Chapman Bros. Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning — Local services in Cranford

Let us preface our review by saying we have an older home which had very specific needs and limited space to work with. It should also be noted that all of these projects needed to be precisely timed around a concurrent foundation repair (I-beams encased in concrete being placed along all of the walls in our basement).

Over this past year, Chapman Brothers completed dozens of repairs, including: -conversion from oil to gas heat (steam oil boiler to gas combi unit - all in one boiler/water heater) -oil tank/water heater removal -steam pipe removal along all walls in the basement -removal of steam pipes and conversion to pex water lines to all radiators throughout our home -complete air conditioner/condenser replacement/associated electrical work -sewer line replacement -2 sump pump replacements (1 with complete battery back up system and pipe repair) -lots of plumbing work ...and I probably forgot a thing or two...

Reliability, communication and punctuality were key to working alongside the foundation repair company, gas company, water company and town - all while allowing us to keep our sanity through such a big repair. The concurrent foundation repair made this a complicated and unique project to begin with, and our living in the home with a 1.5yr old while all this was going on just made it that much more interesting. For example, most of the plumbing needed to be temporarily installed before putting in the final piping, so we could live in our home while this all went on.

Chapman went out of their way to make this happen with no interruptions in gas/water/waste removal service. Also, ultimately all the plumbing/gas lines needed to be run around or over the i-beams placed along the walls-but neatly-so we didn’t waste too much space because we were refinishing the basement again. Some work needed to be slightly altered and redone after we hit some “bumps in the road” with our other repairs. Annoying but true, and without hesitation or complaint, Chapman redid the things we needed redone. We had a 1.5yr old running around and they worked around and humored him every chance they had.

Needless to say, there were a lot of factors that made our project anything but easy for anyone. But Bill, Tom and team did everything they could make all of this as easy as possible. They were thorough, organized, productive, clean, punctual, patient, reasonable, flexible, and most importantly honest and kind. Their attention to detail still impresses us. Who knew plumbing could be so clean and organized?!

The clever ways the guys found to work with what we had with was impressive / in-and-of itself. Further, these guys didn’t come in here trying to sell any fancy fixes or promise us the world. They came with obvious years of experience and, frankly, just helped us make everything work the best way it could for us and our specific situation. There’s something to be said about having a job done correctly, but it’s something totally different being able to say you had it done right the first time (Any homeowner who has had subpar work done knows exactly what I mean by this.). Bill and his team became a huge part of our lives over this past year and we respect them and their work more than we can say.

These guys had countless hours of work ahead of them yet never hesitated to stop and answer a question we had or offer a suggestion on a way to make our project work better and within our budget. They were punctual, used their time wisely and productively, yet didn’t rush in and out carelessly. What I think is even more important to emphasize is that I can honestly say I trust chapman brothers. As a homeowner I would typically feel vulnerable saying that about a contractor, but not for a second when it comes to Chapman. They are good, honest people who show absolute pride and craftsmanship in their work.

Needless to say, my family and I will be lifetime clients of chapman brothers and will continue to refer them to...

This is a review of the plumber that came to my house, not necessarily of the whole business.

My garbage disposal was making a terrible clattering noise, and my mother's wedding band was missing from my finger. Since both happened within the same 24 hours, I guessed that my ring was clattering around in the garbage disposal. While I did want the ring back, my main point of hiring the plumber was to fix the garbage disposal. If he found the ring, I would be happy, but I really wanted a working garbage disposal, and I told him that when he arrived and asked so many questions about the ring. But, he did not stop talking about the ring. His first price was $400 to remove the trap to see if the ring was there. If it wasn't, his next price was $1,500 to replace the garbage disposal (with a cheaper model than my current one, which was currently on Amazon for under $300.) My mouth dropped at that price. He had included some kind of maintenance fee in the quote that he didn't divulge until after I balked at the price. I asked him if he could fix the garbage disposal, and he told me that it could not be fixed. (He also told me that I should never put eggshells down my garbage disposal. Ridiculous! I've been doing it literally 3-5 times per week for 29 years. How does a plumber not know that?) Needless to say, I declined both services. I ordered a garbage disposal from Amazon, and when it arrived, my husband tried one more time to unjam the disposal and, low and behold, he did it! There was a tiny metal Farberware label that must have fallen off of something. He removed it and the garbage disposal resumed grinding up food (and eggshells) just fine. But then I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to push the food into the garbage disposal. What would cause that? Today I finally figured out he had put the splash guard in upside down. Now that I fixed that, it's acting like it's brand new.

Oh, and there's a happy ending about my mother's wedding band, too. It was found under a couch...

We have been using Chapman Brothers for over 30 years! Wouldn’t go to anywhere else. Extremely professional, quick service, fair pricing, pleasant workers, and their work is neat and clean! Always a pleasure doing business with Chapman Brothers! Until today (2/17/25) Let me start with the only positive-Davon, the technician was fabulous!! Pleasant, professional, hard worker, knowledgeable, etc. He was at our house for 8 hours installing a new water heater and never even stopped for lunch!

Now-for the “NEW” Chapman Brothers 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ Bill, the former and wonderful owner retired and the business is now run by God only knows who??? They are a nightmare!! Extremely expensive, gave us the run around with prices, day started with a $8600.00 bill for a hot water heater and installation, my husband wound up going to the plumbing supply store and picking it up himself in order to save $1300.00, and the price fluctuated throughout the day🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I was on the phone with Mark (owner-manager-boss)???? all day and I got the run around all day! A nightmare of a day!!!! Definitely not how the original Chapman Brothers worked! After 33 years using CB, we are leaving and never using them again! We are also letting our family and friends that used the original not to bother with the new!!! As previously stated, the bill started at $8600.00, then $6400.00 to a final cost of $4300.00???? I highly “DO NOT” recommend this plumber! I’m aware that prices have gone up, but not to what they were trying to...