McMahon's Plumbing

G B.

My wife and I have been a continuing customer of Sean's for over 10 years. For starters, I endorse every review I see posted here on this Sat. Feb. 20, 2021, everyone of which is unsurprisingly positive. In particular, be sure to read the reviews of MhC, DaveL, Bill G, Nacny D, David W, Jeanett W, and Joyce Y.

Because of a decade of experience working with Sean, I can say without reservation or hesitation his work during several phases of remodeling our 3-story cabin in the high Sierras (gutting each floor back to studs; floors removed, etc.), plus his on-going coaching and oversight and fixes here and there has earned him the highest possible score as a long-term track record for performance and value.

Hard to believe: he's never made a mistake. He's never failed to solve a problem. He's never ""not cared."" He's done MAJOR work for us and little mundane jobs too, plus coached me over the phone to solve some issues within 90 seconds! This has been critical for us, as we use our cabin part-time, so we're not there all the time during winter.

So, why did we first start using Sean? We went through 2 other plumbers beforehand. The first one had a drinking problem and thanks to 4 years of shop courses way back in high school I could see his soldering jobs were mediocre. Then, under our first general contractor we gutted the top floor and moved the location of the bathroom, which required opening up the entire ceiling to all exposed pipes in our master bathroom immediately below, which the contractor's plumber re-piped completely. But he was not reliable. Chris Barrett of Barrett Builders (who I highly recommend), who became our next and ""permanent"" go-to general contractor, recommended Sean.

So Sean arrives, walks into our master bathroom, stands there looking up at all the new exposed piping and starts pointing and counting ""There's one, there's another, that's a 3rd one, and there's a 4th. Yea, you have 4 traps, see? The water cannot drain, so each one of these will have water left in these sections and when it freezes the pipes will burst.""

The second plumber was from the Bay Area and had not thought about the snow OR THE CODE, that of course requires a specific angle of decline of all pipes so they can be fully drained and that prohibits the very faulty ""traps"" (acting like traps under your sink) the 2nd plumber had installed. Then Sean tells me that the whole thing is wrong and the guy even violated the code and common sense about where the main sewage outflow pipe was from the new toilet upstairs and how it was not properly vented! And then he tells me I would have to rip up the brand new porcelain floor upstairs and relocate the toilet or replace and move the main sewage pipe that was running up through new finished walls upstairs. I thought I was going to have a heart attack after spending thousands and thousands of dollars already. There he was, our ""new"" plumber, telling me we had to gut much of which we'd just rebuilt upstairs. Like, ""Who IS this guy?""

But he stood there thinking. Then he asks ""What county are you in?"" (We are almost on the line between Placer and Nevada counties.) When I told him Nevada, he told me I'm in luck, for Nevada County (unlike Placer) allows the use of a special vent/valve (can't recall the name of it) that would be easy to install in the master bathroom and would completely eliminate the need to re-do the entire bathroom plumbing upstairs and wreck our new floor! All he'd have to do is re-pipe all the ceiling pipes in our master bathroom! His knowledge of the differing codes of two counties pertaining to a rather arcane and not common piece of plumbing impressed me (and Chris Barrett who himself is an expert contractor, which is why he uses Sean too).

That same second plumber was supposed to have installed and hooked up our two new big electric water heaters to have the capability to shut down either of them to use the remaining one in case one of them went out. In walking around the rest of the cabin at my request, Sean observed the waer heSo Sean rebuilt the whole quite complex labyrinth of pipes and valves so we can bypass either tank in the even of a problem with either. In short, you're talking about a real professional plumber here, who has saved us far more than we have ever invested in him. That's true value. And that stems from a couple of things: the guy is smart! He thinks before he opens his mouth. He's ""people smart"" too. He's totally customer-centric. He defines great service and the term ""rapid response."" He is not ""transactional"" -- he's focused on establishing a good long term business relationship for repeat business. Totally honest. Completely fair and practical. He will not try and ""oversell you"". And he's a nice guy with a good sense of humor. There's only one problem: some day he's going to retire.

Jan N.

We came up to our place Friday night and turned on the water. Was greeted by an unwelcome gushing sound. Went into the basement and saw water gushing out of a pipe. Turned off the water and started calling for service Saturday AM. Sean called back immediately and even though he had the day off walked me through the steps to replace the failed auto drains (yes two of them). Sean was amazingly patient and talked me through the process in laymen's terms. He saved our weekend. Thanks Sean!

Marie B.

Full disclosure, we did not use McMahon's plumbing, as Sean McMahon does not service our area. Just wanted to give a shout out for the extreme professionalism and integrity Sean showed when we called for a bid and advice of a plumbing issue. He not only gave some plumbing tips and information, he gave us a plumber reference.

Thank you Sean for giving us some hope in the plumbing profession!!

Ethel G.

My kitchen sink up because of the garbage disposal & would not drain. Sean called me back within 10 minutes. He wasn't able to come out, but had me take photos & text them to him. He said it was not a complicated repair & was going to ""walk me through it"". However, I decided it was alittle too complicated for me. He then told me to try to unplug the disposal with a toilet plunger & it worked! He really cares about his business and customer service.
I will definitely be calling him for any plumbing issues I have in the future.

Joyce Y.

Thank you Sean for the excellent service!
Sean is wonderful to work with - he is responsive, prompt, reasonably priced and very professional.
I needed two kitchen faucets replaced and help choosing the best style without compromising quality and function. Sean helped me to think it through and offered great advice and recommendations regarding cost effective alternatives.
He is knowledgeable and efficient in diagnosing problems and making the necessary repairs.
Sean answered all of my questions thoroughly giving me confidence in his honesty and in the reasonableness of his pricing (which is very important to us single women).
His work is organized and very clean which I greatly appreciate.
I highly recommend McMahon's Plumbing.

Jeanette W.

If you need a plumber call McMahon's Plumbing. Sean McMahon, the owner, has consistently done a great job for us on our family shared cabin plumbing issues. He is very knowledgeable and has reasonable prices. He explains what needs to be done and how he is going to do it. Over the past 2 years he has replaced our garbage disposal, kitchen sink faucet, one of our toilets with a low flush toilet, replaced the insides of another toilet tank, upgraded the toilet water connection hardware, replaced the hot and cold water connections to our kitchen sink, replaced the hot and cold water connections for our washing machine, and replaced the washing machine hoses. The last job he did for us was the washing machine. The hot water turn on/off faucet handle was leaking. The cold water faucet handle was frozen. I called him in the morning, sent him photos of the faucet handles. He ended up replacing the faucet handles and was able to do it the same day I called him. His price was very reasonable. I would definitely recommend using McMahons Plumbing and plan to continue using McMahons to fix any future plumbing issues. Attached are a couple of photos - before and after he fixed the washing machine faucets.

Sandy W.

I am getting my house ready to move and had three issues in my kitchen, and master bath sink stoppers. Sean went above and beyond in helping me buy the proper stoppers and didn't charge me for the hour it took him to buy the right ones. I can't say enough about his professional work and attitude and recommend Sean to anyone in the Truckee area. He is nice and kind and, most of all reliable. Choose him!!

Sandy in Glenshire

Lynn S P.

If you need a honest reliable experienced plumber, who has been in business in Truckee for years, I highly recommend Sean.
I had a shower valve issue and didn't know who to call. A co-worker highly suggested I call Sean, she said he was a very nice man. She was right and I am happy I did call. He got right back to me and was able to come over the same day to fix the shower valve. He is professional, knows his business, confirms appointments,shows up on time!.

Gail R.

I needed a plumber to replace a leaky dishwasher air gap and then, days later, a new cartridge for a leaky bathtub faucet. A friend recommended Sean. He responded promptly both times and arrived with everything that was needed. He had both problems fixed quickly. He also showed me what he was doing, so it was a learning experience for me. I hope I don't have to use my new knowledge! I plan to continue to call Sean if I need a plumber! He's awesome!

Nancy D.

I was in need of a new toilet and called a few plumbers. The first to call me back was Sean McMahon and he came by the same day. He suggested I buy the toilet myself thereby saving me money. Since the plumbing supply company delivered the toilet for free, it was easy and fast. They were very familiar with Sean and knew exactly what he would recommend. The toilet arrived the next day and Sean came by between larger jobs to install the toilet. I tend to evaluate service people by how well they clean up and how well they care for their equipment. For such a dirty job, I expected my bathroom to need a major cleaning. Not so, Sean is a perfectionist and wait until you see his truck. Spotless. I highly recommend Sean - a good guy all around.