JOHN SMITH & SONS INC

They do good work but sometimes I?m not 100% satisfied with what they do. They put in a new toilet but at the base of the toilet there are some cracks. Overall, they do a good job.

We received an estimate several months before we actually contracted to have the work done. When we called to arrange to have the work done, the company was very accommodating with regard to the timing, although when the day came they stalled for more than a day because it turned out they had committed to doing the work without having checked with their subcontractor - the tile guy. We would have preferred if they'd simply told us from the start they couldn't start a given day or even on the day of if they'd just said they would have to postpone the start. As it was I wasted a vacation day to be home to watch them stall. When they began in earnest the pulling out of the old tile was a dusty nightmare. The tile guy repeatedly threw pieces of the removed tile (all connected to the wire mesh used in plaster bathrooms) out of the 2nd story bathroom window, having it crash to the ground. I had to ask more than once for them to carry it down the stairs rather than disturb my neighbors. 3 days in they were still removing tile. I learned at that point that they had misbid the job - the estimator had not realized that a townhouse built in 1950's in Baltimore would have plaster walls. This delayed the work substantially. To their credit, they stood by their estimate, and I'm sure took a loss on the job. The job took more than twice as long (6 days instead of 2.5-3) as the original estimate. That's when the real nightmare began. When they put the toilet back in they did not install it correctly. I noticed a water spot on the ceiling, had them come back out, and they told me they thought it was from when they hit a water pipe during the tile removal, and it would dry on its own. The alternative at that point was to cut a hole in the ceiling of the first floor living room to look and see, so we decided to watch and wait. Unfortunately, they were wrong, and the problem caused a massive back-up of gray water into the wall. The back-up was literally a fountain that came out of the first floor ceiling and continued out of the basement ceiling. Ultimately the cost of this was in the tens of thousands because of the mitigation work that had to be done to dry out the plaster and disinfect, then remove all of the gray water affected items (plaster ceiling and walls on the first floor, ceiling tiles and carpet in the basement). While John Smith and Sons did not try to charge me to fix the backed up plumbing, they also never admitted that they had caused the problem. Nor did they share what the ultimate cost of mitigation and restoration was likely to be. I had this company do work before. They are family-owned and typically very polite and true to their word. In this instance, in my opinion, they bid for a job that was over their head, and they were never able to admit this to me. This meant the work continued to get drawn out as they made multiple trips trying to fix something they didn't know how to fix.

The first job (replacing the waste water system) was done very well at a competitive price (which was lowered considerably after some discussion). The plumber and his assistant were very professional. The second (replacing the icemaker line valve) was a different story. Normally, I would have done this myself, as I do small plumbing jobs. But I was very busy at the time. The plumber came in with a ''value rate'' price of $235. When I asked how he came up with such an estimate without first having seen the job, he said it was done back at the office and that he didn't know how they did it. I phoned the office, but the person responsible for the pricing wasn't available. Although I thought it was exorbitant, being busy, I told him to go ahead. The plumber himself was OK--he did a good job. Later, when I had some time to call other plumbers, I figured the charge about $100 too much. On 7/22/05 I sent a letter to Mr. John A. Smith, president, but never received the courtesy of a reply.

JOHN SMITH AND SONS SERVICED US WITHIN 24 HOURS. OUR WELL PUMP LOCKED UP AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. WE WERE OUT OF WATER FOR ONLY TWO DAYS. THIS COMPANY WAS VERY PROMPT IN MEETING OUR EMERGENCY NEEDS.