Reviews of local pros in Berkeley, California

Mniska found a leak that I did not know was there. He fixed it and showed me the pipe that had deteriorated. He goes above and beyond.

Wow, you really feel taken care of with Afterglow Heating. They're passionate about their job and genuinely care for you as a customer. I appreciate when a technician takes time to explain things. Mniska showed me why it was better to do a long-term solution rather than a patch-up fix, as another company had suggested. They saved us money and extra headaches. I can't recommend them enough.

Mniska has been an absolute pleasure to work with and I couldn't recommend him more.

We had a radiator that didn't work anymore and the repair was involved. It required draining the system to remove the radiator from 1920, fix it and fill the system again and checking every unit in the house post repair.
Assessment and repair happened quickly. He came by the first time on Monday and the estimate was provided right then and there. Once the needed parts arrived and every tenant was informed about required entry, work was performed that same Wednesday. Throughout communication was prompt, respectful and very friendly and you just knew that he cared about the work but also about your home.

I highly and fully recommend Afterglow Heating. I've known the owner, Mniska Lamb, for a long time and have consulted with him on various occasions for issues around our home (for example, why is my Nest system acting up, can we do radiant heating in our old(er) home, general discussions about efficient ways to heat our house, etc. He is professional, responsive, knowledgeable, and experienced. That is all baseline for me; I always want to work with professionals who possess those qualities. What sets Mniska and Afterglow Heating apart is that they also *genuinely care* about the families and people they work with. Afterglow Heating will treat you right and be a long-term support in keeping your house and family cozy and feeling good.

If 6 stars were available, Afterglow Heating would receive them. Mniska is unarguably a master of his craft who has been building/designing and installing exceptional heating systems for over a decade and I can’t recommend him more.

Exceptional experience! Mniska is a professional, responded to our request for help the same day, identified the source of our leak and resolved the issue quickly saving us $$$$$!!! He figured out the part that failed was under warranty and filed the paperwork for us to be reimbursed before letting us know about it. 6 stars.

Mniska was very knowledgeable about my somewhat complicated system and offered several options for how to proceed. He was generous with his time and patient in explaining his findings and recommendations.

Highly recommend Afterglow Radiant Heating! Mniska Lamb, the owner, quickly diagnosed and fixed our intermittent hot water issue with our tankless system. He completed important maintenance, suggested valuable upgrades, and communicated clearly throughout the process. He worked efficiently, was respectful of our home (and our two cats!), and I trust him completely. He’s now on my schedule for annual maintenance and ongoing service.

We wanted to revive the abandoned hydronic floor heating. After providing the estimate of ~$900 to pressure test the existing system we were told there's no hydronic floor heating. Upon confronting about the estimate being for pressure testing the hydronic floor heating we were told to pay for coming out and providing a consult. After a lengthy and unpleasant discussion we agreed to pay $450 for the consult. If you are going to charge for a consult it must be communicated upfront.

When PG&E identified a gas leak at our property and shut off gas to our home, Mniska helped us to quickly identify a solution and then repair it quickly, professionally, and at a reasonable rate. We couldn't have asked for a better experience. Thank you!

Mniska repaired my radiant heating system after it got inadvertently damaged. The repairs were thorough. His work was excellent and he provided informative explanations of his repairs as well as suggestions for future maintenance. Thanks, Mniska!

Mniska taught us about our system, reviewed all of our options, and helped us decide how to proceed. His work was excellent. We are warm in our apartment for the first time in 9 years.

Mniska made some repairs to my hydronic heating system which have improved its performance. He’s knowledgeable and takes obvious pride in his work. Will use again.

Mniska from Afterglow Heating did a fantastic job! He was quick to help us out, very communicative throughout the process, and clearly explained what he was checking and finding. He also gave us great recommendations on how to move forward with our broken water heater. Super professional, reliable, and easy to work with — I’d highly recommend him and Afterglow Heating to anyone in need of plumbing or heating help

After hearing an increasingly loud hissing sound in my kitchen wall, I gave Afterglow a call, worried it was a gas leak. Mniska was prompt, professional and focused. He also took time to explain what steps he was taking to hone in on the problem.

He was able to fix the leaky hot water pipe in my wall skillfully and smoothly.

Mniska helped a lot with my radiant heating system. He took a lot of time to explain everything to me and gave me several option for fixing and upgrading our system, without making me feel pressured. Recommended as a radiant heating expert.

I had an excellent experience with Mniska, who came out on short notice to address issues with my tankless water heater. From the moment he arrived, his punctuality, professionalism, and positive attitude stood out. He quickly and accurately diagnosed the problem, explaining each step in clear, easy-to-understand terms.
Mniska’s customer service was exceptional—he was courteous, respectful of my home, and made sure I fully understood the situation before proceeding. His communication was clear and transparent, and he made the entire process stress-free.
It’s rare to find someone who combines technical expertise with such genuine care for their customers. I highly recommend Mniska to anyone in need of a skilled and trustworthy plumber!

I had an automatic water shut-off valve installed today, and Mniska did an excellent job. He was very polite, professional, and explained all my options clearly before coming out. He arrived on time, worked efficiently, and completed the installation quickly. Everything was done neatly and professionally. I really appreciate the great service and would definitely recommend him.

We've worked with Mniska on the boiler/radiators in our new home and couldn't be happier with Mniska's attention to detail and communication. We cannot recommend his services more and look forward to a long term relationship with him over the years.

Minska is AMAZING! HIGHLY Recommend! HE IS HONEST & highly knowledgeable unlike other plumbers I have used in the past (I have some experience with plumbing but didn't have a torch to fix the problem with my pipes). I will be referring him to all my neighbors & friends. Don't waste your time with anyone else. He was referred by another plumber who wasn't licensed to work on Hydronic Heating Systems. I called, he answered & he was at my home in an hour. Thank God!!! My wife was driving me nuts; as I had to shut off the master so no water; toilets/shower/sinks! He's very professional, polite, well dressed, & does extremely clean work. His pricing is reasonable too. I will definitely be using him again in the future when I replace my hot water heater & put in a tankless efficient hot water heater. See attached pictures of his work. 🤘🤙🤟

We had Mniska with Afterglow come out when some of the valve actuators on our hydronics system stopped working.

Our project ended up expanding a bit from there, where Mniska pointed out some other flaws in the system. A different contractor had installed the system and it came with the house when we bought it. This system had number of flaws Mniska found, some of which were:

1. Didn't have a back flow suppressor (so water from the heating system could potentially back flow in the water used for showers and drinking, especially distasteful since the heating part of the loop normally has a rust inhibitor in it and humans are generally advised to avoid drinking that.)
2. Had combo heat exchange and circulator pump whose rated rise isn't sufficient for getting water from the basement of our home to the attic.
3. The water supply lines running to the various rooms had never been insulated so when they ran through crawl spaces and other areas they were losing heat.

We ended up addressing all the issues Mniska pointed out with a more extensive rebuild of the system which has yielded excellent results. Where he could Mniska reused the existing system where he could rather than just try to sell us on new everything to control costs.

Previously our kitchen floor and bathroom floor never got as warm as the wood floors. We had chalked this up to the fact the tile was too thick for the heat to really radiate through. With the more efficient system these floors now get warm.

The system is also much faster to bring the temperature in the home up. In the past we'd turn the system down to 60 degrees when we traveled and coming home it normally took 10+ hours to bring the entire house up to 67 (we'd resort to running space heaters to speed the process up). We had to shut the entire system for 2 days while Mniska fixed all the issues and when he left the system had the house up to 67 in about 2 hours and to 70 in another hour. On a day it was ~55 outside.

Beyond that we're seeing general efficiency improvements, now once the system brings the home's temp up in the morning it's ability to mostly switch off for the daylight hours, with only 3ish of our 9 zones being on during the day in December, before we'd have 7 or 8 of the 9 zones needing to stay on during daylight hours.

Overall we're very happy with the result. The system is running much better and Mniska was very transparent and communicative through the process. His pricing was up front, his timing was spot on, he arrived when he said he would, etc. We'd highly recommend Afterglow for anyone needing work done on their system.