A1 Rapid Rooter Plumbing Contractor

We had a mainline plumbing clog on Saturday which backed up sewage into the house. Not something you want to leave for another day. The first plumber who arrived at 5 was unable to fix problem and several others called were too busy. Finally I started calling random phone numbers from the phone book until I called Sheldon Slad from A-​1 Rapid Rooter. He arrived at 11:30 PM and worked without stopping until 4:30 AM and the plumbing was restored. We have had this same plumbing problem repeatedly for many years as we live in a 70 year old house.
Sheldon was the first plumber in at least 20 years that looked in the basement and under the house to assess the problem. Doing this he found that not only was the plumbing clogged but we has leaks under the house as well which he immediately went to work to correct.
Sheldon quoted me a price at the beginning of the work and stuck to that price despite the fact that the job took longer and was more difficult than he anticipated. Our plumbing was restored to a functional state and we plan to work with Sheldon in the future to permanently correct our long standing problem.
It is rare these days to meet someone with such a committed work ethic as well as the skill to resolve a difficult problem. Be advised however, that Sheldon is someone
who is forthright and honest in his appraisals and expects to be treated with courtesy and the compensation that his skill level deserves. If you want to hire someone based on the lowest cost rather than ability look elsewhere. That said however, I felt his prices were fair and were in line with or better than other plumbers in this area.

Sheldon came out twice to solve an ongoing problem. He patiently diagnosed the problem and will fix it when we are ready to do the work. I learned more about plumbing today from Sheldon than I’ve ever known before!

What type of liability does this contractor have and is he licensed in the sate of california? me thinks not?
I am still trying to resolve E&O complaints regrading jobs Sheldon has worked on previously. Maybe the reason he is being to cautious is because he knows the state is one his trail

I was actually happy the first time around as I had the toilet and it was a very straight forward transaction. Although, not knowing much about plumbing, I agreed to being over-​charged a $ 196.00 installation of toilet. However, he was very skilled and obviously knew what he was doing. The second time was not an emergency but I just needed a toilet installed. Unfortunately, I had someone else in the household deal with picking out the toilet and it turned out to be not as smooth so we had a lot of delays as expected with contract workers who do not return calls on time nor show up on time and you find yourself waiting around forever with nothing happening. That is my main complaint… flakey and not reliable. It would be better to handle with an appointment time and stick to it as I had offered to go get a toilet and he could have installed it in the time he spent talking to me about nothing but he declined and offered to get me one cheap at a plumbing store but that of course never happened… So I called Lowe’s and got an appointment. Too bad. Skilled guy but not reliable!

Sheldon came out to our house to clear a blocked sewer line. He arrived within a half hour of our call and explained everything clearly. He provided the cost estimate to us before beginning work. Upon snaking the sewer line, he immediately located the problem (roots had grown into the line).
Sheldon cleared the blockage and explained the next steps and options, as well as what we could expect.
Would highly recommend again.

Plumber is extremely unprofessional. Fails to communicate or show up when scheduled. Attempts to create extra work by breaking other plumbing parts of the house or saying that things need to be fixed which do not. Attempts to change payment policy after the fact. Says things are in the invoice and contract that are not. Makes harassing phone calls.

I chose Sheldon because of the glowing reviews on Unilocal but my experience has been quite different. We called and made an appt for Thursday 5 pm for him to come over and look at the job. No call, no show. My husband called and got a litany of excuses and rescheduled for the next day, same time. He was late and we called several times to see what was going on. We got an estimate and promise to do the job on Tuesday 9 am. I took the day off work to be at home but no call and no show. He seems very competent in his craft but unable to prioritze his schedule.

my problem: sewer-​line clear-​out (tree roots); back-​flow sewer popper installed (prevents back-​up into the house)
Sheldon to the rescue!
He answered my call right-​away.
Sunday evening service was not a problem.
Reasonable estimate was provided over the phone.
Final cost was true to the estimate.
Very professional, and personal.

My bathroom pipes were leaking into the floor and ceiling below. Sheldon dropped everything to fix the problem the first time. He worked hard and had the problem fixed in know time. When I need help again, this is the first person I’m going to call. I couldn’t say enough to thank him.

We asked A-​1 to help us with a defunct water heater after a referral from a friend. The plumber was very professional, consulted with us extensively on the different options, including replacing our system with an «instant-​on» solution. After fully considering all the costs and benefits, we opted for a traditional water heater, which they installed perfectly and with no issues. He was willing to do crawl into some pretty crazy places to ensure the job was done correctly.
If I ever have any kind of plumbing issues, from small clogs up to complicated re-​piping (like we did at our first house, what a mess!), I am definitely going to call A-​1 first.