135 Home Services

Sep 2022

Gary did install a Navien combi boiler in my house. He's so passionate about his work. He's an excellent plumber who cares about his clients. I would definitely recommend him for all installations and repairs.Service: Water tank installation

Apr 2022

Cost: 190 initial visit and 2350.00 repair PROS: Prompt, friendly, set down a drop cloth CONS: high quoted price and then quoted me 1200.00 for a valve replacement. I bought a home about a year ago which has a Navien tankless hot water heater. I've worked in commercial HVAC for over 7 years, but no one was very familiar with this residential unit. I decided to go to Naviens website and find a certified dealer (this would be the advice I would give someone). In doing so I found 135 Home Services. I called and spoke to Gary. I explained I was looking for maintenance on my hot water heater, nothing was wrong that I could see but the pipes sometimes sounded noisy. Gary explained it would be 189 and change (I rounded to 190) for him to come and look at the hot water heater and if he was able to do the maintenance it would be 380 or 390, I don't quite remember that exact figure. I agreed. Sounded about right and only a little inflated, but I was paying for a Navien certified tech so... let's do this right. Tech arrived promptly and was very friendly. He set out a drop cloth to cover his tracks and came down for an initial inspection. After a quick review he confirmed he would be able to do the maintenance. After a few moments or so he called me down, but I was on a conference call (I work from home) so I sent my father down to look. He showed my dad the heat exchanger was corroded. I came soon after and saw, he also pointed out what could possible be a leak by the exhaust pipe. He mentioned the exhaust pipe wasn't correct, the manifold was not to Navian spec and recommended a condensate neutralizer (he explained about PH and all). He also talked about how I should have a brace on my overflow tank and how the condensate drain wasn't proper and shouldn't be in the slop sink. I was floored because my heat was cranking, however we have to fix this. He said the part was under warranty and he could fix it but if he spent the time to call Navien and have them send him a replacement he would be charged if we didn't go ahead with the repair. I told him sure let's fix it. At the end of day 1 I asked him to ballpark me the total repairs. He would me around 2300.00. I was floored because those seemed aligned with commercial prices and not residential, but hey... Navien certified tech? What do I know? He seemed friendly and I explained I'm a newer homeowner with a special needs daughter. He said he would send me the quote soon. I followed up with him 2 times in 3 days explaining that the E in my middle name sometimes gets missed in my email and to resend me the quote. Judging by the email thread he did indeed make this mistake and rectified on day 3- things happen. Quote: Install New Heat exchanger (part is under warranty) run new 2" schedule 8 PVC exhaust above fence height, extending past side wall and install vertical condensate neutralizer for 2350.00 I approved- I felt I had to because he is RMA'ing the heat exchanger. However, the above quote does not have the manifold (he said they didn't have the part in stock and it was hard to get, now the manifold I had was fine...) and didn't include bracing the overflow tank. I didn't notice this until pointed out later. I approved and told him no rush because my heat is working. He set the appointment for Saturday. Saturday morning, he called me and pointed out the weather was bad, which it was, and said he would like to reschedule. Totally makes sense. We rescheduled for Sunday. He showed up promptly at 10am on Sunday, ready to work. We made pleasantries and he put down the drop cloths and started bringing down his equipment. He called his son to help him take down and put up the new heat exchanger. I left my husband there while I went to my mom's house with my daughter to shower. My husband calls me at 1:38pm and tells me there is a leak in a valve by a strainer and it would be 1200.00 to fix. I almost hit the ceiling... With this and the original quote I could have bought and had installed a new unit. I decided to c