Pricing, response times, coverage and the questions we get asked most on the phone before a job is booked.
Yes. The phone is answered around the clock, every day of the year, and we dispatch overnight. Emergency work is priced the same way as daytime work, by the job, with the price agreed before we start.
You get a flat price for the specific job before any work begins. Nothing starts until you say yes, and there is no hourly meter running while a plumber diagnoses the problem.
We tell you on the phone what a visit costs for your situation. When you go ahead with the repair, that is folded into the job price.
For an emergency we give you a real arrival window when you call, based on where the nearest truck is. Most emergency calls are on site within a couple of hours.
All the cities and towns listed on this site across New York, from Buffalo and Rochester through Syracuse and the Capital Region down to the Hudson Valley and New York City.
Yes. Restaurants, offices, retail, warehouses and multi-unit residential buildings, usually scheduled outside your trading hours.
Major cards, cheque and cash. Payment is due when the job is complete and you are satisfied with the work.
In most cases yes. Call early and we will normally fit you in that day. Emergencies go to the front of the queue whatever the hour.
In most of our coverage area we are on site within a couple of hours for a true emergency, and often faster at night when traffic is light. When you call we give you a real window based on where the nearest truck is.
Sometimes, on a soft hair clog in a bathroom sink. On a kitchen line packed with grease or a main line full of roots it will not, and repeated use damages older pipe and makes the eventual repair messier.
It depends where. Leaks at the drain valve, the T and P valve or the supply connections are repairable. Water seeping from the bottom of the tank shell means the inner tank has corroded through, and that unit needs replacing.
A straight swap in an accessible basement is usually two to four hours. Tight closets, attic installs and gas or venting changes take longer.
If your household runs long or overlapping hot water demand and your gas supply can feed it, yes. In a small home with a short daily demand the payback is slow, and we will say so.
Turn off the main water shut-off, then turn on the lowest faucet in the house to drain the pressure out of the system. If water is near electrical wiring or a panel, shut that circuit off too and call from a safe spot.
Turn off every fixture and appliance that uses water, then look at the meter. If the low-flow indicator is still moving after fifteen minutes, water is going somewhere it should not.
No. It needs the existing line to be structurally continuous enough to line or pull through. A collapsed or badly offset section usually has to be dug.
In sound cast iron and clay, yes, at the right pressure. In a pipe that is already cracked or offset it is not, which is why we camera the line first.
Almost always a worn flapper that no longer seals, or a fill valve that will not shut off. Both are inexpensive parts and a quick fix, and a running toilet can waste hundreds of gallons a day.
Twice a year, and again before spring melt. Pour a bucket of water into the pit and confirm the pump starts, clears the pit and shuts off cleanly.
Get everyone out of the building. Do not flip switches, use a phone indoors or light anything. From outside, call your gas utility's emergency line, then call us.
Recurring pinhole leaks, visibly rusty water, and pressure that has fallen off across the whole house are the three that usually point to the piping rather than a single fixture.
Yes. Most commercial work is scheduled outside trading hours precisely so your doors stay open during the day.
A steady drip wastes thousands of gallons a year and usually means a worn cartridge that will only get worse. It is a short, inexpensive visit.
Usually not. That is the classic sign of a jammed flywheel, which is normally freed in a few minutes.
Scale on fixtures, spotted glassware and soap that will not lather are the everyday signs. A quick test gives you the actual grain count.
Most commercial properties, irrigation systems and buildings with a cross-connection risk. Your water authority sets the requirement and the schedule.
The pressure-balance cartridge is worn and no longer compensating. Replacing it fixes the temperature swing.
Keep the heat on in every room with plumbing, open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls, insulate exposed runs, disconnect garden hoses in autumn and let a vulnerable faucet trickle in a hard freeze.
On any property over about forty years old, yes. A failed lateral is one of the most expensive surprises a new owner can inherit, and an inspection costs a small fraction of the repair.
Supply piping, drains and vents, water heater, fixtures, shut-offs, visible gas piping, water pressure and any accessible sewer cleanout.
Call and ask. We would rather spend two minutes on the phone than have you book something you do not need.
Call and describe what you are seeing. We will tell you whether to shut the main off, give you a real arrival window, and quote a flat price before anything starts.