Martel Plumbing & Heating

Martel Plumbing & Heating has been working out of Lincoln, Rhode Island for a long time — the Better Business Bureau lists the company as operating since 1926, and it describes itself across several directories as a four-generation, family-run business. People call them for boiler and water-heater work above all: Angi and HomeAdvisor both show a 4.9-star average from 106 ratings, and the same jobs keep coming up in the written record — swapping in a combi boiler, replacing an aging oil-fired unit, installing a new gas water heater. The reviews back that up with specifics. A homeowner who replaced a 29-year-old HeatMaker boiler in a 2020 review described getting quotes from ten or twelve companies before choosing Martel, citing a 15-to-20-minute response time and a detailed walkthrough of every replacement option. A 2024 review credits Chris and Tyler with a "remarkable" combo water-heater install, and another from the same year describes Jacob's team handling an annual HVAC and boiler inspection along with a leaking valve. Faucet repairs, gas water heater installs, and general old-home plumbing issues round out a record that runs from at least 2019 to 2024 across BBB, Angi and HomeAdvisor. Not every account is positive. One BBB reviewer, a longtime customer, describes two warranty water tanks that both developed leaks — the second time, she says, the crew came out but didn't fix the problem, and calls afterward went unanswered. A separate 2019 review liked the actual work but was caught off guard by the bill, since nobody discussed rates before the crew arrived. Worth asking about before booking: the licensing picture is a little muddled on paper. BuildZoom lists a Rhode Island Master Plumber license for the company as active, but the same profile's own scoring explanation flags no active license on file, last showing an expiration around January 2019 — worth confirming directly rather than trusting either listing. BuildZoom also shows three older Rhode Island contractor registrations, all now inactive. Separately, a Procore listing under the name "Martel Hvac" gives a Massachusetts address in Ashland with a different phone number, while every other source — BBB, Angi, HomeAdvisor — consistently places the company in Lincoln, RI; it's unclear whether that's a second location or an unrelated listing. For a boiler swap, a water heater install, or the kind of plumbing repair that turns up in an older house, Martel has a long, mostly consistent record behind it. Given the licensing question and the one unresolved warranty complaint, it's worth confirming current license status and getting billing terms in writing before the crew shows up.