Drain Terrier Plumbing

Our water heater stopped working & Jacob came out to replace it same day. He was on time, knowledgeable & no pressure. He explained our options & had a new water heater installed and old one hauled away in a couple of hours. Highly recommend Jacob with Drain Terrier!

Nate was so nice and knowledgeable. He was willing to hear our thoughts and requests. He did a fantastic job fixing our plumbing issues. We are so grateful! We only wish we had done this sooner!

If you like working with a family-run business and want fair, competitive pricing I highly encourage reaching out to Drain Terrier. Savannah in the office is extremely responsive, either always available or returning calls same day. They were able to beat prices from a number of other companies, I think because they don’t hire out additional subs. Tracy is a great guy, extremely fair and trustworthy. He was even at our job site throughout the project, ensuring I was comfortable with the oversight and keeping things on time. Finally the team performing the work was high quality as well. Couldn’t recommend more.

They have incompetent office staff. They scheduled an appointment and then the day of the appointment texted an hour before to notify that they do not serve the area and would not come.

Very responsive and quick company. Easy to schedule with and nice! However, I REALLY wish they had told us how high the service fee was ahead of time as not sure I would have committed. Leak in our shower, ended up just being bad caulking. $150 service fee for 15 minute visit. Would even be happy paying the $150 or even more if that included fixing the caulk issue. Other companies are up front on their website about service fees (most others $99), so was surprised by this total fee. Not on website and not told at booking. Pretty disappointed.

Update in response to owner response to my review: Everything you said is factually false. This is a premium quality manufactuerer water heater, standard 50 gallon. LHG is also the biggest company in the industry providing 24/7 support. After I spoke with this business, I got LHG on the phone within a few minutes every time and so claiming they were hard to get ahold of is a fake excuse for not trying to at all. Power vent, special flu - ha, nice try. It is disappointing to see this business lie through its teeth in response to my review below. I will provide all evidence needed for yelp staff to validate. Including pictures of my water heater and surrounding area that prove that this business is not acting within ethical boundaries to take advantage of the public trust. We have a home warranty with Liberty Home Guard (LHG). Drain Terrier is a vendor enrolled with LHG to provide servicing for issues, like with water heaters. Our water heater stopped working. Drain Terrier was hired and scheduled to come out. Upon arrive, they spent no more than 5 minutes looking at the water heater. They seemed more concerned about the "age", ignoring model, quality or premium investments people make. Made a blind statement to me that all water heaters need to be replaced after 10 years, doesn't matter make or model - not true at all. Not all water heaters are equal and we have one that has shown to run for 15-20 years (entire neighborhood still uses and no one replaced, we asked several folks..). Anyways, I had to carry hot water around the whole house (think 10+ gallons several times a day) due to the lack of work done by this team. What they told me directly contradicted what they told LHG on the phone (everything is recorded by LHG), which put me in a very tough situation because I did not get coverage from LHG due to the lack of proper information provided (they kept changing the story with LHG apparently, all recorded again, can be obtained by LHG if needed by yelp staff for verification, I have evidence on how I got contradictory evidence for yelp staff to validate). All in all, they just wanted to replace the unit and make money is what I can tell. They gave a jaw dropping quote of $3500 - this is a standard 50 gal water heater replacement. We decided to call several other businesses, everyone quotes $1400-$1700 which is the standard rate. Not my first home, not the first time I had to replace a water heater. $1700 is with today's inflated rate.. $3500 is just shelfish. Why shelfish? As I called over a dozen other companies, one decided to come and look at the unit first. They fixed the job for $269 and unit is running fine. Long story short - don't trust these people. The service fee paid for the fist diagnostic was a sham so they can try to rip me off. P.S. It's easier to replace a water heater than repair it because it makes more money for the company and costs the consumer (us) more, that is not the right thing for the customer and that is not what you were hired for.

**Update** As a result of writing this review, I was contacted by Savannah (the owner) within a couple hours. I was offered a full or partial refund, whatever I wanted in order to make me feel better about my interaction with the company. I offered my option and it was promptly taken care of. I was also assured that although there were 2 workers I was only charged labor for 1. She said that was just how they did it since her dad was older and not as strong. The work was done correctly and they were pleasant. Unfortunately I still will not be using their services again as I feel they are on the expensive side. Although this is just my opinion. *** Well I learned a lesson the hard way today. I've never had to have work done at my house so I did miss one thing about having someone come out for a free estimate. Ask what the estimate is when they don't offer it to you, before they start work. That was my mistake. So first bad thing they were scheduled to come out between 10:30-11:30. Got a call from Savannah at almost 10:30 that previous job was giving then trouble so they'd be here by 12. Noon came, no one here. I was getting ready to call the office and I got a text at 12:07 that said they were on their way. Showed up at my house sometime around 12:45. There were two guys, Tracey (the owners father) and Gary, wasn't sure why 2. Most plumbers work alone. You have to pay more for 2 plumbers than 1. They hurriedly got to work looking into the issue. I gave them a pretty good idea of what I thought it was. Tracey confirmed that seemed to be what it was but that they'd check my crawl space and cut open a section of ceiling downstairs just to be sure. At this point I'd forgotten about getting an estimate and they did not offer a cost to me. They just kinda started working at it. Once they were done and he gave me the price I about dropped my jaw, $575 for just under or around 1 hour worth of work. Spoke to a few people afterwards and they all agreed that was way to much money. Here's what they did: over $125 for a new water supply line to toilet and new shut off valve and labor for the install. They cut a 1 ft X 1 ft hole in a ceiling they charged $225 for that. Then $225 for what I assume was the rest of the labor charge. Had they actually remembered to give me the quote or if I had remembered to ask for it before they just jumped in, I would have passed on their services. Even knowing nothing about hiring or the cost of a plumber that seemed way to high. The mark up on the 2 parts alone I would have known was ridiculous.

It's been a year and a half since Drain Terrier did a preventative main-line cleanout and replaced a ball-valve for my sprinkler's main supply line that wouldn't shut off completely. I thought of writing a review more than a year ago, but never felt motivated until this week. Several weeks after they did the initial work, I was walking across my lawn and noticed the water meter cover wasn't in place or locked on. Dirt, grass and debris were starting to interfere with the ability to close it. (They had to access the meter to replace the ball valve since it is on the upstream side of the shut-off in my basement.) It took me a while to get it back on with all the dirt collecting. Plus I don't keep a pentagonal wrench on hand. Took me a while. Probably during the next watering season is when I noticed that all the 5-6 connections around the new sprinkler gate valve were Sharkbites. Not compression fittings, not soldered, but Sharkbites. I imagine there's a variety of opinion but both a plumber I spoke with and a friend who owns multi-housing units tell me that was not a good choice. Importantly, if these fail, I guess I need to figure out how to shut off at the meter. If it's just my wife at home, well, I guess things just get wet. This week I noticed my cleanout plug is leaking and dirty water is pooling around it. Turns out the cleanout had a "mechanical" plug that was failing. While I was looking for a new one it became clear that these types of plugs are also called "test" plugs. Perhaps because they're just held in by friction and a seal that expands when you turn a wingnut. The old one was in terrible shape and I managed to find special version of this that goes deeper into opening and spreads wide to provide a clamp vs friction only. I'm not blaming Drain Terrier for this leak, but one would think they'd let me know whether I have an aging piece of crap plug holding back the, well, crap. So prior to writing this today, I thought it only fair to call Drain Terrier. I called them a week ago asking for an explanation (I forgot to tell them about the loose cover). Savannah told me a Master Plumber would call me. Well, it's been a week. Would've been nice to hear from someone.

Beware of Pricing Practices Before sharing my experience, I strongly encourage anyone considering this company to read how the owner responds to negative reviews. That alone speaks volumes. Unfortunately, I did not check beforehand, and it cost me $429 for less than thirty minutes of work--without the use of any parts. My goal here is to help others avoid going through what I did: it's not only the money, it's the feeling of being taken advantage of. I contacted Drain Terrier because my garbage disposal had disconnected from the sink. When I spoke with Savannah, the owner, she quoted an $85 service fee and assured me that, since this sounded straightforward, the total would likely be close to that amount if no new parts were required. That felt reasonable. The technician arrived later that afternoon. He looked under the sink, explained it would be classified as an "under the sink repair," and quoted $429. He also tried to upsell me on an even more expensive package. Since I'm not a plumber, I trusted his assessment, thinking it must be a bigger job than just reattaching the disposal. Given the price, I assumed the work would take a couple of hours. Instead, after about 10-15 minutes of actual work--mostly reconnecting what was already there--he declared it done. Total time on site: under thirty minutes. I immediately called Savannah to express concern. She told me she would check with Ben and get back to me. Later she said, since no parts were used, the cost should be reduced by 20%, bringing it down to $343.20. That still works out to the equivalent of $686-$860 per hour. When I questioned this, she insisted "everybody charges that much." After researching, I found that to be untrue. Instead of addressing my concern, she argued, telling me how difficult it is to run a company. As a business owner myself, I understand overhead costs--but I also know how to treat customers fairly. This company's pricing and handling of complaints left me feeling misled and disrespected. If you value transparent, and honest service, I recommend looking elsewhere.

Frustrating experience. Had these guys out to fit a compression fitting onto a water filter i had gotten 99% installed, but didn’t have expertise to bring it across the finish line. Tech shows up, basically acting like i had him there at gun point, and begrudgingly agreed to do the job for an hourly rate of $307 dollars. I was confident it wouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes, but fine enough. So 15 minutes later when he is finishing up the initial ask, he accidentally breaks a piece of the water filter trying to tighten it. Fair enough, i don’t blame him it’s a plastic piece and it could have happened to anyone. This guy huffs and puffs like a 12 year old asked to take out the trash, immediately cries that he’ll have to charge me for another hour of work as he’ll have to go to the hardware store to replace the part. It’s a stones throw from my house. Which whatever, i get it’s a hassle and all that but it’s the overall lack of customer service that was just jaw dropping. I eventually asked him to leave as he was offering no solutions just pouting under his breath about “i shouldn’t have messed with this.. should have just let you deal with this” blah blah. Instead of jumping on google, I called the office to explain my disappointment. Was promised I’d get a return call from the owner when she was back in. Sure enough, nothing. And i was able to fix his mess and get it working in about 5 minutes. It’s so disappointing to have this experience on a job where literally i could have watched a YouTube video and figured out, but i felt better about having someone experienced tackle it and to use a local business. What a joke. Just give the big companies your money, at least they have some accountability. These clowns took 300 bucks off of me just to end up doing the job myself.

I am changing what used to be a 5 star review to a one star review. A couple years ago, I used these guys for some plumbing needs and they were great. Family-owned business and I liked the owner. I got a new home and decided to call them again, and boy I made a big mistake. Not sure what happened in the last two years but had to come back and change my review. First, they told me they would be here from 8-9. This was a time they offered up as I was trying to get them to come earlier, but decided it made more sense and since they said I would be "first up" on their schedule, I figured fine why not. At 9:20 I texted them asking what their ETA was. At that point I received a text changing my appointment to 9:30-10:30. At 10:50 a technician showed up. I showed the guy what I needed, mentioned that I'd used them before and said I just wanted the same thing they offered me last time. He said "our system is different now hold on" and he proceeds to pull out an iPad that has prices ranging from $780-$2,500 for the "platinum" package whatever the hell that means. I just needed a faucet replaced, which I thought would be no more than $400 or so (a little higher than the price I paid two years ago). He told me "well prices have increased" and I said not by that much. I asked him to explain how much of the price was parts, how much was labor, and he said it's the flat rate they charge for that job. When it became clear that he was not going to budge, I politely asked him to leave. There are so many other options, and maybe I should have been a little smarter about doing it in a cheaper way, but the way I was treated on scheduling and the company's scammy pricing was enough to have me come back and change my review.

5/5 stars for the technician who came, John - he was professional, efficient, and did a great job replacing a broken, leaking garbage disposal. One star lost for the company due to a pricing snafu - when getting a quote, I had asked if the price included the replacement garbage disposal or if the replacement was extra on top of the quote and was told the quote included the replacement unit. Turns out that wasn't accurate and to both our chagrin, John had to go back out to pick one up for the replacement since I didn't have one on hand - thinking that was included in the overall cost - which then became an unexpected added cost. Definitely NOT the technician's fault and I feel he went above and beyond with the last minute need to go out and get the replacement unit and parts as I needed to get the unit swapped out ASAP. Upon his return, within 45 minutes, John had us back up and running with a functional garbage disposal with no leaks. If you work with Drain Terrier, ask for John - even with the snafu, if they have technicians like him employed, I'll give them another chance for my next plumbing need - but I'll be triple-checking the overall expected cost before booking again.

Surprised I was completely ghosted by this company after leaving a morning message asking for drain help with a drain fixed by this company in Feb. It wasn't a "I'm mad"message, just pathetic because I'm discouraged I have yet another major appliance/house repair issue to deal with...nonstop over the past 2 months. I just asked when they could come by and how much it would be. Whether it was a legit non-callback or they're running the other way because they think I'll complain about the work they did, doesn't matter. For a family-run biz to completely ignore your call isn't good customer service. Not cool. It says to me that maybe they don't stand behind their work. I have lost an entire day and still have a kitchen sink with gross standing water I have to remove constantly. And I have to find another company. If they come through within a reasonable amount of time I will update here again. If not, on to the next...and watch out. You may be treated the same way.

In this day and age where caring and customer service seem to be things of the past Terry and Drain Terrier have renewed my faith in people. It was fairly late when my basement drains started backing up. I first had tried to call one of those "Big Corporate" rooter companies with the catchy jingle. After 3 hours and 3 promises I just gave up. I found Drain Terrier online and was so happy I did. They came out in less than an hour. They respected my home, wore masks, cleaned my drain and did no try to do a hard sell for a $10,000 drain. They did however, make some good suggestions on how to better take care of my home and were just all around kind and friendly. In the end they did a great job and a very fair price and I intend to hire them to do additional work I had been planning. I would recommend them without a second thought. It feels good to support small local businesses and these guys made you feel great

The worst experience from a contractor since I bought my first home in 1996. The plumber couldn't fix the problem and after hours of work knowingly left the job incomplete resulting in damage to the cabinet under the sink. Called the owner "Savannah" to report what happened and to request someone come back. Savannah accused me of lying and of trying to get the plumber "in trouble" . What!? The same plumber returned, still couldn't fix the problem and admitted as much yet had the audacity to charge me again for his second ineffective "fix". Said he was going to have to come back a third time because he didn't have what he needed in his truck to do the work he thought needed to be done but gave a verbal quote of $550. Said he would email the estimate later in the day which he never did. There's too many plumbers out there from which to choose to do ever do business like this. It's mind boggling. Great big no.