Paul Volga of Volga Plumbing is a dependable, honest, and thorough plumber with 39 years in the trade serving the Bay Area. He recently installed a water heater for me. I highly recommend him and will provide a more detailed explanation after I clear up a business identity inconsistency on this Yelp page. This Yelp Page Belongs to Volga Plumbing. For some reason this Yelp page lists Volga Plumbing as "Absolute Best Plumbing Repairs," a company that states it is located in Torrance, CA. This information is not consistent with the content of this Yelp page. The Yelp page and comments you are reading are in reference to Paul Volga of Volga Plumbing: (1) All the Yelp comments reference Paul and/or Volga Plumbing; (2) All the Yelp commenters are based in the East Bay area of the SF Bay Area, not Torrance, CA, which is 381 miles away in Southern California. Rather, Paul is based in Lafayette, CA. His business contact information is (925) 719-1851. I have contacted Yelp already about this page misidentification, and am waiting to see the changes reflected on the this page. In the meantime, I wanted to clear up any confusion by folks who have landed on this Yelp listing and noticed the inconsistency between comment contents and page business name. Again, this Yelp page should be identified with Volga Plumbing. Paul Volga is a Professional, Experienced Plumber with Fair Prices. As I mentioned before, I highly recommend Paul Volga for your plumbing and water heater needs. As an earlier Yelp poster stated, I also got Paul's name from Kevin of Diablo Rooter (https://www.yelp.com/biz/diablo-rooter-concord). Kevin is also a great plumber and I trusted him enough to call on him again when this water heater issue sprung him. Kevin just happened to be super busy with other work (the man is in demand) and my wife was unhappy with the immediate prospect of no hot water, so he referred me to Paul. I called Paul up on Kevin's recommendation and described my issue to him: a 12 year old, 40 gal GE water heater producing inconsistent water temperatures that had a malfunctioning T&P valve (based on my Google research), which was leading to hot water flowing into my backyard out of an external relief pipe at a pretty generous clip. (I'm not sure how long this had been going on for before I turned off the cold water inlet to the water heater, but I am not looking forward to my next water bill.) I talked to Paul and he confirmed the basic research I had already done. Paul walked me through my options. I decided that the water heater was likely near the end of its life and would simply replace the water heater as I would have to likely do it anyhow in the near to mid future. Paul said he had a busy schedule and told me he could come on Friday (we were talking on a Tuesday). I asked if he could do any sooner as my wife was not happy. He said he definitely understood my situation and told me he could come Thursday morning at 0800. I booked him. Paul came on Thursday at 0800 sharp. We shook hands in greeting and walked him to my water heater in the garage. He explained what he was going to do, told me it was going to take about two hours, and then went about removing my old water heater and installing a new 50 gal Bradford White water heater (manufactured in the USA). We even got into a discussion about the impact different types of water have on a water heaters (I get water from the Contra Costa Water District, which is apparently harder water than East Bay MUD water). Two hours later, Paul was done. He explained how he re-vented the flue vent pipe through the roof because the other installation was falling apart. In addition, because I was upgrading from a 40 gal to a 50 gal, he reworked some of the copper pipes to make room for larger tank. He put in a drain pan (seemingly ordinary, but my old tank didn't have one), as well as replaced the flexible steel connectors and cold water inlet valve. He even swept up my garage to leave it clean and neat, explaining that sometimes screws and other pieces of metal slip through the cracks while taking out/installing and he didn't want me to get any flat tires. Mid way through the installation, he even let me know that he had just seen the mail man drop a package off on my porch so that I could retrieve it knowing that the holidays is prime time for package theft. Thirty minutes after Paul left, I had hot water running through my faucets! Overall, Paul performed as promised and I am happy with his work. I would not hesitate to call him up again or recommend him to others. As Paul left, I showed him what was on the Yelp page (this page) associated with his business. He said that the listing information was not correct. I told him that I'd reach out to Yelp to help him correct the misinformation - hence, my disclaimer at the start of this posting. Sorry for the long post, but I find that details and context can be important in assessing who to call for home repairs. read more

I too was referred to Paul by another plumber who has done drain work for me over the years (Kevin at Diablo Rooter) for a water heater job. I have a rather complicated system where about 2000 feet is radiant heated plus DHW for 3 baths, kitchen and laundry in our pool house. The showers are seldom used in this part of the house unless we have house guests but we do need the hot water for the heat. We had an old, expensive Bradford -White heat exchanger 60 gallon tank unit heating water 24/7. Paul, working with Phil at General Plumbing here in Walnut Creek analyzed the system and we replaced the inefficient tank with two Noritz instant units. One sized for the DHW load and one sized for the heat load. They are quiet and run only when needed---plus we freed up garage space so I can now collect even more "stuff". Paul is a delight to work with, on time, doesn't take a break, and the work is VERY neat. He takes pride in his work and is open to suggestions for example the routing of the vent lines. We had the job done in two days but I was lucky---I had a 1-1/2" gas line running through the area where we mounted the units we could tap into. We now have a plumber we call and we will as the main house will need a new water soon. read more

After having Paul come out to work on my house on several occasions, I can truly say he is the most trustworthy person I have ever had work on my house. Paul ran gas, fixed sink piping (it's an old house), and let me know future issues to look out for. Paul even walked me through how to hook up compression valves myself so that I wouldn't have to call him out when I was ready to hook up the sink, to save me money. read more

Got Paul's name from Diablo Rooter (my usual plumber). My water heater went out and I needed it fixed immediately. Although Paul was booked, he fit me in and replaced it the same day. Very personable with an excellent work ethic. He is very competent and takes pride in the fact that he gets the job done right the first time. His price was also very reasonable. He didn't even try to jab me for the rush (emergency) job. Nice job Paul. Thank you! read more

Paul is a humble plumber. He's professional detailed and this means perfection. For example when placing copper lines in your house, he sands off all the burrs in the cuts of the metal to make sure the pipes fit together perfectly and to have excellent water flow. This is old style European craftsmanship. Please note that all 3 reviewers, including mine. Gave 5 stars. YOu can't say that about too many plumbers or anyone else for that matter. Ethical, professional and punctual. What else do you want? read more

Paul is an all around great guy and excellent plumber!!!.....he has done several projects on our home over the years, from installing a state of the art high efficiency water heater, to installing gas to our grill on our deck; and many projects in between. He is busy (as a skilled plumber should be), but always does his best to get you on his schedule as soon as possible. Having over 10 years of experience, I can give him a well qualified and well deserved excellent yelp review, long overdue!!!!! read more

Finding a plumber who not only knows his craft but takes immense pride in providing excellent service with reasonable fees is a tough challenge. When our hot water heater failed, we asked friends for recommendations and one name was given to us. Paul Volga. He works alone with his son as an assistant to ensure that all work is done to his high standards of quality. He removed our old hot water heater, installed a Bradford White Water Heater and left our garage immaculate. We were very satisfied and now have a plumber we trust. No credit cards accepted. Cash or check only. read more

We are so thankful that we found Paul! One night a few months back we had an outdoor faucet break. With water gushing everywhere, I had to shut off all water to our house and was desperate to get it back on early the next day. I was referred to Paul after calling another local plumber who was too busy. Luckily, I called Paul and he happened to be near and came over right away. The previous system was shoddy (the turn-off valve was underground!) so he expertly rebuilt it at a very fair price. While at our house, he happened to take a peak at our water heater and warned us it had a small leak and would need to be replaced in the near future. Sure enough, two weeks later, our water was no longer hot and was leaking everywhere! He came back out and replaced our water heater and much of the immediate plumbing to it. (Seems the "plumber" who installed everything in our house was pretty bad. So was the "electrician", we've been told. That's another story...). He did another great job once again and we even had him come back to put in a new kitchen faucet (Yet another fine, seamless job). I really appreciate Paul's expertise and the quality of his work. He is also such a nice guy, reliable, super easy to work with and completely trustworthy. We wholeheartedly recommend him! read more

My husband and I bought what my family referred to a "complete demo" condo, 2 bedroom 1 bath. I had a vision, which nobody else could see....Paul and 2 other tradesman made that dream a reality. We called him as well as three other contractors and he was the 3rd. The other two were awful. They looked at us like we were crazy to tackle this project. When Paul showed up on time,and a smile; we knew we had a winner!!!!! Paul listened to my ideas and said yes to my every request. He offered advice, and would suggest a better or more cost effective solution to an issue, but never said no. At the end of our first meeting, we explained that we did not yet close escrow. He waited patiently and started immediately the day we got the keys. We explained that we had a very short timeline for completion, and Paul completed the project, "The Dream" home into a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath in 4 weeks!!!!! Paul not only did the work we asked, but he suggested other issue that we had overlooked. He was patient and kind and takes his work very seriously. I am a Household Manager, and have crossed paths with many tradesmen over the years. I have worked through five remodels and I rarely meet such a amazing, respecful, hard working, honorable man. I can truly give Paul and his crew 5 stars. My husband and I will forever be grateful for our lovely home. Cynth & Matt San Ramon read more

If Paul says it needs to be done, it does. If Paul says this is what it will cost, it will (and it should). If Paul says don't do it...DON"T. If Paul says he will be there, he will. Paul has done two major remodels for us, and saved our bacon many times in emergencies (none of which occurred in plumbing that he installed). He is that rarity in our world, an honest, capable, reasonable, punctual person, who loves what he does and stands by his work 100%. Paul expects perfection in his own work and will tirelessly explain what he is doing and why. He's also just an all around great guy! I cannot recommend him highly enough, and I personally would use no other plumber! read more

Had a water leak in my front yard. second time in 3 years. Went to the yellow pages and was frustrated with the options. Told my wife and she said you should yelp it. I couldnt believe I hadnt thought of that. So I did. Did find a couple highly regarded plumbersin my area. Called one and he was great but too busy...he offered a reference...I told him I had yelped him and found him that way...he then changed his reference to another guy...Paul Volga Plumbing. I called him and he was excellent....explained the situation and what I could do to save money...told me he could be out later...came out when he could...it was at the beginning of the Giants Phillies playoff game and he took his time and did it right. Was a great experience..very reasonable prices excellent quality of work and detail....cannot recommend him highly enough...forgot to keep my reciept for the water company so he mailed me another....if you have a plumbing issue call him...he is professional, complete and his work was much better than any other plumbers I have experienced. I called him back later to do other non-emergency issues and his prices are very reasonable..... I refer him to everyone. I hope he doesn't mind I posted this because he told me he does not advertise just goes by word of mouth from satisfied customers. read more

We are very impressed by the quality of Paul Volga's work. He seems to be passionate about his work, and he knows his stuff. We had a tank water heater that was partially submerged during a storm. He assessed the situation and informed us that it was not a safe installation to begin with and that we should consider a tankless water heater. We decided to go ahead with the work, and we are very happy, both with the product and with Paul's installation and professionalism. read more

Paul Volga is an excellent plumber with decades of knowledge AND he's an honest person with lots of integrity! He reminds me of the old style craftsman who insists on doing the job will full quality. When he recently installed a new water heater in our house, he said the following components needed changing so he changed them without any additional charge: three input and outgoing valves/pipes, the air duct, the electrical grounding wire, and the main water input pipe. I clearly saw that it was not merely a matter of replacing a water heater, but rather changing the entire system.... and Paul had the integrity to do the job right! read more

Hired Mr. Volga to connect a gas line for a gas log set after the previous owner had disconnected it. This was about 2 weeks before Christmas, understandably a busy time. The first three times I spoke to him he said he would call me back and then I would not hear from him. One time he was on a big project, another 2 times someone's water heater was having problems and needed an urgent fix, etc. He came out to give an estimate, noticed a plumbing problem and offered a solution to fix it. I agreed to an estimate from him for this additional work. He never mentioned it again. The gas line was installed properly. He did a nice job but was not the most pleasant to deal with on the phone. read more

Paul Volga does an outstanding job with his clients. We were having issues losing hot water throughout the day. Paul came out and spent a good amount of time evaluating the problem. He felt that our existing hot water heater was malfunctioning and needed to be replaced. We agreed to have the water heater replaced. Paul came for the initial call on Wednesday and had the new water heater installed on Thursday. We are so thankful for his outstanding service. Additionally he is very easy to talk to and takes the time to explain what he is doing and his assessment of the issue at hand. We would recommend Paul for any plumbing job. We have a plumber for life! read more

I'm going to start off by letting you know that at our old house in SoCal, we had quite a few plumbing problems and had our fair share of interactions with plumbers. Those interactions actually put a bad taste in our mouths when it came to plumbers so when we moved to the SF East Bay and it came time to contact a plumber to do plumbing work for our renovation, we wanted to be sure we did our research to find a good plumber. Our neighbor recommended one plumber who had actually retired and recommended Paul. We had found the reviews of Volga Plumbing to be great and so we contacted him. Let me tell you...Paul is THE BEST plumber ever! He knows his stuff and will do everything right from beginning to end, every t crossed, every i dotted! For our renovation he ran gas lines and got the kitchen sink piping repaired and ready for our new sink to be put in. Plumbing work is expensive, but Paul's rates were very reasonable especially considering the quality of work he does! We will definitely be calling Paul for any plumbing work we need done in the future! Thanks Paul! read more

I was referred to Paul Volga by another plumber in Lamorinda with many five star reviews on Yelp who was very busy and prefers to do other types of jobs than what I had. Well, that guy obviously cares about his professional reputation and told me that Volga Plumbing is highly competent and honest, so I went with him. I'm glad I did, as Paul Volga did a great job, was extremely professional and a nice guy. My old water heater finally conked out and when I called Paul he came out the same day to look at it and then replaced it the following morning after picking up the new unit. He made some minor upgrades to the installation, all of which had been recommended by my home inspector, and cleaned up and took everything away. He looked at some other issues in my house including going down in the crawl space (yuck) and told me that I didn't need to have certain work done, even though it was late in the evening and I'm sure he was missing his dinner at home. In short, the man takes pride in his work and goes the extra mile, all for a reasonable price. I will definitely use him again! read more