Frank's Basement Systems

Update: Since my original post, Frank the owner contacted me and came to my home to discuss the reasoning for my low grade on Angies List. . He explained that myself and several other customers who had already scheduled appts. should not have had their original appts. cancelled. He was a gentleman and apoligized for this mistake. He also gave me several options to rectify my drainage problem. I did not hire him but will consider doing so after I decide which option to use. It meant a lot to me that he took the time to speak to me in person and explain what had happened.

We would use them again. They were a subcontractor of Frank's Dr. Energy Saver that did the roofing, and the price was included in the roofing estimate. We are very happy with their work. They were very efficient.

Their quote was the most competitive price wise and he explained everything very well. They haven't done the work yet but i'm going to be using them in September or October.

The maintenance check performed was very thorough and the 16 yr old system was determined to be in very good condition and is working very well. Technician DID NOT try to sell me items that i did not need!

They were very professional and did a very good job.

Better than expected.Very responsive,got to it the next day and had job complete on same day.They let me know the costs before hand and were very professional. Would highly recommend.

They were professional and prompt. The quality of the work, the customer service and their followup all stood out.

Good job, good clean up. Professional.

I talked to and priced a lot of plumbers before hiring Frank's Mr. Plumber. Frank's was not the absolute cheapest, but they were BY FAR the most reliable, responsive, professional, friendly and knowledgeable team I talked to. And with a major project, I'd rather have a quality job done correctly once than pay a little less and have to keep fixing it. I now call Frank's for every plumbing issue. They are my go-to team. I even called them in the middle of the night on a friday night when my sump pump quit during a huge rainstorm - Frank had a service man out to my house within an hour, and a new sump pump installed immediately. I HIGHLY recommend this team.

Overall it went well. The salesperson was professional and returned calls. The scheduling person kept me in the loop with the delays caused by the snowy winter weather. Work was done on the days it was scheduled for. Price was higher than I expected but quality of work was good.

We have had work done by Frank's some years ago, so we knew what kind of excellent work they do. They did an great job and it looks great. The men that came were very nice and explained each procedure they were doing. Their Supervisor paid a visit to check the work out before they were done. They did a very good job of cleaning up. Hopefully, we won't have any more problems with water in the basement, but if we do, we will definitely call on Frank's to handle the problem.

I had some significant issues with how they did their pricing. I felt that they were not forthright with the costs. The more questions I asked the more holes I saw.

The company obviously has a big problem in handing off work from the intake person to the schedulers. I called on a Saturday. Was promised that I would get a "2 hour window" in advance of my needed appointment date. Never got the call. I did get a bizarre call to set up an appointment, after the appointment was to be set up, as though nothing was wrong. I reached out via Angie's list email, in case there was a reasonable explanation and 8 days later (!) got a follow up email with classic sponge listening and no action saying that "I was told our service department reached out to you directly. Can you confirm that for me?" I gave this same story the same day. Haven't heard back. It's been six days. Am not giving straight "Fs" in case there is a reasonable explanation. Angie's list does not weigh reviews like mine here, heavily since "no services were performed." (That is why I always read the actual reviews, not just rely on the "A-F" summary.) In this case, this was the highest rated plumber on my Angie's list, but there are other reviews saying the same thing. If a vendor does not return your calls in the first place, I believe that is something you need to take into account. . .especially when, as here, this vendor was first on my "A to F" sorted list. So I will now go down the list, having wasted many days waiting and doubling my telephone time. If timing and first stage dependability are crucial, I suggest you take the next plumber on the list.

Non-emergency situation to replace a leaking drain pipe. Got service call appt. within 48 hrs. Repair person arrived just about on time. Took time to explain the pipe material type was not PVC (was ABC I believe) and is not seen/used in cold climates. Must have been a homeowner's repair many years ago. Took about an hour total. Would have been quicker except the fitting ends were non-standard size and he had to go back to the shop to get correct fit. (House built 1930) Very satisfied with service. Used Frank's before for other plumbing, heating issues and will use them again in future.

Called 24 hour service and relayed info to overnight service tech who in turn called back to find out the details. All this was around 1:00am. Service tech explained a quick fix to get furnace back on. Told me to head out the next morning and purchase a new thermostat. All done ZERO dollars.

The plumber was a great guy, answered all of our questions, assessed the issues, and provided a quote for the work. We agreed on the assessment and decided to go ahead with the work. He showed up the next day, on time and ready to tackle my sewer problem. He was fast, courteous and explained how things worked and why they needed to be done. I will most definitely be calling Frank's for my future plumbing needs.

They did it quickly and under an important home sale deadline. I will use their services in the future if it is ever needed.

*Update - Frank, himself, came out to see if he could salvage our experience. He was nice and gave me a very reasonable quote to do the other half of the work that I needed done. I said; "give me a written or email quote on it" and thanked him. He said he'd do that in the next week or so, I never heard from anyone....again. Another contractor came out and finished the work, with very satisfactory results and communication. Responsiveness from the Salesperson was less than satisfactory, along with details/explanation of the repairs. Overall it seemed very rushed and some employees were sloppy and careless. The basement repair was satisfactory and the crew was polite and kind but I've since had a mold remediation specialist come over and explained the white plastic wall coverings (that Frank's placed randomly throughout the basement) were more trouble than good. 1. It covers the crack/patch work but 2. Traps/hides any moisture behind it. There is some black/wetness around the edges already. The second part of the service was supposed to entail a camera being run through my drainage. The plumber that came, came during the worst weather (it was close to 0 degrees with the windchill and a snowing blizzard outside). He only did a jet test (I would think I paid more for a camera test) mud and water sprayed all over the corner and side of the house, then he left. They didn't check the other side of the house. It's now March and since the snow has melted, I see he dismantled the coupling where my downspout goes into the drainage, as well as the sump. He also didn't put the cap back on the bubbler properly. He said they'd follow up with us but no one has called. So, great, you fixed my basement but water is now pooling just as bad, if not worse in the front corner of the house. I've heard nothing but good things about Franks but the plumber guys was totally unprofessional. Was smoking and asked me if I had batteries for his flashlight, which I gave him. Totally disappointed. I was willing to pay more for quality work but I really got treated with no care. The Salesperson went weeks without returning our calls and the plumber (when I was not present) talked down to my wife as if he was frustrated explaining anything to her. He was acted like talked to me like I was a buddy. I want to be treated like a customer. I paid 10k for a some I beams and some crack work, good service and putting things back together would have been nice...and returning calls. If there was a better plumber, these marks would have all gone up one. The basement and furnace people were nice and seemed to care.

Both jobs went quite well. It took a bit of follow up to get the actual work scheduled, but that is because the company has multiple subdivisions and the two jobs were bundled together, which worked out ok, but the pump installation would have been faster if we had done two separate work orders. The sump installation went great and now I can rest easy if the power goes out. The installer demonstrated the water pump and showed how it worked, and cleaned up after himself. A note - the installer did not fill up the sump basin to make sure the two pumps worked correctly. I found this out during the next meltdown - the original pump float had been moved in such a way that the pump would not shut off. An easy fix on my end, but definitely something to follow up on. The crack repair went great. The technician explained the process and took great care with his work. It took two days (we had to have 3 carbon fiber staples), but the job certainly puts our mind at ease. The brightwall covering seems like overkill, but looks so good, my wife and I are wondering if we should have to whole basement done. Overall a good job and I would consider using them again.

We needed a new front porch for the house we had bought. Due to the weather our project was delayed. After I voiced my frustration, the general manager called me and was very understanding and accommodating. Once the project got started, we hit a few hiccups. The crew that was with us, was very helpful and guided us through the project. The crew was polite and courteous of my kids, dog and house. The project manager and general manager both gave my job a lot of attention which I appreciated. We have a beautiful front porch which I can't wait to enjoy this summer!

Note: FRANK'S MR PLUMBER did not perform the job; my feedback is about the interaction with their service man, which may or may not reflect on the overall company practices. The service man arrived about 40 minutes late. He was pushy, bordering on rude, and attempted to cross-sell unasked for service. An estimate was produce for nearly $800. I asked why it was so high since the job obviously would take 1-2 hours. His response was that they charge per job, not per hour, and he needs to pay for building permit (--permit was free). I ended up hiring another local company, who were extremely timely, professional, and polite. They charged $350 including tax.

Needed a hot water tank. Got 3 quotes and considered prices along with Angie's list ranking/reviews. Service was good, although it took weeks to schedule the replacement, all the while I was without hot water, going into winter. Price was in the ball park and the Tank works well. They use quality parts and did a good job, once the got here.

I have used these guys before. My house is 106 years old so some of the plumbing, not surprisingly, is in need of repair episodically. I've had Marc Smith from Frank's out to my house on several occasions--never for the same job twice, just to be clear. So recently, I was running water in a third floor bathroom and my girlfriend noticed discoloration of the ceiling in the living room on the first floor. Marc came by and had to knock holes in three walls and the living room ceiling to find out where the problem was. He was quite apologetic about having to do so but my position was, knock whatever holes you need to in order to find and fix the problem. And find the problem he did. Then he had to return on a different day to fix it as he needed to bring a colleague with him to do so. But he told me how long it would take to fix so that we could both get a mutually acceptable date. He also gave me an estimate and some options on what might be done or not done depending on what else he found while fixing what he KNEW was wrong. The date came and Marc and Anthony showed up as promised and got started. Both gentlemen put paper thingies on their boots before entering the house. Nice. They then got to work. I had some errands to run while they were there and had no hesitation about doing so. They finished on time and CLEANED UP after themselves. I think what I paid was actually below the estimate I had been given by between $50 and $100 dollars--maybe after they've repaired so many different things one gets a discount--like frequent flyer. I will use Frank's again when, inevitably, I have another plumbing problem.

The drain had been spec'd and priced based on two access outlets at ground level. After the town inspector reviewed the construction site he did not require the extra outlet so it was eliminated. As the home owner I had wanted the extra outlet since the location was going to be handy to using a hose to check the drain was free flowing and it meant to check it we need to disconnect the down spouts and check it there. It was too late to change back to the spec when I noticed the difference. Other than this communication failure the job was handled professionally, completed to schedule and we have been satisfied with the result.

The worker was wonderful. He was prompt in coming over on Super Bowl Sunday. Looked at the basement, understood where the problem existed, went outside and unstopped the drain. Roots had interfered with the drainage pipe. His price was reasonable and he was most courteous.