The Competent Plumber Who Loves Cats

It has been a busier than usual week. After the vanity top in the bathroom was replaced, a plumber was needed to reconnect everything because the new sink did not line up with the drain. I contacted three companies. One was going to charge a fee to come out and give an estimate, so I declined that one. The second and third ones offered to give free estimates by email if I explained the problem and sent pictures electronically, so I did. They both told me they would want to replace the shutoff valves...which did not need replacing. That drove up the estimate quite a bit. After a few emails and phone calls, the second company stopped replying and apparently dropped me as a potential customer.

The third company, however, offered to come out and assess what needed to be done. They waived their usual fee for an estimate since their office is less than a mile away and they were open to the possibility of keeping the existing valves, depending on what they saw when they got here.

It turns out, the valves did not need replacing, as determined by the plumber who saw the setup. If any kind of work needed to be done on them, he would have replaced them because he said if you mess with those kinds (the lowest quality that was common in new construction when my condo was built 15 years ago) too much, they start to leak. The work that needed to be done was minor and the total cost ended up being less than half of the estimate I was originally given. This saved me hundreds of dollars! The work was completed at the same time the plumber came to assess the situation and everything is working fine now. He earned himself a nice tip!

The local company I chose to do this work is family-owned, only has four plumbers, and has been around with a good reputation for four decades. The plumber even remembered me from when I needed an estimate for a new water heater a few years ago. His company would have been chosen to do that work back then, but they did not have the kind of water heater that was needed.

Watching Captain America while the plumber worked

On top of all this, as if that's not enough, the plumber who came a cat person! And Qandi could tell. When the folks came to replace the vanity top the previous week, she was nowhere to be found. She hid the entire time. However, when the plumber came to reconnect the drain with the sink this week, Qandi was cool as a cucumber. She hung around, relaxed to the max, and didn't seem to mind that the plumber was here. When he was sitting on the bench in the foyer writing the ticket, Qandi sat next to him at his feet. The plumber and I got to talking and it turns out he has three cats. He was talking to Qandi as if they had known each other for years. Qandi was polite and did not talk back. She just listened very attentively. It's one thing for me to approve of someone, but when Qandi approves...well that just seals the deal.

As I'm typing this, I'm realizing I forgot to use a coupon I had for this company. (I've gotten really good at forgetting to use coupons!) It's okay, though. I received fast, friendly, and quality service (from a plumber who is a cat person) at a fair price. I really couldn't ask for more.