Barrell Plumbing & Heating

Stephanie G.

A shame the employees on site don't live up to the company promise: ""Serving the Boston area for over 50 years, we have built a reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and professional, courteous service.""

Workers arrived at my house unannounced and demanded that I move my vehicle in the driveway so they could use it. Demanded, not asked. When I told them they needed to ask in advance the next time, they proceeded to repeat this on a holiday at 7am. When I reminded them that they needed to ask in advance, the dude working complained about needing to move a 500 pound boiler and needing the space. Normally, this would not be an issue, but his terrible attitude and lack of ownership of the problem, plus his discourteous delivery was completely inappropriate. Furthermore, he was a terrible example to a younger employee.

Why bother with Joseph Barrell when there are so many other competitors on the market? No one wants this kind of bad energy and attitude in their home.

Dan M.

Just had an old furnace and central air system replaced. Excellent workmanship. Started promptly each morning. They are immaculate and very professional. Would not hesitate to use them again.

Will B.

They charge more than other plumbers, so you'd expect higher quality work, but it is not true. You know it is bad when you are the one explaining the plumbing to the plumber. The plumber they sent got it in his head that the leak was coming from a different apartment, and I had to argue with him for an hour before he admitted he was wrong and fixed it.

Jason L.

As others have mentioned, they are insanely expensive and borderline fraudulent. I was charged nearly $500 to have a simple garbage disposal replaced (normally about a $200-250 job, appliance included). It took the kid no more than 30 minutes to install but they later billed me for almost 3 hours of work. When I spoke with them about this they took the installers word and said he was able to prove the length of time by reporting his GPS location during the visit. I live in the center of Cleveland Circle so my guess is he had a nice long lunch close by and, unfortunately, I had the pleasure of paying for his leisure time. What a wonderful company.

L.S. K.

We discovered that our hot water tank was leaking at 5:20 on Sunday evening. We got a response to our emergency message in 20 minutes and when I said we were grandparents he came immediately and drained the tank. The next morning the scheduler called at 7, the workman was here before 9 and the installation of a new tank was done before noon. All with graciousness.

Christine D.

This company installed a new hot water heater as a condition of sale of a condo I recently purchased. As soon as I moved in, I heard a lot of clanking in the pipes and called them, thinking that perhaps they had installed the unit incorrectly or that there was air in the pipes as a result of the installation and assuming that the unit was under warrantee. The company sent someone right away and he was very thorough in his review of the situation. He concluded that it was not a problem of the unit or of the installation and I am tempted to believe him. The company later gave me an estimate for the repair of what the plumber perceived to be the problem. All well and good and I was tempted to use the company to repair the problem until they sent me a bill for $225 for that first visit. I think that is very expensive given the situation and I believe they should have clarified ahead of time their terms of service. But perhaps it is a case of buyer (or in this case ""caller"") beware. In any event, I would not recommend them.

Taylor M.

In the past few weeks, I've had a faucet replaced, air conditioner repaired, water heater installed, and we're working on the humidifier. So I have lots of experience with Barrell. They are honest (another company gave me an estimate to replace equipment that wasn't broken). The air conditioner needed a minor part replaced, and they had the work done within a couple of hours, for way less than I was expecting. Very impressed.

Tessa C.

I've used Barrell Plumbing at the recommendation of the property management company that manages my condo. They are expensive, but they are willing to answer any questions to make sure that you understand what is going on and what is needed.

8 years ago, I had them replace an old shower valve in my ancient bathroom. They got it fixed and it's been working fine ever since.

More recently, I had a leak from the separate tub valve. They suggested replacing the tub valve with a combined shower and tub valve. It didn't make sense to me so I called them and they were super patient and willing to answer every question that I had. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be trying to match the old subway tile and that we explored all options.

The repair was scheduled and the plumber was able to stop the leak. I didn't have to go through the expensive replacement of the shower/tub valve. I'm still not 100% convinced that i need to tie the shower and the tub valve together, but they were responsive and informative.

First L.

I have spent thousands over the past few years with Barrell. Their prices were always high but I hoped I was paying for reliability. Regretfully, I was wrong.

One day a shower valve failed that Barrell had worked on previously. The water was unable to be turned off and was soon going to overflow the bathtub. I called Barrell and the person that answered the phone was completely unconcerned that this was an emergency and simply said that they were were too busy to help. They offered no alternative, no referral, nothing.

Needless to say, if you are looking for a plumber, I recommend that you keep looking.

Stephen H.

They provide prompt ""service"", but beware. I have used them twice to find that they are only willing to do quick jobs, don't finish the work, and charge top dollar. In my latest experience, the technician refused to do the work because of a complication and still charged me for an hour visit. Barrell has a great business doing nothing in 20 minutes and still charging for an hour visit. I will never use these guys again and recommend than no one does. If you need to use them, ask for a quotation first, so that they commit to actually doing the work.