Austerlitz Plumbing & Heating

Brian S.

Andy arrived and quickly diagnosed the problem: Carpenters had done the plumbing.

It was a lesson that Andy continued to drill into me during the course of his visit: People whose primary skill is assembling wood into domiciles should not, under any circumstance, be allowed to also put in the plumbing.

I'd never thought of it before. Plumbing is a skill set. Plumbers plumb. Carpenters do carpentry.

This makes sense. You wouldn't want to look into a cockpit and see that a pastry chef was going to give piloting a go.

Having once plied his trade at the World Trade Center, Andy has gained a wealth of knowledge that allowed him to very pleasantly point out everything wrong with my carpenter-installed plumbing. He showed me how the wrong connector had been used, and how the pitch of the pipe was incorrect. Once he was finished shaking his head, he got to fixing it.

In addition, and totally free of charge, he pointed out that the wizard who installed my water pump had built a wall around it, meaning that someday I will have to remove a toilet and tear my wall open in order to access it.

He also noted that some plumbing-adjacent electrical outlets were not up to code, and he couldn't help but point out that the PVC heating pipe that was installed in lieu of copper will one day burst and send water throughout my basement. In order to fuel my nightmares, he showed me pictures of a recent such disaster.

Overall, there were lots of teachable plumbing moments. He's funny and very personable, so it really took the pain out of hearing my carpenter-plumbing was shambolic.

Andy's prices were very reasonable. Once he was off the clock, we talked cooking. Andy is a phenomenal chef, and he has the pictures to prove it. I called my wife over so that she too could look at numerous glamor shots of Andy's mouthwatering dishes, while Andy Jr. patiently waited for his dad to get back in the truck.

CJ D.

I've used Andy for over 12 years: he's reliable, knows his trade and is very reasonable, in addition to being a nice person. I recommend him highly, and just wish I'd found him before some of the other guys I used, whose work was less than satisfactory.

Louise G.

He ripped me off. And he was verbally hostile. And stupid me -- I let him do work in my house a few times. He used thin pipe. He did not fix bathtub drain problem, tho he charged me plenty. (Later Thomas Harkins fixed the problem.)

One time I needed to talk to Andy, the plumber, about location of pipe in basement. His (rude) wife who answers the phone would not let me speak to him. She insisted that she would be the only one to help me, tho she is not a plumber and had never been to my house. Then when I called with a request to send Andy out, she refused saying that they would not do any work for me (she said I was rude to her when I phoned with urgent question re pipe, when she would not let me talk to him.)

If you do want to see him, you most likely can find him in the bar in Chatham, where he boasts about overcharging people. No joke.