Rich Mathews & Son Plumbing & Gas Heating

A water heater let go at midnight; the homeowner searched, called, got Rich Mathews's wife on the line, a callback five minutes later, a FaceTime look at the basement and a price over the phone — and the two of them in the driveway with a new heater within thirty minutes. That 2022 review is the clearest picture of what people hire this shop for. The company describes itself as a three-generation family business: its own site says the owner's father, Ed Mathews Sr., started in plumbing and heating in 1928, and that the firm has been installing gas heating for 30 years. Gas heating is the stated specialty, and the permit trail backs it up — BuildZoom logs at least 18 jobs over three years, mostly gas boiler replacements, water heater swaps and backflow preventers around Revere, with work in Danvers and Malden too. Fifteen Google ratings, all five stars, and the written comments run from 2022 to December 2025. The theme in nearly all of them is the phone. One customer writing in January 2024 said Rich picks up on the first ring, and diagnosed corroding heating pipes over FaceTime after other plumbers had not returned calls at all. Another, in August 2023, said they had used him as their master plumber for 18 years. The jobs described are the substantial kind: a complicated boiler installation in November 2025 where he ran the safety checks and explained each step; an oil-to-gas conversion in a 2023 review where he coordinated the other trades and kept the household in hot water throughout; a boiler inspection in October 2024 that turned into a bigger repair at what the customer called a fair price. One thing to confirm yourself. The site advertises "Master Plumber 12276" as its own claim. The state registry record carrying that number is a sheet metal licence listed to a different named holder and shown as expired — so it does not corroborate the plumbing licence the site advertises either way. Ask for the current licence number and check it before work starts. Beyond that, this reads like a small, phone-answering family shop built for heating emergencies and gas conversions across the North Shore and Greater Boston. If your boiler quits or you are moving off oil, a reasonable first call.