Friedman Plumbing Express

Great! Kirk Ballenger conducted the initial walkthrough and estimate. He was punctual and responsive. Another team performed the repipe work -- they were at the house for one day, were punctual, polite, and kept me informed of progress.

I was also impressed with the service manager, Andy, and his ability to give me a quote over the phone. Most plumbers I called wouldn't do that...they wanted to come out first. The ones who did give me a quote for the same job were $30- $80 higher to declog the kitchen drain. Since I was impressed with the service, I asked them to do the toilet rebuild, too.

No complaints. They came back to make sure I was happy.

They (Eddie) did a great job. They were prompt, honest, clean and did all the good things you can say about a contractor. With a leaky faucet I appreciate how prompt they were and will hire them again to fix my toilet.

Pleased with the overall service, from both the main office and the plumber who cleared the clogged pipe. The plumber from Plumbing Express called when he was on his way to give an estimated arrival time. He showed up on time and placed drop cloths on the kitchen floor to prevent things from getting dirty. He was professional and efficient and solved our problem without leaving any mess behind. We will certainly call Plumbing Express the next time we have a plumbing emergency!

Kirk Ballenger was fantastic as a POC; I made initial contact and, because he had just done an estimate on a unit with the identical layout, he was able to quote the price for the polybutylene pipe replacement without having to arrange a meeting, which was convenient. We scheduled the work in advance; his team showed up promptly on the first day, were extremely courteous and professional, and completed the work on the exact timeline Kirk had predicted, including cleaning up well after themselves. When I came across the issue of the pipe that needed to be centered behind a new pedestal sink I purchased, he instantaneously called his service plumber, quoted the price, and got the work done the next day. Overall, they were excellent and I would definitely recommend them to anyone who needed to have this type of work done (their core business is PB pipe replacement, I believe).

Outstanding. I would recommend them to our neighbors and friends.

Overall, they are responsive, helpful, and professional. However, it's useful to find out their prices in advance in case you want to see if you can do better elsewhere.

Eddie is great. He found a problem immediately and was able to repair the problem that was caused by a bath-liner company. Other plumbers had come out to try to identify and fix the problem, but Eddie was the only one who was successful. He was really good. He's a nice man, too.

I chose this company because pipe replacement is their specialty, and my neighbors reported good results. Because Plumbing Express provides repiping and the drywall repair, this is one-stop shopping, which is really convenient. I did not get estimates from other companies so I really can't comment on the price, but it was in the ballpark of what I expected. Not cheap, but I figured if these guys know their stuff, maybe better to get them to do the work. The estimator was very professional, and called ahead to say he would be 15 minutes late (stuck in traffic on the Beltway), so I appreciated that. The plumbers were careful to protect their work areas with plastic sheeting and cloth tarps. We negotiated a bit on how the new pipes should be run to a bathroom with difficult access, then they did a careful job overall and cleaned up afterward. They worked really hard the minute they arrived and were definitely nice guys to work with -- willing to listen to my concerns and respectful of my house and furnishings. And no plumbing leaks afterwards, so I am happy with that! The drywall guys were another story. When they arrived around 8:15am as expected, they rolled out plastic from the family room where patching was needed, then into the kitchen. I was puzzled because no work was needed in the kitchen. I asked why they needed plastic on the kitchen floor and they just smiled at me and shrugged (sort of like, you crazy lady). They asked if they could use the garage, and I said yes and gave them access to that area. Then they sat in their truck for about a half-hour until 9:00am. Maybe that was their official start time, I don't know. I left them alone for about an hour, and when I checked to see what was going on, they had taken over my kitchen without asking if it was OK, and spread their buckets, tools, and bags of joint compound all over the floor and kitchen counters. And later, they left ponds of water on the countertops and paint drips down the cabinets when they washed out stuff in the kitchen sink. Their excuse was that everything was water-based and they would clean up afterwards. I didn't wait for that -- I cleaned up myself. At a minimum, they should have asked if they could use the kitchen and sink as their workroom from 9 to 5. A word to the wise: you need to have a discussion with the drywall guys as to what they plan to do for water and washing of tools and buckets. This crew was quite capable of communicating but apparently decided the less said ahead of time, the more convenient for them. After they had spread all their stuff out in the kitchen, I was hesitant to tell them to remove it. I probably should have, but they were a lot bigger than me and I wanted them to get on with the job and finish. Overall, the job they did patching/painting walls and ceilings was good, but would have been excellent with 5 more minutes on the "popcorn machine" for the family room ceiling. They did warn me it would be difficult to match the ceiling texture exactly, and I understand that, but they did a much better job in the laundry room and hallway, so I know that better is possible. And yes, I admit I am fussy about finish work!! BTW, you should plan on doing a second coat of paint afterwards (by you or a handyperson) if you are concerned about a good color match. The joint compound absorbs paint like crazy, so the patched area dries somewhat whiter than the paint color. They do leave you with the extra paint. Would I recommend or hire this company again? Yes, for the repiping job, which is the main reason I chose them. They are really good at that. They just need to improve on Part 2 - this particular drywall crew's communication with the customer, tidiness on the job, and attention to the small details that make customers happy.

I was very pleased with the workmen as well as their cleanliness and efficiency. Upon completion they left everything cleaned up. They answered any questions I had. They had to re-do some plaster where they had opened up a wall; They matched the existing very well too. They used a lot of drop clothes and plastic vapor barrier to keep messes to a minimum.

MY RECOMMENDATION DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY (Virginia Beach, VA store). This was the worst experience of our life. It took three weeks for them to start the job because they were too busy with other customers...understandable, first come first serve. What is not understandable is the following facts. The plumbers came in and finished the repipe in one day we were truly excited and I praised them to the Ops manager (John). Then came the drama and the unprofessionalism of John and his boss (Rob). They do not communicate with the home owner or ask where you would want new toilet water cut off valves, they just put them where it is easiest for them. The plumbing team came on time and their cleanup was poor quality at best because the plumbing team was too much in a hurry to get home to North Carolina. A week later; the Suffolk City plumbing inspector...(Thank god for him) and quot;FAILEDand quot; the job because of the obvious hurried work ethic the plumbers had and how the and quot;dry wallerand quot; used a broken gage to show the inspector that they system was not leaking air. The inspector gave them 24 hours to fix the following obvious errors and shortcuts, Insulate pipes that would be exposed to and quot;cold air and freeze and place metal guards on the wall studs and get a new gage. John talked to me on the phone and blamed the city inspector for being and quot;to precise and picky about the codeand quot; and our city inspectors our too tough on contractors. The Truth was, they tried to get over on the inspector and got busted for trying to use a broken pressure gage...Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I said broken gage and stuck on a pressure that exceeds what is required to pass (I saw this gage in the back of the dry wallers truck the very next day and picked it up and looked it and my wife was standing right behind the inspector). The gage's needle was bent on the dial and stuck on 100 PSI (interesting fact, that is the exact pressure needed to pass an inspection) the glass was broken out of the gage. So instead of bringing the plumbers back that screwed this up and caused more delays, John, the Ops Manager made the drywall guy fix the plumbers incompetence. Now for the drywall and painting. One month into this job and I am still not satisfied with the paint matching and the nonexistent help from managers (listed above) to come out to my house and review my simple complaint and fix the poor workmanship in painting, instead, they lash out at me and throw more workers at it. John told me his Uncle (Rick) will show the original dry waller how to put swirls in my plaster and how Rick is collecting Workman's Compensation but he was as healthy enough to work in my house??? This so called workman comp collecting guy, he reported to my house to work 2 more times after that. Wow, what a sign of not caring for the customer or job satisfaction. I would like to invite those people who previously posted good things about this company to come out to my house and see what shortcuts and unprofessional workers do to a and quot;paying customer'sand quot; home. Oh but, wait folks, there's more. The and quot;manager (Rob) who spoke rudely to me over the phoneand quot; and said he was coming to my house and never showed up but he had the main office call me and say they would show up the next week...That never happened. I never received a call to reschedule, but the kicker to this is, they sent me a final bill $200 less on it because they failed the city inspection. That's the only true thing this company did say they were going to do and actually did. All my wife and I are asking them to do is to repaint my dens ceiling (about 215 sq.feet) and place a waterproof cover over the hole in my siding on the outside when they cut off the old water spigot for the hose. So after one month after the start date of this and quot;little joband quot; they won't even finish what they promise they would do...and quot;turn key eventand quot;. Do not believe them or trust them. There are other resources out there that want your business and will treat you like a customer (i should have used my instincts) and not just a and quot;small joband quot; that back logs their calendars to get to the and quot;big businessesand quot; that they can charge a lot more money than mine or your and quot;measly $5,100.00and quot;. This is how you are going to feel from their attitudes and demeanor when you talk to them after you sign their contract.

Arrived after scheduled time, but was give notice by a call beforehand. Upon arrival, I was immediately asked to sign acknowledgment of a $39.95 estimate fee - even if work was not to be performed. (I was not made aware of this up front cost when I had scheduled this. After work was performed, I requested a refund of this fee. After no response to my letter, I called and spoke with them directly & they agreed to refund the estimate fee). The performed work couldn't be done that day (per the estimator), so I scheduled it for the next week. Anyways, the plumber arrived on-time & the work was done in an efficient manner, and fixed the plumbing issue. Though the final work was a success, the ordeal felt like a hassle...(or was it a hustle?).

I had got a few quotes on the job, and had settled on a plumber I knew and would have taken a several days to do. My wife found them online, since they specialize in PB replacement, and had them come to do a quote. They gave a price that was significantly less than anybody else and said it would be done in 2 days. Their crew of 4 came in and in a very rapid manner sheeted off sections of the house and moved like clockwork. I commented on how rapidly and efficient they were, and the crew chief told me that is all they do everyday. Every pipe was replaced within a day and a half, and they did extra touches such as a water line to the fridge, new anti-freeze valves for the outdoor faucets, and more. The work was flawless, and I was very happy with the results. The price was unbelievable as well. We did not have them redo the drywall since we were remodeling the entire house, so I can't vouch for that.

Plumbing Express came in and removed all of it in the house and crawlspace and replaced it with Flowgard Gold PVC with a 25 year warranty. We had had continual leaks before and no plumber would warrrant repairs on Quest Piping. The people were very professional, showed up early each day. They had to cut holes in drywall, but they numbered each piece and when the repiping was finished replaced and refinished right through final painting. Could not tell the holes were there. John, the Operations Manager was right on top of everything and the job actually came in under quote.

Plumbing Express did a great job! The sales person gave a thorough presentation of the job and exactly how it would proceed. The price was the best by $1000 from two other contractors. The workers showed up on time, cleaned up well each day. The enitre repiping job took one day; WSSC inspection on 2nd day; dry wall repair and painting on 3rd day. The dry wall and paint job were a perfect match. You cannot even begin to tell where the work was done. Also, the home has a popcorn ceiling; even the ceiling drywall, re-popcorn(?), painting was perfect! During the job, the office always kept me up to date on the activities and schedule. I was able to go to work each day while the work was being done.

Thinking that this job would really be almost impossible, I nevertheless knew that it had to be done as the house is 23 years old. Every aspect of the job could not have gone any better. Every individual involved, from the project manager who came to the house to provide an estimate, to the people re-plumbing the house as well as the drywall refinishers were very professional and courteous. As for the job itself, I could not be any more satisfied. It was hard to believe that the re-piping was done in 7 hours, and the whole job from start to finish took three days. It would have been two days had the county inspector arrive the day after the re-plumbing. There is no evidence anywhere that such a job had been done, considering the numerous holes in the walls and first floor ceilings. All drywall repairs and the perfect matching of paint colors were done perfectly.

The estimate was very very reasonable. They looked at my house and tried to follow the existing plumbing so they could decide where they would need to tear out walls or floors. They explained that they would try to minimize the damage and that they would be able to patch some of it up but I would need to call a plasterer for the rest. They explained the materials that they would be using which is a PVC type plumbing rather than copper pipes. They didn?t give me the written estimate, they sent it by email. The man that came out was very professional and he explained everything to me including the advantages of PVC pipes. He was very knowledgeable and very prompt.

I have been using them for fifteen years already and they are very honest and get all A's. I didn't have him do any work per se so in terms of the quality this time I have nothing to evaluate. Even though a woman from another company had taken all the tiles out of the master bathroom and put it back, he suggested that it was so old and the grout was so rotten that he needed a tile man. He said to get the whole thing taken down, have the board behind it taken down and put up something called dual rock and have the tile put back on. So, we ended up having that done. Paul Friedman diagnosed this problem but he didn't do any work.

The workers were professional and did a nice job.

A neighbor had told me about them. They were very good. The price was great. This is all they do and it took them one day to do it. They had to cut squares out of the wallboard to get in there. I replaced all that myself, but they would have done that also. I don't know how they would have done this, but they said they would match the paint and they would get a paint sub-contractor to come in. They said that we would never be able to tell. I was going to paint the whole place anyway, so I said I would take care of it myself. They were very efficient and cleaned up everything afterward. I thought they were great, especially for the price. I contacted two other plumbing firms and they beat them by $1000.00. They didn't use copper, they used the plastic but they said that this plastic was used throughout the south. They gave me a report on that and they said that my house would crumble before the pipe gives out. It's not like the polypropylene that I did have previously. There was no pressure. They said if we wanted them to do it, this was the price. I was a little bit skeptical at first, but they did exactly what they said they were going to do. I had a neighbor then afterward use them and they were very happy. So there were three of us that were very happy with them. I have had the plumbing now for about 3 years and I haven't had any problems. That's all they do and that's what they train their people on. There were two guys and I was very surprised that they were able to complete it in one day. They threw the mats down throughout the house so they wouldn't make a mess. They were very conscientious. I found out about this from a neighbor that had hers done and she was very happy about it and I decided to give them a call. It worked out great.

He is always good. I use him consistantly because they are prompt. I have no trouble getting them, and they do a good job. I found one guy in particular that I always ask for.

They did fix the problem of the stopped up drain by running 50 feet of pipe. They were able to come and fix the problem before the weekend by rearranging their work schedule. We were thankful for this. Other plumbers would/could not come as promptly. However, they showed up about 1 hour late and did not bring enough supplies. Without asking, they used our chairs to stand on to work in the basement. They did not bring a step ladder or a mop or a broom or plastic drop cloths. They made a cursory attempt to clean up but they left two stained chairs and some stains on our basement carpet. They did not replace the ceiling tile in the drop ceiling that they removed. There were cuts that they made in the insulation on the ducts which I asked that they repair. They did not.

They came right away and were very professional.

I believe they are reputable. The workers were knowledgeable and friendly. If needed, I would hire them again.