Tim Whistler Plumbing, Gas Fitting, HVAC, and Electrical

I recently decided to replace my leaky kitchen faucet. Whistler Plumbing was able to schedule my work before the new year, the plumber was on time, he was courteous and efficient, and the new faucet is great. Very happy to have this done so quickly! I've used Whistler Plumbing for years and will happily return the next time I need plumbing work.

Brandon was on time, informative and quick. Will call for him again if the fireplace needs to be serviced in the future. Great service!

I've used Tim Whistler Plumbing for three projects (replacing a PVC p-trap, installing a toilet, and fixing a leak) and have been very satisfied with the quality of the work and the professionalism of the plumbers. Should future plumbing issues arise in my house, I will definitely keep using this company!

I called 4 days ago requesting an estimate for a water supply replacement. Today is the soonest available appt. Since then, I've had 3 other plumbing companies come to quote me since then so I honestly forgot about this appointment. The tech called me today and I told him I no longer needed the quote. He said OK and hung up. About 40 min later I get an email with an invoice for $145. When I call the office to explain, Heather, told me that's the fee for him coming out regardless. I asked her to show me where I agreed to that or was even informed. She said the technician needs to get reimbursed for coming all the way out there. I told her I've had several plumbers come to quote me and not a single one charged me to get an estimate. She said not other plumbers. I waiting for Chris Haas (the manager) to return my call in the morning.

Unprofessional phone interaction. I called to ask about water-heater routine maintenance and a basic price range. The person on the phone refused to provide any information, made an inappropriate joke, and ended the call with attitude. If this is their front-line customer service, I wouldn’t trust them with my home.

TLDR: Tim Whistler Plumbing tried to scare me into a paying them $1700 for a new bath faucet, value, and shower head, because they didn't have the right parts to replace a leaky tub faucet and broke the parts that were in the faucet. Then lie to be about not being able to stop the water leaking, to make it seem extremely urgent. Scumbags. Updated 3/26: 24 hours after leaving this review Tim Whistler has officially replied. Instead of accepting where he and his team were wrong, he has decided to deflect blame, and berate me and my property. Tim state that "...the has been neglected and shortcutted for years..." Just in Jan I had listed my property for rent so readers of this review, feel free to check out my neglected property and judge for yourself. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/12908-Churchill-Ridge-Cir-F4_Germantown_MD_20874_M55527-51147 In January I had spent $6500 to install high grade luxury vinyl throughout the property which really shows how neglected my property is, right Tim??? Way to go Tim, your a true professionalism shows in your reply. Also is charging $75 to replace 2 toilet seats is really "fair and honest" Tim? Two screws per a toilet seat takes you about 15 mins??? I will let the readers of this review know when you actually refund the amount you have suggested. Joke of an owner. I reached out to Tim Whistler Plumbing for a leaking tub faucet in my investment property. I saw they had great reviews online and figured why not help a local business that could be suffering from COVID. I was initially told $125 fee would be charged for a visit, but would be applied to the work if it is done, so I said great send someone out thinking it would be a diagnostic fee which can be applied to repairs. They came out the following week, and provided a quote for an additional $375. They sited a "Flat Rate Fee" for the installation of a cartridge in the water value. I am somewhat handy, and I had done this repair a few years back with a friend and was taken aback with the additional $375 charge on top of the $125 fee which is was ultimately NOT applied to the repairs, and rather was a fee for them to just come out. I had initially said no i don't want them to do the work because of the cost, but then decided to proceed because I didn't have the time to do it myself. They reached out stating they have the part and they could come out 3/24 am and do the cartridge replacement. They came out on time, and I start getting calls while I was in a work meeting, and could not answer. Once I had the chance to check my phone I see a text saying "We really need to talk to you, please call as soon as possible. We are not going to be able to repair the valve at your tenant. And we cannot turn the water back on because they're is no way to stop it from leaking out. You are going to need a new tub shower valve." So I get on the phone with them, and I am told that the cartridge they brought was not the right one, and that they don't know which one is the right one. They had also broken the cartridge that was in the value, so they say "there is no way to stop the water from leaking out" and I needed to make a decision on how to proceed. I have been in sales my whole adult life, so I already knew what was happening. They were trying to use a classic scare tactic to charge me a higher price because of urgency. So i asked him how much it would cost, the guy on the phone say "Well we would have to replace the value and faucet, if you don't mind it would cost $1700." ummm What!?!?!? So I replied "Quiet frankly I do mind paying $1700 for a replacement." I also tell him that I had done the same repair myself a few years ago and question, how is a master plumber not be able to find the right cartridge, while a laymen like myself was able to find it at a local plumbing parts store. He asked me to get off the phone so that he could tell his master plumber to stop doing the work before it was irreparable. Unbeknownst to me his master plumber had already cut a hole in the wall without my consent. He calls me back and says he will try to locate the right cartridge and send a new quote but they were able to cap the pipe so the water can be turned back on. A few hours later I get a quote in the range of $700. So we went from $125 to $375, to $1700, back down to $700. Ultimately, I spoke with another Plumber and he was able to install a brand new shower head, faucet, value, with a shutoff switch at shower, AND a access panel for $650 the very next day. I get it, people need to make money but not this way. Seemed extremely dishonest. Scumbag company.... I do not recommend

This was a long review that had been truncated. I just (July 2020) came across the complete review, and figured I'd put it up. Haven't interacted with Tim for a while, having relocated to North Carolina .... *Rootless in Silver Spring* May 2017 We've had problems with roots in our sewer line since we moved into this home. We had (NOT) managed this issue with one of the local "Big Box" plumbing companies. When the line backed up, it was usually during the weekend or a holiday. They were always happy to come out and pull the toilet, snake the line and run some water to make sure that the clog had been cleared. This was very expensive, inconvenient and unsettling. They knew how far down the line the intrusion was, but could not determine where in the footprint of the lot it was. When we asked about remediation they never offered a way to figure that out without digging up the yard and/or basement floor to look for it. Early in the chronology however, they did determine that the sewer line from the house to the street was damaged and we had that portion replaced at considerable expense without alleviating the root problem. After the latest recurrence, we decided to get another perspective and asked Tim to pay us a visit since we'd had such a good experience with him previously. He came out and used a camera to confirm the previous findings. He also used a detection device that enabled him to estimate the position of the problem area and found that it was located at the foundation. He theorized that the line had been damaged by previous seismic activity, with resulting cracks that allowed root entry. After mulling things over, he decided that there was a possibility that he could access the area by digging through a small area in our basement floor to cut out and replace the damaged portion with new piping. If that didn't work, we'd have to dig up the yard again to get at it. He came back several days later and with the help of his crew (Devon, Rob and Maria .... THANK YOU) managed to replace the section of pipe. It was dirty, rigorous work, and there were several unanticipated problems that were resolved with considered thought and patient perseverance. With all the problems in the world today, it sounds trite and irreverent to say this, but this has been a life-changing event for us and we are grateful to Tim and his crew for helping us out.

How to differentiate a good from a bad contractor. Responsibility and honesty. We had a clog in our kitchen sink. I read some reviews online and called Tim Whistler for help. It costs $135 for technician Mike to come to inspect. He recommended some bio clean enzyme drain to try. It lasted 2 weeks then clogged again. He came back to replace approx. 40' of pvc piping. It costs a total of $1,700. Four days later, we noticed a small leak from the bottom of the disposer. Mike came back to confirm the leak but blamed it on the failure of the disposer. The disposer was installed when we renovated our bathroom located next to the kitchen in April 2023. The disposer performed fine and there was no leak until Tim Whistler came to replace the drain pipe. During the replacement, Mike rotated the disposer to line up to the new piping. It was obvious that Mike caused the disposer to leak. Mike refused to replace the 2 year old disposer. As a compromise, I offered to buy a new disposer for Mike to install. Tim Whistle's office management refused to assume any responsibility. Today 2/7/2025 I hired an appliance repair tech to help. It did not take long for him to identify the leak; the disposer's collar was lose that caused the leak. Again the disposer worked perfectly in the last two years. Who turned the disposer to line up with the new piping? who turned the collar of the disposer? Totally irresponsible Tim Whistler contractor. I will not use Tim Whistler any longer and will not recommend his service to anyone as he is an irresponsible and dishonest contractor.".

I'll start by saying that Tim Whistler didn't actually do our repair job; this review is for honest advice they gave us when the job was potentially too big for them. We had a water main break near the street a couple weeks back, and the county said it was on our property not the public line. So we called Tim Whistler since we saw a picture of a dug-up driveway, which is what we expected out of this repair, and they came out within a few hours. When the plumber arrived (who my husband spoke with, I didn't catch his name), he spent some time evaluating the situation and said that we should call a specialty plumber (Mid-atlantic trenchless) because with the length of our driveway, it was possible if the leak was close to the house that they wouldn't be able to tunnel far enough with their setup but that the other company would be able to. As it turns out, the leak was actually within a few feet of the street - uncovered by the initial 5x5 hole that Mid-atlantic trenchless dug out, so Tim Whistler COULD have done it - but they couldn't have known that up front and they saved us a lot of potential expense by calling it out up front. They didn't charge us the service fee for the visit, even though they could have. Which, given the ultimate expense of the repair, was greatly appreciated. I also appreciate that they didn't take on the job and then risk partway though saying "this is too big, call the other folks." To me this shows integrity, so next time we need any (more basic) plumbing work, we'll call Tim Whistler.

PROS: Quick, got the job done, great with communication, easy payment system CONS: Higher price, messy after done We had an issue with the kitchen sink, the water kept coming up and not draining properly. Our garbage disposal was operating normally, however, after we switch it off, the water would come back up. Then the backflow caused a leak under the sink. I'm pretty sure it's because my husband kept putting the coffee grounds down the drain since we've been staying at home due to COVID-19. He's not doing that anymore. We called three different plumbing businesses, and Tim Whistler (Maria) guessed it would be a snake job and quoted us $300 and said they would put us on standby for the same day. Another plumbing business said they couldn't get out to us that same day but quoted us a lower price. We wanted the job done quickly so we went with Tim Whistler. I appreciated the quick communication via text and email. They couldn't get out to us the same day, unfortunately, but scheduled us for first thing the next morning. They did the snake job as expected, and the clog cleared up. They said maybe we needed to replace the garbage disposal and quoted us a price for replacement. I said no, and it's been five days now and no issues with our sink. They did leave a bit of a mess under the sink with the backsplash from the snake job. I had to clean it up myself. They sent us the invoice via email immediately after and they had a secure electronic payment system.

We had to redo all of the pipes in our condo and request three quotes from different companies. Tim Whistler had the best price, as well as the best warranty (2 years vs. 1 year). We saw all of the amazing reviews and we had a similar experience - excellent from start to finish. - The tech that came to give the estimate was prompt, friendly, and polite. - We received the quote within the timeframe they promised to send it. - We had to reschedule due to COVID and they worked very quickly to get the workers scheduled on other jobs so we wouldn't have to pay extra for lost time/labor. - The workers showed up at the beginning of the promised timeframe each day - They send text updates to remind you about the upcoming service the following day as well as notifications when the technician is on their way. - We had three guys working in our place the entire time and they were all friendly, conscientious, and extremely capable. - They found an additional issue with part of the PVC piping that was not included in the original quote. We appreciated that they were up front about providing the pricing and getting our approval before doing anything extra. - They scheduled our WSSC inspection for us, so we just had to let the inspector in and walk through with him for ~10 minutes. The inspector was very complimentary and said, "They did really good work" as he was finishing up his inspection. TL;DR: Great service, great pricing, and 100% recommended!

I've used Tim Whistler since I arrived in the area in DC (2019), and I've always had extremely positive experiences (mostly for plumbing). But recently, our thermostat started beeping and I called Tim Whistler to ask them to take a look at our HVAC system. The person who arrived arrived hours late, and wasn't even an HVAC specialist--he was a plumber, and he wondered out loud why he was sent to my house. He did the best he could, but the problem was not solved. So now my thermostat is beeping almost constantly. I call back again to try to get the problem resolved, and ask why a plumber was sent out in the first place. But they're HVAC specialists are booked, and the secretary makes up something about Rheem making principally water heaters, and so when I said "Rheem," they just imagined i meant water heater (rather than call and double check). But as it turns out, the picture on their own website for "HVAC" service features a *Rheem* unit. So now, two days before Thanksgiving, I'm left with a thermostat that beeps morning, noon, and night, while my wife and kids try to sleep. We turn it off as late as we can and hope it doesn't get too cold in the night. All the while, I'm being given the runaround with nonsense excuses. Simply unacceptable. At this rate, it's hard to imagine ever doing business with Tim Whistler ever again.

We had a leak in the water valve to two toilets to our condo. Tim Whistler Plumbing came out to give us an estimate: $49 for the tech to come out, $145 for the diagnosis. So, $194 just to come out and not do any work. Told us we need to replace the two valves which requires coordination with the condo management. No other work was mentioned. I received an email estimate for $2,032 to replace the 2 valves AND install two new wax seals in the toilets (something not discussed by the plumber or needed since no leaks or movements in the toilets). I called to question the estimate, especially additional charge for the installation of wax seals for the two toilets. The worker said “Oh, we change the toilet seals as a safety precaution.” $946 for something that is not broken? When I challenged the need to replace the toilet seals, they quickly said they could remove that charge. New estimate $1,086 just to change two toilet valves. I called another large reputable company (4.7 rating on Google). Came out for a free estimate. The same work will be done for around $500. I will not use Tim Whistler Plumbing for any work since they added unnecessary work without discussing the need and their price for the same work was double another reputable company.

Tim Whistler Plumbing was so responsive. We had an emergency sewage backup issue and Tim got back to me via email during non-business hours to schedule us for the next day! Mike, Tyrese, and Kevin (3 Personnel! not just 1) showed up during our scheduled time and were on top of the issue immediately providing us details of what exactly they were going to do to resolve the issue. They had all the necessary tools and expertise to resolve the issue in the same day! This was an extremely bad Sewage backup issue and the Plumbers were so professional and respectful the entire job. As new home Owners, we really appreciated them educating us about what caused the issue, how to resolve it, and also what steps to take with our local water service provider. The amount of stress and relief they gave us was exactly what we needed as new home Owners with a fairly old home (built in 60s) that has had lots of issues since we moved in. We are really appreciative of Tim and his team of Professionals for taking care of us and potentially saving us thousands of dollars that wasn't necessary to do the repair. Their pricing was fair and they resolved the issue completely within a day! We will definitely be going to them for any future issues.

I contacted this company due to my AC breaking down. They cancelled and rescheduled an appointment of which they put me out until Friday and said someone would arrive at 7 AM. At 8 AM. I called them and the dispatcher Heather refused to talk to me and made the other person tell me that their truck broke down and that they could possibly get me on the schedule today. Don't use these people if you actually want service fulfilled and especially if your furnace or AC has broken down. Response to Alex: your dispatcher Heather would not take my phone call and handed it over to Tyler who told me that your truck broke down. Tyler also said he may be able to get me on today's schedule. How much do you think that was going to happen? I had been rescheduled initially due to double booking the first go round and then suddenly your truck breaks down. This whole process started on Tuesday when my condenser was not working. With the upcoming weekend having extreme heat, I needed it to work. And this must be part of your problem because if you don't think making an appointment and keeping an appointment is part of your service then that is a huge issue.