The price is the price
Flat-rate, in writing, before work starts. The estimate is the invoice. If we misjudge a job, that’s our tuition, not yours.
About the shop
Fifty-eight years, one street
Hartwell & Sons has worked out of the same Leonard Street shop since Lyndon Johnson was president. Three master plumbers, all named Hartwell, none of them fond of shortcuts.
The third generation
Dan Hartwell answers for every job
Dan grew up sweeping this shop on Saturdays. He apprenticed under his father Bill, got his master’s license at twenty-nine, and took over the books in 2011. He still quotes every repipe personally and still runs calls when the board fills up.
His sons Pete and Charlie are the fourth generation — one licensed, one two years into his apprenticeship. Ask Dan about the company and he’ll tell you the same thing his grandfather told the Press in 1974: “We fix it like it’s our own house, and we charge like the neighbor is watching.”
The record
How the shop was built
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1968
Frank Hartwell, fresh out of a downtown union shop, opens his own book of business with one van, one helper, and a bench on Leonard Street.
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1974
The shop's first newspaper mention — a west-side church flood fixed overnight before Sunday service.
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1989
Bill Hartwell takes over. He adds the second truck and writes the two-year guarantee that still prints on every invoice.
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2004
Marjorie Kowalski joins the front desk. The schedule has run on time ever since.
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2011
Dan Hartwell becomes the third master plumber to hold the license. Third truck, same shop, same number.
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Today
Three trucks, five plumbers — two of them Hartwells — and a fourth generation already in the apprenticeship.
House rules
How we run the shop
Nobody's on commission
Our plumbers are paid for their craft, not their upsells. If a $40 part fixes it, you hear about the $40 part.
Leave it cleaner
Shoe covers at the door, drop cloths under the work, and a shop vac before we go. Your house should only look different where we fixed it.
The crew
Who shows up
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Dan HartwellOwner · Master Plumber
Third generation. Quotes every repipe himself. Thirty-one years in the trade.
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Pete HartwellJourneyman Plumber
Dan’s eldest. Runs the service truck and most of the water heater installs.
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Charlie HartwellApprentice
Fourth generation, two years in. Carries the heavy end and asks the good questions.
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Ray OstrowskiJourneyman Plumber
Twenty-two years with the shop. The drain-and-sewer specialist — owns the camera rig.
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Sam VandermeerJourneyman Plumber
Joined in 2019. Remodel rough-ins and the tidiest solder joints in the building.
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Marjorie KowalskiOffice Manager
The voice on the phone since 2004. Keeps the schedule honest and the coffee strong.
The guarantee
Two years, in writing, since 1989
Every repair and installation is covered for two years, parts and labor. If our work fails inside that window, we come back and make it right on our own dime — no arguing, no fine print, no “labor not included.”
It prints on the bottom of every invoice, the way Bill wrote it.
Talk to a Hartwell
Fifty-eight years of west-side plumbing answers, one phone call away.
Mon–Fri 7:30–5:30 · Sat 8–12 · Emergencies answered nights & weekends