Nic’s Plumbing opened in Seattle in 2026. That means we cannot show you a wall of five-star reviews, and we are not going to make one up. What we can do is tell you, in plain detail, exactly what you will see when a Nic’s technician comes to your house: three written prices before any work, a live map while the truck is on the way, runners on your floors, a permanent fix explained honestly, and photos of the work when it is done. Every line on this page is something you will witness yourself on the first job.
- Founded2026, Seattle, WA. New company, no invented history
- PricingGood / Better / Best, written and approved before work starts
- ArrivalA live tracking link when your technician is en route
- ProofBefore-and-after photos of every repair, sent to you
Why this page exists instead of a reviews page
If you own an older home in Queen Anne, Magnolia, Fremont or Ballard, you have probably been through the usual contractor story. The quote that grew once the wall was open. The “sometime between 8 and 5” window that ate a workday. Wet boots across a century-old fir floor. A patch sold as a fix, or a full replacement pushed when a single joint was the problem. And at the end, a bill with no explanation of what was actually done.
Reviews are supposed to protect you from that. The honest problem is that a company founded this year does not have any yet, and the dishonest answer would be to borrow some. So we built the visit itself to be the proof. Each part of the process below was chosen because it answers one of those fears directly, and because you can check it with your own eyes while we are in your house. If we do not do what this page says, you will know before we leave.
The five steps you will see on every job
Whether it is a dripping tub spout in a Wallingford bungalow or a whole-house repipe in a three-story foursquare, the visit runs in the same order. We call it Look, Options, Protect, Fix, Prove.
Look
We diagnose before we quote. That means tracing what your house actually has: galvanized or copper, a cast-iron stack or ABS, a clay side sewer, a seized main shutoff, whatever the last remodel left behind. You are welcome to follow along and ask questions the whole time.
Options
You get three written prices on your phone: Good, Better and Best, each with a plain description of what it includes and what it does not. You approve one before a single cut is made. The number you approve is the number on the invoice.
Protect
Before any tool comes out, the work path gets covered. Runners from the door to the work area, drop covers on surfaces and fixtures nearby, shoe covers on every entry. Original finishes are treated as the point of the job, not an obstacle to it.
Fix
The work itself, done the way we would want it done in our own house: the permanent repair where one is needed, tested before we call it finished, with any openings kept as small as the job allows and left clean and square.
Prove
Before we pack up, you get side-by-side photos of what we found and what we left, plus a plain-language note of what was done. Then the workspace is sanitized and the runners come up. The only trace of the visit should be the fix.
One more thing happens before step one. When your technician leaves for your house, you receive a tracking link. Tech en route · live map You watch the truck move across the map the way you would watch a ride or a delivery, so you can finish a meeting or walk the dog instead of sitting by the front window.
Six things you will see on your first job
- Three written, priced options before any work
- Your approval on your phone, then we start
- A live map of your technician on the way
- Runners, covers and shoe covers on every visit
- Before-and-after photos of every repair
- A permanent fix recommended over a patch, explained plainly
The zero-trace protocol, in detail
“We’re clean” is easy to say. Here is what it actually looks like when a Nic’s technician works in an older Seattle home, so you can watch for each piece.
- Floor runners first. Before tools or parts cross the threshold, runners go down along the whole path from the door to the work area. On original fir, oak or tile, this is the step that matters most, and it happens before anything else.
- Covers on what is nearby. Countertops, vanities, tubs, built-ins and anything under a ceiling or wall opening get covered. Old plaster produces fine dust; we plan for it rather than apologize for it.
- Shoe covers, every entry. Every time a technician comes back in from the truck, the covers go on again. It is a small habit, and it is the one homeowners notice first.
- Old parts leave with us. The removed pipe, the failed valve, the old heater: bagged, carried out along the runner, gone. You are welcome to see any of it before it goes.
- Sanitize, then pull the runners. The work area is wiped down and sanitized, then the covers and runners come up last so nothing tracks back across a clean floor.
Old-house note: why finishes come first
A pipe can be replaced. A 1910 fir floor, original tile, or a run of lath-and-plaster with the horsehair still in it cannot be bought again. That is why every step of the protocol is aimed at the house, not at tidiness for its own sake. If you have a finish you are especially worried about, tell us when you book and we will plan the route and the openings around it. Our old-home repiping page shows how this thinking shapes a full repipe.
Live tracking: watch the truck, not the clock
You already track your rides and your dinner. There is no reason a plumber should be the one service that still asks you to block off half a day. When your technician is dispatched, you get a link that shows their location and estimated arrival, updated as they drive. If Seattle traffic does what it does on the Fremont Bridge or Mercer Street, you will see it on the map rather than wonder. Please do keep your phone nearby: the technician will also message you if anything about the arrival changes.
Photo documentation: what you get after every job
Most plumbing happens inside a wall, under a floor or in a crawlspace you will never visit. Photos are how you get to see it anyway. On every job, large or small, the technician photographs what they found and what they left, and you receive the pairs side by side with a short description.
The problem as we found it: the corroded joint, the scale inside a cut section of galvanized pipe, the root mass on the sewer camera, the rusted tank fitting, the crack in the drain line. Plus the room before we started, runners down and finishes covered.
The same spot with the repair complete: the new fitting or line in place, the test result, the labeled shutoff, the camera view of a clear pipe. Plus the room as we left it, cleaned, sanitized, runners gone.
Our honesty policy
This is the part you cannot check with a photo, so we will state it plainly and let the visit back it up.
- Permanent fixes over patches. When a repair will only postpone the same failure, we say so and recommend the fix that ends it. When a patch really is the sensible choice, we say that too. Both go in writing in the tiers.
- No upsell pressure. Good, Better and Best exist so you can choose, not so we can push the top one. Nobody at your kitchen table is on commission for the size of the job.
- No “today-only” prices. Your written quote is good for a reasonable time so you can think, compare, and ask someone you trust.
- We will say when it is not us. If the pressure problem is on the utility side, or the right answer is a different trade, you will hear that instead of a sales pitch.
- We will say when it is on the house. If the fix does not hold, tell us, and we come back and make it right.
What a plumber visit often feels like, and what ours is built to feel like
| Moment | The experience homeowners tell us about | What you will see with Nic’s Plumbing |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | A four-hour window and a wasted morning | A live tracking link when the tech is en route |
| The quote | A verbal number that changes once the wall is open | Three written tiers, approved on your phone before work |
| Your floors | Boots, dust, and a “sorry about that” | Runners, covers and shoe covers before any tool comes out |
| The recommendation | Either the cheapest patch or the biggest job | The permanent fix explained, with the patch option shown honestly |
| The work | Something happened behind the drywall | Before-and-after photos of the exact spot |
| The invoice | Surprise line items | The number you approved |
See the process for yourself.
Tell us what is going on with the house. We will look, send Good, Better and Best options in writing, and start only when you say so.
Where to go next
How the free Good / Better / Best quote works
What the three tiers mean, how you approve one, and why the approved number is the invoice.
What to expect on a first visit
A walk-through of the day itself, from the tracking link to the photos, for anyone booking a plumber for the first time.
About Nic’s Plumbing
Who we are, why we started in 2026, and why old Seattle houses are the point.
Old-home pipe mitigation and repiping
The job where this process matters most: galvanized out, new lines in, finishes protected throughout.
The same five steps run on sewer line and trenchless repair, water heater installation, heavy-rain drainage work and everyday service calls and fixture repair, in every neighborhood we serve. See all service areas.
Questions about how a visit works
What should I expect from a plumber visit with Nic’s Plumbing?
A tracking link while the technician drives over, a diagnosis you can watch, three written prices to approve on your phone, runners and covers on your floors and finishes before work starts, the repair itself, and side-by-side photos of what was done before we leave. The workspace is sanitized on the way out. That is the whole visit, and it runs the same way on a small repair as on a large job.
You opened in 2026. Why should I trust a new plumbing company?
You should not have to take it on faith, which is why the process is built to be checked in person. Every promise on this page happens in front of you: the written tiers arrive before work, the runners go down before tools come out, the photos land on your phone before we drive away. If any of that does not happen, you will know on the first visit, and so will we. Read more about why we started on our about page.
Do the runners and covers really come out for a small job?
Yes. A dripping faucet in a Ballard bungalow gets the same runner from the door, the same covers on the vanity, and the same shoe covers as a whole-house repipe. The protocol is a habit, not a package that scales with the invoice. It is also the easiest part of this page to verify: watch what happens in the first two minutes after the technician walks in.
Is there a fee to come out and look?
The quote is free. We look at the problem, explain what we found, and send Good, Better and Best options in writing. You decide whether to go ahead and which tier fits, and no work starts until you approve one. If you decide not to proceed, that is fine; you keep the diagnosis and the written options either way. Details are on the free quote page.
What if the technician finds something else once the work starts?
Old houses do hold surprises, which is exactly why we diagnose thoroughly first and why the tiers are written down. If something genuinely new turns up, work pauses, the technician shows you what they found, and you get a revised written option to approve or decline. Nothing is added to the invoice that you did not approve on your phone first.
Do I need to be home for the visit?
For the first look and the quote, yes, or someone who can make decisions for the house should be there. Because you approve the tier on your phone and receive the photos the same way, you can step out during the work itself if you prefer. The tracking link tells you when the technician is arriving, and the photo set tells you what happened while you were out.