A & A Plumbing and Heating

I own a rental property in Somerville and am currently living out of state. Last week one of the tenants texted that the hot water was out. Friends had enthusiastically recommended Mike so I called and he was able to come the same day. He was great about coming out and handling everything with me being long distance and not there in person, sending me lots of photos and checking in every step of the way.

He also went out of his way to check the warranty on the failed heater and get us credited for the two years left on its warranty. That saved us a lot of money on the new heater!! Mike's rate was already very reasonable, so overall one of the less expensive hot water heater replacements we've had to do (we own 5 rental units total so go through this somewhat frequently). It was a pleasure working with Mike from A & A. We will definitely be contacting him when another plumbing situation arises.

Highly recommended; Mike has helped me with two separate projects, one replacing return pipes on a steam heat system when I broke the pipe trying to replace an ancient main vent, and once replacing the wax seal between a toilet and drain pipe.  He was always quick to respond, reliable, and has reasonable prices.

I called Mike about a couple of urgent bathroom problems and he walked me through some options to try before hiring him to do work. Both of his suggestions were very thorough (and successful!), and I was impressed with how willing he was to be helpful over the phone.

Had a major plumbing emergency on a recent Sunday night. Mike not only came out at 830pm, stayed for 3 hours, but then came back the next day to followup and finish the job to his satisfaction. Mike has been nothing but professional, on time, courteous and helpful as hell. His quotes are competitive and his work is top notch. No doubt in my mind I would recommend Mike and A&A to anyone that needed plumbing work done. Great guy and great company.

We needed a routine repair (not an emergency). Mike from A&A did a great job and was very responsive. He came to our home, gave a free estimate (other plumbers we contacted wanted to charge) and completed the work promptly.

Mike replaced a water heater, which was still under warranty.  I wanted a higher capacity heater, and he graciously offered to make some calls regarding the possibility of switching to a 50 gallon from a 40 gallon.  

I was still having issues with hot water and he came back to investigate and switched out the faucets in my bathtub.  This made a huge difference in the amount of water that was actually coming out of the shower head.

I highly recommend Mike.

To my readers, if you ever think about buying a home, re-think that thought now.  I swear, I have at least one major, annual plumbing issue and the costs have been steadily adding up.. so much so, I'm convinced my non-existent kid is going to trade school instead of college.  Plus, I'm super frugal and love DIY options.  Unfortunately, I have the skillset of a Neanderthal - would you trust one with a wrench, pipe cutter and a jab saw?  I didn't think so, so my shoddy attempt at repairing a broken water valve wasn't going so well.  To be fair though, the previous owners did a worst job than I did with DIY, and had a non-standard size pipe that left my Home Depot associates puzzled and stating they had no parts, and that my best bet would be a plumber (Thanks guys.  Why else do you think I'd be lugging my lazy ass here?)

But hey, that means I'm like, a near expert in reviewing plumbers at this rate.  Therefore, you can rely on my experience and judge for yourself.  Mike, the owner, was one of the few plumbers that was able to reply promptly during the timely July 4th long weekend.  I've probably sent out about 50 requests, between plumbing companies and handy-mans, and less than a handful was able to reply and schedule me in within the following few days (minus the outrageous $300/hr emergency plumbers - NEVER go with those options unless your main water valve literally breaks and you're with no option).  Mike was the only one that we called who offered a flat rate, no matter the length it took or the materials.  That was the first appeal - $175 flat rate, which depending on the job, could net you more or less than another plumber.  However, I much appreciated the transparency, because it at least allows you to figure out which direction to go.  My job wasn't standard, so I figured this would be the best path, and we scheduled him to come out the next day early in the morn.

The next morning came, and Mike arrived on the dot.  Took a peek in, reaffirmed my diagnostic of the patient, and told me upfront he wouldn't have the time to do it.  Well.  I'll be honest, my frustration was at a near limit at that point - I had been 100% transparent with the problem, so how could he not have timed this service better?  This was the one point in our whole interaction that dropped him from a five-star to a four.  I had another plumbing company that was supposed to come in at a later date, but cancelled this appointment after speaking with Mike due to the flat rate and earlier appointment.  I wish he had told me in advance that depending on the complexity, he may not have time to fix it.  However, he didn't charge me anything for the visit, which I appreciated, and basically consulted me on what needed to happen based on what he saw - AKA, the worst case scenario of cutting the wall open and replacing the entire pipe (nipple actually was the name, teehee).  That helped set me up on preparing the extraction spot (oh the fun times I had with that jab saw) and purchasing the tools at a local plumbing supply shop for the next plumber, who was able to complete it in less than half an hour (and charged me a hefty $100 cash just to unscrew the old pipe and rescrew the new one, which in hindsight was cheap for the peace of mind).

Overall, I had a fairly positive experience.  I really liked the price transparency, although the availability transparency could be better.  However, considering it was July 4th long weekend, and he was one of the few plumbers available to even personally return my message (showing just how busy everyone was), it wasn't the a big enough issue for me to not contact Mike again in the future if I have another plumbing issue (probably 2018 at this rate).  He was also knowledgeable and was able to point me in the right direction, so you wouldn't go wrong calling Mike for your plumbing issues.  Good luck to your home repairs all!

I would strongly recommend Mike and A&A.

My garbage disposal stopped working. Mike gave us a very reasonable rate, showed up on time and was very helpful and professional.

We have been using Mike for 15 years or more and have never been disappointed in his work, approach, or timeliness. He will tell you when something can wait or needs immediate attention and always provides a fair price for his work.

My old hot water heater failed, so I called Mike after reading excellent reviews and getting recommendations from local parents' forums. He gave a fair and spot-on accurate estimate over the phone for an equivalent replacement, and he recommended ways to shop around if I was looking for something different. We ended up deciding on the original replacement, and Mike procured it and installed it in a matter of hours. He's very friendly, efficient, and left the area clean. He very gently pointed out a potential issue with an ancient shutoff valve, and I will certainly be asking him to remedy that in the future. Best repair/maintenance/install experience I've had since moving into this house.

I called Mike to replace a broken water heater. While he didn't pick up immediately (actually none of the other plumbers I called responded), he returned the call in a few minutes. He was extremely communicative, providing a lot of information freely without any pressure. He offered to come later that day but said it might be tight. I said the next morning was fine. He arrived promptly and worked very fast (I watched and was impressed). He also found and sealed a leaking exhaust connection from a neighbor's water heater free of charge. His rate was competitive with other plumbers, and I found him quite personable and professional.

I called Mike because of a clogged bathtub in my apartment. He responded immediately and professionally. The entire experience working with Mike was wonderful. I would recommend A&A and continue to reach out to them for similar issues in the future.

Mike is great. Clear communication, fair pricing, fit me in same week, efficient, kind, highly recommend.

My landlord recommended A&A Plumbing when our garbage disposal stopped working, and I worked directly with Mike to get it replaced. He's friendly, professional, and efficient.

I'd definitely recommend working with Mike for your plumbing needs!

A&A saved my shower crisis. When my shower valve stopped working and I had to shut the water off I called the first plumber that was recommended to me by a neighbor. He ended up breaking it and then damaging it beyond repair. In a panic I called the first 10 plumbers that showed up on my yelp search.

A&A was one of the few to return my call and was the only one who could come out the same day. Service was great, very knowledgeable and no pressure to schedule. I was given a flat rate quote up front and that was the price I paid. I was also given multiple options for how I wanted the work done with pros and cons for both options.

The work came out exactly as promised when it was promised. So happy to have a working shower back! Will definitely use A&A in the future!

I needed a toilet installed; Mike installed the toilet. Easy review! No problems;  tidy job. He kept me in the loop about the fussy details (it's an old bathroom) and was still in and out in an hour.