Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the best way to contact us?
For normally scheduled services and all other inquiries, please call the main phone number - 781-595-2360. We check messages often and it is the best way to assure that the information gets properly recorded and followed up on.
The message will direct you to an emergency phone number which should only be used if you consider your situation in need of immediate response. Of course, this approach will incur an upcharge in normal billing rates. See below.
We do not schedule services on our mobile phone lines and prefer to use them exclusively for emergencies.
What is considered an emergency?
Any issue that you feel you can not live without immediate response to. We do not thrive on emergency calls and suggest that all customers familiarize themselves with the means of shutting down any of their mechanical systems such as water main, hot water heater, boiler, gas main, etc. If a true emergency happens at 2am, the affected system can be shut down and repair can start during relatively normal working hours when parts are more readily available.
What is our service pricing structure?
We remain a company committed to tracking services and small jobs on a "cost plus" basis. This means that materials used and labor incurred are compiled for invoicing. We think this is fair to all. Profit margins are discussed briefly below.
We will not make any claims to be the "most affordable" and constantly focus on justifying our cost by our commitment to be "the best".
Larger jobs are preferably estimated and firmly proposed. Obviously, this hinges on the specificity of the work being estimated. In many cases, jobs are firmly proposed but scope changes along the way. Often this leads to reversion back to a "cost plus" approach.
Labor charges vary depending on employee certification and tasks being done. Eg If a job requires an experienced "master" plumber, we will charge accordingly, Many jobs involve a licensed mechanic accompanied by an "apprentice". The purpose of the helper is to tend to the needs of the licensed person as well as to learn by doing and eventually graduate into a licensed mechanic.
Normally scheduled services are priced competitively with other established mechanical shops in the area. We charge a flat fee for a service call of $160.00 for the first hour with materials used charged above and beyond that. There will be a minimum of 1 hour charged on all services.
Emergency service requests made during "normal" work hours will incur a 50% surcharge.
When emergencies occur during "non normal" work periods (after hours, weekends, holidays, etc.) the surcharge is 100%.
We want to make it clear that we do not thrive on increased emergency rates and in most cases do our best to discourage them.
Materials are typically priced using a complex method which incorporates nationally published pricing guides as well as a cost average from many of our wholesale suppliers. Once the "average cost" is determined, we impose a 10% profit and 10% overhead charge.
Fixture pricing is treated similarly. We encourage you to shop at established wholesale / retail outlets which specialize in the materials you desire. Most have knowledgeable staff and will gladly offer retail pricing direct to you. For control purposes, we prefer to provide all fixtures. Cost to you will generally run 5% above retail cost. For this you get our delivery, packaging disposal, disposal of existing fixtures / appliances, and most importantly warranty. It is frustrating to have to follow up with an adjustment on a fixture we did not sell.
We encourage customers to make service requests as explicit as possible in order for us to respond efficiently.
Do we provide free estimates?
This is a tricky one. We certainly appreciate any opportunity and willingly provide estimates for free. This depends on the scale of work being estimated. At current service rates well over $100, we can not offer written estimates for jobs which will not exceed $500. For these, we suggest scheduling a typical service call. For larger scale jobs, we will do our best to offer a thorough estimate in writing. Please understand that your specification and details of any prospective job is critical to an accurate, competitive proposal. We do not provide estimates on projects which are not owned or managed by the requesting party. This includes prospective homebuyers and tenants. For these customers we will gladly present an estimate for a fee which may or may not be applied to the work when done in the future. This approach is typical for mechanical inspections of homes not yet closed upon purchase.
For normally scheduled services and all other inquiries, please call the main phone number - 781-595-2360. We check messages often and it is the best way to assure that the information gets properly recorded and followed up on.
The message will direct you to an emergency phone number which should only be used if you consider your situation in need of immediate response. Of course, this approach will incur an upcharge in normal billing rates. See below.
We do not schedule services on our mobile phone lines and prefer to use them exclusively for emergencies.
What is considered an emergency?
Any issue that you feel you can not live without immediate response to. We do not thrive on emergency calls and suggest that all customers familiarize themselves with the means of shutting down any of their mechanical systems such as water main, hot water heater, boiler, gas main, etc. If a true emergency happens at 2am, the affected system can be shut down and repair can start during relatively normal working hours when parts are more readily available.
What is our service pricing structure?
We remain a company committed to tracking services and small jobs on a "cost plus" basis. This means that materials used and labor incurred are compiled for invoicing. We think this is fair to all. Profit margins are discussed briefly below.
We will not make any claims to be the "most affordable" and constantly focus on justifying our cost by our commitment to be "the best".
Larger jobs are preferably estimated and firmly proposed. Obviously, this hinges on the specificity of the work being estimated. In many cases, jobs are firmly proposed but scope changes along the way. Often this leads to reversion back to a "cost plus" approach.
Labor charges vary depending on employee certification and tasks being done. Eg If a job requires an experienced "master" plumber, we will charge accordingly, Many jobs involve a licensed mechanic accompanied by an "apprentice". The purpose of the helper is to tend to the needs of the licensed person as well as to learn by doing and eventually graduate into a licensed mechanic.
Normally scheduled services are priced competitively with other established mechanical shops in the area. We charge a flat fee for a service call of $160.00 for the first hour with materials used charged above and beyond that. There will be a minimum of 1 hour charged on all services.
Emergency service requests made during "normal" work hours will incur a 50% surcharge.
When emergencies occur during "non normal" work periods (after hours, weekends, holidays, etc.) the surcharge is 100%.
We want to make it clear that we do not thrive on increased emergency rates and in most cases do our best to discourage them.
Materials are typically priced using a complex method which incorporates nationally published pricing guides as well as a cost average from many of our wholesale suppliers. Once the "average cost" is determined, we impose a 10% profit and 10% overhead charge.
Fixture pricing is treated similarly. We encourage you to shop at established wholesale / retail outlets which specialize in the materials you desire. Most have knowledgeable staff and will gladly offer retail pricing direct to you. For control purposes, we prefer to provide all fixtures. Cost to you will generally run 5% above retail cost. For this you get our delivery, packaging disposal, disposal of existing fixtures / appliances, and most importantly warranty. It is frustrating to have to follow up with an adjustment on a fixture we did not sell.
We encourage customers to make service requests as explicit as possible in order for us to respond efficiently.
Do we provide free estimates?
This is a tricky one. We certainly appreciate any opportunity and willingly provide estimates for free. This depends on the scale of work being estimated. At current service rates well over $100, we can not offer written estimates for jobs which will not exceed $500. For these, we suggest scheduling a typical service call. For larger scale jobs, we will do our best to offer a thorough estimate in writing. Please understand that your specification and details of any prospective job is critical to an accurate, competitive proposal. We do not provide estimates on projects which are not owned or managed by the requesting party. This includes prospective homebuyers and tenants. For these customers we will gladly present an estimate for a fee which may or may not be applied to the work when done in the future. This approach is typical for mechanical inspections of homes not yet closed upon purchase.