Chavez Plumbing Inc

We woke up Saturday morning with no hot water. After my husband tried to fix it (it scares me to death when he tries anything), I started phoning all of the plumbers i knew and trusted. No luck on a Saturday. After looking at Angies List, I tried Chavez Plumbing. Julio Chavez picked up his phone on a Saturday morning and promised he would make it out to our home that day. He got here around 4 pm, our old water heater needed a new part (which he had on his truck). Success! He also promised he would email us a quote on a new one on Monday--and sure enough the quote was emailed Monday. Plus, his quote and his recommendations regarding a new hot water heater were better than others we had received...we are pleased and will use him again.

They performed an excellent job. My experience with their workers was very good.

1. One day during the week of April 21, 2014, my husband called Chavez Plumbing because my tenant?s water heater stopped working. The water had gone from roughly 120° to scalding and then a few hours later stopped heating water altogether. 2. The same day or the day thereafter, Mr. Chavez came to look at the water heater, pressed the reset button, and left a $85.00 invoice. While he was here, my tenant told him that she believed the ?thermostat? (which regulates the water temperature) was the problem since the ?element? (which heats the water) apparently still worked because the water temperature was scalding before the water heater?s reset button was tripped. He ignored her request. 3. On Thursday night, April 24, the water heater water went from roughly 120° to scalding again, and by Friday morning, April 25, the heater no longer put out hot water. My husband and I were out of town until Saturday evening, April 26, and therefore did not call Mr. Chavez until Monday morning, April 28 when he requested another service call. 4. On Tuesday afternoon, April 29, two men from Chavez Plumbing came and replaced the element, despite my tenant?s attempt to tell them that it was not the element that needed replacing but rather the thermostat, since again, the element obviously worked if it was heating the water to scalding, which causes the reset to trip and turn off the heater. 5. On Thursday May 1, my tenant?s water heater again failed. My husband and I were out of town until the evening of Saturday, May 3. However, my tenant called Mr. Chavez on Saturday, May 3 to discuss the matter. Mr. Chavez apologized for the inconvenience and told her that he had would voided the $85.00 invoice from his first visit. Mr. Chavez said he could replace the thermostat, but that it more than likely was not the problem, and that we really need a new hot water heater at a cost of $1,500. She told him that she and I would call him on Sunday, May 4. 6. On Sunday afternoon, May 4, my tenant and I called Mr. Chavez to once again discuss the water heater problem. Mr. Chavez still recommended replacing the heater at a cost of $1,500. He also said that if we wanted him to replace the thermostat he would do so, but he could not get to it until perhaps Tuesday, May 6. I told him that a cost of $1,500 for a water heater that cost around $400 retail was ridiculous even if he did have to crawl into an attic. 7. On Monday morning May 5, at 2:30 a.m., my tenant?s attic water alarm sounded, which is installed in both the air handler and water heater pans. Tired of dealing with Chavez Plumbing, we called another plumber on Monday morning, May 5, who came that day. Upon entering the attic he discovered that the condensate line for the air handler was detached, causing the condensate (water) to run into the overflow pan, thus sounding the water alarm. It was his opinion that since the condensate line was detached and broken at the elbow that someone had recently bumped into the line. Since no one except Mr. Chavez and his men had been in the attic for almost a year it is clear that one of them broke the line, probably accidentally. 8. My tenant called Mr. Chavez on Monday, May 5 to advise him that we took care of the problem and he would not need to do any further repairs. Mr. Chavez hung up on her. 9. My tenant has had no problems with the water heater since the thermostat was replaced by the second plumber on Monday, May 5. Today is Thursday, May 15, 2014. At no time did Mr. Chavez or his men attempt to check the water heater thermostat by using a multimeter, which is standard equipment for such a purpose. Either they do not own one, or they are interested in doing a through job. Furthermore, Mr. Chavez first attempted to a quick fix for the water heater by pressing the reset button without attempting to diagnose the problem. He then sent his men to replace the heater?s element, which is a much more expensive and time consuming job than replacing a thermostat and a job which was totally unnecessary. While replacing the element, his men broke the condensate line on the air handler in the attic, allowing water to drain directly into the overflow pan. Luckily, we had a water alarm installed in the overflow plan which prevented what could have been a disaster. During our dealings with Mr. Chavez, he was at times rude, unprofessional, dismissive, and either did not know what he was doing or thought he could take advantage of us. I will never use this plumbing company again.

showed up on time and were pleasant during the visit. knew their stuff, and showed us where our existing connections were not up to code. corrected the issue and swapped out the connections -- no additional charge. will definitely contact them again for our plumbing needs in the future!

They did the whole house in 3 days. They have a special crew for re-piping, and they insulated all of the pipes. It went very well.

Came out the next day when I called and fixed it at a lower price than any other plumber. Would definitely use them again.

The repairman was on time, and got the job done quickly. Very friendly, informative and professional. I highly recommend them to others. I am calling them tomorrow, b/c I now have a jammed garbage disposal!

I was impressed with how knowledgeable they were of our situation and how smoothly the job went. They had to cut some sheet rock to get to it but it was behind a door on the wall in front of the tub. I was very pleased with their work.

I have used Chavez Plumbing in the past and obviously was impressed, because I requested their services again! The great thing about Chavez Plumbing is its customer service. I accidentally punched a hole into a corroded pipe under my sink on a Sunday afternoon and the next morning the plumbers came out to fix the problem. The worked quickly, replaced the pipe, and cleaned up afterwards. They always want to make sure that the customer is satisfied when they complete the service. And if the customer is not satisfied, they will go above and beyond to provide customer satisfaction. From the person who answers the phone to Mr Chavez, himself - all of the employees take pride in their work and show great respect for the customer - in workmanship, pricing, and a genuine interest in helping the customer solve his/her problem.

They are great. I had some water pressure problems and they were able to fix it today. They also changed out the water valve hookups for my washer. They gave me an estimate on some future work that I need. They were very nice and professional. They didn't try and sell me anything extra and they seemed to really care about doing the job right. I will recommend them to all of my friends.

It went great. The scheduler speaks clear English, and was able to let me know what to expect. Gabriel and co-worker were professional and respectful of our home. Gabriel told me exactly what I needed to buy, and went with me to the store to pick it out. Embarrassingly, I'd forgotten my wallet, so he paid and I paid him back. He explained what needed to be done, and when the job got bigger than expected, he explained why and showed me. Nothing surprising, given my house is about 70 years old. They were pleasant to have in the house, and both showed a solid knowledge of plumbing.

Mr. Chavez answered my phone call on Saturday morning and immediately added me to his calls today. He checked all my extra issues that I had forgotten about. He had to go get parts but returned to finish the job Sat. night. He did not try to sell me all the excess services that ARS will do to you. Old school work ethic right here. I will never call any other plumber but him. GREAT JOB and very friendly service.

First of all, they were spotlessly clean, they smelled good, clean shoes, clean clothes. They were very careful about putting tools anywhere in bathroom. They put tools on box so not to mess up the floor. He even took a piece out to his truck to use a machine to have it fixed. He showed me why it started leaking again. They were in and out of the home very quickly and did a great job.

They have been called to our rental house by our landlord, and they have been great. They are quick, clean and give good service.

I would use them again and again...Mr. Chavez was wonderful.

It went smoothly. All i can say is that i was impressed that they did the job right the first time.

I found corrosion on some of the water heater fittings. Chavez's operator told me that there would be a $65 service call to look at the water heater. They gave me a price of $325 to replace a shutoff valve and two fittings to the water heater. I complained and they came down to $285. I thought this was still exorbitant. Contractors seem to double their prices in the museum district. I did agree to the work and the men did a good job. My only complaint is the price.

After a combination of factors tipped us off that something was wrong (foul smell every few hours, the drainage pump in our crawl space kicking on and off), we did some investigating and discovered that there was (what we thought was) a huge leak in one of the pipes under our guest bathroom. After running the bath water and turning it off we could hear the water draining into the crawl space at a pretty steady clip (luckily, we had installed a drainage system that captured that water, but we knew there were other problems). We also then realized that all the showers and toilets seemed to be connected, so whenever someone took a shower or flushed the toilet in either bathroom, sewage water was leaking into the crawl space. It was a Saturday mid-day when we found this out, so I was worried about getting someone to come out to work. I called Chavez Plumbing at noon and although he had already committed to two other houses, he agreed to come out at 3PM, even though they only normally work until 2PM. He called at 3PM when his second job turned out to be a huge water line break that required more work than he expected. Even though he probably wouldn't be finished there until 5 or 5:30, he was still willing to come out to our place (and, from what he told me, went to do another job after he left our place). He arrived looking like he had had a very hard job before (mud all over), but was still willing to work very hard for us (and he took protections to not track mud anywhere). It turns out we had a combination of things wrong: a clogged sewer line was the main culprit behind the leak, but we also didn't have a clean-out pipe in the back yard. So he unclogged it by climbing up on the roof and running a snake through the vent pipe (maybe I shouldn't be impressed by this, but I was). Once the drain was unclogged the leak stopped and we could use our showers again. But, obviously, there was an issue with the pipes that were leaking, as well, that he will come back to assess once the "water" in the crawl space has cleared up. He also recommended that we get a clean out pipe installed in the backyard so that they can do a full and more thorough clean out of the sewer line, which we will do as soon as we can. Overall a really great experience. He was extremely competent, kind, and--most importantly--indefatigable in his work ethic!!

I called on a Sunday intending to leave a voicemail but a man answered, who I presume was Mr. Chavez. I made an appointment for the following Wednesday. On Wednesday, I received a call telling me the plumber was on his way. They arrived, did all the work and although I was at work all day and my wife was home with them, as far as we can tell they did everything well. The water line entailed some sheetrock work which was done very well and in short - there were no issues. I chose them b/c of their Angie's List rating but I also noticed when doing my search that I had used them previously (about 8 years ago) to install a new water heater and had even left them a positive review. So it was a no-brainer. Good solid company.

After 3 other plumbing companies Chavez finally found the problem. I will be calling them whenever I have any plumbing problems.

He showed up and I told him what the problem was. He then said he could replace the elements, but the whole water heater would need to be replaced if that wasn't the problem. I would have liked to seen more diagnosing of the problem rather than just speculation based on what I told him. He quoted me a price for both replacing the elements and for replacing the whole water heater which I thought were really high, but I haven't shopped around so I'm not 100% sure if that's the going rate now or what ($285 to replace two element / $1300 to replace the water heater - I replaced the water heater about 10 years ago for $450). I decided to replace the elements since I was already $60 deep for the "service call," which could have been covered over the phone rather than him showing up to "diagnose" the problem without looking at the water heater. He didn't have the replacement parts with him, so he had to go to Home Depot to get two elements. He replaced the first one, then had to go back to Home Depot because he got two different elements. He finished the job and the water heater works now. I checked the box above that I would use this provider again, but I'd really give it a "Maybe."

Representative was polite and professional. He also explained what might be causing a persistent problem (exterior pipes leading to main line may be positioned in an awkward way) , and explained that I should get new toilets (which I had been told before). The toilets now flush normally after their visit. They had not flushed normally in over one month in spite of frequent use of plunger.

I've left a review for Chavez plumbing in the past, but I have since used them 4 other times and found them to be some of the best plumbers I've worked with in the long run. One amazing thing to me is that they have sent the same plumber to my house (both small and large jobs) on separate occasions which has been awesome as he knows the plumbing in my house. We have done extensive bathroom plumbing (i.e. - adding plumbing where none existed) and included a standup shower including shower pan work, claw foot tub, double sink, venting, fixture installation, etc.) Seeing the work go in prior to sheetrock finishing, I can say that it really is superbly done. They ensured metal strips over 2x4s, proper venting, clean soldering, etc. They may be somewhere in the middle of the pack on price, but they have my business from here on out. Prompt, professional, and they really do seem to focus on treating my house as their own.

it went great. They arrived within an hour of my initial phone call - they had a 10% off Angies List coupon and they were very professional

I've used Chavez Plumbing on several occasions and I've been very happy with their service at my home and at a rental property. However the last time was a bit disappointing especially since they had been so attentive in the past. I had a stopped up toilet at the rental. We kept clearing it and it would flush fine a couple of times, but it stop up again, the bowl would stay full of water. I called for service. They were on time as always. I was advised that the toilet should be replaced because even though they unstop it for me, it will do it again, that after awhile old toilets don't perform as well. Yes it was an old toilet and by this time the porcelain was very scratched up from snaking it on various occasions. We are DIY-ers so we were going to replace the toilet ourselves. We removed the toilet and took it outside. When we turned it over we could see there was an orange toothbrush lodged at the bottom of the bowl, the siphon, where it turns into the top part of the trap. Thanks renters! We went ahead an put the new toilet in for aesthetics. I reported the lodged toothbrush to the office when I paid my bill and things went dead silent. I thought that may an apology would be in order or a hey here's a nice discount on future work. I could understand that a DIY-er would miss this toothbrush but I expect that a plumber would not and since there was no response it seems like the response was "oh well". I now have a larger job to be estimated at this same property, but I will be calling someone else.