Sure Fix Plumbing

Great job thanks

Sure Fix is my "go to" for all my plumbing needs. I manage 40 rental properties for a family trust, and can't usually break away from my day job to inspect things myself. Just a phone call or an email to Sure Fix and I know my tenants are in good hands. A family owned and operated business, they are trustworthy and honest people.

I used this plumber for rental and home problems because they were a little cheaper and faster. However they do not stand by their written contract. Two weeks after they cleaned out a stoppage it backed up again and they wouldn't stand by their 1 month guarantee saying using the garbage disposal violated the terms.

As with any project of this nature, the estimates were based on assumptions, site unseen, as plumbing was always 'internal'. As analysis progressed, it was determined that the plumbing in the upstairs required tearing into walls, inspecting plumbing. [This is a residence of some 90 plus years old!] The more they dug, the worse the problems were. Ultimately, the job required replacing plumbing through out the house as relates to the upstairs shower, toilet, etc. The project ultimately resulted in analyzing the basement plumbing. Totally corroded piping! The repairs required tearing up the basement floor where ever pipes were! Stacks and related piping from top to bottom needed to be replaced. A sump pump was desperately needed, and installed, as well. When all was said and done, and thanks to additional contractors, the plaster walls that needed to be repaired were put back better than the original! Thanks to this company, this latest deluge [three days and 12 inches] of rain were dispatched with no build up in our basement! My apologies for being so late with this review.

This is the third time using them. It went OK. Scheduling was a bit difficult. I had to wait for them to call me back. However, the work was A+.

unknown

TERRIBLY!! Early last summer (2013), I called Sure Fix for various plumbing problems with my house, which was built by Vatterott in 2001. I'm a single mom with two young kids, and some repairmen think they can take advantage of a woman like me, until they realize that I'm extremely handy and perform most of my minor home repairs myself. Dave, a Sure Fix independent contractor, came to repair the toilet and gave me an estimate on all of the work. Dave said that my homeowner's insurance might cover some of the repairs if he found a leak in the wall. On his first visit, Dave charged me about $120 for the toilet repair, but he didn't fix it properly (see separate review). I was stupid enough to believe his explanation that something else must have broken since his repair, and I was blinded by the fact that his hot water replacement bid was much lower than his competitors, along with his hints that some of the repair costs may be covered by insurance if he found a broken pipe in the wall. During his initial estimate, Dave explained that my 12 year old hot water heater had failed because the pipes connecting the tank to the water line were leaking, which in turn caused water and corrosion to get inside the insulation of the tank and cause it to lose heating efficiency. I had to leave the tank turned up to the hottest setting all winter just to get enough hot water for a 20 minute shower for the last few winters, till I finally had enough and had it inspected by Sure Fix. Dave assured me that replacing the tank would solve the problem. When Dave returned to replace the hot water heater, he also replaced the broken main water shut off valve, which was done satisfactorily (other than the fact that he left bits of metal solder from the repair job on the floor). Despite his estimate to open the wall to troubleshoot the source of dripping sounds, Dave did his best to talk me out of it. I pressed the issue for 20 minutes before he finally cut the portion of drywall where I had heard dripping sounds. No leak was found, and I was satisfied, albeit confused as to why he suddenly didn't want to look inside the wall as promised. Dave was a little sketchy and slick, and after the failed toilet repair situation, I decided to keep the old hot water heater, just in case something went wrong with that repair. Sure enough, I started having the same problems with the new hot water heater that winter (2013-14! Again, I had to turn my hot water heater to its highest setting just so two people could shower in the morning. I called Sure Fix a few times as soon as I noticed the problem but they just took a message and gave me the run around for months. Spring rolled around and I still hadn't heard anything from them, so I called again. This time they sent a different guy out who took pictures and said he'd discuss the problem with the owner and get back with me. Again no follow up from Sure Fix whatsoever. I was having my air conditioner serviced and the technician (who was a licensed plumber in another state) noticed the corrosion and leakage on the new water heater, which was leaking onto my basement floor and under the AC unit. I told the AC tech about getting the run-around from Sure Fix. The hot water heater problem is at its worst in the winter, and frankly I take cold showers in the summer, so the tank issues were furthest from my mind after it got so hot outside so quickly this spring. It took the repairman all of 5 minutes to discover the problem - that Dave failed to replace the old PVC pipe which caused the leak in the original hot water heater (which was only 12 years old at the time), and Dave's failure caused the same leak and same corrosion problems in the new hot water heater. Furious, I called Sure Fix one last time, stating that my next call was going to be to the local news consumer reports investigator who reports on shoddy contractors. The owner and Dave responded this time and came to my house. Sure Fix's owner was very hostile right off the bat and accused me of sitting on the problem for nearly a year without getting it corrected. The owner said that his Dad (the guy who took pictures and never followed up with me) informed me months ago that the corrosion problem was not a result of faulty installation and the problem would get worse if left unrepaired, which was simply untrue. Then the owner contradicted himself several times in trying to pass the problem off on first the original installation when the house was built, then changed his story and said that some defect must've developed after Dave's repair - neither of which was Sure Fix's responsibility to correct. I tried to reason with the owner that if the problem was caused by the original installation, then Dave failed to properly diagnosing the problem, which should be covered under their service guarantee. Conversely, if some defect developed so soon after the installation, then it was likely due to Dave's poor workmanship. Either way, Dave should have replaced the section of pipe connecting the heater to the water line, a standard practice, which would have prevented the problem from reoccurring. Angry that he could not BS his way past the situation, the owner started interrupting me, then got up in my face and was nearly shouting at me, which made me feel threatened in my own home, so I told he and Dave to leave immediately. I don't know if he thought he could intimidate me because I'm a single woman or what. I reached out to the BBB to negotiate a solution, but Sure Fix just wrote a nasty, untruthful reply and continued to deny any responsibility for the problem. Sure Fix actually had the nerve to accuse me of not paying my bill in full from the original repair - which sounded utterly ridiculous, given the fact that they NEVER ONCE contacted me about allegedly shortchanging them. No reputable business will just let a customer underpay their bill without any attempt to collect!! I told Sure Fix to send me documentation of any underpayment and I would take care of it, provided that they reimburse me for having another plumber correct the installation problems, but they refused. Now my only option is to sue them in small claims court and to spread the word about their substandard business practices. Good thing I still have the old water heater to prove the same kind of damage has occurred to the new unit. I will post pictures of this to back up my claims. You'd think after knowing that I can prove all this, they would just replace the heater at no charge to avoid all this negative publicity - but nope, they don't care! I got burned by this business twice - once with the bad toilet repair, and a second time with the shoddy hot water heater replacement. When it happened the first time, shame on Sure Fix. But the second time was shame on me for not listening to my gut telling me this guy was a s*******. If you read this review and still decide to hire these guys, then I hope it won't be shame on you! ~ Thanks for your consideration ~

Dave explained everything step by step. He was extremely pleasant, knowledgeable,and professional. He got to my house faster than expected. Received a call from the office to let me know that he was on the way. Everyone I dealt with at Sure Fix was very nice. Cost was more than I expected but i always think that. I doubt anyone would have done the job for less. I highly recommend this company and will call again if, heaven forbid, I need more plumbing needs.

Great! Fast, friendly and cost 1/3 as much as roto rotor

They're wonderful. Every time I call them, they get someone come here right away and take care of things.