KNAUER PLUMBING HEATING & COOLING INC

He determined that the clog was in the lateral and not in the toilet, so he only charged me $50. They have been providing service me for probably about 40 years. I keep going back to them because they knew our house, they knew our name. I had a go to person. They were even good about advising over the phone and not charging. If you could describe the situation and it was the weekend, they do their best to give you some possible ways to solve the problem without them coming out for an exorbitant price. They were very good about scheduling quickly. If something happened they’d have somebody there within 24 hours. Sometimes they would fit it in the same day. Sometimes if it was not that great, you could go out a couple of days, but they are never too busy to brother with you. They were very nice, good customer service. I would say a “B” for price because they’re not the cheapest in town, but they’re competitive and if I had to pay a few dollars more for good service, I’ll do it. Now that I live on the other side of town, I’m not sure if I will use them again, I might.

I've used this company at my income property for many years (15?). Most recently this past June and November. In June 2016, I had the boilers in the property cleaned/serviced. Then, early in November 2016, one of the boilers was not working properly. Knauer came out and fixed the problem and invoiced me. The invoice said "cleaned boiler of soot" so I called and questioned why it would have excess soot if it was just cleaned 5 months ago and hadn't been used until that week. Cheryl (owner) became defensive, stating "we've always given you great service". I reminded her of an incident (8 or 10) years ago when I paid them to clean the boilers, only to find out that their technician didn't do anything at all (he had some issues), and that based on that experience I didn't think it was unreasonable to question the most recent cleaning job. (I should point out that for that incident, Knauer owned up and was responsible.) This time, she cut me off repeatedly, yelled, and then offered to talk to the technician and call me back. She called back, said that the technician said the burners were damaged (a very different explanation than the invoice 'cleaned boiler of soot'). Since this particular unit is vacant, my next question was "wow - how could that have happened?" Kind of a rhetorical question, but the same interruptions, and yelling. Yes, yelling. She offered to have another woman in the office call me and then hung up on me. The next call (Jennifer?) was better, but still unpleasant. She offered to have the technician call me, and he did. He gave a full description of the issue with the boiler, explained what he saw, how it caused soot, and why the boiler needed the cleaning. I still don't know how the burners were damaged (and I am not implying that Knauer damaged them - it's still a mystery). Another customer service-related incident was earlier this summer when I made arrangements for a tenant to be around for Knauer to replace a stationary tub and do the boiler maintenance I mentioned above. They didn't show up and didn't call. At the end of the day I called the office and was SHOUTED at by Cheryl saying they didn't show up for the appointment because "we had emergency A/C calls!". I think their technicians generally do good work but if you're treated horribly it doesn't matter. Go somewhere else. I have been a loyal customer and didn't deserve to be treated this way. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice (actually three times) shame on me. Don't be a fool. I really look forward to their response to this review.

Excellent work! Informed me about what all the problems were, gave me estimates prior to services performed, timely work, provided all equipment.

Originally, we had a constant drip of water from the faucet in our tub. We used a different plumbing service to repair it over a week prior on 4 Dec. They charged a lot to do four hours of work and required us to buy new tub hardware (we purchased good quality Kohler hardware.) The day after they "fixed" it, there was still a drip. They came out again on 5 Dec and fixed the drip and all seemed ok. The massive flow of water when the handle/valve broke was 10 days later on 14 Dec. I called the originally used plumbing service and asked if they could send someone out the same day as I had no hot water with the pipe shut off. The immediate and brusk response on the phone was, "that's Kohler hardware for you- we're busy and will have to call you back." After waiting almost two hours and irritated that they blamed the hardware immediately, I called other plumbers for service and had trouble finding anyone available the same day. When I called Knauer, I spoke to Jennifer and she was completely sympathetic to the situation and said she'd figure out a way to get someone out. Shortly later, her sister, Cheryl, called me and said someone would be out in mid afternoon. Buz showed up by 3:30pm, was extremely professional (even put on plastic booties to protect floors from his shoes), was friendly, and quickly diagnosed the problem, fixed it, and was gone within 45 minutes. I was floored by the extremely good customer service and responsiveness of Knauer. Especially when compared to the first company we used! The only reason I gave "B" for cost was because, while their charges are competitive with other companies, we had an added $49 "trip charge" that some companies don't have. That said, I would absolutely call them in the future for any plumbing needs given their timely, efficient, and professional approach! They earned our business!

Even though I called and asked for the estimate again when 2 weeks went by without hearing from them, I never received one. Now I have to look for another plumber to come out and estimate replacement of the water heater - the main reason for my call.

Very long established, east side heating company. Local. When the original owner was living they were good. Now, they came to take a look at this furnace and said nothing can be done, we can't make it run again, you have to replace it. I said, well how much is that going to cost? He said, well are you going to replace it? I said, well if I have to. He said, okay then we'll have somebody come out and give you an estimate. They had somebody come out and take a look and come up with an estimate and in the meantime I found someone who could come out and fix it. The owner was furious. He said we wasted our time giving you an estimate.

Drain was slow all of our 8 years here. Finally stopped up on Christmas day. I was at Knauer office at 7 AM. Was given a time window of 12-2 and tech arrived at 12, with preliminary call. A tough clean out in 75 year old cast iron fitting. The cable on electric auger broke, but luckily broke outside the pipe and tech was able to retrieve broken end. Drain runs great. No leaks afterward. Best of all was, with any drain cleaning, was attention to prevention of mess and cleanup of any mess made. As tech said, I'm here to clean up a mess, not make one.! Knauer does billing/charging a bit different, sort of like an auto shop, with pre-approval of fixed price needed. This is not all bad. In this case you are getting just not a roto-rooter service but a full service plumber. I used Knauer once 15 years ago with similar good results. It should also be noted I declined a furnace replacement as being too pricey for level of equipment being offered. That may have changed in years since.

Technician was unprofessional and I felt like I had to ask a million questions because he did not offer any suggestions / advice for my systems. I have never lived in an older home and wanted to be educated on radiator heat and understand if my upstairs AC would support a downstairs unit. Never got a clear answer. Would not recommend.

When the furnace went out in an unoccupied unit in my side-by-side townhouse, that part of the house went sub-freezing and the basement pipes froze. When the furnace folks (another company, another review) came to get the old furnace going long enough to keep things warm through the weekend, the pipes began to thaw and there was a huge number of leaks. I turned the water off to the entire house at the mains, and it was Knauer to the rescue. They were quick to respond, quick to work, and neat. I used Knauer again a few months later to install a built-in dishwasher. Same high praise for that job as well. I can't recumbent these folks highly enough. Good honest folks who show up on time, give great advice, and do fine work.

Sometime mid-April the water heater in the house we recently purchased leaked a small puddle. We called Knauer, which was the installer listed on the unit. The employee who answered (female - don't know her name) was very polite and helpful. I explained that we did not buy the unit and that it came with the house. She was able to determine by the model number that the unit was still under warrantee. She arranged to have a serviceman come to the house the next day with a new unit on the truck in the event the serviceman found the unit to be beyond repair. The serviceman checked the unit thoroughly and while he could not explain the small leak, did not feel the unit needed repair or replacement. What impressed me most about these two employees was their quick response to my problem and their willingness to bring a new unit along even before they knew if/what the problem was. The serviceman's assessment proved to be right - it has not leaked one drop since that fluke event. We were not charged for their time or trouble. I would not hesitate to recommend Knauer.

ok, the initial replacement of the gas pressure switch didn't fix the problem, so they had to replace the circuit board which was the real problem. I was glad they found some damaged furnace exhaust duct that they repaired with some aluminum tape.

We had our countertops replaced in the kitchen and a half bath with granite. Since I was out of town, we had to hire a plumber to install the faucets and plumb the drains. We also needed to have two copper fittings replaced in the basement that were corroded. We used Knauer because our normal plumbing service was unavailable on the dates that we needed them. Knauer came out on Feb 24, 2014 and installed the kitchen faucet, garbage disposal and plumbed the drain. They also installed a faucet in a bathroom and were supposed to plumb the drain in that room as well. Since the counter was replaced the new sink sat lower than the original. The plumber told my wife that he would have to cut into the wall in the cabinet and lower the drain where it enters the wall in order to plumb the sink with the trap low enough. He cut out a 12 inch by 12 inch square of the back of the vanity and wall, only to find out that the drain did not go down, but extended laterally (horizontally), where it tapped into the main drain. The plumber told my wife that he would not be able to complete the work on Feb 24 and would have return. He told her that he could cut a panel in the opposite wall in the laundry room and reroute the drain, then finish the plumbing. He also would have to order the fittings we needed for the basement. Since I was out of town, I asked a friend to go look at it. He ended up going to the hardware store and bought a shorter stem that extends from the bottom of the sink, which allowed him to plumb the trap into the existing drain. We had the house inspected as part of a sale in March and everything is to code. Unfortunately, there is a rather unsightly cut out that was pushed back into place in the vanity. The cut out did not have to happen. If the plumber had walked into the basement where the ceiling is open, he would have seen that the drain from the sink did not extend down, so it must extend laterally to tap into the main drain pipe. Fortunately, the cut out is inside the vanity and is not noticeable unless you look in the cabinet. To Knauer's credit, they did a good job installing the plumbing in the kitchen and both of the faucets. They also replaced the two copper fittings in the basement. But they were extremely expensive. The cost for the two faucets, kitchen drain, garbage disposal and to misdiagnose and cut a whole in the vanity was $784.60. The cost to replace the two fittings in the basement, which took less than an hour from the time they arrived at the house until they left, was $306.24. I often see replies from service providers that note that the customer didn't contact them about the issue and give them a chance to remedy the problem. In this case, we didn't call Knauer; however, the plumber they sent on both occasions was the same person and I explained to him what we did and that we didn't have to cut a whole in the vanity or the wall. So they are aware of the issue via their plumber. I also understand the need to order parts for basement fittings on occasion, but in this day and age, they could have asked us to send them a photo of the fittings and measure the diameter of the copper pipe. We would not use Knauer in the future because of both the cost, the poor quality workmanship with respect to the bathroom drain, and because they didn't bother completing the work the first time out.

They are very good. They are putting in a new heater so they didn't charge me for their last visit. We talked about what they found out was wrong with the gas stove and I thought it would be better that I buy a new stove and not have somebody come in all the time to fix it. So I called Cheryl at her office, told her what I wanted and she got on it right away, she got back to me the same day, ordered it and it is coming in on Thursday so they could install it for me.

When a furnace died in an unoccupied tenant's unit during a week in which we had several consecutive below-zero days and nights, frozen pipes happened. Knauer took care of the problem immediately! More than helpful over the phone, and the plumber who came to the house was prompt, did the work neatly, and all at a very reasonable price. There are several other projects waiting in this house that's being re-habbed. You can be sure that the ones that involve plumbing (and there are several) will be ones I'll call Knauer for. These are terrific, decent folks. I recommend them VERY highly and without reservation!

I had called Knauer on a Holiday. They called me back promptly, Informed me that they did not provide roto-rooter service and |referred me to someone that did. |Thanks Knauer.

EXCELLENT SERVICE!, VERY, VERY ,PERFESSIONAL! HAPPY, HAPPY HAPPY!

We've used Knauer Heating in the past as we've had problems getting anyone else to repair our zoned hot water heating system. Their service people are great, and their scheduling is fast and efficient. I feel like they and quot;knowand quot; our system now, and although we had a rather major repair, including a leaking tank, they handled it well. The service man, Kevin, had to go out for another part, but handled the repairs and replacement part on the same day. We like them, trust them, and would use them again.

They have been working on our equipment longer than we have been in our house, so they know how things work. It is some old stuff. I feel they honest and truthful. They are very professional.

Great quality of work. Price per hour was pretty steep however. Mechanic was on site for less than 3 hours (I was billed for 3, however) and bill came to nearly $600! Had new copper valve and nut on site.

They have always been very prompt and courteous. I would recommend them.

We have used Knauer Plumbing MANY times and have always been satisfied with their work. they have done total remodel jobs for us in more than one house over the years, however we feel that their prices are a little on the high side and their clock in and clock out times were a little inaccurate. Our last business with them was the simple installation of a standard toilet which we got billed for over $600.00 !!!! we were in shock! apparently when the plumber went to lunch mid job. . . he never clocked out. He also didnt bring the right parts (which are standard parts he should have had in his truck) to install the toilet and had to go back to the shop to get them which was also "on the clock". Being loyal customers in the past we called and questioned the cost and they were happy to fix the issue and the price was greatly reduced for us, along with a much needed apology. They are a good company and do good work, and are very punctual (when they say the will be there at 2. . . they are there AT 2). but we just felt wronged by the last bill, even after they fixed it, it was just sort of insulting seeing as how much work we have hired them out for in the past. I will use them again if we cant find anyone better, but for now im shopping around.

During a home purchase, our inspection revealed a faulty expansion tank on the furnace. We wrote into our purchase agreement that the seller would fix the expansion tank. The sellers had Knauer come out and do an inspection on the expansion tank. They replaced a relief valve and a temperature gauge and charged $570 for it, but they didn't replace the expansion tank, and claimed that the expansion tank was working fine. I called and told them that this was an important point, and had come up during the home inspection, and were they sure?? Ultimately they signed on the company letterhead that the expansion tank was fine, so we had no further recourse. As soon as we moved in, it turned out that the expansion tank was NOT OK!! Their technician, Kevin, came out and this time confirmed that it needed to be replaced! He told me it would cost less than $500 to replace it, as he had done one just yesterday. He also found a different plumbing issue with our third floor heating, and told me that would cost $300. Finally we got the quote from Cheryl Knauer and she wanted us to pay $1130 to replace the expansion tank, and $640 to correct the plumbing, essentially double what their technician had told me it would cost! "To be generous" she offered to take $300 off that. Since they had legally vouched, under their company letterhead, that the expansion tank was working fine (I have a copy to prove it), I expected them to do it for free, or at least at a reasonable price! Instead my experience revealed that their pricing is meant to gouge the customer. This is work for which they legally signed off--claimed that it did not need to be done, and therefore enabled the purchase to go through without the seller's covering it. When I complained, Cheryl Knauer, the company president hung up on me after yelling "sue me!" Ultimately, I called Seider heating and plumbing to come and replace the expansion tank, and fix the 3rd floor plumbing. They did the work, and the total came to $376. Compare that to the $1770 that Knauer wanted to charge me (about 5x the price!), and you get a sense of the honesty of Knauer. I strongly recommend avoiding this company at all cost!

My boiler would not ignite so I called Knauer last night and asked for a service call this morning. Received a call at 7:45 this morning saying they could have someone here by 9:30. At 8:20 I received a second call saying Kevin would be here in 20 minutes. He quickly diagnosed the problem, had the necessary part on his truck, fixed it and was gone by 9:45. I have heat again! I thought the price was reasonable, particularly after checking online and finding that the price I paid was right in-line with all of the prices I found online. Given that I got my problem (lack of heat in February is a big problem) solved promptly and professionally I think I got an excellent value.

First phone call reached a person who scheduled an appointment. I called back and changed to later in the day without any trouble or added cost. Person came and unstopped sink same day as call.

A firm estimate was given after I reviewed my "do list." The exception was a custom project which required the owner to supply an estimate later, but the tech developed a workable approach to a problem left years ago by an installer. The remaining work was completed quickly and well, and in several cases a simple solution was found when I had expected a more complicated problem. The estimate was the final payment. I was impressed with both the efficiency and the neatness of the work -- except that the issues were fixed, you'd never have known he was here!