Richard's Plumbing and Heating

Kimi L.

Called twice and left messages. Never even got a call back.

christine c.

Richard is truly and honest, easy to work with. We had an in line water heater and a washer in dryer in an upstairs tiny room. Our young boy is going to need a room of his own soon, and so we decided to coopt this room. I was so impressed with the solution Richard came up with, the loud water heater went up into the attic, the washer and dryer went on the first floor under the stairs. The whole job took two days and the guys keep the place clean and put everything back when they were done.

I can't recommend Richard more, AND he came back when I admitted I couldn't figure out why the tap wasn't turning off completely at the kitchen sink. And he didn't make fun of me when it turned out it was a simple right in my face issue! Not only professional, but completely nice too.

I'm just going to amend this because we lost contact with Richard, after a few calls to tie up loose ends with our system, we ended up going with another plumber. Sad, cause I really enjoy working with Richard!

Aksel O.

We now have a pleasantly tempered house after deciding to have our antiquity of a floor furnace (which was great for heating the hallway, but not really anything else in the house) replaced. We picked Richard based on good ratings on this site, and were very pleased with the process from start to finish. Richard came up with a plan for return air which used our limited available space (in a 1,000 sqft house) very efficiently, while he and his crew installed and tested it with minimal intrusion and great attention to after-hour cleanliness, which was great given our now crawling baby. They also patched our walls seamlessly, and finally send us on our way towards getting a $1,500 tax credit towards installation costs.

Susan E.

I would absolutely recommend Richard - and I am not a personal friend, nor did I know him before he did our work. Richard installed central heating in our new (to us) Berkeley home. We got 3 other bids and his was lower, but he also included more in his bid -- he really goes the extra mile to do an excellent job. Richard was absolutely great to work with. He communicates really well, and has an extremely professional approach to the job. The final price was exactly the bid, except for 2 extras that we asked him to do (sheet rocking and dryer vent repair) that weren't part of the bid. They were extremely reasonably priced, he did not jack up the price of the add-ons like some contractors do. The work was done neatly, we were consulted on every decision, felt listened to and respected. While he was moving the new furnace to under the house and taking out the old furnace he (for no additional charge) also cleaned out tons of garbage (broken up cement, empty paint cans, coal!) that the previous owners had left there. He did not charge us extra , he just wanted it to be done right. Richard takes pride in his work, does a great job for a fair price. Highly recommended!

Eric W.

It's an axiom that competence and honesty are generally present in inverse proportion in plumbers, mechanics, and members of other professional trades. Richard Grodecki proves that's not always true. I've worked with a dozen or so plumbers in my life, and never have I met someone so devoted to performing quality work, bar none. Richard installed a state-of-the-art tankless hot water heater and completely re-piped my 1920s-era Berkeley bungalow, and every detail showed his commitment to providing me with a solution that will last a lifetime. Every permit was taken care of. Every finish on my house was restored to its original state or actually improved. Even when the job went past his original time estimate, he never once brought up the idea of charging me more. When I asked about it, he simply said ""Unless something truly unexpected rears its head, I stick to my estimates.""

Wow. That integrity alone is worth its weight in gold -- thank heavens he's also the best plumber in the Bay Area. Hire this man.

Emily C.

Richard just completed work on the 1948 house my husband and I just bought. He arrived right on time to look over the jobs we needed done, and sent over a bid that night. The bid was detailed and explained all the work completely and thoroughly. After reviewing all our bids, we decided to go with Richard and are glad we did. He installed a new clean-out (not an easy job on our old house), installed a new gas line to our cooktop and dryer, installed our new bathroom vanity, and fixed a decades-old tub leak in our bathroom. Not only is Richard professional and friendly, he completed the work quickly and always returned my messages and emails promptly. He also was genuinely concerned with the health of our house and investigated several minor problems free of charge. I recommend Richard highly and without hesitation, and I will be sure to call on him again. Thanks Richard!

Anthony S.

This guy's awesome. He moved the heater in my house into a crawl space saving tons of room in our place. He came up with a better plan than any of the other estimates (which created a few 100 more ft sq in our house); he did amazing work quickly and he was more affordable than the other estimates. Plus he's just a great guy. If you have home heating needs, this is the guy you are looking for. He absolutely rules.

J. Y.

Just got off the phone with Richard. Really nice guy and very honest. I called Richard based on the reviews here and referral. His price was way lower than quoted by others five star rated plumbers.

The only thing, he doesn't serve my area. What a bummer!

James N.

Honest. Prompt. Detailed-oriented. Communicative. Thorough. Friendly. These words sum up Richard during his first job on our home. The sump pump in our crawl space was making loud banging noises when the washer was running and we had no idea what was causing the sounds. After paying (and wasting) $95 for a washer repair service and another $45 for another plumbing service (who misdiagnosed the problem and suggested an extremely expensive and unnecessary replacement), we finally found Richard through Yelp and got a truthful diagnosis. Richard came out on his first assessment trip; thoroughly inspected the pipes and pump; clearly explained the situation and recommended a solution. Richard educated us about sump pumps and our piping system--which to uninformed homeowners is extremely valuable. We scheduled a follow up visit and Richard repiped the system in 2-1/2 hours (30 minutes less than what he estimated). He walked us through the work carefully and tested the system. Now we can use the washer peacefully without fear of our house exploding beneath us. On both visits, Richard showed up ready to go a few minutes before our appointment time. His rates were extremely reasonable for the excellent quality of service. Bonus: He even tightened loose door hinges that also bothered us for weeks. Richard's service, professionalism, and, moreover, straight-forward honesty deserve 5 stars and we couldn't recommend any better plumber. His previous 5-star reviews on Yelp seemed too good to be true but we're now believers after this experience.

Karen L.

This is an updated review for Richard. Since our initial meetings, Richard has repaired one of our heating vents and fixed a leaky pipe in our front yard. As usual, he was prompt for our appointments and fixed the issues efficiently and cost-effectively. I continue to recommend him to other people who are looking for a reliable plumber who offers reasonable rates.

My original post (from October 2008) is as below:

I am really glad to have found Richard on Yelp! He changed out a leaking kitchen drain pipe, upgraded the connections in and around our furnace, and replaced our old galvanized plumbing with new copper pipes. In replacing our kitchen drain pipe, he discovered that our drain was not hooked up to the venting chimney. I really appreciated that he gave us different options to remedy the situation, which ranged from short-term (but less $$$) solutions to long-term (and expensive) ones. Richard was also able to address our concerns about not tearing out our downstairs bathroom walls and ceilings to put in the new pipes.

In our meetings, Richard was always professional, courteous and on time. He is extremely responsive via email, and he was one of the two plumbers (out of five that I contacted) to come out and provide a free estimate for the plumbing and heating jobs I needed to have done. His final costs closely matched the offered estimates, and I am happy with the quality of his work. I would highly recommend Richard's services and in fact have already referred him to colleagues and friends in the area.