Lovett

Called last week because my 100year old cast iron floor drain in my basement wasn’t draining water. Lovett gave me an appointment window if 8am-​11am about a week out (it wasn’t an emergency). The guys from Lovett called at 8:10am to let me know they were on the way. Once they arrived, they were professional, explained everything to me clearly, were courteous and cared for my property and pets. They diagnosed the problem and gave me options moving forward. They went above and beyond to make sure I understood what needed to be done. Highly recommended.

I needed my entire sewer line replaced really fast and Lovett was recommended to me by my trusted plumber. They came right out, tried to clear the line, but it was filled with roots (100 year old line). They gave me a reasonable estimate and began working immediately. What a pleasure it was to deal with them! They were so positive and careful with my property. They got the work done quickly and efficiently and left the site as clean as before. I can’t recommend them highly enough!

Had them come out to fix my water line, The employee didnt even have the right tools, took off and when he returned he tried billing me for his time to go get the tools he needed. I dont think so as Im a contractor also. Yep Lovett will be your worst mistake, call anybody but them.

I encourage you to notice that these great reviews are mostly from 2014 and earlier, because I did not have a great experience. It was barely OK. I needed the main line replaced — the line that runs from the street into the house. The estimate was reasonable. I accepted the bid and they completed the work. It took over a week, more like 10 days, to actually finish the job although the drilling and reconnection was done in one day. No one called to explain the delay in finishing. Now, three months later, I discover that two out of my three outdoor faucets have been disconnected during their work in the crawl space. It was bad enough that the guy they sent out to repair my rock wall was planning to work in the PITCH DARK, and I sent him away after discussion with him about what was needed. He most certainly could NOT have done the job in the DARK. One of the supervisors came out the next day and did the work. But discovering that my outdoor faucets have been disconnected is complete nonsense. As you can imagine, I am furious. Do you think I should call these guys again?

I was very impressed with my experience with Lovett. We had a plugged drain. The technician asked intelligent questions to help him get started in an effective manner. He was professional and genuine, and I felt fine about having him in our home. He fixed our problem. The fee was less than others who we’ve had out for the same work.
I would use Lovett again.

This is the 5^th time I’ve hired Lovett. If I need a plumber again, they’ll be the first call. The service has always been professional, reliable, on time and clean.
I had an appointment for Monday at 8am. Chris N showed up right on the dot and was working on the clogged drain within minutes. He spent a little time trying to snake the drain from the tub but had the same issue I did. My house was built in 1926 and the tubs line is stupidly overbuilt with a bunch of bends and turns after the trap. Chris had to move down into the crawl space and literally remove the trap in order to feed the snake down the line. Before the hour was up, the glorious sound of water flowing freely down the tubs drain emanated from the bathroom.
The service took a little less than an hour, the work areas were cleaned up when he was done and the total cost came to $ 150. Considering my crawl space and the difficulty of getting to the section of pipe he needed to, that price is more than fair.
After packing up his tools, Chris also talked to me about what I can do to avoid the problem in the future but he wasn’t preachy or condescending in anyway.
Every time I’ve called Lovett the service has been pretty much the same, friendly, clean, professional, reliable and reasonably priced. I’m glad I found them.

I had George from the electrical department come out to fix the mess of wiring we had in our 1950s house. This was after getting a $ 1,200 estimate from another company that came out and said we need all new wiring ran throughout our kitchen. Needless to say, George came, looked at the mess, fixed the mess (turns out we didn’t need the kitchen to be re-​wired) and all for a fration of the cost. Thanks so much for turning a very grim day into a great day:)

My service with Lovett was prompt professional and thorough. Ken, my technician was efficient, friendly and very helpful. He explained his process every step of the way and answered all of my questions candidly and expertly. I am confident that my plumbing issue was dealt with to the best of their ability and that in the future I will seek out Lovett’s sevices agian.

I don’t like the idea of a company charging $ 69 just to give you an estimate. Especially since the estimate was exorbitant. The owner called me 2 months after I posted an earlier review (since deleted) and stated that the technician who had come to my home had written a different (lower) estimate than he’d quoted me. Still MUCH higher than another plumber quoted for the same thing, but the technician never left any paperwork for me, so you be the judge. At least the owner called, and at least the owner refunded my $ 69. I said that, in return, I would post an updated review. 2-​star.

Matt came out, on time, replaced a water heater, did a great job, cleaned up, was pleasant, well informed! Would call them again!

We were the host to a party line sewer system that we found out about while we were having it scoped proactively and caught an unexpected flush on camera. Good times. That was a few years ago and at the time the city wasn’t too aggressive about forcing individual connections and ours worked fine, so we let it be until we added a half bath and the city made us scope it again. They didn’t approve of the functional but imperfect condition, and said we had to repair it (which means replacement with old clay).
We solicited three bids.
The cheapest bid was a guy who was too cavalier about the process. We have a giant power pole right where the sewer meets the curb and he had no problem digging there when the other contractors said no way, you have to do it in the street. He was out.
The second contractor wanted to bore a completely new line diagonally from the opposite corner of the house to the street. Probably would have been fine, but seemed a bit overkill.
Lovett bid on a bursting technique, where they dig a hole on both sides of the pipe and use a cable to force a metal bit through the existing line, crushing it out of the way, and pulling a new heavy black plastic pipe through. The bidder was professional and the price was close to the other contractor, so we did it.
Our neighbors didn’t end up getting their line done until two years after the original bid. I called Lovett up and they said they had to add $ 300 to account for higher material charges, but otherwise kept the old bid as is.
The crew was great. At several stages, such as welding an extension onto the new pipe and connecting to the old clay city pipe in the street, I was impressed with the extra time they took to make sure the job was done right. It seemed like it would have been reasonable to do just a little bit less but they went ahead and did it as well as they could. They were respectful of our yard, pleasant to talk to, hard workers, and about the best experience I have had overall with any contractor.
Would highly recommend.

You know that awkward small talk you make with the lady who cuts your hair? I hate that. I resolve never to do it if I don’t have to.
When Andrew G. from the Lovett electrical division came by (right on time) to give a quote to hook up our bathroom exhaust fan to the knob and tube craziness in our attic, he gave me a bunch of information (I asked him about other projects I was considering). He also offered, if I liked the quote, to do the work right then. The quote was completely reasonable so YEAH HOOK THAT SUCKER UP! was pretty much my response. But I was dreading the inevitable awkward small talk as I hung out with this guy I didn’t know for the next few hours.
At first, conversation was hindered by power tool sounds as he carefully installed a timer switch. But then he commented on the music I had playing. Over the next hour, he efficiently completed the job AND recommended several awesome bands to me. Awkward zone defeated! Bathroom fan hooked up! Only a small dent in my wallet! All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Quality work for a decent price.

Euugghh. .. plumbing. Whenever something leaks or makes noise or backs up, it conjures up the old SNL skit with Dan Aykroyd fixing the fridge for Mrs. Loopner. All I can think is, «great, this is going to be super expensive, the tech is never on time and they’re going to send some half-​wit with his coinslot hanging out of his work pants tromping through my house and leaving a foul mess behind for me to clean up.»
A few days ago my bath sink and tub were both slow to drain and I thought the liquid /​gel plumber bottle I dumped in had them fixed. I think I only made the drain rat living down there more hungry and angry. I woke up one morning to Amityville Horror – dark clots and water rising OUT of my bath tub drain that filled to about 4 inches then gurgled and swirled back down slowly. I think I heard something chuckle menacingly at me once. And I don’t know about you, but not having a working shower /​tub /​sink /​dishwasher when it’s all installed and should be working is maddening. When I’m out in the wilderness, fine, but I don’t like camping in my own home.
Turns out my neighbor had the same problem; it seems our drainage pipes are, uhh, intimately connected. We live in a house broke up into 4 independently owned condos built in 1913, i have an old, but nicely refinished claw foot tub, thus I fully expect plumbing nitemares. You should see our basement. The ceiling is a labyrinth of duct work straight out of Brazil and the pipes and plumbing are a recursive, confused tangle with no beginning or end. M.C. Escher would be proud. This is what my tech had in store for him.
When Craig called to say he had a job postponement & would be by shortly in the am instead of the afternoon when I expected him, I said, «Well, that’s fine but it will have to be jammie time, I’m just waking up for the day.» He remarked that he didn’t bring his jammies but he’ll still do the job. This made me laugh. We were off to a good start.
Let me just say Craig was kind, conscientious and efficient. While here he even took a call from an irate woman on the phone and handled it with utter grace and diplomacy. He bravely navigated the clusterfrak that is our way old school plumbing. He went between both my place & the neighbors to track down the blockage and make sure that our tubs weren’t backing up into each other and worked until both drains were clear and: GASP!: he even cleaned up after! My tub was free of devil spawn after-​birth and my floor didn’t look like a military parade march came through. Double Rainbow All The Way! Win! Win!
Extra Bonus Points: Craig even diagnosed an unrelated plumbing problem I asked him about. I mentioned a loud banging sound from the pipes I get whenever I run the clothes washer. He said the «shhh-​CHUNK» and rattling of the pipes that occurs is called water hammering and can be cheaply and easily remedied with something called a water hammer arrester (go figure). I read that water hammering is «a pressure surge or wave resulting when a fluid in motion is forced to stop or change direction suddenly.» He pointed out where it does this at a tight bend just out of the hot water heater as well as just before our washer junction. Now that I know this minor annoyance can be fixed I’ll get on it, because what I don’t want is that pressure wave from the noise and vibration to cause the pipe to collapse. We have enough water problems around here.
I got a few of his business cards and the next time the plumbing gets possessed, I’ll ask the Property Manager to call Craig back!

There are some projects where you need to move aside and let the professionals step in. Getting your house off of a cesspool system is one good example.
Septic tank, you say? Nope. Cesspool.
The difference, for those curious, is this: a septic tank stores waste in a tank, while a cesspool is an open brick structure that allows liquid to leach out. In theory, as the years go by, the potential increases for it to collapse, leaving behind a cavernous stench-​filled pit. Ours had been in our back yard since probably the early 19-​teens.
We knew that the purchase of our house included the responsibility of connecting to the city sewer system by 2010. We were fully aware. But I think you always underestimate the enormity and inconvenience of such a project.
You know how the traveling vacuum salesman cleans a spot in the middle of your carpet, and now, dammit, you have to buy the machine to clean the whole rug? It’s kind of like that, except imagine the salesman is the city of Portland, and charges you $ 10,000 to clean the initial spot.
So the city charged us $ 10G for the non-​negotiable service of running the pipe down our street and into our front yard, and we then had to find our own contractor to connect from the out-​spout to the big pipe.
As happens with everything house-​related, once we had the ground opened up, we figured we might as well get a bigger water line installed, and doing that apparently meant that we had to then re-​ground the house, so now electricians were involved too.
Lovett was one of so many contractors we had bid, and they provided a fair estimate (the total was around $ 6G) with the resources to do a lot of things under one roof. Like Fred Meyer. Instead of hiring a separate excavator, plumber, cesspool-​filler (yup, that’s a job all its own), AND electrician, we hired Lovett and they figured all that out for us.
They did good work quickly and within the budget they promised, and even had patience with us when we thought we could do some of the work ourselves. We couldn’t. Unleash the professionals.