I called Doctor Pipes and arranged with Norm to have a water valve replaced. I live in a detached house at Yonge and Sheppard. It's an older home and we've lived here for over two years. Not once have we had a wet basement (even last summer 2009 when it rained like crazy). Norm sends a master plumber named Joe to do the work, which cost $200. The FIRST rainfall after he replaced the valve, we noticed a water leak from a pipe connected to the valve, soaking into our carpet in the next room (the two rooms share a wall).
Norm disclaimed all responsibility and said it wasn't his work that caused the leak. He wanted to charge me to come and assess the problem. I decided to go with another plumber as why would I hire the same plumber that caused the leak in the first place?
The other plumber (from Homestars - thank you!) came and reinstalled the water metre (where it was leaking) that was connected to the valve Doctor Pipes installed. After that no more leak. The plumber said that when the new valve was installed by Doctor Pipes, it must have loosened the adjacent pipe connected to the water metre.
Doctor Pipes should have checked to make sure its work didn't affect the adjoining pipes. I would have understood if Doctor Pipes/Norm had told me that replacing a valve might affect the other pipes, and thus require more work, which I would have understood would cost extra.
What annoys me is how Doctor Pipes/Norm totally didn't own up to their work being the instigator of the leak, and totally not taking responsibility for their work.
After going on Homestars we called another plumbing company to come fix the problem. They were prompt and professional - we posted a positive review for them afterwards. Next time, we'll go to Homestars before contacting a service provider.
