Ernie's Plumbing & Sewer Service

Kevin M.

We woke up with two toilets plugged up called ernies they were here in an hour fix the problem give us a good price and we're very happy thanks ernie

Craig N.

We called Ernie's thinking we had a leaky water filter only to discover we had a leaky pipe in our slab! Austin was our first technician and was so polite, professional and courteous. The leak detector let them know where our problem was and Austin offered to call a co-worker that evening at 4pm to get the job done! They just left here at 9:45 and you could not see any trace of them having been here! Austin and Jose were professional, courteous, polite and considerate. This is our first experience with Ernie's and based on this service call they will be our go to!

Paul M.

I needed to have a pressure reducing valve installed to reduce the chance of a pipe bursting. My neighbors recommended Ernie's. They were very easy to deal with and came out same day. The installation work was quick and neat. The price was reasonable. Thank you.

Lambert C.

I called Ernie's at 10:15 am today, because my sewer line to the street showed signs of being blocked (a recurrent problem because of mature trees and long roots). The office answered, saying that someone will be out between 11 am and 1 pm. Austin came at 11:10 am. and he was fast, courteous, and very professional. He ran the long snake down to the street, and then up again (from the outside drain on the driveway) towards the house, changing the cutter at the end of the snake each time. He also took off the manhole cover at the street, to make sure that the snake made it all the way into the street sewer. Will certainly use them again!

Angela P.

DO NOT HIRE this company, especially if you have an emergency plumbing situation. I was charged $2600 in labor for a four hour job, which amounted to ditch digging and replacing a main water pipe.
They claim their technicians make in excess of $179 per hour. REALLY????

Donna D.

If you have any plumbing needs, you should call Ernies Plumbing from Martinez, CA. Recently, had a problem with a toilet, so I called them thinking they would schedule an appointment for a future date. Not so, they were at my home within 20 minutes, and fixed my toilet. He was very professional and courteous.

Thank you for the incredible service! This is not the first time I used Ernies, and it certainly won't be the last.

David H.

I have a 60 year old house that I have added 2400 sq ft to over the last 20 years. The old part of the sewer system was terracotta pipe from the house to the street and cast iron pipe under the slab of the old part of the house. Everything else is new PVC or cast. I have had to have sewer companies come out every year to cut out the roots in the old terracotta triggered by having the sewage back up into the shower. The last two time were performed by Ernie's plumbing. Well this time the the problem was under the slab since the old cast iron had finally rotted out and mud was blocking the pipe. Ernie's came out and ran a camera through the old cast and the terracotta and cast iron and they showed me the current condition of both lines. Not a pretty picture. Cast iron rotted out as they said and tons of roots every four feet of terracotta at the connection points. The terracotta had even shifted at one joint so that the pipes only overlapped by 1/2 the diameter of each. I knew having to replace the old part of the system was coming and now was the time.

Ernie's quoted $12,800 (ouch) but the job required digging up street, jack hammering out part of the slab in the house and repouring cement when done. They used a technique where they push/pull a replacement pipe through the old pipe with a device that splits the old pipe to make room for the new and it is pulled through. This avoids digging up the entire pipe and ruining landscaping and busting out concrete to expose the old pipe. This was no small project with a large crew and heavy equipment so in the end I felt that the price was reasonable. They had originally told me it would take two days but ended up taking 3.

On day two they told my wife (I wasn't home at the time) that the inspector made them change out the existing connection to the sewer main in the street (because it was ""cracked"" and that this would be an $1200 change order. They left a change order document to sign but I did not sign it. When it came time to pay for the work, I challenged the change order saying that this represented 10% of the entire job price and that I believed this was being done because the job took more time then they had planned and not because of what the inspector required. I also questioned how the connection got cracked since they were working with a backhoe to dig the hole in the street. I also conveyed to the foreman that the original roto-rooter employee that had come out to snake the pipe and ended up showing me the camera pictures and quoting the whole job had at one point offered to credit the $500 first day work to the price of the pipe replacement if we went with their company. When he presented me the quote the next day, he back tracked on that and did not credit the $500 against the $12,800. The foreman informed me that the county requires a Y connection to the sewer main now instead of the straight connection that I had. This was different than the ""cracked pipe"" reason given before. I offered to pay $500 for the change order and the foreman actually said that he would waive the change order entirely since a happy customer is more important than the change order. This pleasantly suprised me so I paid them the $12,800 and they left.
Part of the job required them to pull a cabinet, remove some tile and cut into the sheetrock of a wall. They did not patch the wall (behind the cabinet so not seen), they placed the cabinet back in place but did not ""reinstall"" it (glue down counter, patch paint on wall that was pulled by glued countertop, nor did they reinstall the tile that had been removed. The foreman said they did not have people to do this type of work. This was not conveyed to me by the person quoting. In fact that person had said that they would reinstall any tile they removed. Not happy about this part since now I have to do it.

Overall they did a good job of replacing the sewer pipe as promised but like so many contractors, they fall short of ""finishing"" the job so there is no evidence they were ever there.

Jeffrey D.

George from Ernie's just left my house. We live in a 50's rancher on the West side of Alamo-the small houses and big trees side. Been here for 15 years, and we're pretty well trained as a family as to what does and doesn't get flushed, etc.

Since we moved here, Ernie's has been out twice. The first time was for slooooow drains. This morning, it was for shit (literally, shit) backing up into a bathtub. We're talking Amityville Horror.

As one might imagine, that puts a damper on the day's bathing activities, and there's a certain sense of urgency to rectify (funny word to use when we're talking about septic...) the situation. One is willing to pay whatever it takes to make the evil go away. Or around $675 for a septic tank pumping.

Called Ernie's at 10:38. They were here by 11:15. They pulled the access covers and the tank caps, and removed the filter screen. George was honest and told me the screen was the problem, and that while the tank could use a pumping, it would be $180 for the day. He even remembered us from the first time they came out, in 2008. Gave me some recommendations, and showed me how to clean the screen myself. Don't think I'll be jumping on that task any time soon, but it's good to know how to do it for the next time the shit hits the fan-or at least when it makes a cameo in the bathtub.

Susan C.

We had Ernie's out to replace our faucet fixtures. Lee was at our house at the time given to us. He gave us an estimate, did the job in about half the time, cleaned up and we were pleased. The 2 plumbers before him with other companies charged just as much and both jobs had leaks after the job was done. We will call Ernie's again.

Sherry M.

Wow-- We just had an absolutely fantastic, positive experience with Ernies. After having another plumber come out twice to snake our line that drains to the street it was still backing up. Needed help. Called Ernies and within a half hour Francisco showed up at our door. He was friendly, helpful, discussed our options, immediately got to work, snaked the line, found an obstruction, ran his camera through at our request, gave us peace of mind that we don't have a broken pipe and explained to me what I was looking at on the camera's video screen. We are caregivers for an 89 year old woman and he gave her a 10% senior's discount and was polite and respectful to her. I know that some others wrote negative reviews and I was hesitant to try them because of it, but it was important to me to share our experience because it was so very positive. We will definitely use them again for future plumbing needs and will always ask for Francisco when we do!