Counsil Plumbing

I had my house re-piped this month by Counsil Plumbing and their work was impressive from many standpoints including price, quality of workmanship and attitude. The company, owned by Mike and Valerie Counsil, is located at 1127 Somerset Avenue, San Jose 95132. Their phone number is 408-272- 2272. (There's a plumbing company with a similar name, so make sure you call the number above.) As a senior citizen, I was very impressed by Mike when he gave me the estimate and then said that he'd like to meet a family member just to explain everything that he would be doing. It was obvious that he is straightforward and wants to make sure that the family is aware of the project and how it will be carried out. (A neighbor who has done extensive plumbing work sat in on our meeting and was impressed by Mike.) Several factors made Mike's estimate the most appealing one. The price was right. The work would be completed in one day and he has an experienced crew of men who have done many re-piping jobs as a team. Other estimates for this project specified that the work would be done in 3 to six days which were not very appealing options. One company wanted payment in cash and did not want to get a permit. Those were warning signs to me. The crew arrived on time and each worker had a specific area that he started on immediately. As promised, they completed the job in one day. Not only does Mike run an efficient, operation but he and his wife are also very pleasant people to deal with. I highly recommend Counsil Plumbing. Anita Goldwasser

The technician, Josh Gibson, was right on time (even 5 minutes early) for the initial visit. He assessed the issue, explained what needed to be done, and informed me that I did not need to replace my 23-year old hot water heater due to its excellent condition. He arrived the next evening to do the actual work (both his office and he called to inform he that he would be a little late, much appreciated) and the work was done in 2 hours. His clean-up was meticulous. He explained that I would after all need a replacement hot water heater (due to issues he heard when refilling the tank) in the near future and discussed options with me. I felt confident in the work he did and felt he was extremely professional. I would highly recommend this company and would like to applaud the company for having someone as professional, careful, courteous, and friendly as Josh.

Counsil Plumbing did a great job. They were willing to go to Santa Cruz, showed up on time, did a thorough diagnosis before making a recommendation and scheduled the valve work to be done quickly before the next renters were due to show up. The work was done on-time, well and with no damage to the landscaping. We've had no problems since they did their work. A local plumber we had called over Memorial Day weekend when we had the backup into the house had wanted $500 to do the camera inspection of the lines. Counsil Plumbing had no extra charge for this service and showed that is only took a few minutes to do what the other plumber had made out to be a big deal. We are greatly relieved we thought to ask Counsil if they would go to Santa Cruz and glad they said and quot;yesand quot;.

I had four problems: a constantly-dripping kitchen faucet, a slow kitchen drain, a toilet tank that needed new innards, and a stuck shut-off for the aforementioned toilet. My handyman had suggested that the faucet should be replaced, but I was skeptical and hoped it could be repaired. After seeing some good reviews elsewhere, I called Counsil Plumbing for service. Mike visited on Wednesday afternoon to provide an estimate. Almost immediately, he started talking about how my old galvanized pipes have lasted longer than they're expected to last and that I should consider re-piping with copper. He accurately diagnosed the slow drain to a clog beyond a cleanout in the basement and explained that he did not have the equipment with him to clear that. I was now disappointed on two fronts - what I perceived to be an unsolicited up-sell on a re-piping job and arriving without equipment to clear the drain. (I had reported the clogged drain when I called.) I was stunned at his estimate for the work. Rather than simply replacing the innards of the toilet tank, he quoted a complete and quot;rebuildand quot; of the toilet. He and quot;knewand quot; that this would need to be done - unbolting it from the floor, replacing the seal, etc. (If I could shut off the supply, I could replace the innards myself. I have done so, with another toilet in this house, in the past.) He also suggested replacing the low-flow toilet (1.6 gallons per flush) with a newer model (1.2 gallons per flush). The quote did not mention any work on the stuck supply shut-off. I declined to have him work on the toilet. He could return on Thursday to complete the other repairs. After he left, I considered canceling the contract. His quote for the toilet repair was so outrageous that I hadn't paid careful attention to his quote for replacing the kitchen faucet, which was more than three times what I had paid to have the current faucet installed. (In both cases, I provided the faucet.) I decided not to cancel, as I needed to have the work done before the holidays and I did not look forward to scheduling more time to stay home from work. He arrived late on Thursday (outside the scheduled window of time), with one assistant. Clearing the clogged drain took some time, installing the new faucet took very little time. I was satisfied with the quality of the work, but not with the price.