I asked if he could just show me how to shut off the main water line to my townhouse unit so that I could try draining the system myself, he could not tell me which line belonged to my unit. I felt this technician either did not know what he was doing or wanted to hold out and charge me for a more expensive "fix". Eventually, the technician provided me an estimate of $550 to replace the ball valve on my main water line which, from what I could tell, would do nothing to fix the water hammer problem. To make matters worse, the technician tried to charge me a $89.00 service charge just for coming out to look at the problem, even though I was told at the time I made the appointment that the diagnostic would be free. Thankfully the same lovely receptionist was able to clear up the service charge after I called her and explained that the technician was trying to charge me. Later that day, the owner of the business Mr. Ford left a courteous voicemail apologizing for the mix up regarding the service charge, which I appreciated. However, given the sub-par quality of the technician who came to my house, I will not be using Mr. Ford's service again.

Process went very well. Evaluation and Recommendation within 24 hours. Scheduled install within 1 week. work completed on time and on budget.

I just did it myself in 30 minutes. Any plumber in town would have done the job for $90 plus the cost of a new gasket. I would be very careful about using this plumber for anything if you don't know what you're doing.

We called Ford's Plumbing because we had several leaks in the pipes in our house. Our house is older and we had not done major plumbing for a long time. Ford's Plumbing came out and assessed the situation and gave us a quote. We started working with them immediately. The foreman on the job was Riley. He was very pleasant to work with and always went out of his way to explain the work they were doing and show us what needed to be done. It turned out that we needed a lot more work than we anticipated. We were very happy with the work that they did for us. Every time they found something else that needed to be repaired, they would show us by showing the pipes that had the leak, or showing us the camera pictures that they took (when the work was too deep to see directly.) They would give us a written quote when they added work to the original contract. At any one time we had from two to five people working. They were all very respectful of us and our property. They had to make several holes in our inside walls. When they did, they always covered the area with plastic so that the rest of the house was protected from dust. At the end of the day they took down the plastic, even when they had to put it back up the next day. They also had to make several holes in the concrete in our driveway. They did a very professional job patching the concrete when they were finished. We worked with them for about three weeks. One thing I was especially pleased with is that every day when they left, they cleaned up so that the work site was as clean as they could make it. They always let me know when they were coming, and called when they were going to be delayed. We would definitely use Ford's again for any plumbing issues. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to my family and friends. They are a quality company.

Ford's was very responsive and professional both times I used them. In 2012, they installed a seismic shutoff valve for the gas line in a tight location and did it very well, and took time to explain everything to me. In 2013, a landscaper accidentally cut a hole in my water main. I called Ford's and they had a van there in less than an hour to shut off the main and inspect the damage. The landscaper wanted to repair the damage himself, so I let him do this but had Ford inspect it to ensure it was done properly. My sense is they are not the lowest-cost provider, so as with any contractor, I would get multiple bids before engaging them. But their quality and customer service were great in my experience.

(see detailed response above) Initial inspection timely and professional was excellent. Joe K the mechanic is a good hard working person. Follow on conversations (primarily through the phone receptionist lady(ies)) were painful. Having to wait on the phone like when she was busy was one thing, but to be told to hang up and that they would contact me back, and not having that phone call back. That part was unprofessional.

I got them from Angie’s List and I absolutely loved them. They were knowledgeable, courteous, and respectful; they were really great guys. There were three guys from there for two separate jobs. They cleaned up after themselves too; they are a really great company. They gave me a fair price and also a price break. They actually ordered and installed my water heater in the evening so that I would not go without hot water. That is the plumber I would use.