| Name/Contact | Details | |
| Plumbing | ||
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Addario's Plumbing and Heating 544 Revere St, Revere, MA (781)289-3536 http://addariosplumbing.tripod.com |
Spring 2004. Installed new water heater. These were the guys contracted by Sears to install my new water heater. I paid Sears $200, so I imagine that if I hired these guys directly it would have been around that much. Clean, efficient; I believe they use a flat-rate billing system, but I'm uncertain. I haven't used them again, for no particular reason. I sort of wish they replaced the leaky shutoff valve attached to the tank, but that certainly wasn't their responsibility. |
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Robert L. Pann Company, Inc. 207 Prospect Street Cambridge, MA (617)864-2625 http://www.pannhomeservices.com |
Spring 2004. Replace valve on water main, unhook gas stove. One of the biggest companies in Boston, they do all sorts of home improvement work. Quick and reliable, they even wear booties over their shoes in the house to keep your floors clean. Unfortunately, they are unbelievably expensive. It's a flat-rate company, but from my bill, it looks like they try to bill out to $400-$900/hour, which presumably offests the limited number of billable hours they must accrue. I plan to never ever hire these guys again. |
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Alewife Company 256 Prospect Street (or 2354 Mass Ave) Cambridge, MA (617)864-2550 |
Multiple occasions 2004-2005. Depending on who I got, usually not personable or friendly, but got the job done with no problems. Hourly fee at around $75-$80/hour plus materials, which are of course marked up but don't cost a lot anyway. Absolutely need to learn to clean up after themselves, however. Left a disgusting mess every time. I'd probably hire them again, though, while keeping the clean-up in mind. |
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Winters Company Plumbing and Heating 31 Smith Place Cambridge, MA (617)484-2121 http://www.wintersplumbing.com |
Multiple occasions 2004-2005 (including large jobs). I first called these guys in the summer of 2004 to fix leaky pipes in the basement. All the convenience and quality of the Robert L. Pann Company (they even wear booties) at a fraction of the price. A flat-rate company, but with a lower implied billing rate; around $100-$130/hour, though I didn't check very hard. They've come back and fixed problems later on without a fuss and at no charge. I definitely plan on using these guys again. Update Fall 2007: I've heard that these guys have jacked up the rates and now charge to show up, making them basically the same as Robert L. Pann. I guess this means I'm not on the hunt for another plumber, though I've also learned to become competent enough to do most of the easy stuff that just needs basic tools, solder, and a torch (moving pipes, replacing valves, etc.) myself. |
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| Heating | ||
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Paul Lessard Plumbing and Heating 144 Pine Street Natick, MA (508)653-9192 |
Spring 2005. Repiped steam boiler and added hot water zone+radiators. I called in many heating guys and was disappointed in general to find that most of them seemed to know less about the theory of steam heating than I did. I resorted to calling in Paul, who is a bit far away, but I knew he was one of the best in the business from other sources. Very knowledgeable (which is why I hired him), he was also very good with a wrench. Fairly expensive, but you get what you pay for. |
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| Electrical Work | ||
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Robert L. Pann Company, Inc. 207 Prospect Street Cambridge, MA (617)864-2625 http://www.pannhomeservices.com |
Spring 2004. Replaced some outlets (GFCI, grounded, etc.), other small fixes. I hired the electrician branch of this company on the same day I hired the plumbing branch. Again, I should have known better. Unbelievably expensive (again around $400-$900/hour equivalent), but this time, they didn't even do a great job (the plumber's work was good) and left quite a mess after trying to handle the horsehair plaster walls in the home. |
Butler & DeNucci 637 Boston Ave Medford, MA (781)395-4750 |
Multiple occasions through 2004. I always got someone named Paul. These guys are fantastic. I've had them over many times to do all sorts of things, from installing switches & chandeliers to fixing outlets to rewiring my garage. Every time, they've done a fantastic job. Very clean, and the guy I got (Paul) was very friendly and taught me a lot about how my home was built. Definitely an overwhelming top choice if I ever need use of an electrician again. |
| Carpentry | ||
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John Novick Woburn (800)224-3020 |
Spring 2005. Rebuilt a closet wall. I had an interesting situation where one of my closets was missing a wall. (It basically just dropped into the basement, which, obviously, is not a safe thing. I had John come in and built what was essentially a floating wall (no floor support) with a built-in shelf. He did a pretty good job; I'm pleased with it in general. | |
| Chimney and Roof Work | ||
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Boston's Best Chimney Sweep 80 Rear Bacon St. Waltham, MA (781)893-6611 http://www.bestchimney.com |
Spring 2005. Added stainless steel chimney liner, rebuilt (FSB) chimney top, added cap. These guys are part of a big company. Fairly expensive, but given the dangers of carbon monoxide and so forth, I wasn't willing to take a risk with a questionable small company. Just take a look at the resume on the website -- it's pretty impressive. They did a nice looking job, of course. | |
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Carroll Sons Roofers, Inc. 60-64 Medford St. Somerville, MA (617)625-8334 |
Fall 2005. Repaired roof leak around chimney by tarring over joint. This was the first time I've ever worked with a contractor I never saw through the whole job. These guys came while I was out, assessed the problem (which comported with what another roofer had told me), gave a quote, and did the work a little bit later. Never saw them during the whole time, but they've clearly done work on the roof and I'm pleased by their level of responsiveness. It remains to be seen whether it actually stops the leak or not, but I'm pretty comfortable with it right now. | |
| Insulation/Weatherization | ||
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March & Martin 64 Ward St Salem, MA (978)745-3223 http://www.marchandmartin.com |
Fall 2005. Insulated crawlspace; Icynene insulation (sprayed on foam). I found out recently that the local utility, NSTAR, rebates 50% of weatherization improvements, up to $1500 worth of rebates per year! Given that, I decided to insulate my crawlspace, the floor above which was freezing the previous winter. They came, were friendly, and did the work despite an extremely low (around 18 inches) crawlspace. It remains to be seen how good of a job was done, but I'm expecting warmer floors (and warmer rooms) in the future. Update Fall 2007: Actually, they're still pretty cold, or at least enough that I had another pipe freeze, crack, and spew water all over the kitchen floor. Since I haven't found a good plumber yet, I repiped it myself and am crossing my fingers for the next winter. I'd still hire these guys again if I wanted Icynene again. | |
| General Contractors | ||
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HousePro Ronnie & Gabi Armany (800)551-1901 |
Spring 2004. Did countless things including flooring, insulation, and painting. These guys are really a windows/siding company, but they were willing to do a huge smorgasborg of stuff on our home before we moved in, which included flooring, removing walls, insulation, painting, tiling, and some electrical work, among other things. Not very professional business-wise, and did mediocre-quality work. However, they were willing to do the job in the first place, which is rare since I called in countless contractors to look at the work before anyone was willing to take it on. In that respect, they were what I was looking for. | |
| Other - Asbestos Abatement | ||
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Impresair Environmental 52 Oak St. Somerville, MA (617)625-7106 |
Spring 2005. Removed about 8 feet of asbestos from a closet. I had a closet with some asbestos pipe insulation that I wanted removed. Impresair appeared to be a small, owner-run shop; the guy was willing to come in at 7am on Sunday to do the work, which was convenient for me since it didn't interfere with working hours, etc. Small shop, but they still pulled a city permit and the air quality test afterwards came out fine, so what more can I ask? If you're looking for prices, you'll find that they're usually quoted per linear foot, with a minimum. Mine hit the minimum, which is usually $400-$500 depending on company. | |
| Other - Cleaning | ||
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Merry Maids (Boston) Boston, MA (617)268-1706 http://www.merrymaids.com |
Spring 2004. Cleaned the house. After the initial glut of contractors we had in 2004, we hired Merry Maids to clean the house before we moved in. I didn't realize cleaning work is actually somewhat expensive; but in any event, we paid around $60/man-hour for a crew of people to clean more or less every corner of the house. As corny as it sounds, they seemed pretty, well, merry. In any event, the only notable feature is that for first time customers, it's cash only no matter how much the sum (even if, say, it's >$1000). No checks (understandable), but also no credit cards. | |
| Other - Snow Removal | ||
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Snowman Plowing 160 McGrath Highway Somerville, MA (617)627-7206 |
Winter 2005. Plowed/shoveled the sidewalk plus a driveway 1 car wide and 3 cars deep. I paid around $45/storm for the work. Wasn't pleased and cancelled the agreement halfway through the winter. They always came way too late in the day, meaning I often ended up doing the sidewalks myself. Very sloppy on the driveway, stingy with the salt, and ran into my garage with the snowplow without admitting responsibility. Worst looking sidewalk on the block when they did the shoveling before I did. | |
Last Updated September 2007 |
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