This review is for Joe The Plumber, Brooklyn, 6124 16th Ave, 11204, tel: 917-295-5243, email:
[email protected]…. Their master plumber is Ray Derosa, LIC#955. As a courtesy, I have entered this same review under the listing for the plumber Ray Derosa.
I had Joe the Plumber's name scratched down on a piece of paper, so I think I got it from a neighbor a year or two ago.. I also saw him listed on Angies List. I called him last week to replace the anode in my 65 gallon A.O. Smith water heater (sold by Sears as a PowerMiser 9). The A.O. Smith does not make that size water heater anymore, so I am trying to stretch the life of the current water heater by replacing the anode every 3-5 years. For those unfamiliar with water heaters, the anode rod is a sacrificial piece of metal (usually magnesium or a zinc-aluminum alloy) that hangs in your water heater and prevents the tank from rusting. It takes the hit and oxidizes (ie: rusts) instead of the metal in the tank.
I contacted about 7 different plumbers, but only 2 plumbers were willing to come and replace water heater anodes. Of those two plumbers, the other plumber replaces only large commercial water heaters anode rods at nearly double the cost, so the choice was easy. Joe came the next week with plumbing crew, figured out how to remove a 4 foot long anode rod with less than 16 head-room above the water heater, and managed to squeeze in a new anode rod. The total cost was $250, which seemed fair the actual cost of replacing the water heater in about 5 more years if I did not replace the anode rod.