The Plumbing Dr

They were very professional and knowledgeable. They identified, neatly cut open the wall and corrected the venting leak. While they were not responsible to repair the wall, they left the wall neat enough to be camouflaged. They are now my first call for all plumbing issues.

WARNING!!!!!! Minimum price for any job is $237 and they tried to charge me a $68 estimate fee when I declined their outrages fixed price. Please be aware this scam is called a "fixed" pricing plan. Also, the $68 ask for just showing up is borderline illegal as I was never told about this on the phone when I called them. I had a pipe burst in the garage wall. I removed the sheetrock/insulation and had the pipe exposed and ready to be fixed. The repair was a 15 minute job(cut out the half inch broken pipe section and replace with new piece of pipe.) This was a big waste of my time. If they told me there is a $68 dollar estimate fee whether they do the work or not and the minimum price for any job is $237 I never would have asked them to look at it. If you decide to use them please ask them the minimum price and if there is an estimation fee. I had another company come out two hours later and they are doing the work for $75. They did answer the phone on the first call and showed up when they said they would.

It went great and I only use them for all plumbing. They are courteous and don't talk down to you like you are uninformed. Helped me with a cleaning solution and tips to keep my dishwasher and my disposal clean. Excellent!

Showed up 4 hours late (they were courteous enough to call BEFORE their appointment and advise me they would be late but they were unable to give me an estimated time. "Or we can reschedule you for tomorrow." When they finally arrived there were 2 guys (for a clogged toilet?). Repair estimates ranged from $229 - $889 (for a clogged toilet?). I chose the $229 option and used a new customer Internet coupon.

I want other Angie's List members to know you should not call this company if you have a small job or even a few small jobs. They don't charge by hour of labor; they charge incredibly high flat rates (they call them "options") for each individual task. Unbelievably high price of service. Only offered pricing "options," and the amount listed above was the cheapest! I think the most expensive option was about three times what we ended up paying! To fix a leak -- only a couple of O-rings needed! We couldn't just pay for an hour of labor to fix two things; each "job" was priced individually. We had another small repair we needed done (replacing a supply valve), but we passed because it would've doubled the cost.

I had used The Plumbing Dr before and was pleased - but this time they pulled out the pricing book and it was just too much. They wanted $570.00 to reconnect the plumbing (that was their 'band aid' amount, they also offered their top of the line service which was over $1,700.00 to change out hoses etc and follow up in a year to be sure it was all working fine - not anything I needed). I refused any of the service and paid the $68.00 fee for the plumber visit. I then called another plumbing company and they showed up just a couple of hours later - did all the connections in under and hour and charged $275.00. They even helped me finish installing some boards under the sink at no additional charge. Even with the $68 service charge I paid to The Plumbing Dr - I came out $227.00 ahead by using the other company for the work. I will not use The Plumbing Dr again.

We are looking for a plumber that wants our business!

had a different company come in that wanted to cut into the wall because the disagreed with my assessment that the leak was coming from the toilet. But Troy correctly diagnosed the problem, provided some honest feedback on my options and got it fixed the same day. What I most appreciated was that he explained why the fix that I had done (replace the wax seal) didn't work in the medium term (I Hadn't tightened the bolts tight enough and the toilet was rocking slightly, breaking the seal). He cleaned up thoroughly and was very pleasant. I gave a B on punctuality as I was told that I would be the first client and he would be there at 8:00. He didn't show up until almost 10:00.

The Plumbing Dr. really came through for us when we were in a jam. While having the air ducts for our house cleaned gas leaks in the lines to the furnace and hot water heater were discovered. The gas company had to shut the gas to our house off that evening, so we were without heat (which was an issue since it was abnormally cold for a few days), hot water, stove. We started calling plumbers the next morning and thankfully The Plumbing Dr. was able to send someone out that afternoon. I'd like to mention how courteous and professional the office staff is...the woman I spoke to was very sympathetic and told us that most likely it would be an after hours call to get someone there but she would try to squeeze us in, which she ended up doing! With no gas and a newborn at home, this was very much appreciated. Dr. Larry arrived, quickly assessed what repairs were needed and had all three valves replaced in under two hours! Due to the nature of the repairs, an inspection by Fairfax county was required. On the day of the inspection, Dr. Larry returned and waited with me during the window the inspector gave. While we waited for the inspector, Dr. Larry did a top to bottom inspection of the plumbing in the house and gave me some tips on how to fix simple issues as well as pointed out potential bigger issues that may need to be addressed in the future. He could have very easily just sat in his van and waited for the inspector to arrive; instead he gave us the most value for the money we were spending. Truly one of the best experiences I've ever had with a service provider. I would recommend The Plumbing Dr. to my friends/neighbors. In fact I have and they have done work for a neighbor.

The work was done efficiently and he explained a lot of options for me. I claimed this on my insurance and I called the company back and they wrote a diagnostic report for them. My insurance company didn't receive it and the Plumbing Dr was happy to resubmit it. They were very helpful.

Switch out kitchen faucet and switch out garbage disposal both of which I provided. simple jobs. Quoted twice the time it should take. Tried to convince me that it was complicated. I did not just fall off the turnip truck. Declined service and paid $68 to go away....their "diagnostic" fee.

This company used to be reputable but has now switched over to the predatory "price per job" business model. Moreover, they attempt to conduct a hard sell on "upgrades" to the job that double or even triple the cost in return for a useless warranty and an equally useless "inspection"of their work one year later. Here's the story. A small drip had developed at the base of our washing machine shutoff valve, which is one of those types that enable you to shut off both hot and cold water with a simple lever. "Should cost" of the job is as follows: assume the plumbing company markup of the replacement valve is 2X, which means they could have, in all fairness, charged me $90 for the $44 part; add to that one hour labor at no more than $120 an hour, for a total projected cost of $210 or so. That was what I expected as I left for work today with my wife in charge, since she was working from home today. I get a call from my wife about an hour later, and she puts the plumber on the speaker phone. See, my wife is not stupid either, and she smelled a rat as soon as the guy started making the simple replacement of a simple valve complicated. The plumber starts talking about "Gold," "Silver," and "Bronze" services, with the cost of the Gold Service to be over $1000. Yes, that's right folks. They wanted $1000 to replace a $44 valve. The extra $950 or so would cover an hour of labor, an "extended" warranty for a $44 part that should last ten years as it is, and finally, Plumbing Doctor would also come by in a year to "check" it, because I guess I'm not capable of noticing a drip on my own, like a kind of just did when I spotted that the existing valve had just gone bad. I basically laughed in his face and asked to know what the lowest service "level"was. He explained it would be $340 to change the valve, but I would "only" get a 30 day warranty for this "band-aid" approach. I asked him to justify the $340 cost. He refused to explain it. I asked him what the price of the part was. He refused to answer, saying "that's not how we price things." I pressed, and he continued to refuse to give a break out in terms of cost of the part and cost of the labor. Because my wife and I both work, because we had a drip that could soon turn into a flood, and because our time is valuable to us, we told him to go ahead and do the $340 job, knowing full well we were being gouged. And I was already out $68 just for having them show up. Not worth it to line up somebody else in terms of additional time and aggravation. But I asked my wife to track how much time it really took to do the repair, which involved some simple cutting, bending, and the sweating of four connections. They were done in 45 minutes, meaning my original ballpark estimate "should cost" of $210 was spot on. The work was technically excellent - these guys ARE proficient as plumbers - but so are 100 other companies out there who don't pull this nonsense. Everyone needs to understand how this "price by the job" scam works. It essentially enables them to pad the price - basically charge two hours for a one hour job, or three hours for a two hour job, for EVERY job they do EVERY day. They are ripping every one of their customers off with this business model, because their "price per job" always adds an hour or two to every job, and then they get out of there in an hour or so, like they did at our house today. You should NEVER do business with a company that refuses to break out their price by parts and hours of labor. I will never do business with Plumbing Doctor again, and neither should you. How many old ladies did they rip off to the tune of $950 this week for simple jobs like this? This is why they get the low score on "professionalism." Tradesmen who take advantage of people who don't understand are anything but "professional;" in fact, I could think of a few choice words that better describe what they are, but Angie wouldn't want me to use them in a review like this...

The plumber was considerate and professional. He went out of his way to keep from making any sort of mess in my kitchen while replacing a garbage disposal. I paid the extra $68 fee for service over the holiday weekend and was glad they were able to provide it. I called some other services that said they had 24 hour service - but they did not respond. The price may be a bit high - but I was very glad for the good service.

After heavy rains, sump pump failed and left my garage flooded. Called The Plumbing Dr around 6pm on a very busy day and Dr. Charlie arrived a little after 8pm. He confirmed the existing pump was broken, had a replacement pump ready and installed it. The garage drained and we've had no issues with the new pump. Charlie was professional and gave me some great advice. I would not hesitate to use him and The Plumbing Dr in the future.

The plumber arrived within the scheduled time. He estimated the repair of the leaking shower head to be $500, but when I asked why the task seemed so expensive he merely cited the flat rate cost from his company's price book. I asked him to be more specific as to the approximate breakdown in materials and labor, but the plumber only would cite this price book in explaining the fee. Given this unsatisfying answer and apparent disinterest to justify the cost, I preferred to pay the $68 "just for showing up fee" and try another company. The other company repaired the leak for about half the price the next day.

Called the plumbing dr and they said someone would be at our house after 3PM (it was a Saturday). They called at 3 to let us know that the plumber could not make it until 6. He arrived on time and was very apologetic that we had to wait. He looked at the heater and said that maybe we needed a new switch, but took some time to restart it and then explained what we had done wrong. There was nothing wrong with the heater. He could have easily talked us into getting a new switch since we were clueless about what we were doing. I really appreciated his honesty. We had used the Plumbing Dr. before when we had a problem with our sump pump. Again the plumber was able to fix it and did not try to sell us on getting a new one (ours was under 5 years old)

All of my options were explained to me and were very simple. He made the repair in record time and was friendly. Great guys and I highly recommend them again!

I called and talked with someone on the phone prior to making an appointment because I was unsure about what the issue might be. Was it a dishwasher problem? Or a sink problem? I had called the contractor/ technician for Bosch dishwashers and they did not really give me any direction or clue? they really didn't seem to care. When I called Plumbing Dr they listened to my whole story without making me feel rushed or dumb. And they gave me what I thought was a very honest opinion (and I am not a very trusting person). I loved the two guys that came. They were professional and very nice. They ended up "snaking" my sink and spent time cleaning the area they worked on and talking me through "best practices" and how to prevent this from happening again. They fixed my sink/draining issue AND my dishwasher started working again. They even fixed something that was not up to code (so they went above and beyond). After they left I started having a water pressure issue with that particular sink. I waited it out a week or two to see if it'd just go away but it didn't so I called. They guarantee their work up to 30 days but I was worried that maybe they would charge me and say it is not their fault. I felt vulnerable because even if it was their fault I wouldn't know the difference! But they had their manager call me back and they took good care of me.

Charlie, a very knowledgeable plumber with The Plumbing Doctor, came on a Sunday and replaced the broken water shut-off valve in our basement. He provided an estimate up front for the work. The work was completed satisfactorily, and at the cost of the estimate.

It was a good service. They did a good work.

Had two excellent experiences with The Plumbing Dr. recently. First, I needed someone to come out and solder in a new toilet supply line when the old joint broke while I was replacing the valve. Dr. Talel showed up on time, did the work professionally, and not only made sure I knew how to install the new valve but also gave me a new one he had on him. Second, Dr. Charlie came out to assess my toilet flange prior to installation of a new toilet (new floor put the flange about 1/3" low). I mentioned that I was prepared to install a Set-Rite (spacer system), but Charlie pointed out that the height difference was close enough to shape the wax ring so it was a little taller so it could seal the toilet properly. I had never heard of this, and the other plumber (from a different company) who had been out previously didn't mention doing that. Charlie spent a couple of minutes carefully shaping the ring and then set the toilet. Since he was there and obviously knew what he was doing, I had him fabricate a drain line for my new sink and also install a faucet. Obviously I could have saved money doing the drain myself, but it wouldn't have turned out as cleanly. And I never would have known about the wax ring trick. I consider this money well spent.

This all began with the recent sub-zero temperatures we had the week of January 5th. I called The Plumbing Dr after water was pouring out of the bottom of my dishwasher. A broken solenoid valve in the dishwasher apparently had frozen with our cold temperatures and then when we hit above freezing, the thaw caused water to come out of the dishwasher and spread on my new hardwood floors. Although I had turned off the on/off water valve to the dishwasher, the water kept seeping out. I spoke with very polite and helpful dispatcher Mike at The Plumbing Dr. He told me someone would be here as soon as possible -- and that person was Dr. Larry. Dr. Larry determined that the on/off valve was not completely shutting off, thus the water was still seeping out of the broken solenoid valve under the dishwasher. He did a temporary fix because of the number of calls for emergency service that night. Dr. Larry and I elected to have him come back two days later to replace the valve. I spoke again with several very helpful Plumbing Dr dispatchers to confirm that Dr. Larry would arrive on Friday the 10th and that service call was to the on/off valve to the dishwasher. Dr. Larry and his associate Leonard arrived as scheduled on Friday 1/10 and replaced the broken on/off valve. Hooray!! I would highly recommend The Plumbing Dr for their responsiveness, polite dispatchers during stressful times, and for having competent people such as Dr. Larry on their team. I'll use them whenever I need a plumber.

They were excellent. Dr. Charlie fixed problems that another plumber couldn't fix after 2 tries. I also have a lot of questions and he and his assistant answered them all with no problems and in ways I could understand. The price was a little more than I wanted to pay but not at all unreasonable especially since they fixed the problems. Even better, they completely cleaned up after they were done, a very unpleasant job my previous plumber left for me! Recommend extremely highly.

Dr Charlie arrived promptly, worked efficiently, resolved the problem. I have called Plumbing Dr before and will call them again.

It went very well. "Dr" John was very knowledgeable and helpful on both visits. I was particularly impressed with the hydro-jetting, where I was able to watch the process and see the results before/during/after via the camera. I rest easier knowing that I saw the line get fully cleared myself. He was also informative about the structure and condition of our sewer line. I have worked with them on another occasion as well. These guys do their best to be clean and professional, in comparison to other plumbers I have used. I also like their up-front pricing, so you know what you are going to pay and for what services...