Sila Heating, Cooling, Plumbing and Electrical

Although I told Sila my serial and model numbers, and so they knew what type hot water heater I had, the technician didn't have the right sized pipes for the new hot water heaters. At one stage, he had to leave to go get more parts. That seemed like poor planning. When he got there, the technician opened a valve which made water spurt out onto my basement floor. I asked him if he had to do that, since it was making a mess. He seemed unconcerned and went out to his truck for something. I put a bucket under the valve. That annoyed me. When he returned, he told me that my furnace boiler had the wrong kind of pipe. I hadn't asked for his opinion about my boiler, first of all; second, I told him that many people and plumbers had looked at it in the past, and no one had ever said there was a problem. He said that they were all wrong. He then said I needed an emergency shut off for my oil tank. I said I had one -- which I do. He went over to my oil tank and started taking pictures of it with his cell phone, which I thought was weird and certainly un-called for. He asked me to turn on the faucets upstairs so as to drain the tanks, so I did. I then left him to it, only checking in a couple of times over the next couple of hours. A second technician joined the first guy, and they each worked on a different heater. I also had a leaking radiator problem, which the second technician came upstairs to look at. He was unable to ascertain where the radiator was leaking from. He was very polite and pleasant. It was a pleasure to work with him, after the first guy, who kept arguing with me, telling me that everything was wrong. Then, the first guy came upstairs and told me that my entire oil heating system needed to be replaced! I pointed out to him that every year, I get it checked, and no one had ever said such a thing. He said I shouldn't trust my oil servicing company, and that most plumbers "don't know steam heat." In fact, I think Sila has checked my furnace before, and they never said anything, either! In addition, this past year, I had Next Step Living / Mass Saves and the City of Boston look at my house for upgrading insulation and heating. NOT ONE of any of those technicians said I needed a new heating system. Finally, FOUR different plumbing companies (I think one of them was Sila) came to give me estimates this past year on replacing my oil burner with gas. NOT ONE said I needed a new heating system! So I lost my temper with the technician. I asked him why he thought everyone else was wrong, and only he was right? (I later apologized for my outburst.) He was nice about my loss of temper, and I appreciate that. It was rude of me, and I'm sorry. He said that he had drained my boiler (which I didn't ask for him to do) and he told me that my boiler would have real problems, and that I should watch out. He also took a bunch of pictures with his cell phone of my boiler and of my gas tank (as mentioned), which I didn't ask him to do -- or want him to do! The technicians put insulation blankets on my hot water heaters at my request, and for no extra charge. I appreciated that. I was not charged anything for their time or labor looking at my radiator, and I appreciated that, too. The technicians left a mess -- water on the floor (he said it would dry up in a day) and a big plastic bag full of garbage. So, after they left, I was sweeping out the basement. I noticed water seeping out from under the insulation blanket, which I thought odd. I looked up to the top of the hot water heater, and the new pipe was SPRAYING water! I ran upstairs to call Sila. They guy on the phone was nice and said he'd send them right back over. I asked how to turn off the spraying water, and he didn't know. Within 5-10 minutes, the first technician returned, and asked me, "What did you do? Did you move it?" Frankly, I was really offended by that question! I hadn't done anything except clean up the mess they left! Obviously, the pipe hadn't been properly soldered. He fixed it and then went away again. I have used Sila several times in the past. Scheduling is very easy; they show up when they say they will, and they generally do a very good job. In addition, everyone they have ever sent has been respectful and polite (except this one guy). However! I was so annoyed by the one technician -- and by the mess they left -- and by the fact that the hot water heater wasn't even properly installed -- that I doubt I'll use this firm again. The "Big Deal" I got from Angie's list wasn't worth it! (Sorry!) I could have purchased a much better quality hot water heater (with a longer guarantee) and had it installed for not much more money, and for a lot less hassle and headache. And now I'm going to continue to worry about whether or not my hot water heaters will leak, or explode, or something. How do I know they did the job properly?

The guy showed up on time. He was professional and pleasant. Did a thorough job. I would use them again!

They did the work well and the work is still working.

He checked out the boiler, took it apart, cleaned all the pieces, and replaced the water, which we had not done for some time. It was very rusty on the inside, but he got it cleaned up and confirmed that it was working fine and there was no need for further repairs. The whole experience went extremely well. I would use them again, except that I now live in an apartment, so there's no need.

We were quite pleased with the check-up and signed a 3 year service contract with them.

Three separate visits required; excellent, professional staff.

The estimator for the furnace and hot water conversions had all the training, but he didn't have the on-the-job experience that would have allowed him to give me an estimate that was tailored to my home, rather than just measuring and then generating a price from the catalog. His quote was half again as much money as the company who got the job, and theirs included all the incidentals that the estimator had seen while he was here. That estimator knew the equipment and could visualize how the job would go. The price was consistent with what I had expected it to cost. Sila's quote wasn't just high, it was so high I'll probably never have them in the house again. That's too bad; the plumber knew his stuff and was a good advertisement for his employer.

Was great, tech showed up on time, and promptly completed the work.

After checking the two furnaces in our house one furnace was deemed inoperable- all the problems were shown to me and explained. An engineer/salesman came to the house that afternoon, measured the house, the windows, etc. and figured out the size furnace we needed. A new HVAC was priced, and agreed upon. The new HVAC was delivered and installed the next day; work started at 8 am and didn't finish until 6:30 pm, when everything was clearly installed, working properly and cleaned up. The following week the second furnace was replaced, too. Everyone from Sila was knowledgeable, polite and prompt.

I have no way to evaluate them in terms of whether this was average or superior service. They seemed fine to me. Thank you, Mary 617-864-4279 PS I could not respond earlier to your emails because the button to say "write a review" does not work on my computer. I didn't figure out at first how to do the review.

It was a very positive experience from start to finish. Everything was explained well. I will have no hesitation in using them again.

The man that came out was very nice, although the next day our furnace stopped working. So I had to call them and they were very prompt and came right back on a Monday I guess. Maybe they came out on Friday and Sunday it stopped working and they came out Monday. They figured that the new part they put in was faulty. They replaced it and it was fine. No problems since then.

Excellent! Everything the Plumber did was 100% professional. He arrived early, he had to wait for me. He had all the tools necessary for the project. He carried the new toilet upstairs. Removed the old toilet and install my dual flush toilet. He made sure it worked properly before take old toilet outside on the area for trash pick up.

Came on time took care of everything, good experience.

They didn't have to do anything more than checking and adjusting.

All personnel we interacted with was highly professional, prompt and friendly. It was a great experience from the initial phone call to schedule the service to having the actual service done. The scheduler was curteous and it was easy to get an 8 am appointment schedule on the desired day in the following week. The company then provided a telephone reminder the day before the service. The service technician, Jesse, called us when he was on his way and let us know that he may run a little late because of heavy traffic, which we very much appreciated, even though he ultimately arrived only a few minutes late. Jesse did a fabulous job ans was easy to interact with. We would hire him again and recommend his services to others without hesitation.

Very polite on phone, set up appointment within a reasonable time. Technician was on time and put on booties during the appointment. He replaced the filter and checked the overall condition of the heating system. The technician noted two issues: inducer motor was noisy and the condensate pump should have an aux pan underneath with a float device to shut off the system in case the pump fails or install an new pump wiht a safety device. I was given a quote of $339 for the condensate pump and had to call for a price on the Inducer Motor. After the technician left, whenever the furnace turned off there were two large bangs from the ductwork. After investigating, I realized the intake ductwork would contract when the furnace turned on and then expand (bang) when the heat turned off. I knew the banging had something to do with the furnace filter. There was too much air being pulled into the heating system. I called for a quote for the inducer motor and ask about the banging. They gave me a quote of $775 for the inducer motor. I asked a few questions and was told it would take about an hour to install. When I told the person that it is a $200 part and if the installation is an hour, why is the price $775? I was told they had to special order the part and the technician might need to install "extra parts" and service is $180 an hour. Thinking the high price was related to travel to the house. I asked if I had both items were performed at the same time, would there be a discount in the price? No, just add the two prices together $1114. I asked about the pipe banging and told him it had something to do with the installed filter. There was NO banging before the installation. He told he could "send someone out", but it might be related to a problem with the inducer motor. I told him they were a rip-off and I was not interested in paying for a service visit for something they messed up. The inducer motor was purchased for $225 and it took 20 minutes to install. The part is a quick connect, no extra parts required. I purchased a high end filter to replace whatever was installed by Silas because I knew that the filter was causing the banging. When we saw the installed filter, it was obvious what the problem was. The technician did not properly install the filter by removing the filter clips and properly seating the filter. It was crammed into the furnace, bent and not installed at all. Gee - now I know why the intake vents were banging!! As soon as the filter was replaced, the banging stopped.

The service visit went very well and I found out some problems I suspected I had with the HVAC system. I plan to use Silas for any future work and maintenance. Great job. H. McAllister UPDATE: After this service, I called back twice to request an estimate for more work. They told me they would pass my message along but I never heard back.

We went with them originally because they had a coupon/deal on Angie's List. Then that worked out, so we continue using them. They seem to really know what they are doing. They have been very responsible, and the prices are reasonable.

I bought this deal back in November but had trouble scheduling it because of construction in my area. They were very understanding as I rescheduled more than once. Today he arrived exactly on time and took exactly as much time as estimated (1 hour). He asked about any problems with the heating system, and helped me reach a valve on a radiator to increase heat in one room. We then went to the basement and he began to clean the unit. There was alot of dirt in the unit, as shown by the many buckets of dirty water he drew and took out of the house. He also used a wire brush to clean some parts,and smaller implements to get at smaller pieces of the unit. As he worked, he was pleasant and informative, explaining and demonstrating what needed to be done throughout the year to help prevent the build up of dirt my furnace had. I particularly appreciated being given instructions on how to keep the unit running well. He ended by wiping down the outer surfaces of the unit, warning me of the after effects I might note (noise, darker water with continued draining), and mentioned that a part was showing signs of age and to consider replacing that part at the boiler check next year.

The company called me soon after buying the Deal to set up an appointment, but I said I wasn't ready yet and that I would call when I was ready. I called them more recently and then, they told me that they don't service my area, which annoyed me. I wish they would have told me the first time we spoke that they wouldn't come. Instead I will use Angie's List to find someone else.

Service agent was on time, completed the work in less than 2 hours. Work was very clean and of good quality. We are very happy with the service Sila provided

He was prompt and courteous and offered helpful suggestions. I would recommend his company to anyone looking for a heating system tuneup.

It's professional, we're happy about the servie and the price.

There was nothing to dislike. He basically checked it out and said everything was fine. I wasn't here, but they did fine. They did what they said they were going to do. They showed up when they were supposed to.