Ehret Plumbing & Heating

As much as I'd like to be the DIY-fixer-upper, when it comes to plumbing I leaving it to the professionals! We've used Ehret Plumbing & Heating twice on more urgent services and it's always been well worth it! Not only are they responsive, reliable, and quick, but they also take the time to explain if you have any questions. We've used them for *unfortunately* larger services such as a leaking toilet that spiraled into them replacing the floor and completely removing the molded floors, which had eventually spiraled into a whole removal of a chuck of the garage ceiling and replacing it due to a major leak, to even the smallest of services such as a leaking sink. Each time they were able to come quickly to fix it.

I'd like to preface that we like them so much that though they are based in the Oakland area, they have always been worth the travel fees to the Vallejo/Benicia/Fairfield area. Personally I don't mind paying the extra fees when I know they get the job done right the first time!

I was going through the home buying process. My county doesn't require sewer lateral inspections so I didn't initially schedule an inspection. However, with only two days until my contingency period ended I thought it was a good idea to go ahead and have it done.

I contacted the company and spoke with Jacquelyn. She scheduled the inspection for the following day. Marvin completed the inspection and they sent me a report the following day! Marvin also checked the plumbing for all the drains inside the home.

I definitely recommend using them for any plumbing needs. The staff is friendly and they did exactly what I needed them to do in a very short time period. Speaks to their reliability! I'll use them in the future and you all should too!

Our property management firm called Ehret to fix a leak from a shower head At our rental. Ehret said that replacing the cartridge would not fix the leak. This great information cost me $400. They charged me for a new cartridge plus a pipe and a cap and went on their way with shower still leaking. They then proceeded to submit a proposal for $1600 to replace the valve. This proposal stated that they would cut a hole in the adjoining wall in order to replace the valve. It also stated that they would not fix the wall. Anybody with a rudimentary knowledge of plumbing would know that probably the only reason the valve itself would need to be replaced is because the valve was leaking into the wall. The cartridge itself is the only part of the valve that is active part that controls the water flow out to shower head. The valve housing is essentially a 4 way valve with two pipes connected to the hot and cold, one to the shower head and opening for the cartridge which controls water on/off and hot/cold mix. Most likely counting on the fact that property management company would know any of this (which they really didn't) and most likely the property owner wouldn't know it either they thought that their proposal would be accepted. I rejected the proposal and went over to the property and inspected the valve and it was not new. The brass and plastic parts were discolored and showed signs of wear. The integrity of the valve itself in the wall was sound. I noticed that the valve was set to the on position. When I pushed valve to the off position and water began to shoot out of the screw hole where the shower handle connected it was clear to me that the valve was not new and had completely failed. I told the property manager that I wanted Ehret to come out and replace the cartridge with me present as well as their representative. The representative of Ehret came out and was rude and angry and almost intimidating. When he removed the cartridge I inspected the interior of the valve and saw NO seals or active components (as expected). I inspected the cartridge and it was old and slimy. So what they told me about replacing the cartridge was clearly false. I told the their rep that I wanted to retain the cartridge in that it was my property. He refused in a very brusque manner and claimed "he had to return it to Home Depot". Feeling intimidated, I did not press the matter. When he turned the water back on, lo and behold, the shower head leak was fixed. So there are only two reasons for this, the plumber they sent was completely incompetent or they were proposing unnecessary work to pad their bottom line. Either way this does not shed a positive light on the quality, veracity and competence of this company. Had I gone with their proposal I would have been out $2000 for unnecessary work and most likely another $500 plus to fix a perfectly good wall. To add insult to injury, they told my property management company I was lying when their representative was their and witnessed the whole episode. Ehret appears to follow a pattern that I have seen with other contractors, propose unnecessary work in order to pad the bottom line. So to anybody who reads this, make sure you educate yourself about the work you need to have done prior to approving a proposal from a contractor.

I was in the market to get my old tank water heater replaced with a tankless system and I was a little hesitant about what equipment/tankless system I would need. So after searching around for a couple different plumbing services, I was referred to by Ehret Plumbing by a close friend of mine. After comparing prices with the previous companies I had looked at, they didn't even come CLOSE to Ehret. They helped me choose the tankless hot water heater that I was right for my home without trying to upsell me or get me to purchase something I didn't need. The crew showed up early, got to work right away, and finished in just a few hours. They were professional and extremely polite. I couldn't recommend them enough. I know I'll need my pipes replaced in the future and I won't hesitate to reach out to Ehret again!

We've been using Ehret for our Berkeley home plumbing needs now for almost 20 years and had another excellent service call so I thought it's time to write a review. They are very professional and competent and charge a reasonable hourly rate. Do not, I repeat, do not hire any plumbers that charge by the job. Did so recently because I couldn't get Ehret in on a Saturday on short notice. They wanted more than double what I paid Ehret and the guy seemed unprofessional and incompetent. After I turned the job down he asked me, "how much are you willing to pay?" I say incompetent because he said it's possible they might have to open up the wall to fix a minor shower drip! It seemed like a classic high pressure/stress tactic to accept his price. Lol no thanks, I'm not buying a used car!

Maikel did a really good job installing a water heater out our property and has a really good attitude. Highly recommended to use this company

A burst pipe made a huge deluge in my dad's place. I called MANY plumbers that advertised 24/7 emergency assistance with no luck until I got Ehret. They sent Jorge, who arrived within an hour. By that time we'd turned the water off to the building and had an idea where the burst pipe was. He informed me every step of the way and we made a plan. He cut into the wall covering the culprit and found the problem, he then figured out how to access the pipe from the attic and got it all cleaned up by the time we'd agreed on (almost 11pm). He returned the next day and fixed the pipe. He and his assistant were professional and very competent. Great Job! Thanks so much for the after-hours work.

Our toilet was backed up to the point where there was a leak in our downstairs pipe. I called around for emergency services and could only get a hold of Ehret. They came out within an hour to fix the issue and quoted me at $198/hour. After about an hour i was told that they would have to come back with because he was unable to fix this issue with the equipment he had that night - i was charged $198. For the next day, I was told it would be an additional $125/ hour to bring an extra person to help him bring a machine he needed to fix the issue - which again i said was fine since they started to fix it initially. They came the next day and was able to fix the issue in 30 minutes - I was only charged for the time they rendered services = $233.00

Three weeks later the same issue happens again - confused because we changed the paper and used less to prevent future issues. The same person came out and said they would have to unclog again and run a camera through. This would be $325/hour again because he needed to bring an extra person with him and then another $200 for the camera. This company has a 30 day warranty and when I had another plumber come out they asked me why they didn't finish the job or check with the camera to make sure all of the issues were fixed - I was pretty confused as well that this was not standard as the other company made it seem.

I was taken aback that they would charge me again for an issue they didn't completely resolve. I decided not to continue with Ehret and I called to let the company know of my concerns. They told me they would need to get approvals on any services that would need to be redone, but I declined as i was moving forward with a different plumber because i had lost my trust in Ehret.

In the many years we've rented, we have never run into issues like this before, so this was crazy for it to happen twice! I felt like there wasn't a level of care and while they DID fix the first issue, they didn't stick around to make sure that it was the ONLY issue. For me to have to call them because the same thing happened again really shows me the lack of quality and care.

The plumber i ended up going with didn't charge by the hour AND went above and beyond to make sure everything was good before they left, they even made sure to run the camera all the way to the line in my driveway to ensure everything was good.

Overall, Ehret is good for emergency services because they will come out for that but the hourly price seems a little off putting based on other plumbers in the area charging only by the project.

Ehret repaired and replaced our floor furnace heating system. Included in that was an electronic ignitor that did not come with the furnace (the manufactured ignitor that came with the furnace did not work well) -- they modified the furnace to use this electronic ignitor. All together, the system works flawlessly -- perfectly. The technician, Josh A., did a truly magnificent job and Ehret even provided an extended warranty for the ignitor system since the original manufactured ignitor that came with the heater had not worked well. All in all, a truly fine group of people who made the whole process work -- from the office staff, to the management, to Josh, the engineer who put it all together. I have used Ehret in the past and found them to be capable and reliable every time. My sincere thanks! -- Norm Gelbart.

Give them a call! About a week ago, I called Ehret and was able to get a same day appointment for a free estimate to replace my water heater. The price was great and affordable ... best part, I was able to get my water heater replaced the same day!

Marvin was fast, knowledgeable, and very patient with any questions that I had. It's hard to find people that actually listen instead of blowing me off.

I will definitely be using them for any future services!