Cal-Home Plumbing

Alek Y.

On May 30th 2016, I contacted my home insurance First American Home Buyers Protection Corp because my water heater was leaking. They assigned me Cal Home Constuction Inc (license# 861849) company to fix the problem. Their contractor Max came to my home on Jun 3rd to replace the water heater. After the finished the job and left, I found out that the water heater was still leaking. I called Max, he said that he will come back in 15 mins. After 1 hour he finally arrived and fixed the leak. During that time water was all over the place. Max didn't clean after himself leaving piece of pipe after him and didn't remove the water from the wood stand, he just put the new water heater on the top. So, I had water on that wooden stand for at least couple of days making wodden stand rot. He also didn't install the drip pan underneath of the water heater, so, now if I'll have another leak, instead of the water go outside of my house, it will leak straight into it. Most important they didn't have permit, nor inspect came to check his work. I contacted Clayton City Hall and asked when the permit was issued, and suprise! it was never requested! Basically, they did installation without permit from the city. After speaking with Jane (their office manager), she told me that they will request it later, retroactively. It's been already 3 weeks since they install the water heater. Previously, 2 weeks ago, Jane told me that they are in the process in obtaining the permit.
Also, Cal-Home Construction is charing for the parts that come with water heater. As a result, they charged me $465. I hired independent licensed contractor who checked their work, he told me that what they mark as a ""hard pipe"" on top of water heater, appears to be ""flexible pipe"". Wood support $70, (2 small 2x4s that were nailed to the wall behind the water heater).
this is the break down what they gave me:
MOD. HARD PIPE ON TOP W/H - $210 (not hard, but flexible pipe)
MOD. T/P LINE - $110
MOD. AIR VENT - $75
WOOD SUPPORT - $70
Although my receipt shows 6 items in non-understandable language (they did it on purpose) instead of 4.
According to the Yelp Reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cal-home-plumbing-and-construction-los-angeles
According to the BBB - F rating: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/plumbing-drains-and-sewer-cleaning/cal-home-plumbing-inc-in-martinez-ca-453901/
You got an idea what company I'm dealing with.

JoAnn A.

Cal Home, sent by Old Republic home warranty, did a very good job of replacing my OLD water heater and fixing numerous plumbing, code and water details. Max was courteous and knowledgeable both times he came to my condo -- to assess the problem and to replace the water heater. And the telephone contact was very knowledgeable and nice.

Pavels K.

Dear homeowners!

This company is the real deal!

I had a broken shut-off valve which had to be replaced urgently. Cal-Home was sent out by my Old Republic home warranty. Max, an experienced Cal-Home plumber, was very professional and courteous. He examined the issue and provided the fastest and less costly solution! He explained every step of the way. Not only he replaced the broken old valve with a new modern one, but also replaced a leaking pipe so that the repair will last!! I was very impressed by this company's ethics, custom service, and professionalism! I highly recommend it for any plumbing work!

T. A.

Like many others here, I got handed this joke of a company through First American. Our water heater is not working properly so we filed the claim and their tech came out, didn't do anything. Just stood there and looked at it as I explained to him that we had been having trouble with having hot water and we'd already turned up the temperature once and still having problems. He didn't do anything. Just said that it needed to be replaced and there was nothing he could do. I told him if all he was going to do was show up and do nothing, I wasn't paying him the copay. He seriously did NOTHING! So I asked him what are we supposed to do and he said all he could do was call the home warranty company and get authorization for a new water heater. The next day, I call their office to find out if they've contacted First American and they told me that the report they were giving to First American states that they recommended adjusting the water heater temp and that we had declined to do so. I explained that we had already done that once and cranking up the temperature guage on the heater was not an appropriate long term solution. Either they can repair it or they need to tell the warranty company that it needs to be replaced. Then the lady on the phone starts yelling at me that they can't lie to the insurance company. I said that I'm not suggesting that at all but either it can be repaired or it needs to be replaced which is what their tech told me would need to happen. If they can repair it, great! I pretty much spent 15 minutes trying to figure out why their tech told me one thing but filed the report with First American saying something totally different. It literally makes no sense. I don't have hot water, but I can't get the stupid water heater repaired or replaced because I guess these idiots have so much work they just can't handle another job.

Josh M.

Like the other reviewers, we too have a First American Home Warranty, and on a recent issue with a leaking shower head, were assigned Cal Home Plumbing as the contractor.

..and just like the other reviews, it was a disaster.

Plumber came out , claimed he needed to replace the cartridge in the shower valve. He claimed his office would order the part and it would take 7 - 10 business days.

7 days later, water is leaking into my garage. Trouble shoot it further on my own and find that water was leaking from the shower valve (that the plumber touched) into the wall, enjoining bedroom and into the ceiling of the garage below.

Plumber comes out and claims it wasn't his fault. (Obviously a CYA move.)

Called the office, no help. They claim the part is still two weeks away, and a manager would call me back... Manager never called me back.

Like the other reviewers, their office receptionists need customer service 101 training. Was regularly put on hold or hung up on.

Called the home warranty company, and they then called the plumbing company. Low and behold, I received a call from the manager and found out the part would be there in two days.

ONE MONTH LATER, the shower is finally fixed, but no one is taking responsibility for the extensive water damage in my house.

DO NOT USE CAL HOME PLUMBING. Run away from them and never engage their services.

Hoopie S.

And again no hot water . Lady hung up on me . My kids are sick from cold showers . If you want to do something contact the contractor an plummers license board make a complaint too many complaints they get their license revoked!!! I did it . They don't care about their customers at all period. -9 stars

Cindi C.

I'm also very surprised by the negatives reviews on here because we've had nothing but great service and support from Cal-Home Plumbing. Just last week our water heater broke and they really scrambled to send someone out the same day, which was much appreciated since cold showers aren't my favorite thing. Whenever we place a service call they show up exactly when they say they will and they provide fast, efficient and professional service. In fact, I now ask for Maxim by name because I trust him in my home and know that he would never take advantage of us. Based on our experiences with them, I would highly recommend Cal-Home Plumbing.

Michelle M.

I am actually very surprised at the negative reviews as well. The moment he left I was so pleased that I hopped on Yelp to give him a positive review. I have such a horrible history with contractors being unreliable snakes. He came within the time scheduled he immediately fix the problem and was out within 20 minutes. Extremely friendly and professional. I was very leery because I had to use them through fidelity home warranty. I must say I was extremely and pleasantly surprised. Pleasanton Homeowner

Marisa C.

I was set up with this joke of a company through my home warranty company First American which is another joke of a company, but that's another review. My pilot light went out on my water heater so I immediately called PG&E who confirm it is the result of a bad thermo couple. I immediately call First American and within 2 hours I have an appointment with Cal Home. He shows up LATE on Friday, tells me he doesn't have the part but will have it Monday. We make an appointment for 7 PM Monday for it to be in installed. He was at my house all of 30 seconds... Monday comes and goes, no plumber. I have left multiple messages with them today with no return. In the meantime I've gone without hot water for almost a week. If I could, I'd shut both companies down for fraud!!! If you have a choice, use ANYONE else but these jokes! I'm sure a blindfolded chimpanzee would do a better job at fixing your issues with a blow torch and a sledgehammer. I'm stuck because of First American... Save yourself the headache and call anyone else!!!

Lay D.

I am in the Dublin, CA area. This company was contracted through First American Home Warranty. Calhome Plumbing is so BAD. We had no faucet/kitchen use for 2 weeks now. Today, we are expecting the plumber to come as we have to leave town tonight and attend to a cancer surgery. We took time off to attend to this and Calhome just called back to tell us we're scheduled for tomorrow. I called this morning to reverify my appt and I was told yes they are coming. I even called before the appointment to ensure we're on the book. This is just unacceptable. I called First American Home Warranty and all they did was apologize. This means no kitchen sink faucet for almost another week. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE ALL AROUND.