“The furnace quit on a Sunday in January. Maksim talked me through the checks on the phone, then came with the part. The paper said what it would cost before he started.”
Gertrude B.Two-flat owner, Garfield Ridge
Furnace and boiler repair · Southwest Side
Furnace and boiler repair, three generations on Archer Avenue
Bungalows, two-flats and greystones: we fix what heats them, and we say what we found in plain words before any work starts.
Start where you are
1962
The shop opens3
Generations at the bench12
Technicians
No heat?
Six checks, in this order
Carbon monoxide first. The rest takes ten minutes, and now and then it saves the call.
- 01Do this first
Step 1: A carbon monoxide alarm is sounding, or you have a headache and nausea at home
Everyone outside now, pets too. Call 911 from the sidewalk. Don't go back in to silence the alarm or to open windows. Leave the furnace or boiler alone until the fire department has cleared the house, and we will come after that.
- 02
Step 2: You smell gas
Leave, and call your gas company's emergency number from outside (it's printed on your bill), then 911. Don't flip a switch, light anything or use a phone inside.
- 03
Step 3: The thermostat
Set it to heat and five degrees above the room. If it has batteries, put in fresh ones. A blank screen is usually the batteries.
- 04
Step 4: The switch and the breaker
A furnace has a switch that looks like a light switch, on or near it, and a breaker in the panel. A boiler has its own switch, often at the top of the basement stairs. Check both, once.
- 05
Step 5: The filter and the vents
A clogged filter can make a furnace shut itself off. Look at it, and check that the registers and radiator valves haven't been closed.
- 06
Step 6: The boiler's gauge
Write down the pressure reading and the temperature, then call. Most home boilers sit near 12 psi when cold; the label on yours is the number that counts. If the house is near freezing, tell us on the phone so we can talk about the pipes first.
Cold-snap list
When the forecast turns, we call the list first
Every fall we ask for the names of parents, grandparents and neighbors on the Southwest Side who live alone or can't be without heat.
Before a hard cold, someone from the shop phones each name to ask if the heat is on. If it goes out, those calls go to the front of the dispatch board. We can't promise an hour, and we won't pretend to; we promise the order.
A daughter, a neighbor or a block club can send the name
Adding a name costs nothing and carries no contract
Only the heat is asked about; nothing is sold on the call
What we fix
The three jobs that fill the winter
Venting and carbon monoxide
Flue pipes, chimney liners and a measured reading at every visit.
Venting and carbon monoxide
Repair or replace
How we tell you which one it is
Most calls are repairs. This is the list we go down when it isn't clear.
| What we look at | Talk about replacing when | Repair it when |
|---|---|---|
| The part | Talk about replacing whenIt is the heat exchanger or the boiler body | Repair it whenIt is small and the maker still sells it |
| The age | Talk about replacing whenIt has needed a repair every winter | Repair it whenThe unit has run well until this failure |
| The safety | Talk about replacing whenA crack, a leak or a bad reading we can't fix | Repair it whenThe vent and the carbon monoxide reading are clean |
| The paper | Talk about replacing whenWe write down what we found, so you can get a second quote | Repair it whenYou get the repair number in writing first |
Before we touch anything
Three things we tell you first
What the visit costs
On the phone, before we leave the shop. Nights are different, and we say so.
What we found
In plain words, with the part and the reading, before you decide.
What the repair costs
In writing before any work starts. If you say no, you pay for the visit and nothing else.
Customers
What people say after the visit
“They told me the boiler could be repaired and wrote down why. The number on the paper was the number on the bill.”
Jerry C.Bungalow owner, Mount Greenwood
“My mother is on the cold-snap list. When the cold came, somebody from the shop called her before I could.”
Sofiya P.Daughter of a customer, Clearing
Sample reviews.
Service area
Southwest Side, and the suburbs just past it
The trucks leave from the shop on Archer Avenue. If your block isn't listed, call and ask; we'd rather say no on the phone than late at the door.
- Chicago, Southwest Side: Archer Heights, Brighton Park, Gage Park, Garfield Ridge, Clearing, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, Ashburn, McKinley Park, Bridgeport, Mount Greenwood
- Southwest suburbs: Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Bridgeview, Justice, Stickney, Worth, Cicero, Chicago Ridge
We don't work north of the Eisenhower Expressway or in the northern and western suburbs.
ZIP codes: 60608, 60609, 60629, 60632, 60636, 60638, 60652, 60655, 60402, 60453, 60455, 60457, 60458, 60482, 60499, 60804, 60805
Questions
Before you call
My carbon monoxide alarm is going off. What do I do?
Get everyone out, pets too, and call 911 from outside. Don't go back in to reset the alarm or open windows. Once the fire department says the house is clear, call us and we will find out why it happened before anyone relights anything.
What can I check before I call?
The thermostat setting and batteries, the switch and the breaker, the filter, and the boiler's pressure gauge. The no-heat page lists them in order, with the alarm first.
What does the visit cost, and what do I get?
The visit fee is on the pricing page, or we tell you on the phone. You get a written number for the repair before any work starts, and if you say no, you owe the visit fee and nothing else.
Repair or replace?
We repair first. A part that costs little on a furnace that otherwise works is a repair. A cracked heat exchanger, or a boiler that leaks from the body, is a replacement conversation, and we write down what we found so you can get a second quote.
Is my boiler hot water or steam?
Steam radiators have a vent near the top on one side and one pipe; they bang when the system is off-balance. Hot-water radiators have a pipe at both bottom corners and a small bleed valve. If you're not sure, text us a photo of the boiler and the radiator.
Do you come at night?
From October 15 to April 15 a technician answers the no-heat line after hours and decides with you whether it can wait for morning. After-hours visits carry a higher visit fee, and we tell you the number before we dispatch.
Request a visit
Tell us what the heat is doing
We call back the same business day. If it's the middle of the night and the house is cold, call the number instead.
Phone(773) 555-0101
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- SundayToday
- Closed
From October 15 to April 15 a technician answers the no-heat line after hours. The after-hours visit fee is on the pricing page.