Joseph C Sand Company

The service could not have been better. Bob is a great texter/​communicator and the quality of his work and prices could not be beat. I am more than satisfied and would not hesitate to recommend him.

I’ve used this company for over 20 years, including when Joseph himself still ran the business with two of his sons, one being Bob, who has has taken over in recent years. I take no issue with Bob’s skilled work, but have been very disappointed with his lack of interest, energy, professionalism, and last time, his neglecting to answer my calls regarding a very clogged drain in my bathtub with standing water.
I called on a Monday to schedule a visit for any day that week but Thursday. He called back Monday eve saying to call him again. And I did, repeatedly, for 5 more days. No response. I asked in my messages if he was unable to schedule a visit this week to please let me know as soon as possible so I could resolve this disgusting, dirty, germy situation and be able to use my shower and bath again. NO RESPONSE at all.
I now read the reviews and see he has pulled this with other jobs. I think he is very low energy and is simply burnt out. Doersn;t seem to care about his customers, even myself, after 20 years of using only his business and having referred hom to numerous others. I called 4 of the people I referred his busoness, to, and one of them was horribly disappointed with his poor work and very high charge for what was less than 15 minutes on the job. She has since gotten a new plumber, as will the other three after hearing our tales.
It is too bad that he seems to care so little for long term customers. He could have at least shown the courtesy to return my call, especially since I described in detail the situation and need for immediate attention.
I miss his father, a much more professional demeanor and prompt responses. But this kind of behavior and lack of accountability will not fly.
Find yourself another more responsible and energetic plumber.

All the units in our condo complex had to be brought up to code and some repairs had to be made to the plumbing. Joseph C Sand Co did the work and very well. Professional and efficient service.

I have found myself very fortunate to have Bob Sand as my plumber now. He is honest and reasonably priced. He schedules and keeps to his schedule always maintaining positive communication. Bob is awesome he’s my plumber for life.

I had problems with my water heater and thought it needed to be replaced. I called Joseph C. Sand and left a message. Bob Sand called me back soon, asked me what the problem was, and said he thought it probably just needed a repair. He repaired it for much less cost than I had anticipated — and far less cost than a new water heater. The next day he called to make sure it was working well, as he would be out of town for a few days, and wanted to make sure it was okay. I have never had better service, and highly recommend this company.

Joseph C Sand Company does sub-​par work, and patently unprofessional.
The plummer managed to leave my sink worse off after working on it, and over-​charged me for the privilege.
Joseph Sand never corrected the problem (he didn’t even return my calls).
Save yourself a real headache: go elsewhere.

?
After reading all the positive reviews on Unilocal,I thought I’d give them a try.
I left a vm midday: I got a call back by the end of the day, confirming my requested time:2 days later for a drippy kitchen sink.
Confirmed date & time comes: nothing. I had already taken time off to have PGE come out for another issue, so I wasn’t too stressed. But when I didn’t get a return call or anything within 4 hours of our scheduled service call, I was bummed.
I left a message for him at 45 mins late.
Then I left another message for him 5 hours later, requesting a rescheduled appointment.
nothing.
Now, days later, no courtesy: Sorry I messed up, let’s reschedule call.
Bizarre.

We found Bob Sand when we moved into the neighborhood… years ago. Every time we’ve called we’ve had prompt, reliable, high quality and reasonably priced service. It’s a few years since we needed plumbing help, but when we do Joseph C Sand (and Bob) will be at the top of our list.

I searched Unilocal for a plumber, found Mr. Sand and contacted him to install an earthquake gas shut-​off valve. He responded promptly to my call, was polite, answered all my questions thoroughly, quoted a fair price and installed the valve as promised on the agreed-​upon day.
When I had a follow-​up question a few months later — unrelated to his work — he called me back and told me what I needed to know.
Can’t get much better than that, I don’t think! I’ll call him first if I need additional plumbing work.

I lived in a flat for 7 years with a toilet that clogged a couple of times a month. I got a new toilet, same problem. After I moved out, some friends moved in and the toilet clogged at least once a week. We all became expert plungers. We had numerous plumbers come out to snake the toilet over the years.
Finally, I called Bob and he was the only person in 9 years that fixed the toilet. I’ve been back in the flat for 3 months and not a single clogged toilet! He’s done other jobs for me like installing a dishwasher, fixing leaky sinks, etc, but I am most impressed that it took him 20 minutes to fix a problem that that no one else bothered to figure out.
He’s honest, efficient and I highly recommend his work.

I found Joseph C Sand Company because of the high reviews and used his services a few months ago. We called him to clear a very slow shower drain that became completely blocked once I tried to clear it myself.
I made an appointment for the next day, since I didn’t consider this an emergency and we had another shower to use in the meantime. Bob was courteous and punctual and had the drain cleared in short order.
Unfortunately, two days later, the shower drain blocked again. I called Bob to ask him to return to re-​clear the drain. He was there punctually again and cleared my drain again (at no additional charge) and it has stayed clear since.
I found Bob to be extremely competent and his rate seemed reasonable.

For decades the property owner in my rental has been using Bob for all the plumbing needs in our building. He has always been prompt and has done a good job in a short period of time. If he needs additional parts, he gets them and returns quickly. He is polite and clear in his communication. I often know what the bill was and it has been very reasonable. He does not leave a terrible mess either, which is nice.
The property owner usually tries to pass the plumbing costs on to me, saying it was my fault. Due to this, I make a point of asking Bob if I have done anything to cause the problem, and except for one time when there was a hair issue due to no catch in the drain, our use has had no impact on the problems. I have told him why I ask this question and since I am not the one paying him, it would not have surprised me if he hedged his answer. He never does though. This causes me to believe that in addition to doing good work at good prices, he values his own word over the dollar, making him highly credible.

We are a property management company and ONLY use Bob Sand for our plumbing needs. We have NEVER been disappointed. I believe our company used them when his dad was there so it’s been a LOOOOOONG time. He is fair, honest, reliable and my favorite — ON TIME!

Bob has been our buildings plumber for years now and I can’t think of using anyone else. This guy is the real deal. I say no more.

*** I am upgrading Bob to the full five starts. I had him out for more plumbing issues and well he earned it. ** June 2011
Previous message: Pretty happy with my Joseph C Sand plumbing experience. Worked with Bob Sand — Seemed like a fair guy. Gave me a fair quote, told me he thought that we didn’t need the more aggressive and expensive fix that I was quoted by another plumber. AND so far so good! I would TOTALLY call Joseph C Sand Co. again.
Its hard to find a someone you think is fair and that counts for a lot with me.

This company has been in business for 115 years. I wonder why …
Okay, I actually have a couple of observations. As far as I can tell, it’s a one-​man operation: his whole business depends on his reputation. His reputation is very, VERY good.
I hired Bob for the first time recently. I had saved up a few problems that were beginning to become too annoying to ignore. Not only did he address all the problems I asked him too, he addressed a couple more. I was in a different room so I didn’t even know. When was the last time you hired someone who did MORE than you asked? And didn’t charge extra? Actually, I know the answer: sometime in the 1950s.

Finding an honest and qualified service or maintenance professional is hard to come by. It’s the one thing I count on Unilocal helping me find.
My gas fireplace stopped working. And Bob Sand came through to fix it. He was thorough in his analysis (and presentation of options), worked efficiently to fix the problem (w/​o unnecessary add-​ons or up-​sells), and gave a really reasonable rate.
Five stars.

Bob has been my plumber for 16 years and he is the best. Honest, reliable, fast, reasonable. I almost hate to recommend him out of selfishness. You cannot find better.

One of the properties I manage has twenty-​three sinks, two of which began overflowing into the second-​floor roof one day. One plumbing company came and told us we had to address the pipes on the outside of our building before the problem would be solved. Instead, Bob Sands showed up the next day and had the problem solved in a half hour. He arrived on time, finished quickly, and called to give me the appropriate update. Five stars. We’ll be using him in the future.

A couple of months ago we had a small gas leak in our living room fireplace, it was an old valve that we had been told had been capped. Well, it wasn’t and it had a small leak that was noticeable. We called PG&E, but they never came by. Bob Sands was recommended to us by another plumber who wasn’t able to come out to us. Bob showed up early the next morning, and fixed the leak with minimal disruption to our wall and day. His rate was more than reasonable. He was a great plumber if you ever need one.