Bill Howe Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Inc

Had to have a another company come in and complete job correctly

The service crew welded a cap onto the water supply to close it.

Misdiagnosed the problem, even using a camera. I was advised I had a broken drain pipe under my concrete slab. Next day they sent 2 technicians to jack-hammer my slab where they thought the break was. They promised to cover my household belongings with tarps to protect them from concrete dust. After several hours of hammering I re-entered the house to see not one tarp had been placed and every piece of furniture, carpet, drape, grandfather clock, etc., was covered with concrete dust. The big hole in my dining room revealed there was NO break in the drain pipe, the soil was completely dry. They ran a line back down the drain and suddenly it opened. There was only a clog ~ no break. They refilled the hole in my dining room floor and poured fresh concrete to seal the hole but my carpet was totally ruined and that's when they told me they did not repair carpets. I had to hire another company to repair my carpet but it has never looked the same and I look at that mis-matched piece of carpet several times a day. I also had to hire another company to thoroughly clean my furniture, carpet, drapes, and then another company to repair my grandfather clock. Bill Howe Plumbing did send a representative to my house to evaluate the damage. They refunded most of the money I had been charged but I will NEVER have a carpet that looks normal until the day I replace the entire carpet downstairs. I made a claim to my homeowners insurance and they paid for cleaning of furniture and drapes. I will never use Bill Howe Plumbing again and I warn all my friends against calling this company.

We have hired Bill Howe Plumbing several times during the last 6 years after a friend recommended them. They have provided excellent service each and every time! They have all the qualities of a great company - professionalism, dependability, honesty, communication, promptness, know-how & skill, reasonable prices, and responsiveness. We used to call upon another local company but after a few disappointments, we began asking for recommendations and we have been very pleased. Our house is over 50 years old with old pipes. After our house was upgraded last February, we were excited to use our new kitchen especially. After dinner, I put too much down the new garbage disposal and the kitchen sink and laundry sink in the garage quickly backed up with ground up salad. What a mess! It was a weekend so we dreaded having to call a plumber but we had no choice. The sink was unusable as it stood. To our surprise, not only was Bill Howe Plumbing ready to dispatch a plumber right away but the weekend rate was very reasonable. He came out and within 45 minutes, I'd estimate, the pipes were cleared and water was flowing through just fine. One of the traits we appreciate the most is their good communication - they explain what is needed, why and what they'll be doing to complete the project. The plumbers are well-groomed, friendly and professional. We'll continue to call upon them to service our home and we highly recommend them to others.

I have used Bill Howe plumbing a number of times. They are prompt, courteous and get the job done right. They are reasonable.

Excellent job, although a bit pricey. Would use again however.

Jason (water filters & softeners) from Bill Howe Plumbing is very professional and thorough. He arrived on time, answered all questions thoroughly, and did an excellent job on installation and clean-up. It was a pleasure to work with him! We installed both units, and received a good price. We also were able to use the 10% discount from Angie's List coupon by scheduling the work for a Thursday. We've used Bill Howe several times now, and have always been pleased. I highly recommend them!

Toilet had a blockage problem; he spent time on it; tried to fix it; kind of lost interest. I think he did not want to work on it any more. He charged me about $400.00 and left w/o resolving the problem. I guessed at the date; it was a few years ago.

We tried the Costco water heater program and had decided on a tankless unit. It was installed by the gypsy russian crew here in San Diego. After 3.5 months of constant haggling and issues we contacted Costco and got a full refund and the cost of home repairs to remove the unit. It was a total disaster. Gotta say we love Costco. They are our first stop for services. Thank you Costco for making things right. I have use Bill Howe in the past for drain cleaning. They have always been professional and on time. We called them as soon as we knew the old water heater was going to be removed. Bill Howe sent Jason to our house. He was a total pro and installed a 50 gallon water heater in the original cabinet. We have them out a short time later to clear a clogged drain. In and out with zero mess.

Great. I've used Bill Howe Plumbing for several years. They are efficient, experienced and reliable.

I've used several plumbers over the last 20 years, but Bill Howe is now my go-to. Prompt, prices are competitive, and they do good work.

Service tech replaced faucet head. I later discovered that the old faucet merely had a kink in the plastic supply line and did not need to be replaced. Technician missed the most obvious diagnosis.

It went great. Discovered that our hot water heater was leaking last night about 10 PM and called Bill Howe this morning at 7:30 AM when they opened. Rick, their fine technician, arrived at 11 AM and explained everything and set to work. Bill Howe had installed the previous water heater, with a 6 year warranty on the unit, 1 year on parts and labor. The unit was 4 months from going off warranty but they honored it and just charged for labor and parts ($324). Rick suggested that we check the house water pressure too, which was 100 PSI and way too high. He had the pressure regulator on the truck and installed it as well ($246) and we are back down to 55 PSI. Received a 6% discount for a coupon I printed from their website. Rick was a pleasure to deal with and Bill Howe is always very responsive and sends great technicians.

Having a plumber come out to clear our sewer line had become an annual event - clearing a root infestation from our neighbor's trees. After five years of yearly unclogging (worst clogs ALWAYS seemed to come just before or during the holidays) we decided our sewer problem wasn't going to get better with time. The latest plumber we hired to clean out the root-clogged sewer recommended that we reline our sewer. We hadn't thought about that, but we decided the time had come to find a permanent solution. We had three estimates to reline our sewer line from the sidewalk to the city sewer and chose Bill Howe as their estimate was right in the middle and, of course, they were highly rated on Angie's List. As part of the estimation process, we paid to have a detailed camera inspection - sort of like a colonoscopy for the house - but more fun for me. The inspection showed that the source of the problem was indeed tree roots that had invaded the clay pipe between the property line and the city sewer. I called the city (La Mesa) and was told that sewer lines from the home to the city sewer connection is the homeowner's responsibility - unless you can prove that city planted trees were causing the problem (good luck with that)! From the camera inspection, the estimator was able to give me a solid estimate of the entire cost (much better than an over the phone/back of the napkin estimate we got from one company.) The entire process took two days. On day one a two man crew came by to water jet clean the sewer from the back of the house clean-out to the city sewer. Only item of note was that the overflow drain in a bath tub over flowed the wrong direction - debris from the sewer came up into the tub. Once the "enema" for the house was completed, the crew cleaned up the debris - they did a great job cleaning up. On day two the relining process began. From the camera inspection, they knew exactly what the condition of the sewer line was and how long the reline had to be. The prep/installation time took about three hours and the cure time about four hours. The sewer line was operational well before the evening meal. Bill Howe plumbing did a great job cleaning and relining our sewer. Every one of the personnel they sent out were very professional. I'm a curious person and like to learn new things - the technicians took all the time I needed to understand what was going to be done, what was being done, and why it had to be done. For future plumbing work Bill Howe Plumbing will definitely get my future business.

I've used these guys in the past and they took good care of me on price and service. I had a female tenant call them to have a clogged line snaked and they charged her a whopping $395!!! I guarantee you that they wouldn't have charged that if I were the one there. They clearly took advantage of a female. Well, they don't have to worry about that ever again as I will never use their shady company again. Hopefully this post will help save some of the females out there from being taken advantage of like my tenant was. If you want a company that treats everyone the same, check out Baird's Drain at (619) 462-8229

All was completed in less than an hour.

They came out the next day and were here for about an hour plus and everything went very smoothly.

WeI had an appointment window of 2-5, and Brian arrived at approximately 2:30. He didn't call in advance which was surprising, but it wasn't a big deal. Like with my previous experiences with Bill Howe plumbing the tech was professional and personable, and seemed keenly interested in what I needed. Brian asked what we were trying to do, and began examining area where our gas lines came out for the water heater and furnace nearby. He talked with me quite a bit about options, the permitting process, and other things to consider. As he was examining the best way to get gas from outside by our meter, we noticed a iron gas line running along the garage ceiling line along a 2x4. Upon following this further, we discovered that it sneakily ran down the unfinished wall between some floor to ceiling cabinets, on the wrong side of the wall stud. While Brian was conspiring on how to get back to where the dryer was, he opened the cabinet, dug down into the lower level, and noticed that the gas line had been stubbed out already IN THE CABINET. He said all that I needed to do was cut a hole in the side of the cabinet and run a flexible line to the dryer. I apologized for bringing him over for a "non-problem", but he laughed and said he was only a few blocks away and it wasn't an issue. In fact, he said there was no charge at all for the visit, or detective work that uncovered the gas stub. As always, Bill Howe responded quickly to my inquiries, was on time, and was very fair. They're not the cheapest, but they are honest and really care about repeat business. I've dealt with a lot of plumbing companies, and when you find one you trust, stick with them.

I had 2 small spots on my ceiling, which appeared to be small leaks from a pipe. I called 4 plumbers for inspection and quotes- the first 3 immediately said I had pinhole leaks in the cast iron pipe and needed to replace it, to the tune of around $450. Bill Howe was the fourth to come by- and they did the most detailed inspection of any of the plumbers. What they found was that I don't have a leak at all- I had condensation that built up on the pipes and dripped (likely during the hot spell when we were running the air conditioner). The technician, Nate T., and his associate, were extremely courteous and honest. They easily could have suggested like all of the others that I needed to replace the pipe, but they took the time to really understand the problem, and it saved me a bunch of money that didn't need to be spent! I didn't get a quote for the plumbing work, since there was no charge for the inspection and I didn't end up needed plumbing work, but in the future, I will certainly use them regardless of price due to the service and trust factor.

Excellently. It took two visits, with two different plumbers, but in both cases they were dispatched promptly, arrived on time, worked swiftly and efficiently, explained fully what was necessary, gave fair and accurate estimates.

They were very courteous while doing the work. they were knowledgeable and extremely neat. They were on time and very professional. They literally built a plastic house to keep the mess out our home! Very nice, very caring. Their project manager, Amy, was especially effective.

h!Dustin was on time, personable, professional and, most important capable. It was the hottest week in San Diego and this was his last call on a Saturday night from 7:15 to 8:15 pm. He was terrific. I have used Bill Howe Plumbing and will use Bill Howe HVAC from now on. FYI - this service call was for a townhouse sale in escrow due to close on Monday. This service call saved the sale which closed on time today!

Our tankless water heater stopped working mid-day, and we needed a service call that day to get hot water. George from Bill Howe was prompt, efficient, competent, and very pleasant. This is the second time we used this company for service. We were impressed once again with their staff's professionalism.

The service provider tried to tell me that three of my toilets were worn out and needed to be replaced. He claimed that the gaskets between the tank and the bowl were worn out and that 10 years is about right for useful life of a toilet. I said wait a minute, the toilets in the house I grew up in are now 50 years old and no problem. He then agreed to do a test with some blue dye. He put the dye in the tank and said if it appeared in the bowl in 15 minutes, the toilet needed to be replaced- didn't happen. He replaced the flapper to stop the toilets running but said there was nothing he could do about the fact that regularly two of them would not flush. My conclusion- provider thought he could put one over on a single woman home owner.

Left messsage with Bill Howe the previous day after hours. Was contacted early the next day by the receptionist, who asked when would I like a technician. My reply was early as possible. She said she would get a tech out within the hour. About 10 mins later, she called and informed the tech was on the way. The tech arrived, I explained the problem, the tech explained possible solution and per hr charge. Tech also informed that he may or may not need to cut open the wall and discussed after work needed if wall indeed had to be opened. I agreed to any work needed to do to get the job done. A little while later the technician alerted me that he was finished and didn't need to go into the wall after all. He also informed that he could replace the shower handle cartridge while he had it apart, to make it easier to turn on/off if I wanted (along with a slight additional cost). I had him replace that also. The resistance in the shower handle had been like that for so long, the wife and I never really noticed it until he replaced the cartridge. She noticed it right away. Excellent service and attention to detail. He even took wall decorations off of the opposite side of the wall so they wouldn't fall while he was working. Bill Howe is highly recommended from my perspective.