Pre-Season Boiler Tune-Up · Published Price
The Boiler Physical: Your Boiler's Pre-Season Checkup
Your boiler is about to work every day for six months. The Boiler Physical is a licensed-plumber inspection and tune-up that catches the problems of last winter before they become the no-heat call of this one — combustion, controls, safeties, venting, and the steam-specific checks most tune-ups skip.
The price is on the page: $365, or $325 if you book by September 15. Steam and hot-water boilers, performed by or under the direct supervision of a Licensed Master Plumber, in Brooklyn, Queens, and across NYC.
What Your Boiler Gets: The Exam List
Like a physical, the value is in the checklist — not a quick listen and a handshake. Every Boiler Physical covers:
- Combustion and efficiency check at the burner
- Flame quality, ignition, and safety shutoff tests
- Flue, venting, and draft inspection
- Gas connection and shutoff valve condition at the boiler
- Thermostat call-for-heat test, end to end
Steam boilers also get
- Pressure control (pressuretrol) setting and operation
- Low-water cutoff test and flush
- Main vent condition — the #1 cause of uneven steam heat
- Water line stability and near-boiler piping review
- Gauge glass, safety valve, and skim-condition check
Hot-water boilers also get
- Expansion tank charge and waterlogging check
- Circulator pump and zone valve operation
- Relief valve test and system pressure check
- Air elimination — bleeding and purge points
- Aquastat and limit-control operation
What It Costs — and Why the Price Is on the Page
The Boiler Physical is $365. Book by September 15and it's $325. That's the whole price structure — no trip fee on top, no “diagnostic” charge that turns into a sales visit.
Most NYC plumbers don't publish tune-up prices, and most cut-rate tune-up coupons buy you a vacuum-and-glance. We publish the number because the exam list above is the product: a Licensed Master Plumber's checklist, done the same way every time, with a written condition report you keep.
If the visit turns up repair work, that's a separate written scope and price — quoted before anything happens, never folded silently into the bill.
What We Find: Your Boiler's Condition Report
Every Physical ends with a written condition report: the boiler's age and fuel, how it's burning, what was adjusted, what we're watching, and our honest read on remaining life. It's the difference between guessing about your heating system and knowing where you stand.
When a boiler is near the end, the report says so plainly — with the repair-or-replace math laid out (and for oil burners, the 2027 conversion question answered), not a scare pitch. And if your system is steam, the report comes from people who actually know steam: meet Brooklyn's steam heat specialists →
Who Does the Work
Austin Plumbing & Heating is an NYC Licensed Master Plumber shop — LMP #1879, Rispoli family trade since 1968, based at 802 Jamaica Ave in Brooklyn. Gas-fired boilers are gas work, and gas work in NYC legally belongs to a Licensed Master Plumber — not a handyman with a shop vac. The person examining your boiler is qualified to fix what they find, permitted where the city requires it.
Steam and hot-water systems across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx — with particular depth in the pre-war steam-heated housing stock most contractors avoid.
Own or Manage a Building?
For multifamily and commercial buildings, this service is the annual boiler startup — and we run startup/shutdown programs, multi-boiler service, and annual DOB boiler filings on a contract basis with priority response. See building maintenance contracts →
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What's included in the Boiler Physical?
A full pre-season examination of your boiler: combustion and efficiency check, operating and safety control tests, venting and draft inspection, near-boiler piping review, and cleaning and adjustment of the burner as needed. Steam boilers additionally get pressure-control, low-water cutoff, and main-vent checks; hot-water boilers get expansion tank, circulator, and relief-valve checks. You receive a written condition report at the end.
How long does it take?
Plan for roughly 60 to 90 minutes on site for a typical one- to four-family home boiler. Steam systems with accessible main vents and multiple radiator issues can run longer — we stay until the checklist is done, not until the clock runs out.
Do you handle both steam and hot-water boilers?
Yes — and the exam is different for each. Steam is a specialty of ours: pressure settings, low-water cutoff operation, and main venting are where steam systems quietly fail, and most general tune-ups never look at them. Hot-water (hydronic) systems get their own checklist: expansion tank charge, circulator operation, relief valve, and zone controls.
Is this the same as the annual city boiler inspection?
No. The annual DOB boiler inspection is a compliance filing that applies to larger buildings — low-pressure boilers in one- to five-family homes are generally exempt from that requirement. The Boiler Physical is a maintenance and condition service for your benefit, not a city filing. If your building does need the annual DOB filing, we perform that inspection and file it too.
What happens if you find a problem?
You get a straight answer and a written scope with a price — before any repair work begins. Small adjustments that fit inside the visit are simply done. Anything larger is documented in your condition report with our honest read on whether it's a repair now, a watch item, or a sign the boiler is near end of life. No surprise work, no on-the-spot upsell pressure.
My boiler is only a few years old. Do I still need this?
A newer boiler is exactly what you want to protect. Combustion drift, venting problems, and control failures don't wait for old age — and most manufacturer warranties assume annual maintenance. The Physical on a young boiler is quick, and the condition report gives you a baseline to measure future seasons against.
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Book Before the First Cold Night
The Boiler Physical is $365 — $325 if booked by September 15. We confirm every booking by phone, and the visit is scheduled at a window that works for you.