Plumbers

For some tips on hiring a plumber, check out this consumer tips web page. For a reliability report for a particular plumber, go to http://www.bosbbb.org/reports/reliability.asp.

The comments and recommendations on this page were made by members of the Framingham Community e-mail list or other Framingham residents. The comments on these pages represents the opinions and experiences of the individuals who made them, not necessarily the person composing the page or the people maintaining the Wiki. Add a recommendation or comment.

Contents

Plumbers

Belli Plumbing & Heating Corp.

24 Country Lane
Marlborough, MA
508-485-0793
978-443-3844
http://www.belliplumbingandheating.com

We highly recommend Belli Plumbing & Heating. Chris Belli has done fantastic work for us in the past, answers calls, comes in emergencies, and charges at reasonable rates. I cannot say enough about how happy we have been with his service over the years.

Bob Berman 3/24/10

I'll cast a second vote for Chris Belli. Prompt, thorough, honest, fair prices. You can't go wrong ... call him!

Phil Blake 3/25/10

I wanted to put in a recommendation for Belli Plumbing and Heating (contact info listed at end of recommendation). I had Belli replace four shut off valves in the house (kitchen and bathroom) and they did a clean and professional job. The price for the job was incredibly fair as well. Belli has now become the plumber I will use and recommend to neighbors.

Josh Mulready 12/21/11

Jim Bertino

508-881-8127

I had a great experience we had with a plumber named Jim Bertino who was recommended to me by a friend.

After leaving him a message he called me back the same day and, because it was not an emergency and he was quite busy, asked if it could wait until until after the holidays. He called back on New Year's Day and he and his assistant were at my house this morning.

The work that was done was top notch, the bill was reasonable and his and his assistant Evan's attitudes were friendly and professional. They seem like genuinely nice guys

Cheryl Tully Stoll on 1/3/11

B. Lyons Plumbing and Heating

http://www.blyonsplumbing.com
131 Northgate Road
Northborough, MA 01532
617-710-3380

Barry is an experienced plumber, helpful and easy to talk to. His rates are very reasonable. He installed my new kitchen faucet/disposal and my new bathroom faucet. He also spent time looking at other potential projects in our house and offering suggestions what the best way to fix the potential problems. I will be working with him in the future on other upgrades to my home. He is looking to build his client base in the Framingham area.

Regards,Katherine Russo 3/24/10

Our water heater gave out, and after calling four plumbers that would have charged large amounts of money per hour, I called Barry Lyon at B. Lyon Plumbing & Heating.

He asked about the issue, had me send him photos and measurements, and was able to come out the next morning, and gave me a quote. He did a great job and was able to problem solve on the fly. He also installed some shutoff valves that would be easier for us to use. He was professional and courteous, as well.

Chuck Matzker 4/5/10

Alana Plumbing

508-877-4500

We just had Ron Possick of Alana Plumbing and Heating do some work as part of an addition. I was impressed with the work he did.

scott estes 1/11/07

I just had some work done by Ron Possick of Alana Plumbing He was able to come to my house about an hour after I called. He was very knowledgeable about anything I asked and he didn't mind that I watched while he worked because I was genuinely interested in what was being done. He was easy to speak with and explained what he was doing as he was doing it. I've never had a plumber do work before so I have nothing to compare his bill to, but I feel comfortable in recommending his services.

Ian Ehrenwald 9/18/09

Alana Plumbing & Heating (Ron Possick) did some work for me and I was very happy with it. He was very responsive, flexible on schedule, and personable. I can't isolate the cost, as it was in a package of work being done, but the work was well done.

Perry Lowell 1/11/07

I would also highly recommend Ron Possick of Alana Plumbing, he does a great job, doesn't try to talk you into work you don't need and is a genuinely nice guy, we have called on his services several times.

Donna Schaefer 9/20/09

Bolivar Plumbing

Wayland, MA
508-358-8018

Bolivar Plumbing has done all the plumbing at The Garden in the Woods, where I work, for many years so I had them do several jobs at my home. They are great:responsive, thorough, reasonably priced.

Nicola Cataldo 1/11/07

Botazzi Plumbing

129 Concord St.
Framingham MA 01702
508-626-1303

Steve Botazzi and his crew have done an excellent job at our house. Very professional and knowledgeable and flexible around working with around contractors.

Linda Dunbrack 1/11/07

I recommend Steve Bottazzi, who has done both commercial and residential work for us. Good guy, reasonable prices

/Lynn Joiner 9/20/09

I second this. Steve installed our kitchen sink and dishwasher. It was This Old House hour. He worked around the antique charm and character of the existing plumbing. Steve consulted the town inspector beforehand so there were no surprises or objections at sign-off.

Janet Riley 9/20/09

Chris Carmel

617 594 9246

Chris Carmel from Edgell has done excellent work for me and for numerous people to whom I recommended him.

Paul Ashton 6/14/10

I would like to add my highest recommendations for Chris Carmel. Over the years he has replaced my old oil burner with a gas burner and updated all of the zones, replaced my water heater, installed a dishwasher and gas stove, replaced toilets, did the heating for an addition, as well as multiple other jobs. He is knowledgable, meticulous, honest and reasonable. You can't go wrong with Chris!

Donna Kramer Merritt 7/22/10

Nord Plumbing and Heating

email: DerekNord23@yahoo.com

774-244-0785

I have used Derek Nord, out of Natick several times who's great. He's very responsive, knowledgeable,

reasonably priced and honest.

Greg Haggard 1/11/11

I just completed renovating a small bathroom, changing out the toilet and sink. I interviewed 3 different plumbers. Two looked at my Toto Dual Flush toilet, shook their heads and said they didn't want the job. Derek looked at the toilet, said Toto is a great brand and he'd be happy to take the job. My job had several components - including demolition, tile and wainscoting. Derek came over in-between the first 3 components (his suggestion) to make sure the pipes were in the correct place so the tile and wainscoting wouldn't be damaged. When it was his turn to install the toilet and sink, he was here on time. He confessed he hadn't installed a pedestal corner sink before, but he did an excellent job, using some creativity in fashioning an angled escutcheion for the sink. He didn't charge me for the 2 times he'd come out earlier, even though he'd spent a couple of hours on the pipes during those times.

Derek is very reasonably priced, personable, keeps his appointments, and does great work. I'd highly recommend him for your plumbing jobs.

Barb Burck 7/21/11

Kenneth Leboeuf

(508)865-5857
kenjl.4x@gmail.com

I strongly recommend a guy that I've used several times (more than once means he's good). Good work, on time, and priced very reasonably.

He replaced toilets, repaired rotted out flooring below toilet, plus other work. He did the work for me in Northboro, but also works in Framingham.

Good luck,

Jon Siegel 9/18/09

Joe Kaufman

Brook St, Framingham
508-875-2593

I tried 3 other plumbers before I found Joe Kaufman. Good plumber and good guy. Good luck!

John Reedy 9/18/09

Monaham Plumbing

(781) 239-1216

good at bring quality at a modest price.

David Weitzler 9/18/09

Ken Baldwin

(508) 397-0545

good at bring quality at a modest price.

David Weitzler 9/18/09

Del Monte Plumbing and Heating

508-881-9343

I have worked on several project with John Del Monte over the years including several projects at my own home and found John to be reasonably priced and he does quality work.

Andy Piacentini 1/11/07

I had DelMonte plumbers do a large job for me and I found him to be very good at his work came on time did neat work and was honest with his charges.

August Lolli 1/11/07

Flaherty Plumbing

(508) 872-7687

They do great work.

Tony Siciliano 1/11/07

Paul Flaherty He's honest and responsive. Probably not the cheapest, though.

Andy Limeri 1/11/07

Gerard J Waterman

Framingham, MA 01701
508-879-6356

I just had a great experience with a Plumber and wanted to share with the community. Gerard J Waterman does plumbing, heating and Gas fitting. He is local and is great. I called him at 5PM and he was here at 5:30. He looked at the issue and taught me a thing or two about some things in my house, and also fixed something else in my house too that I didn't call him about. He was at my home for about 1.75 hours and for doing work he was not outrageous price wise. I will defiantly use him again and refer him out to others.

If you call him tell him Jenn Moshe referred you! Thanks 1/12/09

I just had a great experience with a plumber, Gerard Waterman, and wanted to share with the community. He installed a new kitchen faucet for me and did a great job. He was personable, thorough, on time and very flexible with my schedule. He also helped me out with recommendations for other good vendors he knows in the area. I would definitely use him again and recommend him out to others.

Donna Lynch 7/21/09

Rapid Response Plumbing and Heating

508-879-0025

They do respond quickly however I found their service and billing to be completely unfair. I was overcharged substantially and had no choice but to pay it at the time. When I called the owner and debated the issue with him, he lied about several circumstances. Once he realized that I actually knew what I was talking about and he couldn't get away with lying to me, he agreed to send me a partial refund. Unfortunately, he never did. I wouldn't recommend them.

CRISANNA FAVREAU 3/26/09

We usually use Mark Freedman & Rapid Response Plumbing and Heating. They seem to have a good amount of plumbers available when you need them (same or next day).

Cathryn S. Kaner-Taytslin on 1/12/07

Our gas-fired hot water heater failed this morning, I called Rapid Response, and within 4 hours they had expertly installed a new water heater. The price was fixed price, quoted over the phone without seeing the installation, and they honored the price, which, based on what I paid to NStar Gas 10 years ago, seemed fair.

Stan Wulf July 10, 2008

Papalia Plumbing and Heating (Acton)

877-727-2542

I went to a number of plumbing companies looking for quotes to switching a 3 handle shower faucet to a single handle. I got a number of quotes over $1000.00. Papalia quoted me over the phone a fixed price much much less and kept to the quote. I'm not sure I can fully recommend them though. While they did the job to the letter of the law, they really didn't follow the spirit. While they switched the faucet as they quoted, the faucet was actually shaky. I didn't notice this until after the plumber left, but I did call back saying I wasn't happy and they sent out someone to resolve the issue - no extra charge. It just seemed that the job was done a little on the lazy side. As soon as the plumber came out the second time, they understood the issue fixed it. Had I not had to call them back, I would have given them a GLOWING recommendation.

Brian Sullivan on 8/14/08

Robert Wagner Plumbing

508-879-3242
More recommendations for RWP AC service

First off I'd like to say that I should have checked Wiki before calling Robert Wagner.

My kitchen faucet was dripping and I wanted a replacement. I chose a Delta Faucet for about $112. I called to find out the cost because their website said they "charged by the job, not by the hour". The woman, Danielle, said she couldn't give me a price until the plumber came out to look at the job, which would be a charge of $85 (there would be no charge if they ended up doing the job).

Well, stupid me said fine, I need it done, just have him come do it. It took about one and a half hours a the total bill came to (are you ready) ..... $697. Subtract out the faucet and that works out to be a whopping $390 an hour. I almost fainted.

Needless to say I will never, NEVER use Robert Wagner Plumbing again. I'd rather pay by the hour.

Susie Santone 7/21/10

Hello again Framcomers --

After the plumber had already checked the shut off valves and determined they needed to be replaced, he told me to replace them he would have to shut off the water in the building. And this would add to the cost of the $697 for kitchen faucet installation. The cost would not be well over $1,000. No, I'm not kidding.

So I told him to leave.

Unfortunately he broke my cold water shut off so I now have no cold water. But he couldn't turn the hot water so I do have hot water. And he left everything he had pulled out from under the cabinet all over the floor, which wouldn't be a huge problem except because of the arthritis in my knees I can't get on the floor to put the things back.

So, the only thing I can recommend about Robert Wagner Plumbing is to avoid them.

As an aside, I called Flaherty Plumbing. I told them what I needed and about needing new shut off valves and the pipes having to be drained. The whole job will cost less than $300. HUGE difference. So call Paul Flaherty Plumbing at 508-872-7687. And the girls I spoke with at Flaherty, Heather, was so nice and patient since I know nothing about plumbing and was a tad upset about my previous experience.

Susie Santone 7/21/10

Interesting stuff, as I also signed off from Wagner in 1998, while using only Flaherty ever since with no regrets. Wagner was doing some work for me on one of our bathrooms in conjunction with a remodeling company. I had to call up Wagner for some reason towards the end of the job, and the co-owner acted like a complete jerk, yelling at me and treating me like crap. The argument got pretty heated, and he was dead wrong to treat a customer that way, so making sure that this was my last plumbing job given by us to Wagner was an easy decision. Prior to that, the few times that I needed a plumber resulted in good work from Wagner, but much like Susie I'll never use them again. Flaherty does the work quickly, efficiently, and never has to do the same job again, at least not due to any mistakes from their end.

Tony Siciliano 7/21/10

First let me point out that the business is called "Robert Wagner Plumbing and Heating". I had an issue with my oil burner, and not knowing any better, called them up. They sent over Robert Wagner himself! He glanced at my burner, and told me that he couldn't help me, because Oil Burner School takes 4 years, and he was unqualified. I asked him why Oil Burner School takes longer than Law School, but he had no answer. Then he looked at my system, which has 6 zones, and announced that all of the shutoffs needed to be replaced. When I asked him why, he said because they didn't match. 18 valves, he wanted $100/ valve. Then he identified a valve on top of my burner, which he wanted $150 for the part to replace. These prices didn't include labor. At this point I told him to leave. I was forced to write him a check, which I stopped payment on when he left the yard. Later that afternoon, I priced the parts he told me needed changing at Home Depot. The shut off valves were under $6, the valve on top of the furnace was $15. Of course, neither needed to be changed. Later in the day, a friend and I got the burner running for less than 10 dollars. I got a nasty letter from his office manager about the stopped payment. I wrote back, saying that I looked forward to discussing his billing practices in front of a Magistrate. Strangely, I never heard from him again. As a postscript, a neighbor recently told me that Robert Wagner charged him over $1000 to replace the innards of a toilet. He could have done it himself for less than $20 at Home Depot. So, I strongly advise running as fast as you can at the first sign of one of his infernal trucks. Your bank account depends on it!

Malcolm MacNeill 7/21/10

Finally, an opportunity to vent of my experience with Robert Wagner 3+ years ago. Through scare tactics, I was convinced to move into a hotel for 3 nights while they redid the plumbing in the entire house. The bill (not including hotel and food) was over $7,000! I later was told by my new plumber that he believed this had been totally unnecessary because the problem was a simple leak in shower piping and could have been repaired through the wall in the bathroom closet. My new plumber also told me that the going rate would have been approx. $700. The day we moved back in, we had a new problem - low water pressure that we had never experienced before. Robert Wagner said this had nothing to do with their work and that I had to take it up with the town because the cause was coming from the pipe that brings water from the street into the house. When I told him he'd be hearing from a lawyer, within an hour, his plumber showed up, made minor adjustments and the low water pressure problem was solved. Lastly, but equally insulting was that alcohol was missing from my house. Robert Wagner arrogantly told me that my son was responsible. BTW, this adult child living with me has a medical problem and has never had a drink. Missing alcohol never happened prior to or after those plumbers worked unsupervised in my home. Summary: I have used many, many contractors in 3 different homes in the last 32 years. My experience with Robert Wagner's Plumbing, Heating and Cooling was one of the worst.

Regards,

Carol Raymond 7/23/10

It seems this thread is already long enough, but since you all keep asking for additions I will throw in

Around 5-10 years ago I called Wagner for a leaking heat pipe embedded in my concrete foundation. The pipe had been damaged and repaired by a local termite company and the "fix" was failing after a few years. Wagner estimated around 3,000, and added few scare stories, but fortunately for me they also insisted that I have my homeowner's insurance inspector present when they arrived. Since I know how HO insurance works and was not about notify them until I was sure I would follow through with a claim, I called a few other plumbers. A&L plumbing of Sudbury (978 440 8181) came out within 2 hours and repaired the pipe for $376, including opening the concrete, replacing part of the pipe, and re-patching the concrete. Clearly the rug repair was a separate issue

I have used A&L, 4 times since and they are always fast and cheap, in fact they always act in such a race to finish that it may put some clients off, but we appreciate the speed and low cost.

As for Wagner, I suffered no loss and at the time and did not consider their behavior as reportable. MY resistance to Wagner's approach was simply that Home Owners Insurance records EVERY CLAIM INCIDENT you discuss with them, even ones that are never finalized or filed. SO, if you call an agent and ask them about a potential claim, and then decide not to file the claim, that still counts against you. This is an industry practice not a company specific one - just the way things are.

Victor Rosenberg 7/28/10

Hi there,

Interestingly enough - I used Wagner about ten years ago when the pipes burst in my floor in my ranch styled house. I had not been in the area very long and I didn't really know any service people in Framingham so they had a great ad in the Yellow Pages and I called them. The pipes had to be re-routed through my attic. The workmen left huge holes in the walls under one of my bathroom sinks, as well in the kitchen, behind the kitchen cabinet, and in my laundry room. I think a fifth grader would have been a bit neater than they were. At the time, I also had them put an outside spigot in my backyard so I could water my flowers. At the end of every season, I made sure I drained the all the outside faucets. For two different years after they did their work in my attic (running new pipes through it for the water) I had pipes burst. The first year it happened I just figured I had not drained everything properly or had fo! rgotten to do something. After the second time it happened, I knew something was wrong. Both times I called a different plumber - not Wagner. The last plumber I used showed me the pipes Wagner had used in my attic - they were different sizes and pieced together. He said it looked as though they used whatever they could utilize for "trash" pipes in their truck. Needless to say, several thousand dollars later, I learned my lesson about Wagner.

Judy Patterson 7/23/10

I had a similar issue a year ago when I noticed a small leak coming out of my toilet. It is an old toilet.

They came said that they put some beeswax but wouldn't guarantee the job because they said I needed a new flange that would cost over $800. The charge for the beeswax was $339.

It started leaking again at a time when I had just contacted a small contractor who added beeswax to the toilet and did some other work. Charged me $68 total.

Said there was nothing wrong with the flange other than it was old and big and would outlast the house.

No problem with the toilet since.

Nancy Johnson 7/21/10

Because of all the feedback I received as a result of my experience with Robert Wagner Plumbing & Heating, I wanted to update everyone of the outcome.

First, I did get my faucet and shut off valves replaced by Flaherty Plumbing (508-872-7687) for a total of $250 (plus the cost of the faucet, which I picked up myself). The estimate by the previous plumber for the entire replacement and repair was "well over $1,000". So, I'm happy.

Second, Robert Wagner Plumbing had charged me an $85 destination fee. I am pleased to say that I was reimbursed for that fee. I also recently received a letter from them, which, since I was addressed to me and is basically my personal mail, I would like to share with you all.

After numerous slanderous emails & phone calls regarding this whole matter, Mr. Wagner has issued you a credit for the full amount for the dispatch fee you paid with a credit card plus an additional $10.00 total refund attached $95.00. We still stand behind our actions but realize that sometimes in life, we will find people who will be unhappy with situations and we find it in our company's best interest to resolve this matter to stop the harassment we have come under.

So, I don't understand the slanderous and harassment thing. After the "plumber" left, I called Robert Wagner Plumbing but they did not call me back. Eventually Mr. Wagner left me a message, I left him one and he called me back. That was it for phone calls. As far as my emails, I made my post on framcom. Mr. Wagner responded to me by saying "hi" (which I considered his attempt at intimidation), I responded and he sent me another email (in which he apologized for his previous email). And that was it for emails.

I'm sorry that Mr. Wagner feels I harassed him, but I don't think I did. And as far as "slanderous", I received numerous (and I do mean numerous) emails from others sharing their experiences. I'm not sure how sharing one's experience can be considered slander. I had hoped that Mr. Wagner might have taken to heart how people felt and used the information to make changes to his business that might increase his customer base. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the came. But such is life. Maybe if someone doesn't like reading how people feel, they shouldn't bother reading it.

So this chapter is over, And I'm happy it is. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I hope the information was helpful to someone.

Susie Santone 8/9/10

I feel compelled to warn people about my own personal experience with Wagner. They were asked to install a new kitchen faucet. After it was installed the water only came out in a slow trickle. Wagner said he'd send someone out to take the whole faucet apart and take out the waterflow constrictor but it would be at his full rate. What could I do. I said go ahead and do it and while they were here they should also install a water filter for the house. The water constrictor should have been removed on the first visit but wasn't, and was supposed to take at least an hour. It took 30 seconds. Then the water filter got installed and was an invention right out of the 3 stooges in the "A Plumbing We Will Go". It was a total mess and they tried to bill me $200 for the second round with the fawcett. The fawcett ended up getting negotiated down but the whole affair left a very bad taste in my mouth. This was my second and last bad experience with Wagner. The first (not written up here) was equally memorable.

Steven Orr on 9/23/04

I would advise staying as far as possible from Wagner Plumbing. They came on a call for a plugged toilet and spent all of 5 minutes removing a foreign object and charged me almost $150. When I called their office and said I thought that the charge was excessive they basically told me "that is our standard fee and we don't really care whether you like it or not". It made no difference to them that the service call was for a non-profit that I am associated with. You can almost certainly find someone better than Wagner.

Karl Thober on 9/23/04

Just want to share my experience with Wagner Plumbing, because it provides another perspective to the discussion. We had an interior water line break and flood the house. I had to turn off the main water line to stop the flood. I called every plumber suggested and some just out of the phone book. Keep in mind that I was cleaning up a big mess, and had no water working, so this was urgent. Some couldn't come to fix it for days or weeks. Wagner came right away and fixed the line. They charged a little extra for emergency service, but explained this up front. They keep extra personnel and trucks available so that they can provide this service. I only have this one time to report, but these are the facts about my positive experience with their company.

Norma Shulman on 9/23/04

My experience with the permit for my water heater went thus: As I stated in an earlier e-mail, Wagner installed my water heater and I had no problem with their work. They charged me for the permit along with the charges for the actual water heater and the installation. A day or two later the inspector DID come out to look at the heater. He had barely gotten inside the door when I mentioned that Wagner had done the work. He said something to the effect that if it was Wagner that did the work then it surely must be OK and he left without looking at the water heater ! Hm-m-m-m-m...wonder what that's all about.

Judy Kazunas on 9/24/04

Rodenheiser

Marlborough
Tel: (508) 485-6116

I was happy with Rodenheiser. I only needed to have them come out once - to do a couple of routine repairs - but they did a great job. The plumber even gave me a break on the price of the service call because he was done early!

Liesa Healey 1/12/07

I'm not sure if got the same Rodenheiser that Liesa did, I used phone number 800-633-PIPE. I had them do a small sink job and they did fine. I did though ask them to quote me for switching from a 3 handle shower faucet to a single handle faucet and their price was outrageous! It was almost 50% more than the plumbing company I finally used (Papalia). Although the smaller job was done OK, I don't think I would use them again due to their pricing. A company has overhead and needs to make a profit, but their pricing seemed like price gouging.

Brian Sullivan on 08/14/08

Rex Burns

781-308-7752

OK, so I have a great resource to share--a plumber who is pleasant to work with, cheap, quick and competent! I called up Rex Burns on the recommendation of my boyfriend, who has been using his services in his Brookline home renovation. Rex is currently living in Framingham, and he was here within an hour of my call. He promptly and competently fixed my toilet, including installing a working shut-off valve to replace the ancient, frozen one; cleaned up after himself; and charged a very fair price for three hours of work!

I would definitely use him again! I believe he works part-time for a firm in Dorchester, but he also works independently--just call him on his cell phone.

Best,

Lisa Wolf 7/21/10

Travers Plumbing & Heating Co.

978-852-6517

Rich Travers is reliable, professional, and has MANY years of experience. 24 hr emerg serv

Crisanna Favreau 1/11/07

Originally Travis Plumbing provided good service to me (even though he arrived 45 mins late from Bedford due to "traffic"). I offered to pay him at the time of service but he said that he'd bill me. His bill didn't indicate a due date to I assumed it was 30 days. In the meantime I called him with another plumbing question and he said, "Where's my money?!" His attitude and tone were very unprofessional ... I wouldn't use him again.

Crisanna Favreau 3/27/09

This person never called back after repeated attempts by me. Save yourself the trouble.

Brian Sullivan on 8/14/08

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