Kato Plumbing

Trista S.

We had to replace our sewer lateral after moving to Oakland and it was a huge headache. After getting quotes from a bunch of plumbers, we decided to go with Karma because he was very fair and honest. There was some concern initially because we saw 1-2 negative reviews on Yelp about a forgotten balloon but decided to take the plunge anyway. Figured we'd trust our own judgement - Karma was very knowledgeable, offered the best price, fastest timeline (we spoke on Friday and he said he can start the following Monday), and we really wanted to support local family-owned business :)
Fast forward to the end of the project, we are very pleased with the outcome. We have a very complicated sewer line that's over 120 ft with many weird turns. Karma and his crew took care of it with a lot of hard work in just a few days. He was very patient and communicative throughout, making sure all of our concerns were addressed. Unprompted, the EBMUD inspector also said these guys are great and very dependable. So yeah overall, I'm very happy and will definitely work with them again. If you need your sewer lateral replaced, look no further!

Jessica S.

Karma was very pleasant in my interactions with him when he came to bid on the job, which was to replace both the sewer lateral from the main house to the sidewalk & also to replace the outflow from the back shed to the sidewalk as well. There was a long delay getting the permits from the city, which I assume was not their fault, before they were able to start. They completed the sewer lateral from the house to the sidewalk, but then started wrapping up after only replacing a very short stretch of the shed outflow. I reminded them that the bid covered the entire length of the outflow from the shed, which they completed after a little bit of grumbling, but in the process left an inflated bag in the main line which resulted in raw sewage being dumped all over the floor of our shed (which my partner and I had to clean up). They declined to provide any discount off the total price of the job as a result of the error.
I had also asked Karma to take a look at a dripping kitchen faucet which needed replacing; he said that the entire kitchen wall would need to be torn out as the pipe holes from the (original) existing faucet weren't standard and wouldn't quite fit the replacement faucet I had bought. Another general contractor who looked at it three days later replaced the faucet in about twenty minutes without any difficulty. I had also asked Karma to check out the shower valves as we were getting low pressure in the shower, and he didn't know how to get the taps off; he took photos and said he would have a distributor look at them to try and figure it out and get back to me, but never did. (The same GC who replaced the faucet easily removed the taps and cleaned out the valves in just a few minutes).
Upshot: very pleasant to interact with, but I don't trust his professional judgement.

Aanantika N.

Very polite and professional staff, I had to hassle of taking permit and with the compliance certificate they did all work and helped me a lot in understanding all the procedures as well
Karma is very punctual and smart

Mr D.

Super nice and friendly team of real professionals. Everything they did was clean and well thought out. They did a crazy sewer lateral on the hillside for me, not your typical job either but something hard. All I can say is the quality as well as the attitude of the work crew was A+. Anyone leaving bad reviews for these guys has to be a total tool, because you don't know what bad is! These guys are great!

Duder X.

Prompt, courteous, professional and affordable. Will come back for future plumbing needs.

Good C.

It was terrible experience. I left three messages for the owner Sonam. He doesn't bother to call back after he took money $120 for 35 minutes inspection by his employee. His employee told us that the sewer line rusted, soil moist and took a video. I asked to check the waste line in the garage. The owner Sonam changed what his employee said and refused to check it. The owner Sonam said it was small leak on one of the pipe, not to use the master bathroom and sink. He promised he will send an estimate. I texted and left messages for him to send Video that his employee took on the inspection. Four days passed. No estimate. No inspection video. He doesn't bother to call back either.

His employee took off suit and wasn't careful. Soil spread 4 spots to my wall. His employee doesn't get train how to take off the suit inside out to prevent soil all over the customer's house. The owner Sonum rubbed off the soil on the wall so hard and scrap the top wall paint. I have to get paint for touch up.

I called other plumber for another inspection. I found out the sewer line busted and there was no small leak on one of the pipe that Sonam pointed out during his inspection. the second plumber said it doesn't matter what bathroom I used because the waste water connected to the same sewer line. It needed to be replace.

It was a horrible experience. His employee said one thing. The owner Sonam said something else. He doesn't care for his business reputation. His cell phone shut off during his business hour many times.

Never never recommend this company to anyone. He took money and run. I tried to tell him what is the issue. He doesn't listen instead tried to tell me what he thinks and not from the actual inspection by his employee. He said he has enough business on the other side. It is very scary these day to run into plumber just took inspection money and run. How can a plumber doesn't know sewer line is leaking from inspection?

Diner S.

Last year we needed a water heater installed and work on a gas line in Albany. Kato plumbing was punctual (actually ended up coming sooner than promised), efficient, and fairly priced. I'd use them again -- in fact, I plan to use them again which is why I realized I failed to write the review last year when I should have.

Lori N.

Kato Plumbing is a small family business run by Sonam and his son Karma. Sonam is a highly skilled plumber and very respected by the City of Oakland. As another reviewer mentioned, he was trained as a plumber in Japan. They just replaced my sewer lateral for a very reasonable price and the city signed off with no problem. I like these guys because you can ask any question and they are not condescending or dismissive. I got 3 bids before choosing them and they took more time than any of the other companies to really explain things to me and discuss alternative approaches. Two of my neighbors also used Kato Plumbing and had only great things to say. My advice is to have others bid, then finally Kato. See the difference yourself.

Heather N.

I was on a very tight timeline to get a sewer lateral test done before closing. I called Kato on a Saturday to get an estimate, and he called me back the SAME day, on a weekend no less! A rare trait for a plumber contractor.

He said that he would visit the property and give me an estimate on Monday. I texted and emailed him that I'd like to get his estimate before 1pm Monday since I'd need the test performed the next day, and he called me at 12:30pm with an estimate, taking the time to explain the nature of the work to me. His estimate was one of the lowest I got, and the best part is that he stayed in communication the whole time.

I found him listed as one of the sewer lateral contractors on the Alameda government website and yelped every single company listed. Kato stood out because he was one of the few companies with excellent yelp reviews, and for good reason. I was very impressed with him. Thank you Kato for being incredibly responsive and quick.

Anita F.

EXCELLENT. OUTSTANDING. PROFICIENT. COURTEOUS. HONEST. I can not say enough good things about this family run company. We needed a sewer lateral inspection. First company we called could not find the ports for the lateral and said they would have to come back with 2 men, 8 days later. We needed an exam ASAP. Kato, Sonam's son, came the next day, did the inspection, and gave us a disc that showed the line is ok. Berkeley then wanted a stress test and Kato arranged for a Berkeley inspector to come to the house to view and participate in the testing the city requires. Kato then went to the city office to complete the paper work and secure the Compliance Certificate. We are very happy to recommend Kato for your plumbing needs!!!!