Plumbing reviews in Chicago, Illinois

Andrew A and Andrew M were great to work with. Both were professional, responsive, and made the whole process smooth and stress-free. Really appreciated their attention to detail and follow-through. Highly recommend working with the Andrews!

Great service. Edgar was extremely helpful and efficient. He was communicative and didn’t try to push me into anything unnecessary. Highly recommended.

I had another company come out first to fix my sewer line that got blocked in this cold weather, but the issue was not fully resolved. I made an appointment with J Blanton because of their promotion. Hubert Kuziora, Anthony McNair and Andreas Pastos have been in my home for the last 2 days. They all were professional, knowledgeable, offered solutions, and answered all my questions. They all went above and beyond to make sure my issue is fixed efficiently and as soon as possible . I can’t thank them enough for going above and beyond to make sure my problem was fixed. I also have a large friendly dog that they were all patient with as he said hello and asked for pets.

We've used J Blanton before to install a toilet and vanity sink. They were great. This time we needed them because our first floor got clogged and that also lead to leakage problems in the basement. Dave and Alexis were on site and prepared to deal with the muck and the troubles. Like a dynamic duo - boy wonder and his batman, they busted through the clog and freed us from our pains. We did really appreciate their efforts, their openness and keeping us apprised of everything going on, the ups and downs of different options and really trying to be budget conscious. Will definitely use them again if the need should arise.

Update 3/14/23 - used this service for the third time. Had Edwin come out last for an in-the-wall repair and then Kurt Koch came out today for a laundry room sump pump issue. Ya lucky us with all these problems... but they all existed before these guys came around and we have obviously learned that they are trust worthy and get the job done!

Update 8/20/2025
We continue to use these guys. Wish we didn't have to be that's the woes of owning a home. Christian showed up today and was super helpful getting us through our current items. Glad to have them around. A great help!

I had J. Blanton Plumbing come service a potential sewer line back-up and I was super impressed with the entire experience. My technician was Stephen Walen and he was fantastic. He scoped our entire line so we could see where our main line hooks up to off-shoots of our other pipes. He walked through all different short & long-term scenarios so we could make informed decisions. Based on previous experiences, I felt like the pricing was comparable, if not better... and I received a lot of valuable insight. It's a family business that has grown throughout Chicagoland, I'm sure because of how they approach their customers.

I recently used J Blanton Plumbing for a drain issue, and Mike was the assigned technician. He was extremely professional and knowledgeable. He arrived on time and did a very thorough job investigating the problem. The process was tedious, but Mike showed great patience and persistence throughout, making sure nothing was overlooked.

The communication from the scheduling office and dispatch was also excellent. I received text updates for all major appointment details, and the office worked with me to find a time that fit my schedule.

Overall, I had a great experience and would definitely recommend J Blanton Plumbing—and Mike in particular—for anyone needing reliable plumbing services.

Christian M came out to do our annual service and was super helpful and friendly. I got to see the inside of our sewer access with a big snake camera and he walked me through everything that he was seeing.

⭐️ Rating: 0 stars (if that were an option)

All of this began when we asked J. Blanton Plumbing to come out to investigate a sewage smell in older pipes. During that visit, they recommended a two-way clean out and UV pipe liner service quoted at ~$8,000. They also sold us on their No Drip Club for an extra $30 a month which should have allowed for VIP treatment an a full home plumbing maintenance review. When they came out a week later for the maintenance service we found a clog in the shower which required attention.

What should have been a simple follow-up $300 shower repair instead turned into three service calls and ongoing issues. The second technician said the problem was fixed, yet the very next day both the shower and toilet were clogged again. He also reinstalled the shower drain incorrectly, leaving sharp, exposed edges.

During the first visit, a piece of art was knocked off the wall and the frame broken. I was told to email invoices for the damaged art and the broken drain—which I did—but those costs were never addressed or reimbursed.

Each visit required blocking an entire 8 a.m.–5 p.m. workday, which is unreasonable for work that should have been done correctly the first time.

Most concerning: instead of addressing my complaint or the documented damage, J. Blanton cancelled my service altogether. That response raises serious questions about accountability and whether services are sold without the ability—or willingness—to complete them when a customer pushes back.

Management is welcome to respond publicly and explain how this aligns with their customer service standards.

I contacted J Blanton in an emergency situation that involved a backing up of my sewer on 12/31/2025 with flooding of my basement. To me this was an emergency. Zachary Staar from Blanton Plumbing was sent to clear my sewer. Prior to any work being done, I needed to pay $750. This was charged to my Mastercard credit card. Zachary proceeded to use equipment to rod out my sewer from the outside washout. He spent approximately 30 minutes outside. He then came back into my house, and told me he had bad news. Not only could he not clear my sewer, but he had broken off his rod in the sewer presumably on a “ledge” in the sewer that I interpreted as a crack. He said that as a result his broken rod in my sewer, further attempts to clear the sewer would likely collapse my pipe. He told me it would be necessary to open up the sewer in my front yard outside, let sewage drain into ditches along the side of the sewer until the sewer could be rebuilt. He estimated it would cost approximately 9,000 to 10,000 to have this done the next day but I had to let him know in 2 hours. Fortunately, my son in law was present and witnessed this conversation.

I did not sign a contract for the 10,000 project. I called Fettes, Love and Sieben, a plumbing company recommended by my brother-in-law, Timothy Gill. K. Phipps, a licensed plumber from Fettes, came within an hour. My brother-in law also came. This plumber used a larger piece of equipment and was able to clear a large obstruction of vegetation from the sewer within 2 hours. He used a snake video camera to follow the sewer to the street. He found no evidence of a broken rod, and the sewer was intact to the city sewer line.

I am attaching documentation to this email supporting my statements. Including J Blanton plumber’s report, a picture of the obstruction, the invoice from Fettes, Love and Sieben for 322.50 to clear the sewer, and letter from the manager of Fettes, Mike Gill, verifying this report.

J Blanton Plumbing did not provide the service agreed upon, and wanted to charge me an additional 10,000 to break down my sewer, I am seeking a return my $750 charge because it was not done.

We had our water heater leak and Kyle from J Blanton came and installed a tankless system in only a few hours. It works amazing and he was very fast and thorough. Thanks for the great job Kyle.

Ron was perfect. He came to do the job at hand and explained various pieces of information along the way that helped me understand the root causes of what we were dealing with and how to avoid problems in the future. Additionally, provided clear options that could help alleviate this problem in the future. Didn’t try and push the sale like some companies do, but was more or less educating on what the options were and what they entailed in full so we would know what to expect if we decided to go down those paths. Overall great experience.

We've worked with J. Blanton a few times, and they came to our rescue with the most recent rains this weekend. Josh came out, assessed the situation, gave us options, and even saved us $800! David D. promptly arrived Monday morning to complete our service. We appreciate Josh, David D., and J. Blanton's workmanship, timeliness, and customer service.

Over-priced, dishonest, and unresponsive. Worst experience I have ever had with a company. Wish I had read all the negative Yelp reviews before hiring them.

TLDR: J. Blanton charged $2200 for 1 hour of work (by 1 plumber) to unclog and change the PVC piping under our kitchen sink. Multiple callbacks promised to discuss the charge were not received. A partial refund was ultimately provided – much smaller than requested or fair.

Full story: Our sink and dishwasher had been backing up, and the J. Blanton employee (Lawrence) who came out to provide a quote made it sound like the repair would be a complex, 4-hour job. They required a 50% downpayment up front, and the work was done 2 days later. After seeing that it took only 1 hour, I requested a call from a manager to discuss the unreasonable quote. I was never called before my credit card was charged for the full amount, and I had to call more than once before I heard back from Damien, "the customer service person" (according to the phone receptionist). I asked if he thought the charge was reasonable, and he insisted that it was, since it was "a flat rate based on the job, not the time required." I requested a partial refund of ~$1800, and Damien said he would discuss this with someone else and call me back. He never called back, though. The next time I called, the receptionist told me they would provide a $336.85 "courtesy refund." I asked for another call from Damien and was told he would call, but once again, he didn't. I simply received an email with the final invoice (attached).

I did not receive any service from J Blanton; I only scheduled an estimate for installing a dishwasher in an existing, finished kitchen. Before even seeing the space, the plumber quoted me $2,400. For what is typically about a one‑hour job, this effectively implies an hourly rate of $2,400.

It seemed like an intentional “please go away” price. What’s frustrating is that when I scheduled the appointment, none of the customer service representatives mentioned that this type of work might fall outside their typical scope or that the pricing would be unusually high. In fact, they were very eager to book the estimate, and they rescheduled quickly when conflicts occurred—on their end.

When the plumber called to say he was on the way, he warned me that the job would likely cost around $2,400, which even he acknowledged was unreasonable. After more than a week of delays due to their schedule changes, I ultimately learned that installing a dishwasher and removing the old one would cost $2,400.

It seems like their scheduling team and field staff are not aligned on what types of jobs they should take on or what reasonable pricing looks like for smaller installations. If they coordinated better, they could avoid wasting time for both customers and employees and likely improve efficiency and profitability.

Just my two cents.

I don't recommend this company at all!! Their prices are high and quality of work low. The service is AWEFUL!! I purchased and had them install a tankless water heater in June (almost $10k). After installation it took several callbacks for the heater to work properly. Now 6 months later the brand new pump doesn't work. I called them to fix it, they have scheduled and rescheduled 4 times!!! This company thinks their customers are either independently wealthy or have the leisure of just taking time off work to sit home and wait for them ALL day. They won't even give you a 3 hour window....simply 8-5. So what do you get for patiently waiting (because you have no other choice....unless you spend more money), a "sorry, we need to reschedule". They didn't even call me, I had to call them when it was almost 6 pm and no one had showed. Truly UNBELIEVABLE. I DEFINITELY made the WRONG call but trust I won't do it again.

Update: After the multiple reschedules and a 3 week hiatus due to my travel schedule, they finally returned yesterday. Guess what? Yep, it's still not replaced. They sent out a sales guy not someone who could actually do the work!! I just DONE!! They were fully aware of the issue but decided to waste everyone's time. I was told that the issue would be covered under their warranty but that the warranty guy was out of the office. I would need to wait for him to contact me about replacement. He thought the earliest time could be Friday but more likely it would be sometime next week.....and so this SAD excuse for professional plumbing service continues.

Josh came out and was awesome! Hi communication was perfect!! Right around the promised time, he called and texted to let me know he was on his way and would arrive within the hour. 45 minutes later he arrived, inspected the issue, and walked me through what was needed and the price. He finished the work and showed me everything via camera and showed me an issue that could cause some additional repairs in the future. He was fast, thorough, and all on an early Saturday morning! Thank you Josh and J Banton!!

Christian came bright and early in negative temperatures for our maintenance appointment. He was super friendly and thorough - thanks!

Absolutely horrible experience. They convinced us to sign up for an annual membership which supposedly includes 24/7 coverage. As part of it they suggested an annual check-up (we did not have any issues with plumbing). The guy who came in was completely incompetent and broke our water heater which started leaking after his departure. We called that night for an emergency appointment as our basement was flooded and they said they didn’t have anyone available until the next day. Considering that the issue was created by their plumber this is completely unacceptable. during the visit I asked him to replace a valve on a drinking water filter and his response was “this is above my pay grade”, which should have been a red flag. They basically send incompetent sales people to your house who try to upsell you on some new work and actually create problems that didn’t exist. Stay away!

We were persuaded to sign up for an annual membership advertised during one of their visits which supposedly includes 24/7 emergency coverage. Despite having no existing plumbing issues J Blanton reached out and recommend an annual check-up as part of the membership. During the check-up their technician demonstrated a complete lack of competence and caused our water heater to break, resulting in a leak that began immediately after he left.

As soon as we we noticed water in the basement we called them and asked to come out right away. When we called for emergency service we were told no one was available until the following day despite the fact that their technician caused the issue. This directly contradicts their 24/7 coverage claims and is entirely unacceptable under any circumstances, let alone when the damage was of their making.

During the visit, I also asked the technician to look at something in the kitchen and
his response was, “That’s above my pay grade.” That comment alone should have been the warning sign.

This company appears to send unqualified, sales-driven technicians into homes to upsell unnecessary services while creating problems that did not previously exist. The result was damage, stress, and zero accountability.

Avoid this company. They are incompetent, misleading, and irresponsible

George came and solved our problems right away. They are a full service plumbing company. It was a relief to know that our problem would be solved. He’s also great with dogs.

So it’s Christmas Eve and my sewer is backed up😭. J. Blanton did not hesitate or cancel my appointment. George and Mike were excellent!! They were not rushed, answered all my questions. Very knowledgeable and honest, which goes a long way especially as a first time home owner and are a fantastic representation for the J. Blanton. (I hope some well deserved POT is in there near future) I will definitely spread the word of my reassuring, comforting, and professional experience with J. Blanton Plumbing as I go from party to party these next couple days.

Their pricing is VERY reasonable compared to other companies and professionalism exceeded expectations. I’m on the road to being a loyal customer and I’m excited for you, reading this review, to be too.

Scott B came out to do a full sewer scope and review options as we have a very old home with clay pipes. He was knowledge, professional, and extremely kind. He worked with us on pricing - very trustworthy and transparent! We’ve never had a bad experience with anyone from J. Blanton. Absolutely recommend!