Dundee Plumbing & Heating

.

unknown

The guys at Dundee Plumbing were pleasant, efficient and knowledgeable. They gave me a competitive price on the job and even gave me a nice discount for being an Angie's List member. The quote they gave me covered everything to be done and there were no surprises. They even accommodated a situation where my house didn't have hot water and moved part of the job ahead so we didn't go without hot water for too long. They were very professional for every step of the job. I highly recommend them.

unknown

unknown

.. At that time I thought it was overcharged.

I called Dundee to help fix a slow valve leak I wasn?t able to stop by repacking the valve stem.  I wanted to replace the valve or the stem at least.  Ian initially tried repacking however we then agreed that wasn?t working and that the stem should be replaced.  He was able to pick up a new valve stem but it turned out that the threads were wider than the original.  In the end he replaced the old washer w/ the new stem?s washer and put back the old stem.  A little disappointed that in the end we are back to the old stem but it does appears to be holding up.

I had to call someone else.  If I had waited for them, my entire house would be underwater.

Scheduled an appointment to fix my gas line, they came perfectly on time after working with me and my management company wonderfully. I ended up not needing the service. They didn't charge me for anything and we're courteous and professional. I would definitely use them in the future.

unknown

When I heard rumbling inside my walls and water started pouring through the bathroom ceiling and the basement ceiling and walls and flooding the basement, I knew I was in for serious trouble.  
I imagined I would need thousands of dollars of repairs.
Dundee responded promptly at my first call and arrived within an hour.  Matt and his helper were very pleasant and seemed genuinely concerned about my predicament. They explained they would have to return the next day in order to find the sources of the burst pipes.  I had no water for the night but they filled my boiler so I could have heat.
They arrived earlier than expected the following day.
Matt started looking for the burst pipes upstairs and found two in entirely different locations, one in a crawlspace and one behind the upstairs bathtub wall.  This did involve breaking through the wall and tiles, etc.  Matt was very apologetic but I reassured him it was OK as it obviously needed to be done.  He replaced both of the pipes and answered questions about steps I can take to avoid this in the future.
I felt the cost was not cheap, but not overly expensive. Amazingly the project only took two hours, in addition to the inspection on the first visit.
I still need to replace the tiles in the bathroom and I will need to have all of the pipes insulated inside the house and possibly deal with some water damage in the basement, but overall the experience turned out much better than I feared. I was very happy with Matt as he seemed like an honest young man.

UPDATE:  Unfortunately, I later saw that a huge mess was left in the crawlspace area in which one of the burst pipes was located.  None of the broken wood or insulation that was torn down was removed.  I had to spend quite a while cleaning up after they left.

I called Dundee on Friday evening when I heard a problem with my heating system. I left a message and he called me back with some advice and the offer to call them on Saturday even though they do not work weekends. The next day, he helped me figure out the likely problem -- a malfunctioning circulator, which unfortunately they do not service. However, he called me back after 30 minutes with three references who do that type of work and on weekends. He did not leave me stranded even though there was no business in it for him. He has made a friend for life with me. Many many thanks Bobby! Well done.

The price they quoted was extremely too high, so I did not end up hiring them.

The most important thing is the quality of the work. You're going to have to live with this heating system for many years.  So you want plumbers that are honest, easy to work with, and do a high volume of  oil to gas conversions, and in my case needed to be very experienced in dealing with steam heat..  Trust me, there is an enormous amount of red tape dealing with both Con-ed and the Department of Buildings  Dundee is  familiar with dealing with  both.  I give a lot of credit to Joanne, their extremely efficient secretary who knows the right people to contact, and is right on top of all the paper work..Their price was amongst the lowest of my estimates.  So in  using Dundee plumbing for an oil to gas conversion you get excellent workmanship, quality parts,  and a reasonable price. Ian threw in new main steam vents, and Bobby installed a new skim port. The skim port is in my opinion is essential to remove the residual oil from the new boiler and the newly threaded near boiler steam pipes, so the system works efficiently.. I myself added  two additional  Gorton #1 main vents, changed all radiator vents to new Gorton vents, properly leveled radiators and  insulated steam  pipes, elbows and tees and unions with one inch of fiberglass pipe insulation.

I was somewhat concerned after the installation was complete and chatting with steam heat experts on heating help.com that the header might be 1/2 INCH smaller in diameter then what is recommended in the installation manual.  . A good friend  recommended I check with his  very experienced plumber,, Paul Lundin  owner of at Kew Forest Plumbing, who was kind enough to look at photos of the installation. Here is his review of  Dundee's  installation".  He did not know who the plumber was.

"In my opinion, you have received a very fine installation.  All of the common short cuts taken by many

contractors are not present here and the guy did a fine job.  To make a fuss over the 1/2 INCH pipe size is not necessary in my professional opinion. Have done many jobs where I am resolving the installation problems of

other contractors poorly completed jobs, Quite often, these are

moneymaking proposals.  In this case, in my opinion, the job is done

very nicely and this one deficiency is not necessary to make a fuss

over.  I am sure that you will have a fine lifespan with the

installation you have.  Call me again if you like . Paul"

The installation includes a 2 year warranty on the pipes and 5 year warranty on  

boiler controls and safeties, includes annual  fall start up and inspection.  Only 1/3 deposit due with signed acceptance of this  

estimate, balance due upon completion of  installation.  The other plumbers wanted 1/2 deposit..

I feel this is a great installation but perhaps Bobby or Ian can explain to potential customers why it is acceptable to use a header that is 1/2 inch smaller than the size recommended by Weil McClain.. An adequate  sized header is essential for dry efficient steam heat.



I am hearing some pipe banging when the heat comes up. It is not terrible, but perhaps it could be stopped by increasing the header pipe size from 2 inches to 3 inch or better yet 4 inches.

unknown

I made emergency midnight call, left message. Ian called back @8AM next morning, came & did repair promptly. NIce guy, very professional & obviously very knowledgable. Happy to have encountered him.

Called Dundee about a location not receiving proper heat. They got some out there the same day. I advised them that I would be unavailable during the time of his visit, and to go ahead and fix the problem. He reviewed the problem and changed the thermostat. Although there was no fee up front for the visit, $275 is expensive for thermostat change, including diagnosis. Well, things are working now so it's bearable.

It didn't.

AS PER MY REQUESTED WINDOW, THE REPRESENTATIVE CAME IN EXACTLY ON TIME. 
THE REPRESENTATIVE WAS VERY COURTEOUS AND HONEST ON WHAT COULD BE DONE IF I CHOSE TO UPDATE MY CURRENT SYSTEM.
I AM DEFINITELY PLANING  CALL DUNDEE BACK TO DO  FUTURE SERVICING AND EVENTUALLY THE REPLACEMENT IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

unknown

unknown

unknown

unknown

Ian is a NYC Master Plumber.  He was on site more than half the time.  In the past, other master plumbers would check-in at the start, set-up job, and sometimes (not always) return at end.
 
Because Ian was on site, he supervised his team so they finished on time.  They took a late lunch so that the electrician could start his work uninterrupted while plumbers had lunch.  The job was finished on time.
 
They disassembled the old boiler into five pieces and passed them out thru basement window, rather than traipse the old boiler thru the first floor.
 
There was a problem with the wiring of the thermostats, but Ian came promptly and fixed it.
 

I called the office on Thursday and asked for a service appointment.  My furnace is relatively new (3 years old) but I recently had my basement finished and I was concerned that with the added dust it may need a cleaning.  I received an appointment for the next morning between 8-9am.  The serviceman arrived on time and went to work.  Thank goodness I called because my pilot light was out and my "safety" needed to be replaced.  He had the part on the truck and took care of it right away.  The service call last about 20 minutes.  As he was leaving we asked him to take a look at a showerhead that was dripping some water.  He went upstairs and fixed it in a jiffy.  I wish I knew the serviceman's name because he was so nice and professional. I would love to request him again.  All in all I was very satisfied from start to finish.