David

Testimonials

I would have needed to take out a second mortgage on my house if Cristobal hadn’t helped us with our sewer problem. When I look at all of the places in my basement and yard that Cristobal worked to repair my sewer line, I see the labor of love they offer. I have many responsibilities caring for loved ones that make my disposable income very limited. Our house is over 100 years old and has ongoing plumbing issues.

Growing up in a low-income immigrant family and having a lot of responsibilities, I have a lot of anxiety about having a home where I can rejuvenate and feel safe. It makes such a difference that we have a relationship with our plumber. I know People’s Plumbing won’t take advantage of me, and in fact, it’s the opposite - we have honest conversations about what’s in front of us, talk about our resources, and find solutions together.

I think a lot about how much I can give financially to People’s Plumbing and what it means to live generously. I’m excited to pay it forward to support People’s Plumbing and people who need help with plumbing issues. I want to be part of a community where we show each other more care, where we go beyond thoughts and prayers and improve actual material conditions. People’s Plumbing is helping to build this community. 

I love the way Cristobal works! They are one of the few people to be like me and actually read the manuals for things -- with the water heater manual read, I was confident that I'd get a proper installation. I also really appreciate the meticulous care they take in making sure they've done things correctly -- for example, drying off a connection that's just been made, and then waiting 15 minutes to make sure it remains dry, so even the slightest leak would be detected and could be corrected if it occurred (though I've yet to see one occur!). Bottom line, I feel grateful to have had Cristobal's plumbing help, and I know others do and will continue to, as well.

I want to tell other people about People’s Plumbing because plumbing is a service that we need and deserve. No one should have their life turned upside down because of a plumbing issue, but ours would have been if it weren’t for Cristobal. When our plumbing emergency first happened, my immediate thought process was to 1) call an expert because we don’t know much about plumbing, 2) spend money we don’t have to fix the problem, and 3) make wholesale changes to our life because of all the money we spent. So, I called a large national plumbing company. A plumber, basement remediation specialist, and supervisor came to our house and tried to understand the problem. They told us they’d need to demolish a hole in our basement, dig down 3-4 feet, and open the sewer line. This alone would cost $11,200, and they told me this was a discount, down from what it normally would be, a staggering $13,800. What’s more, they didn’t know how big the problem actually was and they would potentially need to excavate our front yard to get to the sewer there, too, adding even more dollar signs. 

We felt overwhelmed and resigned. We don’t have that kind of money but need working plumbing. My partner and I talked, reconsidering everything we thought was going to be part of our domestic life together. Maybe we won’t get married. Maybe we don’t have kids. Instead, we pay this huge corporation to fix our plumbing. This was very emotional for us and we reached out to friends and family to let them know what was going on. Then, we received a message from our friend Cristobal saying he used to be a licensed plumber in California–we had no idea. 

Wanting to help, Cristobal came over and really demystified the whole problem. They explained how the plumbing works, what to do for basement remediation, and why the company shouldn’t be charging us so much. What was really meaningful was we not only got the work done, but Cristobal also helped me understand what was happening. I was able to shadow Cristobal and helped with the steps because I wanted to, like digging and going to a plumbing supply store to buy parts we needed. Everything was transparent. Decision making was done together as opposed to me having to make really hard decisions on my own, not having all the information, or trusting a profit-hungry company on what needs to be done. That was really big for me. It was both reassuring to know that I was making choices with someone who knew what they were talking about and also empowering me to make smart choices regarding my home.

Now, I have a far better idea of how the plumbing in my house works. I find it freeing to really understand how waste travels away from my home. I have a better understanding of how the plumbing works to be better equipped to not be taken advantage of in the future. 

We’ve talked about this experience with other people and have been met with so many stories about plumbing woes and huge quotes. We were amazed we never heard these stories before. We realized so many of us are resigned to “this is just the way things are,” resigned to not having expertise and thus needing to rely on someone else to fix something for us for a huge amount of money. Now, I am excited that I have a better idea of how the plumbing at my house works. I am excited that an anti-capitalist worker cooperative is doing this kind of work for our community. 

If we had gone with the expensive, national plumbing corporation, our lives would have been turned upside down by paying huge sums of money to fix our problem. Most of that money wouldn’t have even gone to the workers. With People’s Plumbing, we know that we will get our plumbing problems fixed in a transparent, caring way and that every financial contribution we make will support the workers and future participants.