Forbes Plumbing

★★★★★ 4.8 / 5 (33)
: Berkeley, CA 94707
: (510) 559-3575
:

Company Overview

Radiant heating, or hydronic heating, is our area of expertise. Our services include homes equipped with floor heating or radiators in different spaces.

We receive inquiries from homeowners facing challenges with their boilers, pumps, zone valves, or thermostats; dealing with issues of too much or too little heat.

We do not service forced air or air conditioning units. Our roots are in plumbing, and we soon ventured into hydronic heating because I liked the notion of heating a house with water. Initially, most of our projects involved existing systems since new installations were rare. People suffering from allergies opted for radiant heating as they found forced air intolerable. The comfort of radiant heating led to its rise in popularity, especially when PEX polyethylene tubing was found to be a better alternative to copper.

Business Services

  • Hot water recirculation pump installation
  • Hot water recirculation pump repair
  • HVAC installation or replacement
  • HVAC system repair
  • HVAC system maintenance
  • Plumbing inspection
  • Plumbing installation or replacement
  • Plumbing repair
  • Water heater installation
  • Water heater repair

Business Location & Hours



Mon:Open 24 hours
Tue:Open 24 hours
Wed:Open 24 hours
Thu:Open 24 hours
Fri:Open 24 hours
Sat:Open 24 hours
Sun:Open 24 hours

Recommended Customer Reviews

Caz V.
★★★★★

Alan was perfect, we had a 100 gal water heater stop working. Fixed in no time and competitive rates too. On the phone with him now to install a gas stove.

Margaret L.
★★★★★

Alan is awesome. He has been keeping our radiant heat and hot water systems going for 20 years. When it was time to replace them with more efficient systems, first he supplied all the information and patiently answered every single question I asked him about components, options, installation, functions, etc. Then he and Trish did a first-rate job, and worked during the holidays to ensure that we had heat and hot water. Plus they are really nice, in addition to being so competent and professional.

Jane J.
★★★★★

Alan is amazing! He was so kind and competent! Came out and worked magic on our radiant in-floor heating. He helped us fix an issue that had left an entire bedroom without heat. He was quick, thorough, and well-priced. So easy to work with and communicate with. Will definitely keep using him for all our radiant floor needs! Can't recommend him highly enough!

Craig I.
★★★★★

Professional, friendly, passionate about his craft of radiant heating and plumbing. We worked with Alan and Trish his partner on three projects at our house. The first was replacing a 80+ year old boiler with a modern high efficiency boiler. It was great to see Alan get so excited about the different technology and him being patient as I asked all sorts of geeky questions. He is a true craftsman and people literally say ""wow"" when they see the complexity and professional layout of the pipes in the boiler room. He would make Mario and Luigi proud!

The second project was putting in-floor radiant heating in the rafters below our second floor. This was a really creative yet simple solution using Ultra-Fin radiant technology. Our upstairs is extremely comfortable. He did a bunch of research to see if it could work with our old floors and Persian carpets.

The third project was we renovated our ground floor and utilized a mix of old radiators from our house (that got freed up from the in floor radiant) and new radiators to heat a two bedroom apartment. He did all the selection of products and worked well with our general contractor who enjoyed working with Alan as well.

He also let me use Nest thermostat's and trouble shot their quirkiness. He came back lots of times without charging to fix the buggy thermostat. He also did a minor repair on my laundry to help me out so I didn't blow myself up.

We look forward to staying in touch with Alan as a friend.

David F.
★★★★★

We've been clients of Alan's for a number of years, and he is simply the best in the business. We have a 22-year-old radiant heating system that has needed periodic repairs over the years, all of which Alan did flawlessly. But the time came to stop applying ""band-aids"" and replace the boiler with a more modern, much more energy-efficient model -- which Alan and Trish did in their usual professional and timely fashion. They are a pleasure to deal with, and the work is done with great care and attention to every detail. Simply put: the best!

Jessica B.
★★★★★

Alan at Forbes Plumbing has helped us through several projects and is consistently professional, thorough, comprehensive, and informative in terms of recommendations and alternatives. He is an expert plumber and a specialist in radiant and hydraulic heating. We give him top marks!

Yehuda F.
★★★★★

Alan came the same day as he called him.
Our hot water did not get hot.
Turns out it was not an issue, he just turned it on and waited a few seconds until it became hot.
Will use Alan until the day he retires, without making a vow.
He is as good as it gets! A real Mentsch!

Michael J.
★★★★★

Forbes Plumbing, has our highest recommendations. I don't generally do recommendations but felt it's important to recognize those rare individuals who know their stuff (plumbing, boilers, radiant) and have the fortitude to promptly see through issues.

We had a new home builder that installed high-end boiler, radiant, and plumbing system in a new home that was not working correctly - long story why the original builder did not fix the issues. Alan promptly came to our house and provided recommendations for a system that, while new, had several issues before we could have hot water and heating. Alan diagnosed multiple issues and did extremely high quality work. It's rare these days to find individuals that do quality work and show up as promised!

Alan ultimately resolved all of the issues, always being considerate of the costs, resulting in resolving our hot water, heating, and plumbing leak issues. I would trust Forbes (Alan and Trish) for any plumbing needs!

-M-

Ben K.
★★★★★

Got right back to me the same day.

We didn't end up working together but he was very helpful in connecting me with someone who could. He seemed like a very authentic guy

dee k.
★★★★★

Prompt
Efficient
Knowledgable
Have used Alan's services before and will again--if problems arise (and don't they always?)

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