John Baethke & Son Plumbing

very good experience, lots of knowledge and ideas to address difficult plumbing issues in a very old home

I scheduled a repair and/or replacement of our kitchen disposal--a very standard unit. When Edgar came he informed me that it would be $248 to simply remove the unit and check to see it could be repaired. If not, a replacement and installation was quoted at $750! I had a replacement in my old house six months ago for under $400. I have another plumber coming on Friday who will provide and install a 3/4 hp Insinkerator Badger for $450.

Everything was done very professionally. The individual who did the work was courteous and friendly. Pricing was discussed upfront and all procedures were explained clearly. There was no hidden costs. The price I paid included a service contract for discounts on any future services.

The repairman arrived on time, assessed the situation and provided a breakdown of costs, explaining my options. I approved the work and he began by protecting my bathroom surfaces. Everything went well until it was time to install my new faucets. I opened the sealed box and when he took the parts out one hot water valve was missing. Since it was late afternoon he arranged to have someone out first thing in the morning while I replaced the faucets. The next morning another repairman arrived as scheduled and completed the job. Both men were very meticulous and professional and I was very satisfied with the result.

Baethke showed up on time & installed the water heater with little disruption. Edgar was great! Very professional and respectful of my home. I would highly recommend Baethke & Sons to anyone looking for a good, honest plumber!

Well, they came out and did a very thorough check of the entire house. Found some issues, toilets needed to be reset, they tightened some fixtures, and other small issues . They made some recommendations for future services. . What really impressed me was their handling of the sewer line. They used a camera through the line and found some debris which was going to eventually going to cause problems. Got the city involved, they took care of everything! Had no problem with cost of that, but I did feel that some of their prices for other repairs were a bit steep. Would I use them, probably. They have a great reputation

Sorry, late in doing this. They helped out a lot with an old water heater. First they came and flushed it out but it was falling apart so they replaced it. Fixed some toilets and improved water flow in shower. All seem to be working great.

They were punctual and knowledgable & resolved our issues in a timely manner. There were additional problems that had sprung up, but they were handled immediately and well. We are very happy with the work that was done.

didnt actually do anything but look at my plumbing. was told they would flush my water heater, but couldnt because there might be too much sediment? plumbing inspections are basicly a scam

John Baethke was extremely prompt and professional in all communications. He came to look at our house a few days after I called, then sent an estimate the next day. I scheduled the work to start in a couple weeks, and the project took three days to complete. Both John and a 2-man came the first morning, and we went over all the details again. I really appreciated that the workers were exactly on time each morning and either called or emailed with questions and details from each day's work. The only complaint was that they took out more of the concrete wall than was necessary when moving the gas line because they didn't check to make sure of where the line was coming from first. But otherwise, we were completely happy with the quality of the work and would definitely hire them again.

I thought they were very good and very professional. The only thing that they might have been a little bit overpriced. Then, I remember one of the plumbers wanted to sell me on a different membership scheme they had going. We did end up buying it and it was for a year but we never used it again. I think in terms of value, if you have a lot of plumbing problems, it's good because they have a reduced fee for coming out. I think it might not cost you anything. He kind of pushed it on me and it didn't end up being a good value for the money, personally. That was the only negative. They were very professional, neat and clean. They laid down mats and things and cleaned up after themselves. The quality was very good. The only minor thing was the price for me. I might use them again. Maybe, possibly.

Everything was excellent with him. The prices was a little much for the additional services I needed though.

Our water pressure was almost nonexistent in this 80 yr old house. We had a new water heater put in several months earlier and the plumber showed us the horizontal pipes were almost completely closed. Since then our water pressure had dropped to almost nothing. We got estimates from a number of plumbers and John's was near the lower end. He sent his estimate for the work right away and was able to start relatively quickly. John's group tore out the old horizontal pipes and put in the new copper pipes in one day. He also brought the water heater up to code and made sure everything was working correctly. He tested the sinks and the showers. The pressure improved somewhat but not significantly so he went through and checked everything again. He could hear water rushing from the pipe leading out of the house and since we had a new buffalo box put in the city was called out to check to see if there was a leak. To make a long story short the leak was found to be right outside the house and not at the buffalo box. John gave us the name of a group (Kerr Mechanical) that would locate the leak and add new copper pipes from the house to the city water supply. Once the leak was taken care of the water pressure was fantastic. Both John Baethke and Kerr Mechanical did an outstanding job and I would hire them both again if needed.

We moved into our new condo on a Sunday afternoon, only to find rather extensive water damage from a water heater that had been leaking for an undetermined amount of time. The water heater had been installed incorrectly - without a shut off valve - and was still leaking, so quick response time from a plumber was tantamount. Steven arrived relatively quickly after we placed our call to Baethke & Sons. He diagnosed the problem as an issue with the water heater's escape valve. He couldn't say why the valve started leaking, but he said that replacing it would fix the problem, at least for the time being. Since the water heater was 12+ years old, another option was to replace it entirely. Steven discussed the cost differences of both options with us, and we decided to replace the existing water heater now rather than spending a couple hundred to fix the immediate problem knowing that we would likely need to replace the water heater within the next couple years anyway. Steven replaced the water heater in a very short period of time. After discovering that the new water heater that he had in his truck was damaged, Steven went our of his way to address the issue, calling the home office and arranged for delivery of a new water heater so that we didn't have to go without for any period of time than was necessary. The owner himself showed up with the new water heater. After installation, Steven walked me through all of the features of the new water heater. Both the owner and Steven were very courteous and professional, and I would definitely call on Baethke & Sons to do additional plumbing work.

This house was built in 1894 & this toilet was installed in approx 1953. Nothing here is "standard" & I understand the problems involved because I have lived here since 1959. I have had the same plumber since then, but he recently retired so I was apprehensive about using a new plumber for what could be a major problem. Patrick Wirtanen arrived on time and was totally professional and knowledgeable. It was a major job requiring both a toilet replacement & iron sewer/drain pipe work. Everything was well done in a most professional manner.You may be sure that John Baethke & Son....and especially...Patrick Wirtanen are already on my list to call for all of my plumbing needs.

This review is for Alex diagnosing our failed power vent water heater on the day after we moved into a new house (remember to check the hot water at your final walkthrough, people !). He was dispatched same-day and stayed until after 7pm to finish the job. He even took care of a couple other things that would have cost a few hundred bucks while he was waiting for the heater to be delivered. They are not cheap as others have said but the two techs (Alex and Pat) that I've had out at my new house, were nothing short of superb when it came to workmanship and professionalism.

We've used Baethke & Son for almost 2 years now and there isn't a Plumbing company in the world I'd be more comfortable with in our home. Patrick W. was our technician. He arrived early and waited until just before our appointment time to come in. He surveyed the work to be done, had a quote for us and then began the work. True to Baethke & Son fashion, all the work done was very neat and clean. There were no messes to clean up after we left. All old parts, toilets and boxes were discarded by Patrick W. After every service call, I feel more and more knowledgable about plumbing. They do their best to educate their customers and make sure their plumbing systems are operating at their best. They're not cheap, but you get what you pay for and that's the best!

Arrived at scheduled time, spent time inspecting systems, explaining findings. Very pleasant and professional; made recommendations--will return at future date.

Plumber came exactly when he said he would. Very courteous. Put on shoe covers before coming in. Thought the issue maybe the cartridge in the toilet. Unfortunately the toilet didn't have any brand name so he took a picture of the cartridge to see if he could find it. He looked at my other toilets to see if there was any issues with flushing. In the end, he wasn't sure that the cartridge replacement would do anything. i asked him for a quote to replace the toilet. he had a TOTO Drake in his truck. The cost was over $1,000 including the toilet. If i bought my own toilet, it was over $600 to install. Also, at the time of making the appointment, the scheduler said that there was a visit FEE waived for Angieslist members. In the end they charged me $89.00. Apparently it would have been about $160 if i wasn't an Angieslist member.Again, the guy coming over was very courteous and super professional, but like most plumbers i've encountered, most are basically parts-changers and i found it somewhat misleading that there was a "charge waived" when i called but there was actually going to be a charge from the outset.Also, the install charge for a toilet seems egregious. i can't comment on the charge for the TOTO Drake install because i don't know what they go for.

The service was good but it was extremely expensive. They're very good and professional besides that. We found out from others that I called that they would've solved the problem but we would still end up back at square one because they weren't solving the real issue.

The company did what the other reviews reported. Alex Odisho was the plumber and he is patient, thorough, professional and ethical. He looked at the problem from a variety of perspectives (beyond what I was expecting) and presented variousl options detailing the trade-offs. I was comfortable that I had sufficient information to make an informed decision and he completed the work thoroughly and in an timely manner. I would definitely use them again.

The drain piping under my tenant's sink had failed and started leaking badly. I called John Baethke as I was busy and needed the issue resolved ASAP. When I called they were exceptionally polite, professional, courteous and accommodating. A total class act. The woman who helped me told me someone could be at the apartment late afternoon but they were able to come even faster than that. The job was simple - replace janky piping under a sink with professional PVC piping and seal it with PVC cement. I know it is 'emergency' service but $450 for one hour of work....really? They told me that they would charge the same price if it was one hour or five hours mine just happened to take one hour. I asked why it was so expensive and it is because "they are union and their prices come out of the standard union book." I try to support union labor but when it costs literally more than three times as much as non-union there is simply no way I can justify it. The rent my tenant pays is $1,000 per month before taxes, insurance and mortgage so there obvously isn't $450 to throw around at miscellaneous plumbing work. So, I can't recommend these guys simply because of the egregious pricing, however I can say that they are extremely professional and I have no complaints about the quality of the work.

Patrick arrived at the scheduled time. He was very professional and friendly. He quickly assessed the problem. The really nice part was he gave me several options on how to fix it. I did not choose the cheapest fix because he would not have been able to warranty it.I have not had plumbing work done recently. Because of that I did not know how to judge the price. He replace a lot of plumbing under the sink, but It seems a little expensive to me, which is why I gave them a B on price.Everything else was A work. Patrick was done in about 1 1/2 hours. The sink works great, he left no mess and was extremely professional, courteous, clean and definitely new what he was doing. I live in an older 6-unit condo building. We will have plumbing issues again, for sure. I will definitely call Baethke when we have an issue and I will probably suggest having them come out and do an inspection of our building plumbing.

Alex from John Baethke & Son was the plumber who performed the work on my condo, which ended up being a water heater replacement, cleaning out all of my plumbing that had received water from the heater (all of it), and eventually replacing my ejector pump. I called John Baethke & Son to investigate very low water pressure I'd been experiencing for quite a while, that had deteriorated to the point of barely being able to shower or use the kitchen faucet. Alex arrived on time, was extremely professional, knowledgeable and polite throughout each appointment (which ended up being a total of 3). Alex immediately checked my water heater upon seeing the compromised water pressure I was experiencing at certain points throughout my condo (in the most used faucets I had the least pressure), after some investigation he found the entire "dip tube" had melted. A dip tube is approximately 4 ft long in the model of water heater I had, and it had melted entirely over time. He was confused by how this could happen, called the manufacturer of the water heater during his visit and found out the water heater had been recalled for this problem prior to having been installed in my condo during new construction in 2001. The plastic debris clogged my faucets, mostly the ones that were used frequently, so he recommended a new dip tube or a new water heater - my choice. Being that the water heater was 10+ years old and clearly shouldn't have been installed in the first place, I chose to get a new one and had it installed the same day. This was on a Friday, my appmt was at 1pm and Alex stayed until 7pm the same day to install the water heater. Part of the service included clearing out the plastic from my faucets/plumbing lines, but because I'd already had plans that evening Alex made an appmt me with me to come back at my convenience - which happened to be the following Saturday. During that visit, he found that I needed a new ejector pump - which made sense as there was a strange noise coming from my existing one for quite some time. Throughout this entire process, Alex was very helpful and responsive. I'd run across John Baethke & Son several years prior and heard good things about their service at the time, but hadn't had a need for a plumber until recently. I highly recommend them to anyone, and give big kudos to Alex, especially. The level of service he provided is difficult to find and has resulted in a lifetime customer and referrals any chance I have to provide one. I owe thanks to Alex for not only fixing my problem, but for providing the most professional service I've ever received from a plumbing company. Thank you!

For years I've had problems with a water line which extends (in exposed outdoor air) to a faucet on the rear of our deck. Even though this is pitched, and I shut off water and leave faucet open every winter...it fails to drain adequeately and each spring the pipe is burst. After patching it several times , this spring I decided to replace water-line AND get a blow-out valve installed where I could hook an air compressor up and force any remaining water out the pipe. The tech arrived and indicated this could be done, and it would be approx a 5 hr job. Then he quoted me. At this point I must just say... Wow! They were 2x to 3x what I was anticipating and accustomed to. It was too late though ... I had a very busy schedule, had taken time off from work, and repair needed to be done... so I bit the bullet and had them do the work. Service tech was Professional , Polite and Courteous. He cleaned up after himself and did quality work. They will encourage you to sign up for their 'service plan' for ~ $142 which gives you discounted pricing and a few perks. If you have a lot of work to be done ... it probably pays for itself. I did it to have a professional check the entire house over , and they did find and fix a minor problem. Hot Water Heater is also drained/flushed as part of this plan. Quality work, professionalism ... just be prepared to pay.