Baldi Plumbing & Heating

A Wilmington plumbing shop whose paper trail is permits rather than reviews: 145 of them on record, 14 in the last three years, at a typical value of about $3,100. That figure tells you what the work is. These are the small, unglamorous jobs that keep a house running — kitchen sinks, dishwashers and disposals, toilets and vanities, water heaters, gas line repairs and disconnects, washing-machine connections. Most of it sits in Boston's triple-decker neighbourhoods — Jamaica Plain, East Boston, Hyde Park, Roslindale — plus Milton, Malden, Billerica and Lowell. Be careful with what the directories say about licensing. BuildZoom lists three Massachusetts registrations as active — a plumbing business licence, a plumber's licence, and a third — but marks all three "not verified," and that third one carries a stated expiration back in May 2016. It also shows inactive sheet metal and pipefitter master records. None of that is a state-registry confirmation, so get the licence number from them and check it yourself with the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters. For a fixture swap, a water heater or a gas line in Greater Boston, the permit history says this is a working shop that files its paperwork. Settle the licence question, ask for two recent references, and you will know what you need to.