Newton Fire and Flood Inc.

It was great they were quick to come out and made things so easy on me. Their guys worked all night to ensure that my place would be dry quickly. Can’t thank them enough ! Would definitely recommend to everyone !

The team at Newton Fire and Flood was absolutely amazing. They were professional, timely and very responsive. Phil, the boss there, is a pleasure to work with and truly understands customer service. He is fair and knows how to deal with the insurance companies.

Went really well. Phil the owner came to my house quickly and got going on what needed to be done. Phil did all of the work with the insurance all I had to pay was deductible. Everything was as good as new after they left. I also learned his company does more than just fires and floods, they also do sewer back up clean up, hopefully that never happens but good to know there is a company that takes care of this also.

Newton Fire & Flood were amazing this winter when the water main coming into our basement burst and filled the basement with almost 3’ of water. I called them soon after the water department turned the main off from the road and they quickly responded and had a team at the house within 6 hours. They were incredibly professional, friendly, knowledgeable on the issue and respectful of our house & property. They pumped the remaining water out, set-up blowers & dehumidifiers, cleaned up all of our belongings & trash and then sprayed the basement with antimicrobial treatment. It was a big job and they worked late at night and stopped by several times throughout 7-10 days to check on the dryers and dehumidifiers. After the work was completed we had them back to clean the floor again and they did a nice job. Best of all they dealt directly with insurance so we did not have to pay out of pocket, it was a very flawless process. Highly recommend Newton Fire & Flood.

When my bathroom plumbing flooded into the kitchen ceiling below I was at a loss for how to prevent further water damage. Newton Fire and Flood set up their drying system and within 2 days the kitchen was fully dried out. I had no lasting damage after that. It was a big relief. They were quick and easy to deal with. Mission accomplished!

They not only completed the job quickly, thoroughly and efficiently, their employees were sensitive to the anxiety I was feeling and calmed my nerves!

Brutal to work with. The office is unresponsive, my requests went unanswered, and the manager James was unbelievably rude. They ignored my multiple requests for a quote to provide my insurance company. I didn't hear back for over 6 months so I assumed they worked it out with insurance directly. Out of the blue, the came at me threatening legal action if I didn't pay right away. Once they provided the information I connected them with my insurance company to pay it out. Afterwards, multiple follow ups to them to ensure they were all set with payment also went ignored. Unreal. Any apology from them? Yeah right. Not the first bad interaction I've had with them but will certainly be the last. Avoid unless you're desperate.

We had severe water damage in the kitchen area and basement below*. Our insurance agent had referred Newton Fire and Flood to us and Phil Straghalis (owner & president) was "one the scene" immediately to assess the damage and to lay out the process of mold remediation, demo, and subsequent reconstruction. The timeline was an optimistic 2 months (I say that in hindsight) but it turned into almost triple the time due to the inefficiency of insurance companies. Newton Fire and Flood did nevertheless what they could on their end to keep the momentum going. The crew was professional and friendly - they showed up when promised and were focused on their job timeline. We had a good line of communication with Phil and he made sure we were satisfied and happy with the work being performed. As we neared completion of the reconstruction phase, Phil went out of his way to assure everything was the way we expected it to be! *scope of work performed: kitchen and basement gutted; mold remediation for about 2 weeks; walls, ceilings, and floors replaced; subsequent reconstruction of kitchen area, basement, and wood floors on entire first floor.

We didn't hire Newton Fire and Flood, but my interactions with them were very helpful. I appreciated the time they took to answer my questions and give me revised estimates.

The work was handled very professionally. Phil Straghalis (the company's president) came out immediately after my initial call, even though it relatively late in the evening, and took stock of the situation and issued his recommendations. Once we decided to move forward, Newton Fire and Flood was ready to show up the next day, where they carefully laid down resin paper over all the unaffected hardwood to protect it and taped acres of plastic sheeting over all the unaffected areas, furniture, etc. Once everything was protected, they cut away the damp walls (using hand tools, not power tools, which created very little mess) and carefully removed all the wet materials. They vacuumed up all of the mess, sprayed disinfecting spray on the wet studs and interior walls, and then installed a large number of air movers and dehumidifiers, which ran four four days to remove any excess moisture from the house. Once those were removed, our house was remarkably clean considering all the work that had been done and was ready for reconstruction. Afterward, Newton Fire and Flood coordinated directly with my insurers for payment for the water mitigation services they provided. While I hope never to need this type of service again, I would call on Newton Fire and Flood if the need arises.

It was a terrific process. We hired Newton Fire and Flood based on other positive reviews, from out of town. A burst pipe created major damage throughout the house that required tremendous amounts of remediation and cleanup. Phil was very communicative about the process and situation in the badly damaged property. Electrical power was lost, so Phil got the permits and temporary electrical hookup in place. He took care of all of the details of the cleanup, and tried to salvage personal materials that were affected. He also supported the insurance adjustment process. Great job overall. The effort was surely upwards of $50k, but the charges went directly to the insurance company so I am not sure of the actual amount

Take it from someone who made the mistake of hiring this company: you want nothing to do with them. They did terrible work and then sued me when my insurance didn't cover their exorbitant fees. As you'll see below, it appears they have sued many other customers as well. Hiring a lawyer costs thousands of dollars, so Newton Fire and Flood knows most people will have no choice but to hand over a large settlement to them. On their professional-looking website, they promise that their "...billing experts work directly with your insurance company to handle the entire claim so you don't have to." This sounds great, and is why I hired them. The part they left out was "unless your insurance company doesn't pay us enough, and then we'll sue you!" They did not give me a written estimate at the start, which lulled me into hiring them based on their promise to get the insurance company to pay. I would strongly urge anyone hiring this firm to get a written estimate up front. Not only did they sue us, but then they attempted to bully us into not posting anything online about their sloppy work and business practices as part of the settlement agreement. Since I refuse to be bullied, I am likely going to have to pay $2K just to post this review. It will be well worth it, in my mind, if I can spare others from the ordeal I experienced with this company. I was sued on the same day I received my first and *only* invoice. Suspicious that this company might have played the same trick on others, I went to the Newton District Court to look up other lawsuits filed by this firm. Sure enough, in the last year, they have sued seven other individuals in Newton alone. Here are the court case numbers and dates of the lawsuits: 1512CV000118: 6/1/2015 1512SC000384: 12/11/2015 1612SC000158: 5/13/2016 1612SC000170: 6/1/2016 1612SC000263: 7/22/2016 1612SC000303: 8/16/2016 1612SC000435: 12/14/2016 These cases all appeared to be against individuals who were customers of Newton Fire and Flood, but without going through each case in more detail, it's impossible to know for sure. Being this litigious, however, should be a warning sign to potential customers. How much did they sue me for? Well, in the process of hiring a contractor, I received three quotes to do the job: for $4K, $4,923.30 and $6,571.97. Newton Fire and Flood sued me for $14,341.85, more than double the highest of these three estimates. I was very upfront with them about what my insurance was offering (which was moderately lower than the estimates). They said they had ways to get insurance companies to pay. But really they knew that if they failed at getting the insurance to pay, they'd sue me to get the rest. What about their work? In their lawsuit against me, they used the phrase "completed in a workmanlike manner." See the attached photos for what they consider "workmanlike." In fairness to them, they did fix the work somewhat after they sued me, but only after we were in settlement talks and I said I refused to agree to their "no online reviews" stipulation. So take that for what it's worth. Not only was their work sloppy, but they were extremely slow, made numerous mistakes along the way, and were frequently at a loss for how to properly fix their mistakes. Workers would not show up for several days, then arrive for an hour or two, do very minimal work, and leave again. The workers would complain to us that they would prefer to work on a single job and complete it, but were consistently asked by their boss to only spend a short period of time at each location and then move to the next job site. In addition, the skill level of the workers was poor. There was one day where one of the workers prepared a single piece of molding: measuring, cutting, and applying several layers of paint outside, only to discover at the end of the day that he had cut it incorrectly, and therefore an entire day's work was wasted. Based on my experience with Newton Fire and Flood, I'd highly recommend you look elsewhere.

It was considerable work (Large job). They had to replace a lot of concrete. They did really well. They worked within the time frame, and left the place in mint condition. You can rely on this company. They finished the job in about 30 days. I had called a lot of other companies to get estimates as well, and they stated that they could not guarantee the work. All of the estimates were way out of my range. It was a miracle that this company showed up! I was on the verge of loosing my old tenant because of the sewage backing up, and this guy showed up at my door! This was my first time using them, and I would recommend them to anyone!

Phil the owner came right away within an hour and took several photos and started to do the work. I was worried about paying for it. But then Phil took care of all the insurance paper work needed to pay for the damage. His workers were super polite. I am glad I got to know this company if I ever have another emergency. Then after clean up they came back and re-build my basement. $15k and included re-build.

Successful project. Excellent work. Professional and experienced personnel. Phil was excellent Project Manager who was always accessible and informative.

It was ok. They could have been a little more responsive. It was hard to get a hold of them at times. I did not always know the timing and scope of what they were going to do. They could have had clearer expectations.

Newton Flood and Fire was responsive, professional and prompt. Their part of the job went well and exactly as they reviewed with us. Unfortunately, the outside contractor they set up never completed the job (replacing the walls, ceiling and floors that were removed) after the mold remediation was finished. We finally requested our deposit back from that company after 7 months of waiting.

They seemed fine for the initial part of the process, responding promptly when I called them. (Though they did not mention they change more for Saturdays.) They removed the damaged sections, found the source of the leak and got a plumber to fix it immediately. They set up dehumifiers to dry out the wood, though they were a bit careless about how they hung the plastic sheeting. They were very pushy about getting me to sign releases for talking to my insurance company and for accepting charges, as well as for trying to schedule the reconstruction work as quickly as possible. However, they were not great at communicating what work was going to be done, when they wanted to do it, and how much they would charge me. Getting a description of the work and an estimate of its cost took weeks of frustrating back and forth. In general, I got the impression that they did not have my best interests at heart. Ultimately, this led me to hire a different company to do the reconstruction work. (As an example, I got a call one morning from Phillip telling me a plasterer would be arriving from Rhode island in an hour. At that point, I was still waiting for an estimate and a description of the work, and had not agreed to let them proceed. When I tried to explain this to Phillip, he tried to convince me to let the plasterer do the work anyway, since he was already on his way. And even after telling Phillip to reschedule, I also had to turn the plasterer away when he showed up, because apparently Phillip did not call him to tell him I would not let him do any work.) As far as pricing, they seemed to have the attitude that the insurance company would reimburse them, so the price shouldn't matter to me. If I had let them do the work, however, they would have charged thousands of dollars more than the contractor I actually hired for the reconstruction. Overall, about B+ for the water damage remediation, D for the the reconstruction followup.

We had Newton Fire and Flood come to our condo to inspect water leak damage and potential mold. They took a look and were anxious to begin the work. I spoke with Phil by phone several times and he was very nice, and took quite a lot of time to explain that their estimates are typically higher than insurance estimates. When I shared the insurance adjuster's estimate, Phil indicated that his estimate was much higher but could not provide a quote to me. He said that they typically deal directly with the insurance companies to get the work done and paid for. He asked me for my insurance adjuster's information and I provided it. Several weeks passed, but I never heard back from Phil or his team regarding the conclusion of his conversations with the adjuster. I tried to contact them by phone and email several times, but never heard back. This was a big waste of my time. We have now had to get a new contractor lined up and a new inspection/estimate done. If we do in fact have mold, this delay may have exacerbated this issue. I am very disappointed by the lack of contact and resolution by Newton Fire and Flood.

I had a pipe burst in my house. Even though I didn't end up requiring their services, this company went above and beyond to ensure I was put in touch with a plumber, calling me back to offer me an additional plumber's contact information when they realized the first was unavailable during President's Day. They knew that I would not be paying them, and yet they made sure that my needs were taken care. Totally blown away! Awesome!

A 125-year old cast-iron drain stack behind a vertical wooden chase developed a small crack and slow leak, causing water and mold damage inside the wooden chase and to the surrounding plaster walls and ceiling. Erick and his team opened up the wall and chase, brought in a plumber to replace the cracked section of pipe, did the necessary drying out and mold remediation, and then repaired the plaster walls and ceiling. We did not use them for the carpentry repair, since we wanted to use a specialist to match the historical details in our home. Erick and his team were prompt and professional, and easy to communicate with. We were very happy with almost every aspect of the work, and we would definitely call them again if we ever had a water leak problem. Our only negative comment is that the plumbing subcontractor only replaced the section of pipe that was cracked, but left untouched an adjacent section of pipe which was also very weak (but had not cracked yet). We subsequently had that replaced ourselves when arranging for the carpentry repair, but it would have been better to deal with it at the time of the original plumbing work.

It was a busy time and many people needed services. However they were consistently delayed, and would call to say they wouldn't be there that day. I understood that many people needed their help but if you give someone a window of time for your arrival, don't wait until the last minute of that window to say you won't be there until the following day. Call as soon as you realize it - I left work to meet them at the house so if they called to say my house would have to wait I would have gone back to work. They were very nice, and worked hard while they were there. They cut my door bell by mitake but sent someone out to repair it.

It went excellent. They were prompt and professional.

They did a great job. The room looks perfect now. They were always willing to answer any questions. They were polite and very pleasant. I would highly recommend Newton Fire and Flood.

In one word, it was amazing. I wish I could score them A plus. My mother's home had a plumbing leak that went unknown for a few weeks, causing the crawl space beneath the house to become saturated. This in turn caused the insulation under the house to become soaked as well as all the flooring in the house. They came out the day after I called and went under the house to evaluate the damage. They told me they would deal with the insurance company directly and handle everything with them. They came to do the work exactly when scheduled and removed all wet items, moved furniture, dried out the house completely and more. As promised, they've dealt with the insurance company directly, which in and of itself is not an easy task! The job ended up being even bigger than expected in that linoleum under the carpeting and kitchen flooring. Yet, they did the work quickly, professionally and without complaints, delays or excuses. However, beyond their completion of the work as promised was their responsiveness to our questions and compassionate handling of the situation. Erick's ability to not only answer my questions clearly and accurately - but also his ability to provide information to my mother - was extremely helpful and in fact, priceless. She was quite stressed by the situation and he was able to calmly explain what would happen and that they would take care of everything. He put up with phone calls from both me and from her with no complaints and no indication that we were interrupting him (and I'm pretty sure we were!). He kept us all up to date with the progress on the project all along the way. It was difficult for me to help manage the situation from a distance. Once I had Newton Fire & Flood on the job, I had one less thing to worry about. I would recommend them to friends, neighbors, relatives, clients, coworkers or anyone. If I ever need this kind of work done again, they would be the first place I would call.