Montclair Rooter Plumbing & Heating

s d.

Josh is competent and charges roughly up to $300+/hour for flushing and routing drains. The extremely talkative bedside manner, trying to create value, was ultimately not for me.

Bee T.

Josh was our LIFESAVER tonight. After being jerked around by our landlord for a month we finally began calling heating companies ourselves to get our heater fixed before friends visiting from out of town arrive this weekend. When I called, Josh answered almost immediately and when I explained the problem and the urgency, he said he could come the same night. He asked a ton of questions that my husband was able to describe and answer and we sent him pictures by text so he could fully see what he was getting into. When every guy before him was telling our landlord it would have to be fully replaced at quotes of $1200 and up, he came in wayyyyy under that and was able to repair the unit for us. He was also so kind to deal with our crazy and extremely difficult landlord by phone. He even ran to Home Depot to get a part when he realized the last guy had damaged a valve when trying to fix another part. All in all he was a godsend tonight and we are so grateful for the heat, just in the nick of time!
The only thing I would note is that he has a bold and vibrant personality that we found endearing, hilarious, and honest while some people might find it off the cuff. He runs his business like a local Mom and Pop shop, but he clearly has many years of experience. And he will definitely ask you periodically to look at things - he wants you to understand the processes and see the honest work he's doing, some might find this disruptive, so don't call him over if you can't make time for him to do a thorough job. He is honest, hardworking, and extremely thorough - we are so thankful and will be calling Josh for any future heating or plumbing needs!

Kevin W.

I like Josh and have used him at least 5 times over the last 5 years or so. He returns calls and texts quickly, available that day more often than not, a good trouble shooter, completes work quickly and fair pricing. A mensch.

E. N.

I just had a negative experience with Josh. My husband called him before we read about his questionable license status. He was responsive and helpful. When I called back to clarify whether he was licensed, he said his license was ""inactive"". I said I wanted to clarify this with the State Board, but please to continue to follow up on the job. He agreed to do this. When I decided not to use him 5 minutes later, I called him back and he said, ""That's all right, I already took your job off the board."" When I noted that this was contrary to the fact that he had agreed to continue the job unless he heard that I was cancelling, he said, ""I could tell by your voice you were cancelling."" I said that I had not cancelled initially and that wasn't cool as he had agreed to continue the job unless he heard from me, he started arguing with me. I do not recommend his service. I was recently scammed by a company that was unlicensed and it left me with no recourse. Hard lessons.

Sarah C.

Josh saved my bacon, no joke. One of my toilets was running continuously and not refilling the tank. I called in a plumber from Task Rabbit, who despite saying that he had never seen a toilet like this before, proceeded to completely take my toilet apart, then take away the main parts and tell me he'd call me in a day or two once he'd found the replacements.Suffice to say I did not trust him to do the job right, so I went to find a professional to put my toilet back together. Josh spent several hours working on my toilet and making it as good as new. He was super thorough and wanted to make sure everything was exactly right. He also made a point of checking the water levels in my other toilets to ensure they wouldn't overflow. I would absolutely have Josh back again for any plumbing job I needed done.

Maura G.

Helped with some advice that ultimately means I probably won't need any work done. How often does that happen?!

Nadja S.

My husband was out of town and I was home with two little kids and a non working toilet. Josh showed up 5mins after I called and fixed the issue in 10min. And best was that he charged a very reasonable price. He definitely saved our day! Wouldnt call anyone else for plumbing problems.

Lou V.

Wow!! Josh saved my life--or at least my sanity. We had a ridiculous situation where our handyman had washed a bunch of grout down our drain and it hardened in our pipes. I got the trap cleared, but the sink still wasn't draining. Josh came out within a few hours of my calling, and climbed to the roof to snake out the pipe. Water drained from the sink... and out the seal that I'd inadvertently broken when clearing grout from the garbage disposal.

Josh had to run to another service call, but came directly back afterward to finish our job. He replaced the seal for the garbage disposal, and everything is flowing and dry again.

Josh was kind to my wife and kids, and didn't make me feel like an idiot. Even with the extra work of the leaky disposal seal, he charged a very reasonable price. We will be calling the next time we need plumbing or heating help.

Kelly A.

It's the week between Christmas and New Year's and my tubs are backed up. I called four referrals. One could come in two days, and the others weren't available until after the first of the year. I needed a shower! Finally, I reached Josh, at about 1:00 p.m. By 4:30, my tubs were draining properly, and as an added bonus, he even fixed my loose toilet seat.

Super competent, speedy service, from an all-around nice guy. Fair price, too. I'll be calling him again.

CC H.

Expert work. Reasonable rate. Exceptional responsiveness and customer service. What more do you need?

I'm truly stunned by a recent poor review -- this was the polar opposite of our experience and I can only assume there was a breakdown in communication somewhere. Is Josh talkative? Yes. But we found that a refreshing change from the often surly demeanor we've experienced with other service providers. Is he a rockstar plumber? Unequivocally, yes!

We had a clog somewhere deep in the pipes past our garbage disposal, and grungy water was backing up into our kitchen sink. With a hosted holiday party fast approaching, that's not a good thing! Called our usual plumber but he was booked for a week. Calls to three more plumbers went unreturned. Finally a friend took pity and passed along her secret weapon -- Josh. He picked up the phone immediately even though I was calling at 7:45 p.m. He was friendly, reassuring, and best of all said he'd be able to get here in 20 minutes! When I told him it wasn't an emergency and could wait until morning, he said not to worry, he'd be happy to handle it now.

20 minutes later, he was indeed here. He quickly diagnosed the problem (future note to self: do *not* use the garbage disposal as an actual garbage repository for pounds of food!), located the convoluted venting and drainage system in our older house, and climbed up on the roof to access the drain vent. He warned us that with our ancient pipes we might be in a bit of trouble and said he'd start with the lowest level of motorized rooter/snake thing to try to avoid potential damage. Lo and behold, within 5 minutes of his expert attention the drain cleared and the kitchen sink was again fully functional, and no damage to our poor pipes. Woo!

He's an upbeat, personable, and (yes) talkative guy who really knows his stuff. He took some time explaining how the plumbing was constructed in our house, answered a few really newbie questions from me and my husband, and was fun to chat with as well. Very competitive/reasonable rate (about half the price that Roto Rooter would have charged), and he gave us a referral discount thanks to my friend (much appreciated!).

I have worked with dozens of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and the like (did I mention it's an old house?), and after just this one visit Josh ranks up there with the best of them. He's got our business going forward, no doubt about it.