John does amazing work. We highly recommend him. ---------------- John is detail oriented. He works very hard. He doesn't stop until the issue is resolved. ---------------- So far, he has done the following work at our house: Helped detect a leak; Repaired two leaking pipes in the ground; Installed shutoff valves to help us isolate different water lines; Installed a smart-flo system; Installed three bathroom faucets and one kitchen faucet; Installed a gas shut off valve. read more

I see that John has a lot of great reviews. I don't like submitting poor reviews, but I think sharing our experience may be helpful. We had a pretty massive poop-pipe failure that required a complete replacement of the sewage pipe going from our house to the septic tank. We were in an emergency situation, so we called John. He determined we needed a new pipe. John came out and made an assessment. He suggested a guy to dig out the pipe, who initially quoted us $6k to do the digging. Maybe that's the going rate for a 1/2 day of digging 15 feet of pipe, but it was way too much for us. I know this is not John, but it's the guy he brought in so I hold John responsible for his recommendation. We decided to dig it out ourselves. After we dug it out, the landscape guys came out to do the harder parts (going under a retaining wall), and while doing that work the pipe completely fell apart. (i.e.: disconnected from the house entirely). This was no ones fault, but it was an emergency. John knew we were now without a poop pipe, but despite this we were left without a pipe for a full week while we waited for him to return to our house. That meant a lot of unflushed toilets in our house while we waited for John. When he finally came back out to fix the pipe, he refused to do the work to connect the pipe back to the septic tank. I thought that maybe that was out of a plumber's scope of work, but when we had Allred's come out to help they confirmed that most plumbers would make that connection. Finally, we got the tank pumped, and the bottom of the pipe reconnected so John could finish the rest of the pipe installation. When I came home from work, John had installed the pipe at a near 90 degree angle, well above the soil line (see image). The pipe was not above the soil line before, and was not at a 90 degree angle. It was at a steep slope under the ground all the way to the septic tank. John said he didn't have the parts to make the pipe go back into its old position, so he put it back together with the parts he had. He did not talk to us to explain our options, he just made the installation with the parts he had. We will likely need to bring on another plumber to change the angle of the pipe. Overall, he was not a clear communicator, he made decisions without talking with us, he recommended an overpriced landscape guy, he left us hanging for a week, he refused to connect the pipe to the septic tank, and we were left with a 90 degree angle pipe to figure out how to hide. Like I said, some people are clearly happy with his work. That just, unfortunately, was not our experience. read more

John Hilberath Plumbing & Rooter - Dog for scale - Plumbing Near Me

We want to highly recommend John Hilberath Plumbing. My husband and I first used John Hilberath Plumbing and Rooter a year and a half ago to diagnose some odd plumbing behavior and he did a bangup job. We said we'd call him the next time we need a plumber, and that's what we did a couple days ago when the hot water suddenly disappeared. Just like other reviewers have said, he's super responsive and came the same day to diagnose our problem. Like I suspected, our 26-year-old propane water heater had croaked and needed replacing. He found a similar brand and type locally instead of the 6-week delay for the original brand, and installed it the next day, including updated water piping and valves to meet current code. We agree with other reviewers that he's meticulous, detailed and precise, professional, pleasant to work with, and has good rates. We are very happy with his work! read more

I am SO GRATEFUL for John Hilberath and his team. The backstory: at a home in Boulder Creek, a toilet remained in use even though it was plugged for weeks. The toilet was full to the brim with human waste, unflushable wipes, and Drano - it was bad. Armed with a picture and a description, I started calling plumbers - over the course of 2+ weeks, over 10 plumbers. The first plumber to visit was five stars on Yelp, was warned about how bad the situation was, came out and - after charging a travel fee - refused to work on the toilet. Said we needed a hazmat company to address the toilet. They did a good but expensive job fixing something else in the residence. Plumber #2 came highly recommended from a neighbor. Nice and professional plumber who did more exploration of the plugged pipes, and concluded the pipe from the toilet was so full of yuck that it had to be pumped out by a septic pump company. He gave us valuable information about where the clog was but could not address it. I called his recommended pump out company who said "no, we only do septic tanks." More calls ensued... and then finally I connected with John Hilberath Plumbing & Rooter. He's local to the area so there wasn't a travel fee, and he understands all the interesting bits of mountain plumbing. He was able to come out the next day - which happened to be the only day I was in the area, so incredibly convenient - to deal with the long-dead toilet. It took hours, but he and his co-worker cleared the pipes and verified the septic tank was ok. All the way through the process - when I was driving around all the landslides on my way to Boulder Creek - he sent me regular updates about where he was and how the work was going. Once I was at the house, we spent quite some time going over the state of the toilets in the house and we both agreed that they needed to be replaced (poor flushes, high water use, additional issues) - and we were completely in agreement on what toilets should go in to the house (Toto Drake II). We ordered the toilets and he installed them as soon as they were available to be installed, and fixed the shutoff valves going to the toilets, too. This wasn't my first toilet replacement rodeo and I appreciate his thoroughness and attention to detail. He said to me - "I may not be the first plumber you call to work on things, but I want to be the last plumber you ever call. And my goal is to fix things so that you don't have to have me work on them again." Expensive but worth it, wish I'd called him first. I'll include an "after" picture in this review but, trust me, no one wants to see the "before"! read more

John Hilberath Plumbing & Rooter - Newly installed Toto Drake II 1.28gpf toilet. Water wise and flushes well. - Plumbing Near Me

John Hilberath gave us excellent service. He diagnosed the problem quickly, designed a plan, and completed the job in a reasonable amount of time. Also, he is a good communicator. He came recommended, and we'll definitely call him in the future. read more

I called for an urgent outdoor pipe repair at 8:30 am and it was fixed before 12:30. John and Danny were professional, capable and tidy. I especially appreciate that I was treated like an intelligent person - no man-splaining from these two! I highly recommend this business and I will be calling Hilberath plumbing the next time I need a plumber. read more

I hired John to remove our bathroom faucet and install a new one. We also needed to have our sink reattached to the countertop and he recommended a local handyman to do the job. John always got back to me quickly by phone and was professional, polite, and clean. He always arrived right on time and let me know before he headed my way. His price was fair and I enjoyed working with him. I would hire him again! read more

EMERGENCY! Saturday morning Water heater leaking. Going out of the country on Monday. What to do? Called Hilberath Plumbing along with others. John returned call quickly, assured me he'd come on Sunday and have a new water heater in on Monday in time to catch our plane! Done! Amazing and greatly appreciated. read more

After getting several proposals, we engaged John Hilberath Plumbing for a water main leak that we knew would likely lead to a service line replacement. They quickly identified the problem and developed a proposed solution with a fixed cost that was at or below the other proposals we received. In addition, we separately engaged the sidewalk concrete removal and replacement which saved the mark-up charged by the other plumbers which included that work in their proposal. They were able to finish the entire job in less than a week (with the weekend in the middle), and stopped the leaking main and gave us an alternative temporary water supply on the first day. When they ran into inevitable challenges with the placement of the new line, they dealt with them creatively and effectively, meeting our needs for continued service connections where we wanted them. Their customer service was top notch; highly responsive and personable, for both John and his staff member Daniel. Great communications in person, by text and email, and even took care of another small hose bib problem I had when asked. Highly recommended based on quality and customer service, with good pricing as well. read more

I have called on John at Hilberath for 3 different plumbing "emergencies" in the last 4 years and he has come through every time (sewage block close to the main, sump pump replacement during the storms last year, and a whole house water filter replacement when ours cracked/leaked). Always super professional, clean, and fair pricing. I will always call John first and recommended Hilberath to several friends that needed help as well. read more

Contacted John @ Hilberath Plumbing for a quote to change out (update) kitchen and bathroom faucets. He was very thorough when preparing his quote, looked at everything under both sinks for potential issues. Found a water shutoff that wasn't working (we already knew) as well as some old cast iron pipes that were "weeping" (100+ yr old plumbing). He brought his employee, Danny, when he came to do the actual work. Both are very polite and meticulous. Replaced all water shutoffs and installed new faucets as well as replacing worn out cast iron. While working they discovered copper pipes joined to cast iron causing issues so replaced all that, too. They had to cut through back of both cabinets but we're So careful and precise, patching was a breeze. Great work, amazing attention to detail! Recommend highly! read more

We have a shower drain with a difficult trap that's been running slow. Was last 'rootered' probably 4 years ago. Called John and Danny on Weds; they were out here on Thurs and took care of the problem. Love it when contractors meet all their obligations. We will be using them for more work this summer I am sure. read more

We had our washing machine drain pipe back up in the garage. Called John, made an appointment. He and his crew showed up on time, masks on, moved the washer, cleaned out the drain, hooked everything back up, moved the washer back, swept up, and were pleasant about the whole thing. We had used them once before, and had great success as well. No need calling anyone else now! Great service, friendly people, competitive pricing. What more could you ask for? Greg M. read more

I recently moved into a townhouse and hired John to install a utility sink in my garage. He was a pleasure to work with. John came to inspect the existing plumbing and drain lines and came up with a plan for the install. He also coordinated the dry wall repair work that was necessary for the drain line addition. I'm very happy with the results. Thank you John. read more

John Hilberath Plumbing & Rooter - Plumbing Near Me

I recently just moved into a new house here in Boulder Creek that had an old Propane tank that we swapped out with the propane co. We then immediately had a leak somewhere in the system. John hopped right on it and solved the leak, and a botched bathtub drain install quickly an efficiently. I would lean on John and his team for any future needs that arise. Great guy and quick responder that makes me feel like I am in good hands. Thanks John! read more

John did a great job for us. He completed a number of gas and plumbing jobs for us recently and it was all very well done. In discussing the work, he explained what needed to be done and why and afterward he walked us through everything. He was detailed, efficient, and very considerate and professional. His quote was detailed and he stuck to it. He showed up on time and left things clean and orderly. We'd definitely call him again should the need arise. read more

John installed plumbing on a new bathroom 36" vanity with new fixtures, drain, p-trap, etc. on a difficult install. Came on time, used booties upon entering. Gave me a quote over the phone and held to it that price. I would use John services again. read more