Tsanko is so good. I had a bad upstairs shower valve, it was leaking quite a lot so I was getting nervous it was going to be a pricey fix. We opened up the back wall to see exactly where the leak was coming from, and we knew which place of the valves it was coming from. Then, I called several plumbers to give an estimate of the solution. Two of the contractors came, looked at the valve leak and said they want to swap out the entirefauset, which will also mean opening up more wall, maybe damaging our old rusty galvanized pipes, costing hundreds of dollars. (It's an old house) It would also take at least three hours.
T. came and said the fix is very simple, swap out the diverter stem, since that's the part the leak is coming from. I was having doubts since the other two contractors told me you'd have to swap out the entire valve, and he tolerably explained to me that the body itself is just a piece of brass, even if you swap out the brass, it's going to continue to leak. It's the stem that's leaking. It made sense and he fixed it in 30 minutes ending up a little more than a hundred. We tested it and there was no leaks.
Two days after, another leak starts in the same bathtub after my roommate showered, I was starting to have doubts about Tsanko's fix. However, I tested the shower, and couldn't reproduce the drip, and was completely stumped. I called him, and he came right away at 9pm at night, and he quickly diagnoseddiscovered the problem. The leak only shows up if the faucet is dripping slowly, and my roommate hadn't turned off the valve all the way. It was basically lack of caulking plus the back washer being worn out. He offered the easy solution of just caulking up the cracks. This visit was completely free!
I was impressed by a few things:
#1. Unlike the other contractors, he was able to exactly pinpoint the problem. I'm sure if the other plumbers swapped out the whole body, they would've fixed the problem as well, but that would've been expensive, and dangerous, since my pipes were old and I wasn't ready to swap out a bunch of pipes right then.
#2. BG explains the problem and can show me what's happening
#3. He came out in the evening as soon as I called, and that it would be no charge.
I now have a plumber I can count on explain things to me so I can understand exactly what's the problem and how to fix it. T is knowledgeable and willing to help. I've already recommended him to my friends.
Tracy W.
San Jose CA 10/05/2011
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