Highly recommend! On the recommendation of a neighbor we called Josh on a Saturday afternoon when we noticed our hot water heater leaking. He immediately talked us through some points over the phone, after which he offered to come out early the next day to save us issues with additional water damage. Seriously, who does that on a weekend? Well, Josh does. He came out early Sunday as promised, cordial, professional, got the job done! He's our new "go-to-guy" for plumbing. That says it all. Thanks, Josh! read more

I notice our water heater was leaking near noon on a Friday. I called, left a message, and received a return call from Josh within half an hour. He first discussed whether we should try to fix or replace the water heater. When I made it clear that it was leaking badly, he quoted a reasonable price and promised to install a new water heater at a specified time. He arrived promptly and successfully installed the water heater. read more

Josh came out on a Sunday morning in the rain to deal with a plumbing issue. So grateful!

Josh saved the day on the 4th of July. We had some problems with the toilet water filling properly. Within an hour, he was at our place and shortly after had it fixed. Honestly amazing service on a normal business day, never mind that it was a holiday. On top of that, we told him about an issue in our kitchen with a lighting fixture and he fixed that up for us free of charge. Highly recommend Josh, seems like he is a master of a lot of different tasks which you may not be able to do yourself. read more

Wow, I can't say enough good things about Josh; he's courteous, on time, silly, so knowledgeable in so many other fields and to top it all off... with great rates! Josh is a true lifesaver & I can't wait for him to come back to help me with my other disasters!!!! read more

Josh just left my condo after saving my wife and I thousands of dollars on a water heater repair. We're new homeowners, and were a little overwhelmed by the process of attending to our lack of hot water since move-in. We tried going through the home warranty, only to find out we had a very unique and largely out of date style of heating unit that was far past its prime. Multiple contractors came out to look at this thing, stumped or quoting thousands of dollars in replacement costs. Our realtor put us in contact with Josh, and he was incredibly communicative and quick to respond throughout the whole process. When he was able to look at the unit himself, he was able to find the root of the problem and get the thing running again, and provided an exceptionally fair rate for how much attention he gave us and the efforts he put in to get our problem solved. You can trust Josh to think of your needs first and find the fairest solution for your problem. We'll absolutely be contacting him again as soon as we need his services! read more

Ok, so it's 2 days before Thanksgiving and I decide to put a whole bag of kale down the garbage disposal... (not a good idea, I don't recommend it) Anyway, my kitchen sink decided it was not going to drain after that, and after trying some home remedies (boiling water, baking soda/vinegar, etc.) it was still not draining. Around 10:30pm I decide to try and run the garbage disposal to clear some of the water, and each time I do I hear what sounds like a little waterfall near by, but I can't find it. Not under the sink, not in the bathroom the next wall over, so my husband crawls under the house to look because he hears it too each time, and we realize the noise is coming from the laundry room. To my horror, the whole floor (including under washer/dryer) is flooded with kale and cous cous pipe puke which had shot out the pipe our washer drains into... It did not smell good... Time to call the professionals. Called a couple places the next morning and they were either busy or not available, then called Josh and he answered right away and said he could be over in an hour! My hero!!! After 3 hours of trouble shooting our wonky pipes (apparent hack job remodels before we bought) and climbing on the roof to snake from a vent up there, he got it! So grateful for his experience and sense of humor. Plus he was super sweet to my kiddos who were home at the time, he's got fans for life here now. Thanks again Josh. I hope to only bump into you at the grocery store in the future, but if we ever need help again, we're definitely calling you! read more

The top 5 reasons I will be calling again for future plumbing needs: 1) talking to a real human 2) came on time - was super communicative 3) fixed my sink quickly at a fair price 4) awesome to work with - personality for days 5) just book with him - you 100% won't regret it Bonus: was great with my dog :) read more

I had a leak under my kitchen sink that a tried fixing myself. But after a few tries with no avail, I decided to seek professional help. I found Josh via a recommendation from my neighbor. She sang his praises so I gave him a call. Josh picked up right away on a Friday afternoon, asked me to send photos and then was able to come out that same day. He arrived within the scheduled timeframe and was able to resolve the issue quickly and at a fair price. Thank you, Josh. read more

I will try to be as objective as I can with the review: Positive Comments: 1) Josh and Chris did fix the problem I called them for i.e. the clog on the drain in the bathroom sink; 2) I appreciated that they fixed the problem with the light in the kitchen, even if they were initially called to fix the clogged drain; 3) Josh is friendly and thorough with explaining with what he thought was the problem and how he was going to fix it; 4) Chris was more focusing on getting the work done. Negative Comments: 1) Josh was at times too friendly it made me uncomfortable at times; 2) His friendliness was distracting to the work he was supposed to do; 3) At times I was required to assist with the work; 4) Josh and Chris left saying that they needed to get parts and do some other work - I was charged while they were gone, which I didn't think was right since they did mention that they went to other jobs. Josh did give me a discount, however since they went to other places to work, it's not really a discount. But I paid it since I felt the amount charge with the so called discount even out the price; 5) Yesterday I read that the license has not been renewed. I checked the status and to this date this has not been renewed. I was a bit troubled by this, although I do somewhat take responsibility for not checking prior to calling them. Steps I should have done: 1) Read more of the reviews; 2) Request for an estimate; 3) Check other sources; 4) Check for licenses or state requirements; and 5) Not procrastinate with the problem. Hope this helps. read more

Josh is the man- I called him and he came out same day and fixed both my toilet and tub in less than an hour. He walked me through everything too and explained what to keep an eye out for next time. He was fast, hilarious, professional, and extremely knowledgable. If I have any other needs, I'll definitely call on him again-- highly recommend! read more

Josh is a trooper. My sewage ejector pump was broken, and to top it off there was a significant crack in the effluent line with sewage shooting out. This was not a simple a leak under the sink type of job. Josh showed up within an hour and got to work right away and job was finished by next day. Two months later, no leaks, and a functional pump in place. read more

Josh is not a good plumber at all I would recommend not hiring him for anyting I called to have my sewer line unplugged on a Saturday his words to me that he wasn't going to charge me weekend rates he would give me a discount. It ended up costing me $398 and some odd cents for absolutely nothing he never unplugged thedrain. I had to call in another plumber to fix it. When I called Josh on Monday morning and told him what happened his words to me was the plumber that fixed it was a fuck head and I'm an old grouchy son of a bitch this is Josh the plumbers words he used the F-word in front of my wife in front of my sister-in-law and had no business attitude at all. I called him to see if he was willing to give me half my money back and what he told me was I ordered the hamburger and ate it and that I was a grouchy old son of a bitch and a a fuck head. Do not call this man for anyting read more

I came home the Thursday before 4th of July to find our downstairs bathroom was flooded. It's 4:30 in the afternoon before a 3 day weekend. Josh was at our house two hours later and would not leave until the job was done right. Assumed given the last minute unscheduled visit, this was going to cost an arm and a leg. To be clear, it wasn't cheap but given the amount of work that needed to be done, I could not be happier. Qualify work is hard to find and... I've found my plumber... read more

Josh installed a water softener for our home. He was on time, very informative, and very kind. He was able to come to soon after we called. He explained the process and our water is Amazing! He taught us how to change the filters and did extra then he really needed to do to ensure we understood it all. Will definitely be using his services again and would highly recommend Josh! read more

Recommend! Had troublesome low water pressure in bathroom. Checked on pipes beneath the house and found a lot of corrosion in the galvanized pipe joints. Had one plumber look at things. He gave a $6500+ estimate to replace the galvanized with copper, replace the older water heater, replace fixtures in the bathroom which would mean opening up walls. Called another plumber, made an appointment, they never showed up, never called, never returned my call. Called Josh for a second opinion. He not only did trouble shooting in the bathroom and quickly fixed the water pressure issue without opening walls, but also determined I had copper already in the bathroom- so the whole "replacement" scare and construction was unnecessary. For a few hundred $$ he saved me thousands plus the misery of construction. I still need the galvanized replaced, but he took me though what I would need, explained the process and pointed out where the pipes had critical problems and what would be involved at a much more reasonable price now that I don't need the bath fixed. Josh returns calls promptly, shows up and/or calls when he says he will, and is customer service sensitive. Excellent communication, and kindly fixed a few other non-plumbing issues I had (on the clock but I was grateful he was even willing to do them). read more

Josh saved me $7000 by finding the cause of low water pressure and no hot water in 2 sinks. We were being quoted thousands of dollars to do repiping throughout the whole house, by other plumbing companies. He actually cared about saving me as much money as possible by looking for the blockages...instead of doing complete copper. Josh is a nice guy and I highly recommend his company. read more

Josh is truly a gem to work with. I stumbled upon his business and called him as I was truly having a crisis!! It was a little bit late but I knew I had to get it fixed before I would be able to catch a flight that same day. I called and Josh came right over and handled the situation like a pro. It's people like him that make you believe that humanity isn't dead. Very knowledgeable, prompt, and extremely thorough. HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM FOR ALL HOME SERVICES !!!! read more

I called Josh. He was busy but promised to get to me by the end of the day. He got to me by the end of the day and went to work on the leak at the front of my house which I had been trying to repair for days. of course, he has the tools and parts and experience that I don't have. So it didn't take him long to solve the problem. He was fast and reasonable and I finally have a permanent solution to my Plumbing problem which has been jerry-rigged for years. Thanks Josh! read more

We had a plumbing emergency mid-day and the owner, Josh, was willing to come out within the hour. He fixed the problem quickly & efficiently, explained everything in detail, and gave us a great price. We will definitely be calling him again whenever a problem may arise, and not just for plumbing as he is a general contractor and can handle just about anything. He's been in the business for years, and his knowledge and efficiency are invaluable to his customers. read more

Was told this was a licensed plumber, seems the CA State License Board doesn't agree with them... No license + no bond = no hire. Check the the CA State License Board for yourself... Expire Date: 10/31/2007 License Status: This license is expired and not able to contract at this time. Contractor Name: MONTCLAIR PLUMBING Also... Does not accept credit cards. But will demand to follow you to the ATM (Creepy). read more

I want to begin by addressing the main theme in negative reviews. Why? Because I often read those first. People have pointed that Josh talks a lot, and at times unprofessionally. That's spot on. But you'll also find that the reviews consistently point out he knows what he's doing, works honestly, works hard, and for an honest reasonable rate. Do you really care if your plumber talks a lot? Did you invite him over for a beer or to fix your problem? Do you want to pay a premium for a plumber who is fun to talk to? He came to our home at 10pm and immediately diagnosed our issue. We had just purchased a home and found that the upward section of our main sewer-bound drainage pipe had been severed. This reduced the pressure downward which led to blockage, which in turn caused the water to flush backwards up through the open pipe and flood into the basement. He also immediately diagnosed the appropriate fix, attempted it, and then planned an innovative plan of attack for the next day. As promised, he showed up at 8am the next morning with everything that was needed. His 35 years of experience led him to solve the situation within an hour, and he charged us a rate that amazed everybody we told. I highly recommend his work. As for his banter, just decide whether you care about that in your plumber and act accordingly. read more

This guy knows what he's doing (and he'll tell ya himself!). He cleared our bathtub blockage and showed us how to fix our shower temp issue in about 30 min. He never stops talking (No joke, both on the phone and then when he came to the house, he literally chatted us up until he was pulling his truck away, hilarious.) , but it's all interesting, and he gets the job done super quick. He's pretty close to my neighborhood and reasonably priced. I'm sold, and will call him with any future issues. read more

Josh was incredible in the recent "atmospheric river" event. Our home's sump pump and drainage systems were overcome, and our first floor flooded. Josh got to us quickly with the right equipment, saved the day and thousands of dollars. Josh went the extra miles, stayed with us past midnight cleaning up and left us an emergency pump for the night. Many thanks and no greater recommendation from our family. read more

Josh was timely, effective and very pleasant to work with. I highly recommend him if you have plumbing issues.

I almost rented a snake from the tool lending library for what I thought was a simple root/debris clog in my clean-out line. Thank god I was too icked-out by the thought of dealing with the mess and decided to have a professional handle the job. I spoke to a friend who recommended Josh and checked out the reviews here on Yelp. What I thought was a simple snake job turned out to be cracked and unaligned pipes and a previous "fix" that created angles in the pipes that even a camera couldn't maneuver around. Josh was very patient in explaining the situation, made sure that I saw the problem areas with my own eyes, and was honest about the long term effects of whatever course of action taken or not taken. According to Josh, I should never have to call him to come snake the clean-out line again. But should I need to call for another plumbing problem, he would be the guy I call. read more

Agreeing with other reviewers, Josh is a star. On a late Sunday evening we had a crisis and he showed up within 30 mins, diagnosed the problem quickly, got to work pronto, and got the messy problem resolved. He definitely knows his stuff and makes sure you know it too :) Fairly priced for the excellent service he provides. Definitely will call on him again - hopefully not in the next 5 years though! read more

Wow!! Josh saved my life--or at least my sanity. We had a ridiculous situation where our handyman had washed a bunch of grout down our drain and it hardened in our pipes. I got the trap cleared, but the sink still wasn't draining. Josh came out within a few hours of my calling, and climbed to the roof to snake out the pipe. Water drained from the sink... and out the seal that I'd inadvertently broken when clearing grout from the garbage disposal. Josh had to run to another service call, but came directly back afterward to finish our job. He replaced the seal for the garbage disposal, and everything is flowing and dry again. Josh was kind to my wife and kids, and didn't make me feel like an idiot. Even with the extra work of the leaky disposal seal, he charged a very reasonable price. We will be calling the next time we need plumbing or heating help. read more

Corteous, reasonable, punctual and highly skilled professional. Josh arrived on time, successfully concurred crazy glue and antiquated setup, took care of tiles and carpentry around newly installed fixture AND left the area spotlessly clean before departure. read more

The sewer pipe from my house broke and sewage was spewing into my back yard. Fortunately, Josh came within an hour, and even though it was late in the day and getting dark, he fixed the problem at a reasonable cost. He is a colorful personality, but you'll put up with his eccentricities because he's honest, knows what he is doing, and gets the job done. read more

We chose Josh at Montclair Plumbing based on reviews here and he did not disappoint. We had a very old garbage disposal and asked for a estimate to replace it. Josh asked lots of pertinent questions and then gave us a fair price estimate. He arrived just when he promised, replaced the old disposal and fixed a few ancillary problems and charged just about exactly what he had estimated. We would confidently call him again with future problems. read more

The company name says Rooter, Plumbing, Heating but Josh does so much more. He is a jack of all trades and an Ace of the trades as well. We have a rental property in Oakland and we call Josh for all our major and handyman needs. He's very professional and very courteous to our tenants. When Josh sets up an appointment he is always on time. We know when he leaves, the job is complete, and don't need to "check up" on his jobs. I highly recommend him for any work needed around the house. Thanks Josh for all your help! read more

Sunday afternoon plumbing emergency. Yeah, been there, done that, wrote favorable Yelp review, but we couldn't reach the guy we'd used before, so based on what we read on Yelp this time, we tried calling Josh at Montclair Rooter Plumbing and Heating. Josh analyzed, described, and fixed the situation. He explained in terms I could almost completely understand how in this case running the dishwasher and the washing machine had resulted in a sudden, dramatic, highly unpleasant backup in two toilets, two showers, and a bathtub. He also explained how some of the factors in the layout of the house and pipes have led to recurring problems, and identified some of the least intrusive ways to partially alleviate those problems. Then the surprise finale: Josh cleaned and sanitized the toilets, showers, and bathtub, and did it in about a quarter of the time that we were expecting it to take us once he was gone (and probably one and a half times as effectively). The several additional positive things I could add have already been said in other reviews here, so I'll save my energy and let the sentences I've already written and the five stars speak for themselves. read more

Reasonable ~ Reliable ~ Confident ~ Trustworthy I have my own house and some rental property - in other words I've had to deal with more than my fair share of plumbers. Josh was simply amazing. Worked with me both by text and phone to keep me in loop at all times. Supply line the house broke - the amateur gardener in me hit it with a spade. Josh asked all the right questions from the get go - "Is this an emergency, or can it wait until tomorrow?" I have every confidence that if it was an emergency, that he would have been at my house Tuesday evening when I called. Instead, he evaluated the situation with the information that I gave him, and assessed that it could wait a little. Totally reasonable. When he was able to get to my house, he let me know what was going on and approximately the cost to fix. When he ran into other issues with the original plumbing, he just handled it. I got a follow up call and felt like it was a very reasonable price for the work that was done. He left the old part for me to inspect (I was traveling for work) and left the work in a way that I could see what it was that he fixed. I am confident that I picked the right plumber. I'm having him come back next week to work on my heater before the winter sets in. You don't get service better than this. read more

Update - I have now had Josh out three times to do repairs and updates to some of the original late 1950s plumbing and fixtures in my house. He's got an amazing inventory of parts on his truck and that saves time and money because he doesn't have to go get them. All his (substantial!) work has been top notch and he always explains everything he's going to do, how much it's going to cost, and cleans up thoroughly when he's done. While he was here yesterday I asked him if he could replace my 18 year old water heater as I thought it was about time for a new one, but he said "we don't replace water heaters unless they don't heat or they leak, I'll flush and inspect it for you", saving me a lot of money and turning down a lot of money in his pocket because he didn't think it was necessary. Two thumbs up for Josh. I've been very happy with his work, my plumbing problems are solved at last. I could not be more pleased. read more

Josh was our LIFESAVER tonight. After being jerked around by our landlord for a month we finally began calling heating companies ourselves to get our heater fixed before friends visiting from out of town arrive this weekend. When I called, Josh answered almost immediately and when I explained the problem and the urgency, he said he could come the same night. He asked a ton of questions that my husband was able to describe and answer and we sent him pictures by text so he could fully see what he was getting into. When every guy before him was telling our landlord it would have to be fully replaced at quotes of $1200 and up, he came in wayyyyy under that and was able to repair the unit for us. He was also so kind to deal with our crazy and extremely difficult landlord by phone. He even ran to Home Depot to get a part when he realized the last guy had damaged a valve when trying to fix another part. All in all he was a godsend tonight and we are so grateful for the heat, just in the nick of time! The only thing I would note is that he has a bold and vibrant personality that we found endearing, hilarious, and honest while some people might find it off the cuff. He runs his business like a local Mom and Pop shop, but he clearly has many years of experience. And he will definitely ask you periodically to look at things - he wants you to understand the processes and see the honest work he's doing, some might find this disruptive, so don't call him over if you can't make time for him to do a thorough job. He is honest, hardworking, and extremely thorough - we are so thankful and will be calling Josh for any future heating or plumbing needs! read more

Like someone said, Josh never stops talking. He will explain what's wrong with your boiler, how it works, safety issues and even will test you at the end about his lecture. He knows what he's doing and tries very hard to fix the problem with minimum replacement. I really liked that he said we should keep our 100 years old boiler and not replace with new one. Others would just want to replace the whole thing without looking. Highly recommended. read more

Josh came to our rescue and saved our water heater which became submerged in two feet of water following one of our recent California monster storms. Blind luck lead me to go down into the basement that afternoon quickly before I left to pick up my boys from their respective after-school programs. Instead of a quick task, I found myself staring at 2-3 feet of standing water in my basement and with the rain pounding with little indication of stopping I realized that 2-3 feet would quickly give way to several more inches/feet within hours. Our sump pump had picked a poor time to surrender. I called my wife who was out of town on travel (in a particular application of Murphy's Law whereby home disasters seem to only occur when one or the other of us is hundreds of miles away) who gave me a few numbers including Josh's who as recommended by a friend of ours. Josh was my second call and I got his voicemail (the first to-be unnamed plumber told me they wouldn't be able to come over for a couple of days). I left a message and headed for the door to pick up my boys as quickly as possible in order to get back quickly in case he called back and was available to fix the pump, resolved to try calling a couple more plumbers from the car. Josh called back before I reached the front door. I explained the situation and he agreed to come over as soon as returned home with the boys ("text me when you are 10 minutes away and I will meet you there."). Josh arrived promptly and after spending some time assessing the situation and gathering information from me, Josh waded into the basement to start pumping water out with a portable pump while he checked out the outlet for the sump pump. As it turned out, a recent power outage had surged the circuit the pump was plugged into and he merely had to reset the outlet and voila! the pump engaged and pumped the remaining water efficiently out. Problem #1 solved (though I felt silly since Josh charges a $50 fee to come assess the problem and provide a quote if needed). Feeling like I had dodged a bullet, Problem #2 soon emerged as the water drained way: the water heater, set on the floor, had been submerged in the flood and the pilot light which sits at the base of the unit was extinguished. Josh tried resetting the pilot several times with no success. He suggested that the igniter might just need time to dry and suggested that I wake up early the next morning to try to reignite the switch (before leaving Josh made sure I knew what I was doing by making me demonstrate how I would relight the switch without blowing the house up). When the igniter still wouldn't light the next morning, Josh returned to determine whether the heater could be salvaged though he suspected a new heater would be required given the circumstances. After trial and error and after essentially dismantling and reassembling the entire water heater igniter (while also ordering a new igniter as a back up option), the pilot light lit up and stayed lit (after some effort the pilot had previously lit but would quickly die out). Many other providers would have given up and recommended purchasing a new heater - which seemed unfortunate but reasonable given the amount of water that had soaked the bottom of the unit. But Josh seemed to take the challenge personally and would not give up until he had exhausted every possible way to save the equipment. And it worked. More impressively, Josh called me back several hours later that day to confirm the pilot was still lit (he insisted I go back to the basement while he stayed on the line to double-check even though hot water was coming out of the sink) as he was leaving another customer and could swing back by on the way home if needed. Josh can be an acquired taste - he is gregarious and talks with a stream-of-consciousness that some could find annoying or others might find helpful. I fall into the latter category as I appreciated hearing the thought process of watching someone good at their craft walk down the issues one by one until reaching resolution. Further, Josh was fantastic with my two young boys who watched fascinated as he worked the night before in the sludge. He even gave my older son a task of wearing a headlamp and having him point it where he was working, then allowed my son to keep the headlamp as "payment" for his fine services. Way to build a clientele of the future! Josh's services aren't the cheapest, though he was certainly more affordable then having to buy a whole new water heater and then having to pay someone to install it. And along the way, Josh found himself some loyalty and into my contact list. Hopefully I won't need to see him any time soon, but if I do I feel like I am in good hands. read more

Josh provided us with excellent customer service and work on our house. I phoned him and he immediately answered the call. He's available through text and makes sure its as easy on his customers as possible. Speaking to him over the phone and explaining the situation, his mind was already focused on the best possible outcome. He replaced my water heater just as easy as if he was swapping out a battery on a car. Knew every little detail to make it most effective. He was thorough and to the point; he also made sure his work area was spotless. He triple checked everything before he left and made sure I knew it was okay to call him should anything pop up. We're very happy to have chosen Josh as our plumber. read more

Best plumbing experience. Good price, came right on time. Unclogged the bath sink quickly. Then moved to ceiling light fixture and fixed that, too. Very experienced, very good. Did more than one job within the hour, didn't charge extra for the second task. So glad I found them read more