How to Find a Good Plumber
Last updated November 2024
Ever since Americans have had indoor running water (late 19th century for the rich, early 20th for most others), we’ve relied on plumbers. Whether you need a broken toilet fixed, a sink drain unclogged, or a new water heater, here’s what pipe pros can do—and how to use our ratings to find a great one that charges reasonable prices.
Our Ratings Tables report info we collected on Washington area plumbing outfits. Here’s how it works:
Ratings from Previous Customers
Our Ratings Tables report how area consumers we surveyed rated the companies on several aspects of service.
We primarily surveyed Consumers’ Checkbook subscribers, but also invited a sample of other area homeowners to participate. We asked them to rate plumbing companies they had used “inferior,” “adequate,” or “superior” on questions like “doing work properly on the first try,” “promptness,” “letting you know cost early,” and “overall quality.” For companies that received 10 or more ratings, our Ratings Tables report the percent of surveyed customers who rated each company “superior” (as opposed to “inferior” or “adequate”) on each question. Our Ratings Tables also report the percent of surveyed customers who rated each company “adequate” or “superior” (as opposed to “inferior”) for “overall quality.” Click here more info on our surveys and research methods.
Many companies received a high percentage of favorable ratings. For example, several were rated “superior” overall by 90 percent or more of their surveyed customers. But other companies were rated “superior” by fewer than 60 percent of their surveyed customers. For these companies, customer reviews frequently include words like “overcharged,” “unprofessional,” “incompetent,” “rude,” “messy,” “no-show,” and “dishonest.”
Complaint Records
Our Ratings Tables also report counts of complaints we gathered from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for a recent three-year period, the number of complaints on file with local government consumer protection offices for a recent two-year period, and complaint rates relative to the volume of work companies do.
Costs
To compare companies’ prices, our undercover shoppers called the businesses listed on our Ratings Tables and requested prices for five plumbing jobs; the table below reports the ranges of prices we collected. Prices varied dramatically for the same work.
We used this info to calculate price comparison scores for each company, shown on our Ratings Tables. The scores, adjusted so that the average for all companies equals $100, indicate how each company’s quotes compare to the average price for all companies quoting on the same jobs. Thus a score of $110 means a company’s quotes average 10 percent above the all-company average; a score of $90 means 10 percent below average.
If you have a medium or large job, use our price comparison scores and collect bids from multiple low-priced companies. Getting three bids for an installation job (for example, putting in a water heater) saves, on average, about $300 compared to getting just one price quote. For larger projects, like bathroom remodels, you’ll save thousands of dollars this way. Although it’s a pain to meet with several contractors, it’s worth it to save $2,000 or more.
Have companies supply quotes on exactly the same job, using the same fixtures. If a job is large, or you are unsure about what you need or how it should be done, let the bidders serve as your consultants. If you need to meet with several companies before you know what you want done, give each pro a chance to bid on your final specs.
On our Ratings Tables we also report each company’s hourly labor rate and its “minimum charge for a service call,” and indicate whether this covers a complete diagnosis or a specified amount of time. These charges are particularly useful if you need to hire a company for repair work that can’t be priced until the plumber has examined your problem. Some companies don’t charge anything for coming to your home, diagnosing the problem, and providing a written price quote; others charge $200 or more for this.
