Burkell Plumbing

cee b.

Two cold months later, I am still without a working furnace that is just 2 years old. I've had multiple service calls where they 'fixed the problem,' leave and shortly there after, the unit shuts off again. I had 3 visits with one worker, who was dismissive of my claim it wasn't working right. I had a contractor working at the house at the time and told me that their work was not right and agreed there was something truly wrong with the furnace - cycling all the time but not heating; after pleas, the 'boss' came to the house and finally saw that it was broken. They tried but still did not fix it. So I've paid for parts and repairs that clearly were not the problem. They haven't returned my last call telling them the furnace is still not working. Don't use them for your furnace repairs, they don't seem to know what they are doing.

C S.

A contractor installed a triangle tube excellence boiler into my home. When it started acting up they wanted to charge me to come out and look at it. I called the sales rep, who indicated that the problem was related to an internal failure. After a lot of diagnosis, the MFG agreed to replace it. The sales rep brought in Michael from Burkell. He came out and swapped out the unit. When that failed to fix the problem, Michael didn't just walk away, even though my problem wasn't related to the warrenty replacement, he worked with the MFG and the sales rep to diagnose the problem (faulty wiring from the original installer). He took the time and effort to make sure the problem was fixed even though it wasn't on his watch and he wasn't directly being paid for the work beyond the replacement. After several years of looking for a heating contractor who really understands modern boilers, I am sold on Burkell.

Rob Z.

Jason is always awesome! he has done several repairs and installed a very complicated water heater in my attic. knowledgeable and trustworthy - hard to find these days.

John F.

I have used Burkell several times in the past for apartment buildings I own. Each time it has proved to be an expensive mistake. Let me explain at this point that I have done quite a bit of plumbing in the past myself so I can detect shoddy service that an ordinary homeowner might not.

On one particular job Burkell quoted a suspiciously low price for putting in a a new underground sewer pipe. This particular job was a major disaster. The work was so terrible that they had to come out five times to finally complete the job. They also ruined a set of stars dragging a piece of heavy equipment down them.

A few years later I found a gaping hole in my foundation that Burkell's plumbers had jack hammered open but had never told me about so I could have it fixed. Because of this gaping hole a large amount of water had gotten into the building's crawl space. I also found out later Burkell also used non code piping and junctions for this job in order to lower his original bid price..

The next time I used Burkell, the plumber was sightly more competent but he didn't have any of the proper tools to make a speedy repair. He blamed this on other plumbers who had used his truck and had never bothered to replenish parts that they had used He was forced to use a saws-all reciprocating saw with a blade on which all the teeth had been almost completely worn away from previous jobs. (This was the only blade he had) It took him a large amount of addition time ($$$) for him to struggle to open up a shower wall because the toothless saw blade barely cut Fiberglas shower material.

On another (and final) occasion I was stupid enough to use Burkell yet again to clear a drain. The young plumber who was sent out was blisteringly incompetent and spent about two hours trying unsuccessfully to snake it open. During this time I rapidly came to my conclusion that I knew far more than he did. After two hours of wasted effort I insisted on explaining to him the proper way to snake the drain. Only after he heeded my advice was he finally able to end the blockage. Despite this total fiasco he still charged me almost three hundred dollars for a job that could have been completed in thirty minutes by a competent worker. By the time he left I was convinced that Burkell must have hired him simply because he worked very cheap, not because he had even a shred of any sort of knowledge about plumbing.

To ad insult to injury, Burkell charges some of the highest labor rates in the bay area for this sort of blatant malfeasance. He charges more than most union shops in San Francisco do. In these union shops the journeyman plumbers employed there have to have gone though a four year union apprenticeship to make sure that they are competent. As far as I have been able to ascertain, not one of Burkell's plumbers have gone though any sort of a formal apprenticeship of this type. They all have learned basically ""on the Job."".A Burkell plumber once told me that, despite Burkell's high labor rates, he made half (in wages and benefits) of what a union plumber made in SF.

L. W.

Two representatives from Burkell came to my house to give me an estimate on a new water heater and household heater. They smelled very strongly like marijuanna, and seemed a little out of it. After checking out my situation, they gave me some brochures and some rough estimates. I asked if they could email me a bid, since I needed it in writing to compare to other companies. Four weeks later, I had to call the company 3 times to get the bid sent to me. When it arrived, it was comparable to the other companies, but because of the unprofessional nature of getting the estimate, I won't be going with this company.

H L.

One star because...
I need my base board heating unit needed to be replaced and Burkell Plumbing came out to take a look. The gentleman from Burkell was nice and seemed knowledgeable.

However, after his visit, I never received a quote for the cost of the replacement. I called their office and the receptionist asked me to leave a voicemail to prod the estimator. No follow-up.

Rusty B.

My experience with them was excellent. They made appointments in a professional manner giving me options to fit my schedule. They were on time. The work was done very well, quickly and they had all the supplies on the truck. The cost was fair and they made an attempt to come in under the one hour minimum, which they did. I'd use them again, for sure.

Terri B.

I've used Burkell Plumbing of Sausalito several times in the past and always had excellent service until last year, 2008. I called Burkell to fix a leaky toilet and faucet. On the first visit they said we would need to completely replace both units. For those words of wisdom, we were charged $196. After they left, I took a closer look at the faucet and noticed it didn't have a rubber washer at the leaky connection. I called Burkell back and they sent a guy named Jason. He said it didn't need a washer because it was a compression fitting (like, ""are you stupid, lady?""). I asked him what that was and he painfully explained the fitting became water tight under compression. I asked why it was loose. He said he didn't know. I asked him to tighten it. He did, reluctantly. Problem solved. The faucet stopped leaking. And for that, he charged me another $148. I tried to plea with management on the charge but got nowhere. Moral of the story is, sometimes it costs $344 to find out which plumber NOT to use.

Richard S.

We have used Burkell for many years, dating back to the 1970's if you count my parents. They have historically done good work, but a recent experience has caused us to drop them from our list. We had them come to our house for some work, and to another house we own nearby (down the block, literally) to do other work. Both jobs were small, and together, including the time to get from one house to the other, took LESS than one hour. They charged us for two separate visits, for a total of $296. For an hour's work. We called them to discuss this, and they were completely unwilling to modify their charges to something more reasonable. Two simple jobs for almost $300. In a recession. They've lost a (previously) loyal, otherwise satisfied customer. Make sure you ask how much it will cost before you decide to use them!

Nancy H.

I chose Burkell to do the plumbing on my recent bathroom remodel because I had heard that they had an excellent reputation. They lost the screws that were intended to keep the wall mount faucet from moving. I talked directly with the owner and I would have to call 4 or 5 times to get him to return my call. He did nothing to get the screws and lied to me saying that it was a new product and there were no screws available. After 3 months of waiting I called Kohler directly. They sent the screws to me.