Friendly Plumber

Adam J.

Hot water heaters aren't cheap in San Francisco, and neither is installing one. So, rather than a smoking deal, what you should expect for your money is reliability, prompt service, good advice, safety considerations, professional work and a guarantee. That description is Robert. It's hard to think of a more professional plumber. He spent an hour discussing different kinds of hot water heaters and which ones would best suit our family in terms of capacity, recovery, safety and efficiency. And he work was top notch, from soldering all the old pipes, moving the gas valves, putting in a new flue, and earthquake proofing it with triple straps and a custom bracket. Plus, that dude is really friendly!

There's another plumber on Yelp with more reviews than Friendly, but I had a bad experience with that outfit. They tried to pull a fast one on me, and then I went with Friendly.

Stephanie H.

Believe the 5 stars from so many people!!! Robert WAS friendly, but most of all he wasn't trying to rip me off like those other guys at Atlas or Water-Heaters-Only. I'm not going to give those other guys mean Yelp reviews, I'm just giving Friendly a great one.
I'm a stay-at-home-mom with ""Take Advantage of Me"" written all over my smile. Sure enough Atlas/Water-Heaters-Only tried to do just that. It seems to me they tried to talk me out of what I wanted into a mediocre brand and model they had sitting around their warehouse in a ripped up box. I must have looked like the perfect person to unload it on. Luckily my husband came home (he does not have ""Take advantage of me"" written on his forehead!) He googled the brand and model of the water heater (something I recommend everyone do.) Atlas had presented it to me as ""The Best!"" and my husband discovered it was ""expensive and mediocre."" And not even what we wanted in the first place!
Then there was Robert at Friendly. He really listened to us talk about what we wanted. We explained the 3 loads of laundry we do, the 3 dishwasher loads, the 5 showers a day we needed to be hot and he installed exactly what we needed, even doing the extra soldering on our ancient pipes late into the night--on a Friday. He didn't recommend the high-end brands to us--he recommended we go with the old stand-by GE, who could gaurantee us a 12 year warranty--a company who wasn't invested in ""upgrading"" every few years and thereby making their own parts obsolete. Robert at Friendly was completely straight up with us--no monkey business, and even willing to give me tips on how to not be taken advantage of in the future!

Alicia P.

Yay! For the Friendly Plumber! I called on a Tuesday and asked if I could get someone out asap the earliest I could get was Fri, but after the woman heard how long I had been without heat, hot water ect, she tried to work me in sooner, alas.. nothing, but I was ok with the earliest she had which was Friday.
Robert came right on time and was awesome! He knew right away what was up.. I told him that PG&E had been out to check out my situation and he was shocked that they didn't fix the issue a week ago when they arrived.. it was as simple as turning my earthquake emergency switch back on!! hahahah.. anyhow, no "" real"" plumbing took place but regardless I would still call them in a second! Everybody was suuper nice and helpful!!

Bob R.

Robert came to the house to help me fix a toilet. Helped me figure out the right approach and did a terrific job. He's a star.

Dave M.

Top-notch service and reliability! This guy did a water heater replacement for me at my home and was excellent. He came when he was supposed to, gave me all the options for me to make an informed decision, did a great install and was very friendly throughout the whole process. I had a few plumbers come to look at this small enough job and he was by far the best in every aspect.

Tom G.

It had the makings of a plumbing catastrophe.

Our laundry room had flooded and water was leaking through to the garage below. After checking the usual suspects, I couldn't find the culprit and was convinced I'd need a plumber. At the recommendation of our realtor and friend, I called Robert at Friendly Plumbing. He asked a lot of informed questions and then calmly, systematically helped me pinpoint the likely cause and possible solutions. Robert said he'd happily come out and check for himself, but that I should try one of his fixes first.

You've got to hand it to a guy who'll help you solve your own plumbing problem before potentially charging you a fortune to do it himself. Next time I have a real plumbing catastrophe, I know who I'll call.

Aimee G.

I have never experienced anything like this before - I scheduled an appointment with Robert the ""friendly"" plumber after having a very pleasant conversation with him on the phone and he never showed up!!! No call and no return call after I called him several times to see what was up! I can't believe I got stood up by a plumber. So unprofessional and disrespectful of my time.

Nigel P.

Our water heater blew out last Saturday morning. I was dreading the ""weekend"" rates on a plumber. I called Robert because we'd used him before for a new faucet and we were happy then. We're happy now as well. Robert turned up, assessed the situation and had installed a new water heater by 4:00pm that afternoon and all on his own I might add! The cost was within the estimate and well done. Robert is courteous and friendly (especially if you make him a latte) and to top it all it was his birthday!!

kristoffe R.

We had a stopped-up drain in the bathroom. My own attempts at plunging, using Drano and even a snake did not unclog the problem.

Left a message for the Friendly Plumber on Christmas Day. He returned my call the next day and was able to schedule his visit that evening. He disassembled the p-trap, used a powered snake and was able to fix da sink.

I believe he is charging market rates and I paid the one-hour minimum after agreeing to his estimate. Prompt, courteous, and clean - I recommend the Friendly Plumber.

Emily T.

Robert was great! He preformed work on our kitchen sink and disposer...they now wrok like a charm. He was extremely nice and helpful. And extremely reasonable!

He has my recommendation 100%!