What people ask before they call

The license line in our footer names the state board and our number. Look us up on the board's website before we come, and ask the technician at the door for theirs.

Mankato and the towns listed on our home page, across Blue Earth, Nicollet and Le Sueur counties. The shop is open weekdays and Saturday mornings; the hours are in the footer.

We give you the visit fee on the phone. After we find the problem, you get the price in writing before any work starts, and the decision is yours. Ask whether the visit fee comes off the repair; we answer that on the phone too.

Yes. Calls outside our weekday and Saturday hours carry an after-hours rate, and the dispatcher quotes it on the phone before anyone drives out. After hours, the line takes a message and the on-call technician phones back.

Always. A written price comes after we have seen the problem and before we begin, and the work starts when you say yes.

Shut off the main water valve, then open the lowest faucet in the house to drain the line. Move anything that can be damaged out of the way, and call us.

In most houses around here it is in the basement, on the wall that faces the street, where the water line comes through the foundation near the meter. Find it now and hang a tag on it.

Leave the house first, leave the switches alone and call the gas utility's emergency number from outside. Call us once the utility says the house is clear. A gas smell is never a wait-until-morning call.

Yes. The tune-up covers the burner, the heat exchanger, the filter, the thermostat and a carbon monoxide reading at the furnace.

No. A plumber comes for the plumbing and a heating technician for the furnace, both from our shop. When a visit touches both, we plan one trip if we can.

One furnace or boiler tune-up and one plumbing walk-through each year, for one home. It does not cover repairs, parts, replacements, air conditioning or a water heater flush. It is a service plan, not insurance.

Call or text the shop before the renewal date on your plan card, and we cancel it the same day. The plan renews each year until you do.

Yes, when the work calls for one, such as a water heater replacement, new gas piping or a furnace change-out. The permit and the inspection belong to the city.

Lead solder and some older water lines were common in houses built before 1986. We can tell you what your pipe is made of. Whether there is lead in your water is a lab test, and the EPA and your water utility explain how to get one.