Services
Heating and plumbing for older houses
We work on the heat first and the plumbing that sits around it. If a job is not on this list, call and ask.
Steam boilers and piping
Vents, traps, valves, pipe pitch, gauge glass and low-water cutoffs. We also replace a steam boiler when it is finished.
Banging pipes
Radiators that stay cold
Boilers that shut off
Hot-water boilers and radiators
Cast-iron radiators, baseboard and panel radiators: bleeding, balancing, zone valves and circulator pumps.
Radiators cold at the top
Gurgling or ticking
Uneven rooms
Radiant floor loops
New loops in renovations, and service on the manifold, mixing valve and pump of floors already in.
Loops under tile or wood
Manifold and flow meters
Mixing valves
Boiler replacement
A boiler sized to the house and its radiators, not to the one that was there. We walk you through steam, hot-water and other options.
Heat-loss figure first
Venting and gas piping
Permits pulled for the work
Indirect water heaters
A tank heated by the boiler, so the house has one flame instead of two.
Replacement of tanks
Mixing valves
Expansion tanks
Plumbing in the same houses
Kitchen and bath fixtures, supply lines, drains and shutoffs in pre-war plaster, done by the people who know where the pipes run.
Old shutoff valves
Supply and drain repairs
Fixture replacement
How a job gets priced
What moves a heating price
We tell you the visit fee and the hourly rate on the phone. For bigger work, this is what the written estimate rests on.
The system you have
A one-pipe steam house, a two-pipe house and a radiant floor take different parts and different hours.
How easy the pipes are to reach
A boiler in an open basement costs less to service than a run of pipe behind plaster.
Parts that are still made
Many old valves and vents have modern equivalents. A few do not, and a part made to order takes longer and costs more.
Permits and inspection
Boiler and gas work needs a permit. The estimate says who pulls it and what it adds.
The time of day
Heating-season no-heat calls run every day until 8 p.m. at the posted rate. If a visit is ever needed after that, we tell you the rate before we leave the shop.
What the estimate leaves out
Plaster, paint and tile after a wall is opened are not part of a heating estimate. It says so, and says who does them.
Nothing starts until you say yes.
Copper and brass
Joints made one at a time
Old houses are full of copper and brass that took a flame once and will take it again.
We solder and braze with a heat shield behind the joint and a wet cloth ready, and we stay after the flame is out to watch the wall. A joint made slowly is a joint you do not hear from again.
Not sure which one you have?
Text us a photo of the boiler or a radiator valve. We can usually tell you what kind of system it is.