Plumber Suggestions - Ankeny

AdRock4Cy

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2010
788
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Ankeny
I need a plumber in Ankeny. I have a gurgling bubbling sound in my pipes ever since i installed a new toilet, and now there are sewage smells coming from the tub. No bueno. I have snaked, dranoed, got up on the roof and shoved a hose down the sewage smell pipe and uninstalled and reinstalled a wax ring, nothing has helped. Anyone have any suggestions? Someone honest, thorough and good. Thanks!
 

derpyherky

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2018
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I highly recommend Golden Rule. They've been my "go to" for a few years now.

I will caution that Golden Rule is very expensive.

I recently needed a plumber and went with Lazer. Best compromise between price and quality.

I have used Pro Plumbing too. Lee is a very nice guy but very chatty and can often respond very quickly.
 
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JP4CY

I'm Mike Jones
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Dec 19, 2008
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I haven't used golden rule in probably 8 or 9 years, but assuming they haven't changed much I would avoid them like the plague... I think they named the company ironically
Agreed. I had them come to the house to quote running a gas line to an oven. The whole experience was odd. It was like “here’s your quote for today, and only today. If you want it done, I’ll go buy the parts and do it now. The price won’t be good if I leave.”
 

3GenClone

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2009
6,423
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Des Moines
i have decided to go with Smith's Sewer Service. Will report back on how they do.
I’m shocked you were able to get Smith’s out. They seem to mostly focus on commercial business. I tried to get them when our line backed up in the basement and they gave me a 48 hr wait time. Then we had a similar problem at work and they were there in 20 minutes.
 

ISUDL

New Member
Mar 26, 2009
27
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Do you use your tub? The trap will dry out if you don't run some water down the drain every couple months or so.
 

CYdTracked

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Mar 23, 2006
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Grimes, IA
I have a friend that owns his own plumbing business that I would highly recommend: http://mptplumbing.com/ He's grown his business out quite a bit from it being just him to the point he is now looking to add a 3rd plumber to his staff after adding another plumber about a year ago. He not only does a great job but his pricing is very reasonable.
 

CYdTracked

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Mar 23, 2006
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Grimes, IA
I highly recommend Golden Rule. They've been my "go to" for a few years now.

You must be 1 of the few people they have not screwed over then to have that opinion of them. I've used them twice and both times wish I hadn't called them. The first time I was in a pinch, a 1 bathroom house and a broken drain pipe the day after Christmas with guests in the house and they were the only ones I called that would come out in a timely fashion. After talking with another plumber later he said he would have replaced all my drain pipes in the house for what they charged me. Unfortunately they are only 1 of 2 companies that service the brand of tankless water heater that is in my house and I had to call them out when the other place couldn't get to it for 2 weeks. Basically got charged $110 for them to do what I had already done before I called them which is run vinegar through the water heater then show me the sensor I would need to replace if my issue kept happening. Bought the part online for like $30 and replaced myself the next week when it happened again. Granted I would not known what part to replace had they not showed me but would have felt better about the service call had they just replaced it then when I was having the issue.
 

FerShizzle

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Feb 5, 2013
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Des Moines
I highly recommend Golden Rule. They've been my "go to" for a few years now.
DO NOT USE. Way overpriced. I hired them recently and regret it. They will charge you $70 to look at it (its waived upon service) and then give you an outrageous estimate leaving you with the dilemma of overpaying or shelling out $70.
 
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psychlone99

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Apr 6, 2006
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Agreed. I had them come to the house to quote running a gas line to an oven. The whole experience was odd. It was like “here’s your quote for today, and only today. If you want it done, I’ll go buy the parts and do it now. The price won’t be good if I leave.”
Sounds like a similar predatory, scam pricing scheme used by the Service Legends guy I kicked out of my house several years ago. After a 30 second visual examination of my furnace, he offered to fix it for a will not exceed amount of $400, and I had to sign off on that before he opened it up. So essentially they overcharge most everyone by at least a little bit, I'm sure more than compensating for the 1 in 1000 job when they don't build in enough fluff. Called another guy who actually diagnosed the problem first then quoted me parts and labor of $180.
 

JP4CY

I'm Mike Jones
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Sounds like a similar predatory, scam pricing scheme used by the Service Legends guy I kicked out of my house several years ago. After a 30 second visual examination of my furnace, he offered to fix it for a will not exceed amount of $400, and I had to sign off on that before he opened it up. So essentially they overcharge most everyone by at least a little bit, I'm sure more than compensating for the 1 in 1000 job when they don't build in enough fluff. Called another guy who actually diagnosed the problem first then quoted me parts and labor of $180.
Same experience with Service Legends as well. It was a chart style pricing scheme. I’ve had 72 degrees do our HVAC since then and have been very happy.
 
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CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
17,117
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Grimes, IA
Sounds like a similar predatory, scam pricing scheme used by the Service Legends guy I kicked out of my house several years ago. After a 30 second visual examination of my furnace, he offered to fix it for a will not exceed amount of $400, and I had to sign off on that before he opened it up. So essentially they overcharge most everyone by at least a little bit, I'm sure more than compensating for the 1 in 1000 job when they don't build in enough fluff. Called another guy who actually diagnosed the problem first then quoted me parts and labor of $180.

I have a hard time being critical about Service Legends because of all the HVAC companies I have tried in Des Moines they have by far provided me with the best service over the years and come out promptly. I probably do pay a bit more by paying $20 a month for their club membership but it's more than paid for itself over the years and most larger HVAC companies have similar membership programs. That membership gets you annual inspections on both your AC and furnace and 20% off repairs. The 2 biggest impacts that membership paid off for me though was if you are buying a new home they will come out and inspect the AC and furnace for no charge when you do your home inspection prior to closing. The house we bought 4 years ago they found the furnace had heat exchanger seals that were in bad shape and we were able to use the inspection report as leverage to get the owners to put money towards a new furnace from all the neglect it had. The home inspector even admitted the things they found he would have never been able to tell that because they don't have the tools to do thorough HVAC inspections. The nice thing too is they have very good warranties on the new furnace or AC they install. The other time they really came through for us I was out of town and my wife was home with our infant child when the heat index had been over 100 for several days straight. The AC was running but was not cooling the house, she called first thing in the morning and they were there by 11am and fixed the problem free of charge because it was a result of something they didn't put back in place right that shorted out the main board when they inspected it earlier that year. Meanwhile the neighbor across the street also had their AC go out at the same time and had to go somewhere else for at least 3 days while they waited on a part.
 
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cornclone

Member
Sep 8, 2012
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I would highly recommend Scott's Heating Cooling & Plumbing. I've been a customer for the last 10 years on multiple jobs from a complete replumbing in a to a rescue situation when our furnace went out in the dead of winter. Even though we live in Ames he's always quick to respond and I don't think I've ever waited for more than a day. Rates are very reasonable too!

https://www.scottshvacplumbing.com/
 

derpyherky

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2018
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I have a friend that owns his own plumbing business that I would highly recommend: http://mptplumbing.com/ He's grown his business out quite a bit from it being just him to the point he is now looking to add a 3rd plumber to his staff after adding another plumber about a year ago. He not only does a great job but his pricing is very reasonable.

I'm looking for a plumber for a large project currently. I wanted to check out your friend's services and went to his website. He's a NO GO for me. He's proudly wearing a hawkeye shirt and has forced that upon his children, based on the photo on the about me section. No way can I support that.










Just kidding, I would rather give my business to a small business owner like him even though he's a hawk fan (my first paragraph was pure sarcasm). I'll add him to my list of plumbers to contact.
 

Farnsworth

Well-Known Member
Apr 11, 2006
16,956
5,522
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Des Moines, IA
I'm looking for a plumber for a large project currently. I wanted to check out your friend's services and went to his website. He's a NO GO for me. He's proudly wearing a hawkeye shirt and has forced that upon his children, based on the photo on the about me section. No way can I support that.










Just kidding, I would rather give my business to a small business owner like him even though he's a hawk fan (my first paragraph was pure sarcasm). I'll add him to my list of plumbers to contact.

At least his good looking wife is smart though in the cyclone gear.
 

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