My gas water heater was 14 years old and intermittently leaking from the bottom in the summer of 2016 and needed replacement. The water heater was a standard elevated setup in my garage with auxiliary components in seemingly decent condition (gas/water lines, vent pipes, expansion tank and aluminum stand). Beyond building code updates or necessary configuration changes I was not anticipating a lot of ancillary costs, and had initially researched the average retail cost of the heater itself.
After getting a crazily exorbitant quote of nearly $2800 with tax from my regular heating and cooling company (who have serviced my furnace for years) I decided to seek an alternative. That's where Mike comes in. His pleasant smile and numerous positive Yelp reviews gave me immediate reassurance, and his office was able to provide a quote over email based on digital photos and a detailed description of the model and installation. Their estimate? $1660 plus tax! Nearly a grand of savings, with a detailed cost breakdown and a promise to reuse as much of the old components as possible. The prior estimate provided _no_ breakdown at all, just 2 different fixed costs for the 2 water heater options available (differing by insulation but with the same 6 year warranty) and the assumption that all the related components would be replaced (they spun that as a positive feature). It's nice to see exactly where your money is going, especially when it's towards a big ticket price. My mechanic does that -- why not my plumber?
I quickly scheduled an appointment with Mike and he showed promptly on the day and time set (despite the snowfall, even). He and his assistant Cody worked quickly and efficiently to drain, remove and replace the old heater, upgrading the water lines and fittings along the way, with a new stand and expansion tank to boot (the new heater is a bit wider than the old one). They were done in 2 hours time and were polite and pleasant in every way, and happy to answer any questions or explain any work done. As promised, they reused what components they could -- avoiding any replacement of the vent piping, for example. The upgrades they performed made sense and were reasonably priced: brass water lines and fittings, stainless steel flex hose, etc.
In the end the final cost was actually a bit cheaper than their estimate by about 50 bucks. After the sticker shock from the first company I had done a little research on my own and figured my brother and I could do the job ourselves for around a thousand dollars total, parts included. In the end that's about what Mike charged me, with some labor on top and the assurance that I'm getting this done correctly and up to current building safety code spec. I gladly wrote a check for the peace of mind of a quality and professional installation.
Based on this experience I can heartily recommend Mike and his team for anyone that faces a similar job and for whom quality *and* price are important considerations. These shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive criteria.
I know I plan to use them in the future for any plumbing related jobs that are too big or too complex to want to tackle on my own. read more