Kalka Plumbing Air Conditioning and Heating

Darryll G.

We recently decided to proactively have our house repiped. We asked 3 companies to give us bids and time frames for how long the work would take, what would be included and what was not. Not only was Kalka Plumbing the best price, they included the most work in the least amount of time. The repiping work was completed in 1 day, the next day a tech came back and repaired all the interior dry wall and the exterior stucco. The the workmanship was outstanding, the communication prior, during and after the work was completed was also outstanding. Also the prep work done before they started cutting into the drywall was impeccable, they seamlessly covered what areas (from ceilings to floors) that they would not need to access and removed it at the end and left the house extremely clean.

Bill B.

Two Stories in one review...
1. Kalka replaced my old AC unit last year with a heat pump AC because I have solar. This type of AC system removes the need for gas heating. In my situation it has performed very well and is efficient since we use the sun to create the electricity in our house. Our house is so comfortable now in all areas of the home. They had 5 professional crew members that took great care in the installation process and cleaned up everything including the attic.

2. We have a condo that we are putting on the market and when the renters moved out they said something is wrong with the AC/heater. Long Story short is it was going to cost me over $5,000 to just replace the heater, but Kalka came to the rescue... This is a very old unit and the part was not easy to find, but they got the full system up and running and saved us a boat load of money.

Home repairs are not easy and you can't always find a perfect solution, but Kalka will do what ever they can to make things right.

Howard F.

I had 2 AC units installed by Kalka on 05/2016. The contract clearly stated in the warranty that parts were covered for 10 years and labor for 5 years. (See Contract in pics). On 7/2019 I had to have one of the coils replaced and the other coil needed to be replaced on 9/2019. I was charged $800 for the labor on one of the replacements and $800 for labor and freon on the other unit despite my questioning of the labor charges (See Invoices in pics). They would not help me without paying first. On 10/2020 the thermostat went out and required replacement. I was charged $186 to replace the thermostat despite it also being covered by the same warranty. I then contacted Kalka again and after a verbal refusual to help, I wrote them a letter and they again refused to refund the charged fees or remove the charges for the thermostat. I contacted my attorney which sent Kalka a letter explaining that according to the original contract, these charges should NOT have been charged to me (See Letter in pics). Kalka declined to refund the money and stood by saying that the labor and freon are NOT covered by the warranty even though nothing about that is listed in the warranty (See Kalka letter in pics). I contacted the State Board of Contractors who agreed that it should be covered and explained to Kalka that no exclusions regarding freon were mentioned in the contract. Unfortunately, the State Board of Contractors can only take action if Kalka walks out in the middle of installing a system and not if they fail to uphold their warranty. In order to recoup the money I paid for the covered services, I have to go to court and then I can make a claim against their Bond which is issued by Surety.
***Consumer Beware*** If a contractor does not make good on their warranty, you have few options except to go to court.
Kalka did finally offer me $500 to drop the matter and NOT publish any online reviews or negative press about them (see letter in pics).
I have elected to pursue in court so that hopefully other consumers are not taken advantage of by Kalka's failure to honor their warranty.

Elena T.

We wanted a home water conditioner to stop our faucets feom corroding. I called Culligan who only had one option of ripping up my yard or exposing pipes in order to access drain.

Sara from Kalka offered me the same throng but also an alternative which doesn't require a drain (I just have to change the filter annually; no landscape destruction needed). She took time to listen to our issues and goals and offered multiple options. She gave so much information that was easy to follow and led us to the beat decision for us.

I plan to work with them again for any needs as they are a top class company with quick response, great turn around time, and great results!

Kristen L.

Our old air conditioner of 12 years old went out. I have to admit that the new air conditioner was higher than we expected. But the company handled everything. They contacted the HOA, got a work permit and explained in detail of the HR60 air conditioner that they would be installing. They were professional and clean. We were very happy with the results.
We would recommend this company to anyone.

Jennifer L.

We found Kalka through a real estate agent. We hired them to look at an A/C unit that more than one A/C company had looked at but couldn't diagnose the problem. So we decided to try a different company, and it turned out to be Kalka.

We called them December 2017 to look at the unit. They said the A/C wasn't working because a faulty transformer and circuit board. We gave Kalka $1500 to fix the issue.

January 2018 - Tenant has issues with the A/C unit again. Kevin came out and determined that we needed a new A/C unit. The house was a BRAND NEW build, less than 2 years old at the time. We had such difficulties getting the issue diagnosed with multiple companies, we thought - just replace the whole darn thing rather than having to call the repair man every 2 months. We paid Kalka $6000 to install a new A/C unit. We also signed up for their $189 1-year home protection plan where they come out to the house once a quarter (or something like that) and do some routine maintenance on the unit.

February 2020 - Kalka came out to do a maintenance inspection. They tell us we need an Air Scrubber, new transformer, and some new blower for AC/Furnace unit(s). We still trust Kalka at this point...so we gave them $2200 to add/fix these parts.

August 2020 - Tenant calls and has issues with the A/C again. At this point - I'm not interested in Kalka anymore. I mean - we have paid them almost $10K, had them install a new unit, and the A/C still doesn't work?! We used another A/C company and they came out short notice during a heatwave and fixed the A/C unit. The serviceman said it was a $12 cheapo part that the builder used that was faulty and was likely causing all the problems. A TWELVE DOLLAR PART!!! They replaced this part with something of higher quality and thankfully the tenant had A/C for the rest of the year through the Fall heatwaves that we had in 2020.

I don't know if I blame Kalka 100% for all of the above expenses. After all, we approved the repairs and frankly nobody else seemed to be able to diagnose the problem until last year. But looking at all our past invoices together...there's not much to recommend here. We are the laymen - they are the experts. I would want any experts that I hire to diagnose the problem, fix it efficiently, and for the lowest cost possible. At the very best - Kalka could not diagnose the problem and as a result cost us thousands of dollars for something that possibly could have been solved with an inexpensive part. But this above would only warrant a 3-star review from me.

So why the 1-star? Here is my issue with Kalka...I honestly feel that this company only cares about money. First, if you read our story above you can see that we probably didn't need a new A/C unit. And frankly I'm skeptical if we needed an Air Scrubber, new transformer, and blower in Feb 2020. We manage other properties and none of the other properties needed this equipment - and all of their A/C units and furnaces are substantially older than the units in this property. If we hadn't had so many issues in the past with the A/C unit, we wouldn't have approved these fixes. But we wanted the problem to go away and stay away. So we were suckered into paying for these items.

Second, we signed up for the home protection plan in 2018 and 2019. These guys NEVER stop calling you to renew the plan - and they start calling months before it expires and the calling is very consistent. It happens every year starting about 3 months out from the renewal date. They don't courtesy call you to schedule maintenance because that costs the company money, and only nets goodwill - not actual dollars. But when it's time to renew your Home Protection Plan, they call all the time. Once someone called me to renew the Home Protection Plan and left me messages three days in a row until I finally picked up the phone and chewed him out for the number phone calls. Needless to say we did NOT renew the plan in 2020. Oh - and they also send reminder emails. So you get reminder calls, voice messages, and reminder emails. Just what all busy people want from their A/C servicer. One phone call and one email is sufficient.

So all this happened last year...why am I writing this review now? Because I just got called yesterday from Kalka to....guess what.....renew my Home Protection Plan because I haven't been on it in a year! Can't even make this up. These guys are too much! I've blocked their number and do not recommend Kalka to anyone. Look elsewhere for your A/C and furnace needs.

Denise B.

Update...contrary to the promise of the owner to work with us to see this issue through, we instead received an email from the Director of Operations, Mr. Allen Johnson, stating, ""If you want to receive a refund, we expect all negative reviews removed, the complaint to the BBB resolved, and your word that you will consider this resolved and not make any further negative reviews about our company.""

We understand mistakes happen; however, this correspondence shows they have no intention of resolving the issue without bullying us into removing truthful and transparent information about their company. I would have loved to write an update, where they solved the problem.

I never write Yelp reviews, but the amount of time and money Kalka Plumbing Heating and Air has caused my family has been a nightmare. Therefore, I implore anyone in need of plumbing services to think twice and explore other plumbing service providers.

Unfortunately, the video of the damage caused to the toilet could not be uploaded on Yelp.

Robert G.

A few years ago, on Christmas Eve my water heater failed. They were the only plumbing company that was available. Their work was so horrible, I've had to have another plumber come four times to fix almost everything they did. My new plumber came out and told me where they had installed aspects improperly. I had Benjamin Franklin come out and the woman, who originally installed everything, swore everything was done correctly. I insisted someone else from their company come out and he confirmed multiple aspects were done wrong including not filling the expander tank correctly. They used cheap materials. For instance, the expander tank, which should work for years, failed in two years. I have been told by multiple other plumbers, despite the high cost they charged me, was the worst on the market. Hopefully, you are never forced to use this company like I was

Juanita V.

Our furnace was overheating and constantly turning on & off. Considering our Amana system was only a few years old we checked the manufacturer's site for authorized companies for repairs and we found Kalka. I informed them that I am high risk for COVID-19 and was told the tech would be masked and careful. Joel came out and was efficient & very careful. Unfortunately the problem returned and then Ryan (with trainee Marcos) came out to address it. Both were double-masked and worked diligently to figure out the problem. Ryan's camera didn't work correctly so he had to come back again and apologized for the inconvenience. When Ryan returned today he inspected everything, adjusted the gas line and settings and now the furnace is working well. He also said that if we had any problems to not hesitate to contact him, even after hours! Such dedication and determination to fix the problem makes us very grateful.

Tom L.

We have had our air-conditioners for 22 years and one of them had a major blowout. Not inexpensive, but the Guys at Kalka did an outstanding job of installing these Amana's and wow what a difference. Each room is the same temperature, all HVAC is working with new furnaces. Ryan Anderson, the HVAC Technician was incredibly nice, very smart, and had a great attitude. I would recommend Kalka Heating & Air and I am very happy with the installation and great service. It was a pleasure doing business with them.