The Otter Guys
Company Overview
The Otter Guys specializes in plumbing, heating, and cooling for residents of Charlottesville, VA. Being a local, family-run business, we are proud to offer Service Like No Otter! We boast over 750 reviews on our site and more than 120 on Google, making us a 5-star service provider. We are eager to provide you with solutions that improve your home comfort.
The Otter Guys began as J L Kerley in the 1960s. We later changed our name to 'JLK' before rebranding to 'The Otter Guys' in 2022. For many years, JLK / The Otter Guys has been dedicated to serving the Charlottesville community with integrity and a strong service ethos. Our aspiration is to uphold this tradition for many years to come.
Dwayne has been part of our team for several years, bringing a background in customer service management. He is dedicated to making sure each customer enjoys an outstanding experience that meets their needs. Dwayne strives to ensure that every new customer becomes a loyal client. Dwayne looks forward to gaining your trust and business!
Business Services
- Bathtub installation
- Bathtub repair
- Drain installation
- Drain repair
- Faucet installation
- Faucet repair
- Garbage disposal installation
- Garbage disposal repair
- 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
- Sewer installation
- Sewer repair
- Shower installation
- Shower repair
- Sink installation
- Sink repair
- Sump pump installation
- Sump pump repair
- Toilet installation
- Toilet repair
- Water heater installation
- Water heater repair
- Water pipe installation
- Water pipe repair
Business Location & Hours
| Mon: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Tue: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Wed: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Thu: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Fri: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Sat: | Closed |
| Sun: | Closed |
Recommended Customer Reviews
Ryan C.Our AC stopped working and they were the only company we could get to our house same day. That's about all I can say positive. They charged us 4x what the fix should cost to get it working again then quoted us 50% higher than other companies to replace the HVAC. It was near 100 degrees the day it stopped working. They knew they could extort us. Avoid at all costs
K. R.I can't speak for any repairs but this review is for something super simple as scheduling. We arranged an appointment for them to come a few days ago between a 11-1pm time slot. Come 1:15pm no call and no show, so we called them back and were told ""the plumber is still at another job"".
Some folks may not care but when you are planning on charging a service charge, it's unacceptable. We got a ""sorry they are behind"" excuse but the right thing to do is the plumber should have called and advised us they would be late.
I work in a hospital OR, needing to take time off my busy schedule to wait on these guys. It's a massive inconvenience because your customers also have lives and jobs they have to work around to get your plumber to come. Cancelled the visit. If your gonna be late just take the 15 seconds to call your next site about it...
Quoted us 900 hundred dollars to fix a broken faucet cartridge (a part that is 10 bucks at home depot and took me-- a complete plumbing novice-- 1 hour to fix a few year ago). We called another company in town, they fixed for 275. Beware.
Craig H.I had a water heater pipe burst and called The Otter Guys. They took all my info for an emergency appointment and told me the plumber would call me. After several hours and no call, I called and they took all my information again. Someone called and we walked through my issue and what I needed. After telling me that a replacement water heater would be $2000-2200 (plus cost of install), I said I'd buy it myself ($800 at Lowe's for a very good one) and just pay for install. We set a price and an appointment day and time. The next day they called to let me know that they didn't service my location. Very disappointing customer service.
I had the otter guys come out to fix our ac in August. It was our first home so wasn't sure how all this works. The gentleman came out, looked at our unit stated the issue and to confirm, he put the part on and checked if that fixed the issue. He then gave us the price for repair which was over $400. The part cost 10$ at ace hardware. Instead of discussing price with us before repair, he left us feeling obligated to pay since the part was put in. We paid he left and it still didn't seem right. We called, the tech came back a put the old part back after scratching the serial numbers and such and left. We have yet to receive the refund of over 300 since it was a 79$ service call. Terrible crooked company!!!!
First let me say calling a Plumber to me is very daunting to say the least. But to my surprise this company was anything but. They were very easy to deal with from setting up an appointment , they were honest and down to earth. rates were very good and now I no longer have the fear of calling a plumber. I have used them multiple times since and I promise I have never been disappointed. I know they are called the otter guys but as far as I am concerned there are no other guys.
Our AC condensation drain hose clogged, and the pan overflowed and destroyed our ceiling. Turns out the pan had rusted holes and wasn't going to do its job.
The serviceman was very nice, and got the hose dripping again, but he didn't do anything to repair the AC pan to make it useable. The crawl space in the attic was too small to raise the unit to replace the pan, so he suggested we spend thousands to replace the whole unit, as it would need to be disassembled to remove to replace the pan. So why not get a new one? There was some logic in his solution, but he didn't try anything even to see if it might work. We ended up paying for this logic and spending hours in the attic patching and putting liquid rubber in the pan ourselves! Seems to be working so far!
He was professional, courteous and polite, but he was stuck in his one solution. And during a heat wave!
Dominique V.We had an excellent experience with the Otter Guys!
Responsive, friendly and they know what they are doing. T
hey fixed our water heater, while almost every other outfit tried to sell us a brand new water heater instead of doing the repair. Turned out, just a leaky PCP pipe and there was nothing wrong with the water heater!
Trustworthy. Integrity.
Donald T.I recently purchased a Heat pump system From The Otter Guys , Called them up on Monday and they had it installed That Weds Travis and his partner installed it ,they was great ,they answered all my ? and was very polite and respectful ,they are great at what they do , also the Owner was very nice and gave me a great deal on a 3 ton Rudd System and so far it is working terrific ,They have my business from now on , it's nice when you can trust a business and without all the B.S.
Emily Y.Great service, great communication - I started with a problematic toilet & ended up with an annual maintenance plan for my plumbing & HVAC. Travis was knowledgeable & honest. Thanks for a great experience.









