New homeowner says unlicensed plumber botched job

Editor’s note: Denver7 seeks audience tips and feedback to help people in need, solve problems, and hold those in power accountable. If you know our call center has a community need, or have a story idea for our investigation team, please email us at [email protected] or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact Denver7 stories here.

WHEAT RIDGE, Colorado – A new homeowner said she hired a man who claimed to be a plumber, but after months of frustration and $ 900 she found out he didn’t even have a valid license.

Lacey Gasner contacted Denver7 because she wanted to warn others. She recently bought a new house and found there was a leak when she moved in. Gasner said the seller’s real estate agent hired a man named Matias Pizarro to fix the problem.

“It seemed like he did a good job,” said Gasner. “He came right away so I had a positive experience with him.

A few months later, she discovered stagnant water in the crawl space and called Pizarro to see if he could come out to see it.

“He made me an offer that seemed fair based on the other prizes I got and he said he could do it all in a week,” said Gasner.

Gasner said he promised to install a sump pump, but things went downhill quickly. She hired Pizarro in July and said the project had dragged on for months.

“He kept apologizing for not being able to come back and he needed other roles,” said Gasner. “We made an appointment over a dozen times that he would come and finish work and he wouldn’t show up.”

Gasner said he came back to her home in early October and was back working on the sump pump. She said he told her everything was fine when he left that day. After he finished, she described hearing a loud screeching noise from the sump pump. When Gasner opened the crawl space to check it out, she said there was trash left and the sump pump was not working.

“I called him right away and texted him and said, ‘Hey, you have to come back. Something’s wrong.’ And all day he said he was on his way back and never came back, “said Gasner.

Contact Denver7 learned that Pizarro does not have a valid plumber’s license. According to officials from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Pizarro had an apprentice license that expired in March 2016. You can check to see if someone has a professional license on this state website.

Even with an apprentice license, Colorado law requires that person be directly supervised by a licensed plumber.

“It gives plumbers and service workers a bad rap. We’re not all like that,” said Vincent Stout, a licensed plumber who eventually installed a new sump pump in Gasner’s crawl space.

Contact Denver7, Pizarro called to ask why he was working without a license.

He replied, “What does that matter? Are you the state?”

Gasner shared a post on Nextdoor social media website in which Pizarro replied to someone looking for a plumber. He said he was a plumber and had been doing this for 25 years.

“As far as I work without a license, I don’t work for a company, I don’t own a company,” said Pizarro. “I help people on Nextdoor.”

Gasner now has a working sump pump and an anhydrous crawl space thanks to Stout with Vinny’s Plumbing. When he heard what had happened, he offered to donate his labor to finish the work. He said Pizarro had the wrong type of sump pump installed and it was not connected properly.

“He had the wrong pump for the application and it was piped incorrectly,” said Stout.

A spokesman for DORA said he was aware of a complaint regarding Pizarro.

You might also like

Comments are closed.