ABA Hearth & Home

I’m extremely happy with the service provided by ABA Hearth & Home. Drew was super thoughtful in providing me with options for a fireplace door, and we decided to go with the doors, burner and valve vanisher. Terry and Mike did a phenomenal job with the installation. They transformed our 15 year old fireplace into a modern work of art. We couldn’t be happier!!!

I can’t say enough about these guys. They are courteous, professional, friendly and have gone way out of their way for me. I had purchased a fireplace and had it installed over the summer (great experience in and of itself) but our remodel didn’t finish up until Christmastime (eek). When I called the week before the 25^th needing service so we could have it up and running for Christmas dinner, their schedule was completely jam-​packed. But want to know what they did? Justin squeezed me in after hours before his long trip home and hung out until almost 9pm just days before Christmas, making sure that I would have a warm and cozy retreat for my family and guests. He was such a pleasure to have in my home that I wish I had to buy a fireplace every month. Sorry to hear some people had poor experiences here. It’s hard for me to believe — these guys are top notch.

Horrible customer service. They say one thing and don’t follow through.
The manager was annoyed to have to deal with me. If you are looking for customer service avoid this store.

Our experience with ABA Hearth & Home began at the San Carlos showroom, where we met Justin Atchley, one of the sales representatives for ABA Hearth & Home.
Justin first determined what our needs were and listened carefully to what we had in mind. ABA Hearth & Home had a lot of experience with homes like ours (Parkside Marina Style) in San Francisco. The model we selected was a perfect physical match for our fireplace, and we selected a fascia that matched our existing fireplace aesthetic.
They recommended a few plumbing firms that could accommodate our gas line requirements, we chose Dale Plumbing based on a visit by their lead plumber. Dale (see my review) did a great job under some difficult conditions and we were ready for our fireplace insert installation.
Terry and Roger arrived exactly at 8:00 as scheduled, I mean exactly. I like punctuality, so that was a good indicator of how smoothly the rest of the installation would go. A few hours later, our fireplace was burning happily in the living room and the building inspector had given us a thumbs up on the installation.
We chose a Valor fireplace insert and it is super easy to operate, has nice features like an automatic pilot shut off to save gas when the unit is not in use. It fits perfectly in the fireplace area, and the hardware is well made and looks like it will last many years.
If I could give ABA 6 stars, I would!

This is a 5 star review for work that ABA Hearth & Home did Not do for me. I had been interested in purchasing two gas fireplace inserts for my two fireplaces. I explored three different vendors and then decided to get specific quotes from ABA based on their stellar Unilocal reviews. I made an appointment with Drew Stancliffe to come to my home to measure my fireplaces and to give me some quotes. He confirmed our appointment the day before and arrived a few minutes early on the day of. He measured my fireplaces and then we talked. He had noticed my grand piano in the living room that was fairly close to the fireplace. He then told me in essence, «I would love to sell you an insert, but I can’t recommend it in good conscience because the radiant heat from the fireplace will damage your piano.» I had not even considered that because it was not a problem with a conventional fireplace where most of the heat goes up the chimney. Then for the fireplace in the other room, Drew said that because of the configuration of the fireplace, the window of the insert would be very small and the surrounding metal would look disproportionate. He was concerned that I would not be happy with the result.
I very much appreciated Drew’s candor and his ethical approach. He clearly understands what true customer service means. I highly recommend Drew and the whole team at ABA Hearth & Home.

In 2013, we got our first gas insert from ABA for our living room. We were struck by their intense professionalism, knowledge and experience. These are real «fireplace» experts who are passionate about their product and could wax poetic on BTU’s, log sets, and energy efficiency. The fireplace itself is wonderful and made the living room the best place to be in our house, especially on cold days.
Just bought our 2^nd gas insert from them for our family room. Our experience reaffirmed our first impression of them. Both Drew and Justin were so professional and knowledgeable. Drew went out of his way to troubleshoot an installation issue that was not their fault. This is small town mom and pop customer service you don’t see much anymore with high tech, great products. Kudos and thanks!!!

I just called ABA and spoke with Justin. I needed some information about keys for gas fireplaces. He answered all of my questions, and was super helpful and friendly. I realized through talking to him that I could just pick up a new key at a store (I had thought we would need to have someone come out and measure for one or something), and told him that his store was too far away, which he was very nice about. I really appreciated the help he gave me, and would definitely recommend this store for your fireplace needs. And if I can’t find the key I need here in Los Altos, I’ll gladly drive to San Carlos to get it at ABA.

PERFECT — great service — prompt — pleasant — really a perfect experience — we’re so happy to have found this spot — yippee

Some 13 years ago we used a business in San Carlos called Hearth and Home. A few years back that little business sold to ABA Hearth & Home now located on Laurel Street. At that time we purchased a Valor gas insert from Drew. The experience was absolutely amazing as far as dealing with, shall we say, a «salesman». Well, we love our stove and every single time I have a question or concern or need to know how to clean or reprogram I walk in or call and Drew is so helpful. He even goes over to the stove we purchased and disassembles the unit just so I get the visual as well. Two weeks ago we had a problem so I called and was assisted by Jason. He came out later that evening, past normal business hours and took it apart, put it back together and asked if he could call the next day to assess the problem further. He called and we scheduled a day where he could actually call Valor directly during business hours to make sure everything had been done that could be done. He fixed the problem in no time as well as taking the glass off and cleaning it shiny clean for the new holiday season. He was such a joy to have in our home not to mention you can tell the guy knows what he’s doing! What a concept!!! We will always choose these people for any of our issues as well as giving them as a referral. Way to do business boys!!!
Oops, his name is Justin not Jason!

ABA Hearth & Home installed a gas fireplace insert for us and we had a great experience with them. Justin was very helpful on the phone and in person. We were considering a few other fireplace vendors, but the others seem to have different individuals responsible for different steps of the process (sales, scheduling, installation, repair, etc.), so when I had questions about something that spans different areas, it took forever to get those questions answered because someone was on vacation, out sick, on lunch break, etc. At ABA Hearth & Home, Justin could pretty much answer any questions we had from start to finish, so that was much appreciated.
I never thought I would like a FIREPLACE vendor so much…

I would highly recommend ABA Hearth & Home. They came out on time, worked on cleaning the fireplaces, found a problem — advised us of the problem and later quoted a price. They found a piece of wood stuck in the chimney flue and will be removing it in a couple of weeks.

Drew and Justin at ABA are awesome! They are professional, knowledgeable and very helpful. They ordered, delivered and installed our gas insert in remarkable time. I would refer them to anyone.

These guys are over the top when it comes to responsive, careful, experienced service and installation.
They’ve done two installations (gas and wood) for me and have performed follow-​up service. They are timely, clean, experienced, friendly, and very oriented to home-​safety.
They have my highest recommendation!

We got a beautiful fireplace insert from ABA. We went into the shop and were given a tour of the inserts that would work well with our particular size. They gave us a couple brochures and websites that you could simulate your fireplace look. Nice store experience.
They came out to measure. He was on time ‚(Very important to me!) polite and quick.
We ordered a custom back, which took a little longer, but was well worth the wait. They gave us the choice of waiting for the back plate, or installing the fireplace immediately, then the plate later. We went with the latter. We had a functional fireplace, then in a few weeks the back was put on. We love our fireplace!
Great customer service and communication. I wouldn’t hesitate buying something else from them in the future!

We just had our chimney cleaned yesterday by the people at ABA Hearth & Home. The guys were sooo nice, clean, careful around our rugs, armchairs, put on little booties so as not to track anything. There was not one speck of soot to be found inside or outside of the hearth after they were done. Also «Terry» went to great lengths to explain his report thoroughly and made recommendations for more efficient ways to place our logs. It was a wonderful experience, and we would highly recommend them!”

I first called Hearth and Home and spoke to an installer who was friendly and provided me all the necessary information I needed to get started. When we arrived, my husband and I were prepared and ready to buy. But the guy who helped us was completely arrogant and rude. It was obvious he didn’t need our business. So we took our business to the Energy House.

We worked with ABA Hearth & Home to set up gas logs in our fireplace, as well as to have our chimney cleaned. They were great from start to finish. Drew and my husband discussed what we wanted and Drew was extremely knowledgeable about the various options. Justin was great to work with when it came to setting up appointments, etc. And Terry, who was the actual chimney sweeper and log installer, did an outstanding job with everything.
I would highly recommend this business!

Yesterday I checked out the new ABA 1494 Laurel St., San Carlos location as I have a very old ~1904 house and a difficult refurbish gas insert situation. This new store was gleaming and a joy to visit and I was stunned by the level of competence shown by the staff who were creative in their suggestions and immediately familiar with all of the standards that govern installations. Due to my difficult refurbish gas insert situation I have been «doing the rounds» to get a sense of possible solutions and these ABA guys struck me as far and away the most helpful and very likely to be the most competent.

We needed to heat our family room by modifying the existing fireplace with a gas fireplace insert.
After doing due diligence on the internet, I visited four vendors, viewed their products, read their materials.
ABA Hearth & Home had the largest selection of products and the most professional & informed staff. The salesmanship was low key but informative. It was immediately clear to me that they were superior to their competitors, some of whom were also selling other products such as spas.
After we chose the specific model, Drew recommended a plumber & electrician to do the preliminary work before the actual installation.
Paul (plumber) inspected our gas line & assured me that no additional
modification was necessary — he did not charge for his consultation.
Mike (electrician) installed the necessary electrical box after his initial inspection of what was needed. He did it perfectly.
Terry (installer) made the installation when I was out of town. He called me on my cell phone to tell me that the unit did not fit the space perfectly (which I already knew) but this would be corrected later by decorative slate tile by our tile installer. The installation was otherwise perfect.
Most importantly, Drew was awesome. Everything promised was delivered in a timely fashion. Drew is extremely knowlegable and very concerned that his customers are well informed about the pros & cons of the model chosen.
Since I was out of town at the time of installation, Drew made a special
evening trip to our house to instruct us about the operation of the unit.
He made specific modifications to the controls to satisfy our individual needs. He even thought about the design of the frame & brought another
frame should we wish to change. This was not necessary but he did everything possible to assure our satisfaction.
After using the unit for a few days it has exceeded my expectations both functionally & cosmetically. I love it!
If every other local business was conducted with the same professionalism, courtesy & consideration for customer satisfaction — the retail world would be a better place.
I highly recommend ABA Hearth & Home to those people in need of a fireplace or fireplace insert. Things could not have worked out better for me.

This review is for the level of service that we received at Hearth & Home. Unfortunately, they didn’t have what we were looking for.
We had made several visits looking for a fireplace insert. They helped us immensely with information about how they work, the costs involved, and even the different operating costs between the different models. But, after a great deal of research and deciding what we wanted. They didn’t’ carry it.
We were quite sad that we weren’t able to do business there. They were even kind enough to refer us to their competitor who they thought might have what we wanted.
So, please — if you’re looking for a fireplace insert — give these guys a look. They have a very nice showroom and are very knowledgeable with their products.