Business Description:
Categories
plumbers & sewer repair
H.N. Harris Plumbing
918 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029, USA
(323) 469-0537

Service

Communication

Price for Value

Marc S.

Los Angeles, CA

H.N. Harris Plumbing

Filled My Home With Toxic Fumes -- Never Properly Finished the Job

I needed a new vent for my water heater. My landlady called H & Harris Plumbing, and they charged her $200 to replace the vent. And thus began the toxification of what had previously been the most wonderful apartment in the city.

Originally, I had no idea I needed a new vent. Everything seemed to be fine. But after the gas company did a routine service to the building's gas meter, the gas co. representative came into my apartment to re-light all my appliances. He wouldn't re-light my hot water heater because he said it wasn't venting properly. The vent had an opening in it.

So H & Harris Plumbing arrived, replaced the vent and then sealed all of the vent's joints with "Cold Weather" adhesive tape. Then they left. And that was that - except for the fact that every time my hot water heater turned on, the heat from the vent reacted with the adhesive on the "Cold Weather" tape and emitted fumes throughout my whole apartment that made it seem like I was living inside of the exhaust pipe of an automobile.

To their credit, H & Harris techs returned promptly to my apartment to see what was wrong. The main guy said it was likely the adhesive on the tape that was causing the fumes and that I should give it about 3 days for the smell to subside. I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt and offered to give his solution a try.

After 2 days of suffocating amidst the toxic fumes, I called H & Harris Plumbing to return and fix this situation. My apartment was unlivable.

An H & Harris tech returned to my apartment a couple of days later - while I was at work - and they removed the "Cold Weather" tape ... only to replace the toxic adhesive with ANOTHER TAPE! Then they told my landlady that the job was all done! It was obvious they didn't even check the job after they did it, because this adhesive tape continued to emit toxic fumes throughout my apartment.

This time I called H & Harris and left an irate message. After THREE TIMES they didn't do a thing right and their handiwork was literally threatening my health by pumping toxic fumes throughout my apartment every time my hot water heater turned on.

Again, to their credit, they sent a tech out - the day before Christmas - to fix the unprofessional job they had done. The tech removed most of the tape and screwed the vent's joints together - but he left one bit of tape that attached the vent pipe to the wall, because he needed one more part to attach the vent to the wall and properly finish the job.

Why they didn't properly do the job from the get-go is a testament to the type of work ethic this company represents.

Finally, they returned to my apartment for a FIFTH TIME and removed all of the tape and did a Mickey Mouse job attaching the vent to the wall. The one screw they used to attach the wall plate to the wall has already - two days later - detached from the wall.

But the worst part about it is that all over the vent pipe is adhesive residue from the adhesive tape they removed. They didn't clean the residue off. So ... even though they returned numerous times to attempt to fix the job, they still left the adhesive residue all over the vent ... and there is still a strong toxic odor emitted from the water heater every time it goes on.

These guys are a total joke.

If you are looking for professionals who care about their work ... look somewhere else.

comments

Dear Marc, H.N. Harris Plumbing do all we can to provide our clients with the best customer service possible and we are so sorry to hear that you were unhappy with our services. Please contact us directly with any other concerns you may have and we will be happy to address them. Sincerely, Andrea Rodriguez, Customer Service Representative

H.N. Harris Plumbing commented on 01/14/2013