Plumb Care Plumbing, Inc.

Review: Plumb Care Plumbing was hired to install a three piece walk in shower in my home . After an initial apprasal by Plumb Care and their vast experience in the instalaition of my walk in showers I felt these folks could do a good job for me at a price I felt was fair . I paid the $ 1000.00 downpayment and scheduled the job . I also emailed the directions to the installer , and followed up with a call to insure he received the directions . The job was terrible , and all wrong according to the directions . Also resulting in making the final trim of sheet rock impossible to complete in quality workmanship manner . The total cost was $1355.00 . I had to have the entire job re-done to complete the job , and prevent any possibility of leaks from the shower .Desired Settlement: return of money $ 1355.00 I paid for the correct installation of my walk in shower . I was assured by Plumb Care Plumbing was skilled and experienced in the proper installation of my shower . When the contractor came in to finish the walls and floor next to the shower I was informed the shower had not been installed correctly , and the workmanship of Plumb Care was far from being done to the directions . I went to the trouble to forward a copy of the installation instructions to Plumb Care Plumbing's installer . Plumb Care had also " padded " their bill by telling me my drain for the shower had been installed incorrectly and would only drain properly if they they changed the drain . I paid Plumb Care Plumbing two payments . Downpayment of $ 1000.00 and a completion payment of $355.00. a total payment of $ 1355.00 Mr Settje [ the owner of Plumb Care Plumbing ] came out and inspected the final job after I called to complain about his shoddy workmanship . His first words were the job was done correctly . He promised to call me back that afternoon with a possible answer for my complaint . He did not call me back . I called Mr Settje the next day for an answer and he told me the installation was correct and he would not return my money . At that time I only asked for the $ 1000.00 to be returned to me . After finding out about the added drain Plumb Care installed I feel a complete refund will only satisfy this problem .A refund of $1355.00 is the cost of an incorrectly installed shower and false information from the installer which had to corrected by an experienced installer . I tried to resolve this issue with Mr Settje personally with no success .Other consumers should not be intentionally misinformed to add to their bill by any plumber . I was confident Plumb Care would be an honest professional company with honest employees . Sadly after my experience with Plumb Care I would not recommend their services to anyone . Had Mr Settje called me back as he promised to correct my problem I had to have the entire job re-done . That is take the shower apart , remove all parts , level the floor and re assemble to completion as stated by the installation instructions . I have pictures from the initial installation by Plumb Care to the correct re-installation by my contractor . Of course I was charged for the re do . I will appreciate any effort you provide to resolve my problem .

Business

Response:

We care deeply about customer satisfaction and relationships, and we stand behind our work. We believe this is an unfortunate situation and wish the homeowner the best in the future.We responded to a request for a service call to finish the installation of a three-piece shower and faucet that the homeowner had installed himself. Typically, a homeowner may feel comfortable setting the shower apparatus but uncomfortable plumbing in the fixture itself, and we expected to connect water service to the faucet and correctly plumb in the drain for the shower unit.Upon arriving onsite, the homeowner showed us a three-piece shower unit that had been installed and un-installed 2 or 3 times, a shower faucet that had been installed in the wrong place, and an improperly vented drain connection that he wanted us to use. We noted to him that it appeared quite a bit of the plumbing in his basement would not pass code, and offered to correct the most egregious error: the unvented shower drain. In addition, we later discovered the floor and walls around the shower were not level or plumb, and we informed the homeowner that it would make it difficult to finish back the floor and the drywall.We proposed to the homeowner that we return at a later appointment and install his shower, correct the issue on the unvented drain, and move his shower faucet to its correct location. We offered an estimate of not to exceed $2000.00.When we returned, we spent most of the morning moving the shower faucet. Changing its location was particularly difficult because it involved cutting out wall studs, changing piping, and installing backing boards, all while maintaining the correct spacing for the valve to protrude through the wall.Next we repiped the drain in the basement. The issue with the drain is that it was tied into a vertical 3" PVC stack with a wye fitting. This fitting is designed only for horizontal uses, and when installed vertically, it causes the shower trap to siphon and allow sewer gas smells into the house. It also causes the drain to drain improperly and stop up more easily. If left as it was, it would have constantly gurgled and become a frustration to the homeowner. We corrected the issue by installing a second wye horizontally in the correct position. We then installed a 2" PVC drain line to the shower and installed a p-trap in the correct location. At the homeowners request, we removed the plastic no-caulk shower drain he had installed prior to us arriving and reinstalled a brass drain in its place.When we began setting the actual shower, we discovered that the base, which the homeowner had set himself, was not level. Therefore, we had to uninstall the base and correct this issue with shims, all of which we discussed with the homeowner. The shower walls themselves had been damaged by continued installation and uninstallation, which made it particularly difficult to set them correctly.Ultimately, we set the shower per the instructions in a plumb and level fashion and shimmed out the walls. The left wall was out of plumb 1.25 inches over 6 feet. We showed this to the homeowner and he agreed that we should shim it out and he would make corrections as needed with the drywall. This was an error on our part as we should have found a better solution to help the drywall match up to the new shower.When the homeowner complained the next day, we offered to correct the issue under warranty. Instead, he told us that he had already uninstalled the shower completely, which was unnecessary, and that he wanted $1000.00 back. Of course, we did a lot of work on this job, we came in $655 below our estimate, and we could have remedied the problem relatively easily to make the homeowner happy. As a result we wish that we could have come to a better solution for the homeowner, but he has decided that he will not work with us.