Montclair Rooter Plumbing & Heating

cat c.

Josh was an amazing help in remedying what I thought was a simple sink clog in my kitchen. When I called, he had a fully booked day but was willing to come to my house in the evening to take a look. After we realized that the issue was bigger than a simple P-trap cleanout, he went ahead and troubleshooted until he found the problem in the piping all the way in my basement. He removed a disgusting buildup of crud from my pipes in my 70-year old home and even cleaned up the goopy mess that occurred after unclogging the clog in the basement. (AND took away my gross towels for me!) Josh is so friendly, knowldegeable and helpful that I felt super safe to have him in my home with my two small children late at night. He even impressed my hard-to-please civil engineer Korean father who was present when we were being serviced. So much in fact, my dad asked to book him for a few projects for his own home. 100% recommend!

PS He is not a cash-only business, despite what previous a previous reviewer had stated.

Vinay I.

Agreeing with other reviewers, Josh is a star. On a late Sunday evening we had a crisis and he showed up within 30 mins, diagnosed the problem quickly, got to work pronto, and got the messy problem resolved. He definitely knows his stuff and makes sure you know it too :)

Fairly priced for the excellent service he provides. Definitely will call on him again - hopefully not in the next 5 years though!

Gene C.

The sewer pipe from my house broke and sewage was spewing into my back yard. Fortunately, Josh came within an hour, and even though it was late in the day and getting dark, he fixed the problem at a reasonable cost.

He is a colorful personality, but you'll put up with his eccentricities because he's honest, knows what he is doing, and gets the job done.

Rebecca P.

This guy is hilarious, but more importantly he does the job quickly and reliably. I had a clogged pipe at my b-friend's house and he was there in 20 minutes and fixed the problem within 5. Thanks Josh.

Mary G.

I needed a drain pipe fixed and called Josh because of the reviews. He's everything the other reviewers say - smart, super-helpful, completely prepared with all the equipment he needs to do just about any plumbing job, and reasonably priced. I've had pools of water collect at the corner of my house from a cracked and clogged drain pipe. Josh cleared the whole thing out in less than an hour. He explained what he was doing and why, and he noticed other minor problems that he fixed for me on the fly without a great deal of additional charge. He's been a general contractor and is a fount of helpful information about structure, plumbing, electrical, and other areas of concern for a homeowner. And if that weren't enough, he's entertaining and engaging. Nice to have a plumber who's fun to be around. I will definitely call him again.

V K.

I contacted Josh for a second opinion / estimate of a sewer line replacement. I experienced a major sewer back up and thought I picked a reputable company to snake the line. I was advised that my terra cotta pipe had a crack that was allowing roots in. They gave me 2 bids for replacing the broken section for $4000 or replacing the whole system for $11,000. After explaining the situation to Josh he immediately told me ""you don't need me"" . He explained that since the system was flowing and until another back up occurred he would not recommend taking any of my money to do unnecessary work.
He then assured me that if and when I needed him he would be available a.s.a.p. and would only advise me on what was absolutely needed. In this day and age and especially being a woman you will almost never hear this. Josh will be the first person I call if needed. Thank you again for spending the time explaining things to me and giving me a better understanding of my situation.

Sophie O.

Funny if you read through Josh's reviews there is a lot of agreement about the one most important thing:He is there when you need him and he gets the job done. That's the Josh that showed up at my rental property the evening of of the SF-Seattle game ( when all other able bodied plumber humans in the Bay Area are out of commission, whether they are diamond certified or not, I learned after many calls for assistance). and not only did he deal with the urgent heating issue but he fixed a less urgent shower flow problem on the same visit. His price was fair, given how responsive he was and how much he got done. To othe reviewer, I never met a plumber who didn't charge or one hour the minute they set foot in the house, whether they are coming from next door, or clear across town. That's how it works. He accepted my credit card, and I would definitely call him again. Communicative, reliable, and interested in providing service when you need it

Nancy G.

Josh is truly a master plumber! He offered to take credit cards or check and was very affordable. I found him to be very professional and great with suppliers and the manufacturer in all his discussions.

Our unique, and expensive, water heater was cycling over and over and not engaging. Josh methodically eliminated possible causes until he determined the switch that failed and sure enough it was rusted on the inside. He researched his contacts including the manufacturer and everyone said we need to replace the entire blower for $600-800. Josh was able to find a similar switch for $10 which got us up and running. He then helped us work with the manufacturer to register it and use the warranty (we had only 3 days left on it). Once we were under warranty, the manufacturer totally changed their tune and said they could just send us the switch part (saving themselves the $600-800). Happy ending for us, though! Josh was able to help us get the true replacement part from the manufacturer and we didn't have to buy an entire assembly or replace the water heater. Josh had great follow through and was very responsive.

I highly recommend Josh.

V A.

We were very unhappy with his lack of professionalism and his lack of integrity.

(FYI -- Josh of Montclair Rooter apparently also operates his business under the name Piedmont Rooter, since we called that company as an alternate and he answered.)

We hired Josh somewhat ""by accident"" because he happened to be working next door and we needed someone to unclog hair from a drain. The overall experience would make us avoid him in the future. He did ultimately unclog the drain, which took about ten or fifteen minutes but charged us for a full hour of his time anyway even though he was already working next door. Josh spends a lot of time talking about non-plumbing things and then wants to charge you for that time so beware of chatting.

First, it appears that he is not licensed, even though his cards say that his company is licensed and include a license number.

He told us his ""normal"" hourly rate (and then said he'd give us a discounted rate because he was already here); later our neighbor said he charges him far less per hour than the ""normal"" rate he quoted us. As for payment, he pushes for cash, and strongly discouraged using a credit card - leaving little recourse if there is a problem.

While he was here, he pointed out another significant plumbing problem with water going down the tub and other drains backing up into a sink in the garage. We appreciated his identifying the problem but were frustrated with his refusal to help us deal with it. Even though we paid him for what we understood to be an hour of his time at what he said was a discounted rate, and he only spent a quarter hour actual working on the clog, he wouldn't tell us how he thought the other problem could be resolved, unless we hired him to come back separately for that.

Finally, after we posted a short negative review, he called on the phone to berate us, and then an hour or so later showed up at our door and continued to do so. He was very calm about it, but it was disturbing, particularly his comments about the various ugly ways that karma will repay us for posting the review.

Josh may be a master plumber, and his skills may very well be excellent, but this was not the kind of experience I want to have again.

Siu G.

They were working on my neighbors' house. Not sure if they get the job done but very rude attitude. They were walking up and down my driveway without asking; talking loudly and provocatively. Certainly would not recommend them to any neighbors!