Bob Peterson Plumbing

Victoria W.

Mr. Peterson knows his stuff, charges a fair price, and has quick service. He is also a nice guy. We had some pipes freeze this winter. He was overrun with customers (other people with frozen pipes)-nevertheless he made time to meet with us that day, coached us through thawing the pipe, fixed the subsequent leak that had sprung in the pipe, and then made a solid recommendation to prevent the problem again (in addition to just leaving the water on). Didn't charge service fees or anything even though he came by a few times to check up on us. He has done installations for me, repairs, and maintenance. I will go to him for future plumbing work.

Mario V.

The pipes from our sump pump were nearly exploding from water pressure. We decided to call Bob as he is in our neighborhood. Bob stopped by and said we needed to rod the pipes. Bob applied a spear, and said we should by Root X, but we should be fine after his initial work. Next day, same issue. Bob then said we should rod one more time. Bob charged for this work as well, but said this would take care of the issue. Next day, same issue. We called a different plumber, and it was actually the sump pump. We have not had any issues after we hired the second plumber.

Mike M.

Boy, next time I need a laugh, I'll go cruise the one star Yelp reviews.

I had Bob Peterson come by once, ONCE, about 10 years ago. He also walked in with a giant pipe wrench, dirty boots, and all the class and decorum of a caveman. I don't need a plumber to hold his pinky out while sipping his tea, but he made that pipe wrench look more like a weapon. Went to diagnose the problem down at the drain cleanout, and how did he use that pipe wrench to unscrew the threaded cap? Like a weapon, by whacking the cap to the side, like it was a fastball coming right over the plate. I thought, Gee, I see threads on that cleanout cap, and I see a nut on the back of the cap, and I see a wrench in the guy's hairy paw, and call me crazy, but I would have used the wrench part of the wrench on the nut part of the cap, and turned it, to use the threaded parts of the cap as threads. When it came time to close up the job, he put the cap in the general vicinity of the cleanout, and bashed it over the top with his club-wrench. He really could just as well have showed up with a baseball bat. He badmouthed his brother Randy, overcharged me and left, and I breathed a sigh of relief for not having had to fend off Pteradactyls or Velociraptors or something. When I think of the guy, when I see his truck around town, I picture him in that spotted caveman outfit Fred Flintstone wore, with a caveman club in his hand. I don't know if he managed to get married, but maybe someday I'll see him in an alley dragging his wife around by the hair.

A little while later, a neighbor recommended his brother, I think Randy, who had contracts with half the people on the street. He would clean out the sewer lines once a year on a contract basis for about $110, which is a bargain compared to the $350 if you only call when you're backing up. He did that for years, and one time honored his contract by doing a free cleanout 6 weeks after the annual job got clotted up with roots. A few years after that, he disappeared, and I haven't seen him since. Someone who grew up here told me that their family feud is locally famous, and the brothers deny the other's existence, except to bad mouth them. Classy crew.

Sarah S.

Don't use this plumber!! We had him come a few months ago and he charged us $150 for five minutes of his time. It was ridiculous.

Theodore G.

It's been a few years, but I do thank him for referring us to our ""now"" plumbers. He quoted a flat rate for fixing our back up into our laundry tub. Well after about six hours, he had not made any headway, and then he tried to charge us for his extra time.

Pam P.

Bob Peterson charged us $1100 to change shower faucet stems ($300 parts and $800 labor). He stated he does not do quotes because you never know what you will find. Apparently, it also take two men plumbers to change shower faucet stems. He stated original plumber (work done 7 years ago) didn't properly support the pipes, so I asked him if corrected that and he said ""Oh no, I don't do that!"" So I have the same ""unsupported pipes"" and a huge hole in my tub wall.
Upon investigation of work he did for others discovered he charged $300 to unclog a bathroom sink! Wish they would have told me that sooner!
Don't use Bob Peterson unless you have very deep pockets!

Danny O.

Bob Peterson, of Bob Peterson, Inc. has done work on two of the houses that I've lived at over the last 15 years here in Evanston. He's always been prompt, honest, courteous, and able to resolve our plumbing issues. Not easy in houses that are 90 to 100 years old! I highly recommend him!

Marion F.

Bob has been by several times to help out with complicated issues in our old (c. 1952) building. Most impressive was a pipe replacement behind a kitchen cabinet. Two other service people had recommended the complete removal of the cabinet, but Bob managed to get it done, and done quickly. He has lots of respect for old plumbing devices and will ope to fix rather than replace, since many replacement devices are not as worthy. I highly recommend him!

Kate M.

I'm going to preface this review by saying a couple things. One, I saw a reply review from Bob Peterson saying there are 5 Peterson Plumbings in northern Illinois. If this is the case, and your name is Bob, I would change it IMMEDIATELY so as not to remotely be associated with the plumber ""Bob Peterson"" who came to my house yesterday. My cleaning lady was here at the time and she said she went to high school with the Bob Peterson who was at my house. She said the dad started the company but the kids parted ways. Apparently, I got the shit Bob Peterson instead of the dad or perhaps the smarter, hopefully more attractive brother...either way, this was a nightmare.

My Kohler shower faucet was having issues. Specifically, at some point, the mixing valve decided to quit, leaving me with scalding hot shower water only. Not lukewarm, tepid, or even hot- SCALDING. Tired of sticking my head under the tub faucet to wash my hair and hooker showering the rest of the way, I realised we needed to call a plumber.

I have heard the name Bob Peterson plumbing all my life, it seems. I think I recall a truck parked in the driveway as a kid. So I mistakenly believed that this could be the plumbing company for me. I called and Bob himself answered. I explained the problem and he said he could fix it, but that parts were the problem. He went on for ages about how Kohler jacked up the prices of their parts to compensate for lower retail prices at the big box stores. It already sounded fishy, but he said he could come over asap, and plumbers don't always have the gift of the silver tongue, so I arranged the appointment.

He came earlier than expected. He walked in the door with only a wrench in hand. Big, nasty, dirty construction boots did not so much as swipe the doormat. I led him to the master bedroom and he looked at the shower. He said, ""Are you sure this is a Kohler?"" Um, it says so right on the shower head. Red flag, Kate. He realised he needed an allen wrench to take the handle apart and he went back outside. I told him to let himself back in; I wasn't going to babysit this job. After about 15 minutes, he came downstairs and said he needed to shut the water off. We went in the basement, took care of it. He then said he needed to get a new part. He said he had to leave the water off, and that it should take an hour. Not exactly helpful when the cleaning lady is here and needs to use, um, WATER to clean, but what could I do?

Two hours later, I call him. He tells me his apprentice went to some store in Arlington Heights and there was no Kohler part there. So then he went to some place in Palatine and same thing. So he went downtown to get the part and they didn't have it, but they took apart a new faucet and took the part from that. And, this plastic part was going to cost $256. RED FLAG. Sounded like a load of hoohah to me, so I told my special man who works out of the office in our coach house to demand receipt of this part to make sure he wasn't marking up on us. What I didn't understand was why Bob didn't just get on the horn and call around to see who had the part. Duh. So he finally comes back, messes with it for an hour, and comes down and just says it won't work. What?? I said ""You're the plumber, make it work!"" I call Special Man back to the house and tell him that Bozo here says it can't work. Special Man takes over. I left the house to go do something else equally not fun, but at least I didn't have to deal with Bob the Plumber.

Special Man calls me and tells me Bob is the worst excuse for a plumber ever. He tried to tell us that the part they got was ""non-refundable"" and ""all sales final"" even though he said the reason it won't work is that it is defective. He blamed Kohler for over 20 minutes, asserting that they make shoddy products. He got water ALL over the bathroom, and stepped in the shower with those afore-mentioned nasty boots and then walked all over our rugs and down the carpeted stairs.

Special Man told him to put our shower back together with the original parts. He put the part in upside down- that's why it wasn't working! He LOST THE SCREW THAT ATTACHES THE HANDLE, so now the handle doesn't attach, the big buffoon. Special Man watched him put the part back together (missing screw notwithstanding) and lo and behold- the shower actually gives warm water now! (I showered like a normal human being just today!) On the other hand, it also drizzles steadily down the drain. Has been now for 16 hours. What a waste of water- not to mention expensive! Special Man kicked him to the curb without paying him a dime.

So, what do I think of Bob Peterson? Two words: Mow Ron.

What did I do at 8 a.m. this morning? Called Kerrigan Plumbing out of Wilmette. I might pay a bit more on the front end, but at least I will know the job gets done- right as rain- the first time.

Jessie N.

I feel totally taken advantage of by this guy... My husband and I used Bob one other time a few months ago, and Bob dealt with him the entire process, quick-fixed the problem and went on his merry way. This time, I was home to deal with our kitchen sink overflowing and stoppage and I made the call. Bob did arrive on time and within the hour I called, however, did not resolve our issue, and charged $300 for one hour of work and routing our unit line. When he left the sink was draining slow and he recommended ""keep a plunger handy."" Two hours later, the sink is backing up again filling with laundry water, and we aren't doing any laundry. When I called him to come back and resolve this, he replied that he sees this ""all the time and would need access to the main line and open up a wall to see where the pipes are going and what the gut rehab installation looks like."" ""You don't know what you'll see until you see it."" After five minutes of excuses and bumbling banter, I finally had to hang up as I was literally bailing laundry water from our kitchen sink and carrying it into the bathroom dumping it into the tub to prevent an even bigger mess. Our management company had to bring out a second plumbing team and they had the problem solved within an hour. All they did was run a router through the main line, where Bob didn't even look for one. So the reason for this salty review? I feel it was unethical to charge $300 and not solve the issue. I'm always ok with compensating someone for their time, but come on Bob, that hourly rate must be for your conversation. That being the case, I'd like a refund.