R.e.martin plumbing and heating

A small reno that turned out to be horrible experience from start to finish. I suggest that you read all the on line reviews very carefully and pay particular attention to the posts that all share similar negative experiences. The heart breaking posts will tell you all you need to know. Do not be fooled by posts that say this person is the best in town. Definitely not! My hope for all reading this post is that you find reputable contractors to work for you. There are many very good reputable contractors out there. If at all possible hire a contractor that has been recommended by friends or family. Best of luck!

A charming guy but selling snake oil. I fell for it sadly. He installed a faulty dishwasher, was untruthful to me via text, and stopped responding to my emails and phone calls when I tried to exercise my 1 year warranty. Stay away from this man. You've been warned

Run from this company!! Ryan the owner is dishonest and should never be trusted. R.E Martin shouldn't be in business. The companies that I had to hire to fix his incompetence were blown away with how bad his install was. Don't believe the good reviews and stay clear and DON'T USE THIS COMPANY!!!

Appears friendly and has the knowledge but the execution is terrible and sloppy! rough in plumbing maybe and even that is questionable in terms of clean and methodical work.
also will have an excuse for everything.
I cannot recommend him and especially, when he then at the end takes advantage of billing you extra hours... Just as a thank you!

The guy Sachin came to fix the problem . Hopefully my problem gets fixed.
Ryan called me back for an update . This time he was courteous enough to ask for the update.

Ryan–owner & plumber of R.E Martin plumbing provided quote for us to replace polybutylene with PEX pipe for our basement suite (~1000sqft). Quoted us $4,700 for the repipe basement suite including $118 city permit fee, install new tub faucet with shower head and tub spout, replace PRV, includes 1-year workmanship – note that ALL DRYWALL has been removed by us. When asked if there is any possibility of a discount, Ryan proposed cash job $4000 with a handshake workmanship warranty but there would be no invoice, stating that his goal is to be our plumber for years to come. It turned out it was the worst trades experience we have ever had up to date. After having our plumbing work inspected by 3 red seal plumbers after the fact, we learned that this company used the cheapest plumbing products (eg. Pipes & fittings) and did inferior quality work. Ryan is not upfront that he sends his apprentice to do the work. I personally would not hire this company ever again, nor recommend this company to my worst enemy. See photos for your reference.
1. The first city inspection failed due to multiple issues:
a. Use 90’s where required when connection to poly B so transition joints bare no stress from pex piping
b. Ensure piping in walls have clips every min 31’
c. Ensure pipes going through studs bare no stress from bends, use fitting where required
d. Complete piping to tub divertor
e. Ensure hot and cold pipes are separated
2. Two red seal professionals that were onsite to assess the plumbing work (been in the field for 15 and 30 years) said it was not quality work, the work that was done appeared to be “just winging it”. After I brought up the quality concerns with Ryan, he quickly tried to discredit the other professionals’ opinions, and express that “this is plumbing” and that he “sees this all the time”. I requested that Ryan himself address the plumbing deficiencies pointed out by the city, Ryan did not follow through, his apprentice continued to do the remainder work.
3. When I asked Ryan if he could fix the quality issues, he states that their quote was lower than others and quality was not to be expected for the price I was paying.
4. When we pointed out some additional flaws he made the following statements to defend himself:
a. Issue: Low PSI in the house after work was done
i. Ryan: He cannot increase the PSI above 50 for legal reasons and to fix the low PSI, after inspection, he will increase the PSI, without considering the rest of the house still has poly B, hence subjecting our system to unnecessary pressure
b. Issue: Multiple areas where the hot and cold pipes were touching, he wrapped in tin foil and leftover insulation that was taken from our wall.
i. Ryan: This is how things are done in construction.
c. Issue: Stress on the pipes in multiple areas of his work as he did not use 90-degree connectors is some areas.
i. Ryan: He could find many plumbers that would agree that his work is normal in the field
d. Issue: Everything above which lead to the re-piping to be done as a 1:1 change. No consideration was made to change the design or improve the unauthorized plumbing work that was previously done
i. Ryan: Plumbing Code has not changed since the old pipe was installed. (For reference, the polybutylene was installed in the 90s without city permit by the previous owners of the house).
e. Issue: Newly installed Hot and Cold PEX piping were mismatching colors is certain areas.
i. Ryan: Piping is all the same color and colors do not matter.
5. After some investigation, research and approaching multiple professionals for their opinions, these concerning items were revealed regarding the issues in point 4:
-Called the City to inquire about this legality and they said nothing like this exists in the city we live in
-Multiple professionals said they have never seen such poor quality plumbing work like this in the 15 to 30 years they have been working in the industry
-Multiple professionals said that extra pressure on the pipes is not good for the pipes and will lead to additional wear on the fittings and pipes.

** Take note that all this tin foil work seen in photos was done by this plumbing company, this was their solution to keep the pex pipes from touching each other**, they took the batt insulation from our walls and wrapped around the pipes. What a joke. Here is your warning, you hire this company at your own risk. ***

Long delays, surprise billing, work left unfinished, mess left behind. Too bad as was really hoping it would work out. Recommend you read reviews on Yelp. Not good reviews. Partner does good floors and carpentry but outcome still not good since he did not finish, left a whole section of basement floor with the old vinyl, just thought he could hide it behind washing machine, paid for a whole floor, not part of a floor. In the end job was rushed, you can see gaps in flooring. Plus recommend you check out his website, some more info there. Oh yeah, threatened to lien our house if we did not pay the surprise 'padded' bill, the same day he sent it. Had Ryan and Colin finished the job, cleaned up the mess and stuck to the quote, might have given an ok review. Still a lot of misses, big chunk of ceiling not drywalled, door frame damaged and not repaired, pretty sure plumbing for sink should go behind the wall! Not talking about some bits of undermount showing, I mean actual pipe!
Saying they will lien our house the same day we get a bill for thousands of dollars more than quoted price, the same day, if we do not pay was not pleasant. No one wants to hear "pay or else" especially after we had paid everything up until then.

We have seen many contractors interested in our project: small bath room renovation, and decided to hire R.e. plumbing and heating. Their estimate was very reasonable and they did a great job installing new bathtub, toilet, vanity and faucets. It was a great pleasure to do business with Ryan: he is very knowledgeable and highly professional. All the work was done to our great satisfaction and on schedule. We will definitely call Ryan for any new projects we might decide to do in the future.

Alla&Igor

On a recommendation I called Ryan about a serious bathtub hot water leak my tenant was experiencing. Ryan knew in short order the probable cause and agreed to show up the next morning. He was right on time, worked professionally and my tenant was very pleased with the results. Ryan was very personable and charged a fair price. Ryan will be my "go to" plumber in the future. Ryan also took the time to answer some questions about my boiler, hot water tank, and natural gas BBQ.

When I called Ryan, he was able to schedule me in right away. He came on time, and has an engaging and optimistic personality. He knew right away after he checked my radiators what was wrong. He explained to me what the problem was, how he was going to solve it and went ahead and did it. He is experienced in his trade and an efficient worker. I highly recommend Ryan to all my friends for any plumbing and heating job that they might require.