Note: This post is 5 years old now and therefore out of date. Plumbers will have changed staff, suppliers, practices, improved or gotten lazy. The technique of using RatedPeople still applies, but recently I’ve been using TaskRabbit for little jobs and pre-tradesperson inspections. Alternatively, asking on local Facebook groups is often a great start.
It’s not easy finding a good plumber in Edinburgh, especially when you really need one in a hurry. In my experience, word-of-mouth recommendations are usually the best but not always possible. Not every plumber does every job and some jobs suit handymen rather than companies, while other jobs suit companies rather than handymen.

As it happens the website RatedPeople is designed to let you share the problem you need fixing, the plumbing you want to be done, with a community of traders for them to get back in touch with you. It’s how I found Bann Joinery, which is excellent, for the kitchen fitter project. Sometimes, though, you’d rather find the plumber yourself than simply share a problem and the random plumbers approach you.
Edinburgh Reviews dug into Rated People’s records and found there are only six plumbers in the whole of Edinburgh who average 5/5 stars after 30 or more reviews. Not every plumber in Edinburgh is in Rated People, of course, but let’s share these six.
A B Plumbing and Tiling
At the time of writing, they have 55 ratings and an average score of 5/5. You can see photographs of one of their projects and Get a Quote from the site.
Goldenhandz
Listed as “Freelance Handyman”, Goldenhandz looks to be a sole trader who can help with a variety of projects, including plumbing. Edinburgh Reviews wanted to learn a little more about this fellow and found his MyBuilder profile where he has %100 positive feedback. You can see examples of GoldenHandz’ work and Get a Quote.
JHDS Plumbing & Tiling
This plumber, as this post goes live, has an impressive 105 reviews on RatedPeople. The average score from all those customers? 5/5. That suggests a good plumber to me. The website has pictures of some of his work and a Get a Quote link.
Kennedy Brothers
A family-owned business and accredited installers for Worcester Bosch and Vaillant. These guys very much look people to turn to if you have a problem with your boiler. Over 30 reviews, a 5/5 average and photographs of their work (and what looks like some corporate shots) are online with a Get a Quote link.
Nelson Plumbing & Heating
A self-employed plumber previously with Haggart Plumbing and Heating in Morningside. Nelson Plumbing has over 9 years of experience and specialises in bathrooms. No pictures available but you and Get a Quote from the site.
Steven Stoddart Plumbing and Heating
A Gas Safe registered plumber with headquarters over in Baberton Mains. The company has over 20 years of experience in the plumbing and heating trade and is one of the few to maintain that 5/5 star rating over 30 or more recommendations on RatedPeople. Could Steven help you? Get a Quote.
That’s our alphabetical list of the plumbers in Edinburgh with this impressive combination of quantity and quality of recommendations.
Based on your experience who would you recommend for a plumber in Edinburgh? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Kennedy Brothers should NOT be on this list!!! Completely unreliable and terrible customer care. Contacted them to get a job done and got a quote. Agreed to come over and do the job the following week. Never contacted us or turned up. Re-arranged for Wednesday next week, but they never turned up or contacted us. This continued for the next couple of days. Until we gave up.
They never bothered to contact us and let us know they weren’t going to be able to make it on an agreed date and we had to keep chasing to get any response. Never once apologized for messing us about and didn’t seem to care.
Avoid at all costs!