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Any comments about Repipe Specialists?

19 years ago

We're having our galvanized pipes replaced with copper pipes next week by Repipe Specialists.

Is there anything that we should be conscious of or watch for? I'm happy with their references, bid, proposed materials, etc.

Would you feel that you had to be at home when this is done? Normally I would want to be around when contractors are working on my house, but these guys are going to have to do what they need to do, and I don't know anything about replacing pipes, anyways. I'll be home for about 1/2 hour after they come in the morning, and my wife will be home at about 2PM, is this enough?

Thanks.

-Roger

Comments (12)

  • 19 years ago

    Leave.

    We had our furnace replaced last fall by a local company on a day that we were gone to an all day appointment. Left the key and returned just as they were firing up the furnace.

    If you know nothing about what they are doing and you have no water anyway, just leave.

  • 19 years ago

    This is a situation that can be very apprenhensive to both the homeowner and the contractor.

    On the one hand the homeowner does not know the contractor personally and therefore can only rely upon references or the proverbial first impression to insure the contractor is honest while on the other hand the contractor can never be certain that the homeowner will not later file a claim that some family heirloom came up missing.

    Reputable contractors know only too well that by necessity we must make house calls and even the slightest rumor of dishonesty in regards to the homeowners property can and will be a kiss of death for their business. How we handle this situation is a matter that can only be determined on a case by case scenario based upon our first impressions of the homeowner during the contract negotiation phase.

    As a rule I make it a point to never work in an occupied structure unless there is at least one member of the household present or a friend or relative that they have appointed to house sit for the day.

    In a situation where the homeowner or his/her representative cannot be present I find it much more beneficial to all parties concerned to try to reschedule the task for a more convenient time.

  • 19 years ago

    It's probably too late but you should have considered a Pipe Lining solution which would have save you thousands and access to your home would probably not have been necessary as there is no or limited digging. "A new pipe is placed within the old pipe using a core felt (bag) which is inflated"

  • 19 years ago

    alexbar001:
    that method is for SEWER LINES.

  • 19 years ago

    And Stormwater Lines etc, etc. As long as it's 4" or more!!!! Do your research!!!!

  • 19 years ago

    Alexbasr..before you so arrogantly tell someone else to do theur homework perhaps you should take the time to read the post. It is discussing removing galvanized iron pipe and replacing it with copper pipe. Common sense tells us they are discussing the potable water supply and distribution system.

    You yourself stated the the religning procedure you are discussing is for pipe which is 4" in diameter or greater. When is the last time you saw a 4" diameter pipe in a residential water supply??

    Perhaps before you chastise others about doing their research you may want to brush up on your reading compreshension skills.

  • 19 years ago

    Well, we've been repiped, patched, textured and painted, and the only complaint that I have about these guys is cosmetics. They did stuff like drilling T1-11 siding for spigots from the inside of the wall, which took some large hunks of the siding off on the outside, a rookie mistake. And the caulking they did where pipes went through exterior walls (spigots) was laughable. They also apparently used 1/2" thick sheetrock on the ceiling patches, which required a lot of mud to blend in with the surrounding ceiling areas.

    On the other hand, the plumbing is solid, the building inspector was impressed with the quality and completeness of their plumbing work. It looks solid to me as well, and certainly works just fine. Time will tell on that part.

    Meanwhile, I have some exterior patching and caulking, as well as painting to do...

    -Roger

  • 15 years ago

    I had a house repiping job done by Repiping Specialists in So. CA. I have many complaints. To start with the "free tankless waterheater" was quoted at an additional $3,000.00. They dug two trenches in my front yard and buried the turf in the trench instead of setting it aside and putting it back when it was backfilled. The kithen faucet was installed inside the tile line, reqiring it to be removed and re done. Holes were drilled in my walls and then not used. The water main shut off was installed below the soil line requiring a redo (don't they know the building codes?)Even though I was promised an English speaking man would be on site at all times, this wasn't the case and i was forced to try after many years of one semester of Spanish in school to communicate.
    They require second and final payment before work is completed and inspected (not good). July 2011

  • 15 years ago

    There is a review posted on Tue 7/19/11 by "mikenorris"
    The information posted in this review is incorrect, plus there is no record of any work being done by us for a Mike Norris in our company database. Mike Norris is actually the name of one of our personnel, so this appears to be a fake review as well. We ask you to please disregard it. Information about us can be found at www.repipespecialists.com

    Thank you

    Joe

  • 15 years ago

    The work wasn't done on mike norris' house. That is my name on this site. The work was done as I described and no solution was offered or repaired by repiping specialists as to the turf buried in my two trenches. I still find it strange that such a big company (advertises on the radio)requires all but a token final payment before the job is complete. The final wall repairs were done by a sister company and not Repiping Specialists.The sister company also installed the correct shower control that was in the contract, because repiping Specialists didn't.

  • 14 years ago

    My turf is finally growing back on my sloped front lawn. I was happy with the work the two Cambodians did, but the Mexican soured my job by not filling in the trenchs properly and leaving his lunch mess on my patio. I had to pay someone else to fix my lawn caused by his bad work and with being disabled, I wasn't able to do it myself. Too bad repiping Specialists couldn't have left my front yard the way they found it or offered to buy a couple flats of grass for what they buried.

  • 4 years ago

    John and Brenda, Salt Lake City


    April fools day 2021, the first time out of covid quarantine, we left our house for a few hours only to come back and find a pipe had burst and flooded our basement. We contracted Repipe of Utah to replace our old pipe with Repipes patented PEX pipe….it’s very expensive! What you see is not what you get the plumbers they sent looked like gang members. Even our neighbors were taken back.
    I have to say the Repipe plumbers lacked quality workmanship! Granted Repipes patented pipe looks beautiful but the craftsmanship in which it was installed was subpar at best! Their Repipe installers made many errors in their install and also broke building code by not having a journeyman plumber here at all times….apprentices we’re here alone for at least four hours without supervision from a journeyman plumber.

    I will name a few of the errors made on our May 2021 install:

    1) Reversed hot and cold water in the main floor bathroom, downstairs bathroom and laundry room.

    2) Scratched my Toto toilet seat in the upstairs bathroom with a plumbing tool (they replaced the seat).

    3) Instead of coming through the bathroom wall they drilled a hole in my nice tile floor without even calking the opening so If the toilet over flows the water will drain downstairs! Nobody ever talked to us about doing that! It also now makes it difficult for me to clean by the toilet!

    4) One of the apprentices admiring my nice stainless steel wolf stove ran his hand across the top of the stainless steel while having pipe dope on his hands and ruined the finish of my nice stove. I keep cleaning it but the haze keeps coming back.

    5) Because if the plumbing errors made, Repipe sent a second crew to fix first crews mistakes by fixing reverse hot and cold water connections.
    a)The laundry - they said it could not be corrected so that is a permanent reminder of Repipes incompetence!
    b) The downstairs shower faucets - they broke our Moen valve (we called another plumber to replace it which cost $200…Repipe reimbursed us.)
    c) The main floor bathroom - second crew said the pipe was not long enough so in order to fix it they had to make many connections using regular PEX piping and crimps not the patented plastic pipe and fittings (looks like the spaghetti bowl) I thought voided their warranty?

    6) Repipe sent a 3rd crew - to replace the connection under main floor bathroom sink because it was leaking. (Not sure if that is the cause of an apparent leak in our downstairs bathroom ceiling which nobody has repaired or checked out.

    7) Lastly Repipers made their connection to the main water line by the shut off valve inside our house enlarging the size of the hole with a drill around the incoming water pipe coming through our foundation. Thus making the previous tight fit exponentially bigger around the incoming water pipe. By doing this, it went against IPC Plumbing code by not caulking interior foundation hole compromising the integrity of our foundation thus making water leak in. The increase in the hole from inside that the repipers made and not sealing it up in anyway is what led to the water leaking in from outside. The only thing that changed our homes existing conditions in 20 plus years was Repipe connecting to our main water line shutoff valve. We hired a leak specialist at extra cost to us to seal the shutoff valve connection which repipe plumbers should have done had they followed IPC Plumbing code.

    In short, Repipe is responsible for the leak that followed. Repipe let us down and is not the company we were led to believe. Not only is Repipe not taking responsibility for the domino affect caused by their sloppy work but the grief and anxiety it has caused my husband I who are in our mid 70’s. Because of that leak and Repipes’s incompetence, our new carpet of just a week was ruined and Repipe refuses to reimburse us the $1500 it cost us to replace. Also Repipe does not have their own plumbers they don’t pull up in a Repipe truck but rather contract to outside plumbers. Buyers beware!

    Service: install new pipe