Drain Surgeon

John S.

Capitol just saved us over $8000. Our boiler wasn't working, so we called another plumbing service. They came out and told me our boiler wasn't meant for a 1,450 sq. ft. house, that it was meant to heat only about 500 sq. ft. Then, they said they'd replace it (and the water heater) for about $8,800.
Well, we figured we'd have to do it. But I called Capitol plumbing, who sent this great guy Xavier our. He told me the other company was wrong, that our boiler, which we'd had for 10 years, was fine. Both the water and the pressure had been turned off (by the other company). Xavier turned them both on and started the boiler. Hey, it works. Xavier's coming out Wednesday to flush out the system, but the house is already heating up. Thank goodness for Capitol and Xavier, who have saved us about $8,500. How refreshing to find a company that is so honest and reliable.

Carolyn F.

This business is absolutely criminal.

They came to provide an estimate for a water heater leak and not only charged an exorbitant fee for the estimate, they told us it would cost $20,000 to repair properly. The estimate was $618.11. The next plumber we called fixed the problem completely for roughly twice Capitol's ""estimate"".

They then ran the credit card incorrectly -- we know this because we ran the card with no problem later that day for the plumber that actually did the work - and despite asking for an invoice they failed to ever send an invoice for our records in order to send them a check. We never heard from them again until 9 months later when they sent a civil suit for payment plus court fees. When I called to attempt to kindly resolve - as this was the first I'd heard from them so clearly they did know how to reach us for payment - I was met with profound anger and yelling and a complete unwillingness to take any responsibility. They said they repeatedly called the property manager and went to speak with the tenant which is a complete fabrication. So, they lie, cheat, and steal.

DO NOT USE THIS BUSINESS

Gary R.

This is a sketchy company and I would give them a ""no star"" if that were a rating. My wife called to have the sump pump inspected while I was out of town and ended up with over a $900 bill for work that they said needed to be done. At the end of the ""work"" the tech called in to the office for the billing amount. A lump sum amount was billed and not itemized. When I called the company for an itemized bill, I was told that they would email it. 4 phone calls (giving then my contact information every time) & 6 months later, no itemized bill. I got a different excuse every time I called. The last time I called (5th time), it went to an answering service. Also, the number reflected on their website is not the same number as on their billing statement. The License No. is the same on the website and billing statement. It was an expensive lesson for us and may help you when making a decision on a plumbing contractor. Beware.

L B.

Be Aware. Not competent and not reliable. Identified the origin of the leak incorrectly, and left without fixing. They were going to charge me for replacing GOOD pipes AND for going from Los Alamos to Santa Fe to get parts. Paid almost $500 for nothing, no refund was issued. Below are details.

I called Capitol to fix the leak in one of my rentals. The water was dripping slowly from the ceiling below the bathroom. The plumber arrived and spent two hours (at $150 per hour) trying to figure where the leak is coming from. I found the leak in a few minutes, as soon as he took the wall cover off, and showed it to him. The leak was coming from the overflow drain in the bath tub, as the seal needed to be replaced (another plumber who came later confirmed and fixed the seal). The Capitol plumber disagreed that this is where the leak comes from (I guess it was a quick fix?) and continued to insist the leak is coming from the pipes and continued to look for it. He cut the ceiling in the bathroom downstairs (not sure it was necessary, as everything could be fixed through the opening in the wall in the bathroom upstairs).

Eventually he said the leak is coming from the pipes (wrong), and said it'll take him about 2 hours to fix. After that he called his company, and they told him he needs to go to another job, and he'll be back in 2 days.

My husband called the office asking if he can finish on the same day, but they said he has to be at the other job, and in order to get pipes, he has to go to Santa Fe anyway (we are in Los Alamos). We have two stores in Los Alamos that sell pipes (another plumber later confirmed, that in case the leak indeed was coming from the pipes, he could buy all he needed in Los Alamos). Keep in mind, we were already paying $150 per hour as this was an emergency call, now we would have to pay again for him coming from Santa Fe.

Luckily, another local plumber that we work with, had a cancellation, and could fit us in. It took him less than 30 minutes to identify the leak, fix the seal and to put the wall cover back on. He said I identified the leak correctly and the pipes are fine. It's been more than a week since he fixed it, and there is no leaking. To me this is the best proof that the pipes are fine and the leak was coming from the overflow drain.

Basically I've paid almost $500 for the plumber coming and taking the wall cover off, and cutting a hole in the ceiling, nothing else (would run me no more than $50 if I've asked a handyman to do that). And he would happily charge me more for replacing the GOOD pipes.

Be aware of this company, it obviously takes advantage of the people in the emergency situation.

Joe G.

Spent $13,000 with these jokers on a high efficiency water heater and it failed repeatedly. It took them forever to figure it out.

The unit failed again today and they responded to an after hours page by calling, then disappeared.

Steer clear.

Hida V.

I woke up on a cold November Sunday morning to no heat, on a day I needed to work from home all day and for the next few days. Upon finding their number on my heater I called and was received to hear they could send someone out in an hour, but was concerned that a Sunday visit would cost a lot more. I called back and spoke with the manager, who informed me it was more for a Sunday visit, but then asked me a few questions and walked me through the process of fixing it myself at home. No visit equalled no cost-- very grateful to this company! Only reason I'm not giving 5 starts is because they haven't actually had to service my heater so I can;'t speak to that.

Eric W.

Do Not Use!!!!! They will tell you it's $80 an hour but show up with two or three people, then charge you $80 for each person that shows up. It happened to both myself and my mother in law. Said I needed a new water heater. Quoted a high price at first. Then adjusted it a little higher and then adjusted it again. By the time they were ready to leave the quote had more than doubled in price. Total scammers, they showed up looking trashy and scary, they tried to split apart from one another so I couldn't keep an eye on all of them. Saying they needed to go in rooms with no water access. For a simple drain clean out they tried to charge nearly $200. They charged my mother in law $380 for a kitchen sink snake out. Was told it would be $80. But charged for everyone that showed up.

David N.

On Saturday morning I called Capitol Plumbing since the heater wouldn't kick on. The house was cooling off my Mom was worried we'd be without heat during the weekend when temperatures we going to drop. The on call technician failed to show for work due to illness. Michael called and asked me to send him a picture of the furnace. He called that he would arrive shortly. Turns out he wasn't working but came from his house to check the furnace. He determined the problem, fixed it and went on his way. He called back later to see if it was still working. Thank you Michael. Your service made my Mom very happy

Jay D.

Comparison of Capitol Plumbing (Capitol) and Paul's Plumbing and Heating, Santa Fe, NM (Paul's) with Road Runner Aircon, Heating & Refrigeration, Albuquerque, NM (Road Runner)

My Burnham Series II boiler serves seven valved zones of in-floor radiant heating tubes in various rooms (and part of the garage) of a 2050 sq. ft. one-story house. I called these three companies for a pre-winter checkup because some zones appeared not to be working well.

All three techs found that the pressure side of the temperature-pressure gauge integral to the boiler was not working, but was stuck at about 7 psi. Beyond that, their diagnoses and recommendations differed radically:

1. Capitol's tech found two little nuggets of calcium or other mineralization under the burners, which I did not notice before or afterward. The tech claimed these nuggets were evidence of a heat-exchanger about to fail. Its failure, he said, would flood my boiler closet, which does not have a pan under the boiler as current code requires. He also found discoloration of the fiberglass insulation, which, he said, was evidence of ""rollout"" of flames, and he said my rollout shutoff switch was not working. He recommended installing a new boiler for about $9,000, plus $5,700 more for a water treatment system (for mineralized well water, common near Santa Fe), for a total cost of $14,700. He did not offer to replace the bad gauge, nor did he mention the input water pressure limiter. Charge for the visit: $146.22

2. Paul's tech soon found the bad internal gauge and played with the pressure limiter, but did not suggest replacing it. Wanting a second opinion, but not wanting to suggest a high-cost solution, I asked the tech to examine the heat exchanger. The two nuggets of condensed minerals found by Capitol's tech were gone, but Paul's tech used a fiber-optic system to discover small areas of mineralization in some corners of the heat exchanger's tubes. He seemed reluctant to recommend replacing the boiler. But when I asked him what a replacement and water treatment system would cost, he informally quoted a price of $14,000. Charge for the visit: $101.65

3. Neither Capitol's nor Paul's tech would put any quote in writing before I committed to a verbal price first. This to me was a red flag of sorts. On a later phone call, perhaps with a troubled conscience, Paul refused to commit to a replacement date, pleading lack of time during the busy heater start-up season.

4. I looked up the replacement boiler on the Web and confirmed with Paul the model number by phone. The boiler, a Weil-McLain CGa-6-PIDN - 146K BTU, costs $2,299, plus delivery, from the ecomfort.com website. That implied an installation charge of over $6,500. John Lial of Road Runner (see below) later said installation would take about a day and cost about $1,000, for a total price of under $3,500, as compared to the $9,000-plus that both Capitol and Paul's quoted orally.

5. I called Road Runner for a third opinion, and John Lial responded to the call. He has 37 years' experience with heaters and boilers and ran his own high-stress business for seven years, serving fire-control centers in Alamogordo.

John examined the boiler and pronounced it fit for service. He said no one replaces a boiler for *presumed* heat-exchanger problems before the heat exchanger actually fails. He said they rarely fail catastrophically but first spring small leaks, usually over many months. He advised me to install a small Proteus moisture detector, which will send me and my fiancee e-mail and text messages if water appears on the floor of the boiler closet. I bought one from Amazon for about $100 and installed it. Charge for John's visit: $74.74

Some time later, John installed a small screw-on gauge on the water supply, to supplement the bad internal boiler gauge. After a couple of weeks of testing, I was troubled that the boiler would not hold its rated pressure but suffered a pressure drop within a few hours after I brought it up to rated pressure (15 psi or greater) using the input pressure limiter. When I did this, the boiler safety valve sometimes also leaked.

A few days later, John returned, purged the system and replaced the pressure limiter and boiler safety valve at my request. Both showed signed of clogging with gunk, and there were signs of big particles in the otherwise clear purge water. After several hours, the boiler appears to be holding the limiter's rated pressure of 15 psi, and there are no leaks through the new 30 psi boiler safety valve. The price for this work was $338.

My conclusions are that Capitol and Paul's are willing to exploit customers' presumed ignorance (unfortunately for them, I'm an ex-physicist) to charge exorbitantly for unneeded work. I will use John Lial at Road Runner for all future work on my boiler or water heater.

Katalina O.

Inept, untrustworthy, intimidating and scary. The quality of work is sketchy. Owner will not return numerous calls. We have proof that they damaged adjacent properties and we are now suing them.
Take your business elsewhere.