Plumbing · San Diego, CA
Water where it should not be? Get a plumber on the phone.
Call and tell us what is happening and your ZIP code. We connect you to an independent plumbing company that covers your area.
Connects you to an independent plumbing company. Home Service Lab does not perform the work and does not set the price.
- Burst or leaking pipe
- Blocked drain
- No hot water
- Overflowing toilet
- Water heater fault
- Sewer backup
- Running or leaking faucet
- Sump pump failure
Do this before you call anyone
If water is actively running, every minute costs you money in damage. Two minutes of work now will save you far more than the call will.
- Shut off the water. Local valve under the sink or behind the toilet if you can reach it. Otherwise the main shutoff, usually near the meter, in the basement, or in an exterior box.
- Kill power to any wet area. If water is near outlets, an appliance or the panel, switch that circuit off at the breaker, from a dry position.
- Drain the pressure. Open the lowest faucet in the house to empty the pipes and stop the leak feeding.
- Photograph everything before you mop up. Your insurer will want it.
If you smell gas near a water heater, leave the building and call 911 and your gas utility. Do not use light switches or phones inside. Deal with the plumbing afterwards.
What plumbers get called for
The jobs that come through this line most.
Written so you know roughly what you are dealing with before anyone arrives. None of this replaces someone looking at it.
Burst or leaking pipe
Usually a failed joint, corrosion in older copper, or a freeze split. Shut the water off first. Repairs range from a section replacement to a repipe, depending on how much of the run has gone.
Blocked drain or sewer backup
Slow single drain is usually local. Multiple fixtures backing up at once points at the main line, often roots or a collapse, and typically needs a camera inspection before anyone quotes a fix.
No hot water
Gas units: pilot or thermocouple. Electric: a failed element or thermostat. If the tank is over ten years old and leaking from the body rather than a fitting, replacement is usually the honest answer.
Overflowing or blocked toilet
Shut the valve behind the pan to stop the overflow. If plunging does nothing and other fixtures are also slow, the blockage is further down the line than the toilet.
Frozen pipes
Common in unheated crawl spaces and exterior walls. Never thaw with a naked flame. A pipe that has frozen once will often have split, so expect a leak when it thaws.
Sump pump failure
Almost always discovered during the storm that needed it. Worth testing before the wet season rather than during it.
In San Diego
San Diego's hard water, and the permit for a new water heater.
City of San Diego tap water averages about 16 grains per gallon of hardness (276 ppm), and runs from 16 to 18 grains (272 to 284 ppm) depending on demand and which part of the city you live in. That's the city Public Utilities Department's figure, and it's worth having in mind if a plumber starts talking about scale or a softener.
A standard water heater replacement in the City of San Diego goes through a Simple MEP permit from Development Services. So do water or sewer piping repairs and gas line repairs. Tankless water heaters are left out of that simple route.
California licenses plumbing contractors through the Contractors State License Board, under the C-36 Plumbing classification. Ask for the license number before anyone starts.
Before you agree to work
Five things worth asking on the doorstep.
We connect the call. We do not supervise the job. These are the checks that protect you, and they take about a minute.
- Your license number and state, please.Plumbing is licensed in most states. You can check it against your state board in about thirty seconds.
- Are you carrying current liability insurance?Ask to see the certificate. If a repair floods the floor below, this is the difference between their problem and yours.
- Written estimate before you start.Parts, labor, call-out fee and anything that would change the number. Verbal quotes have a habit of growing.
- What happens if it fails again next week?Get the warranty terms on the estimate, not as a spoken reassurance.
- Does this need a permit?Water heater swaps, repipes and sewer line work often do. Unpermitted work surfaces later, when you sell.
Cost
Why we will not quote you a price.
Anyone giving you a firm plumbing price over the phone, sight unseen, is guessing or setting up a change order. What actually moves the number:
- A joint behind drywall or under a slab costs multiples of the same joint in an open basement.
- Main line problems usually need a camera run before anyone can price the repair honestly.
- Nights, weekends and holidays carry a premium almost everywhere.
- Copper, PEX and cast iron are not interchangeable in cost or labor time.
- Where required, permit and inspection fees sit on top of the quoted work.
- A repair may reveal that the run either side is equally corroded. Ask what happens to the price if it does.
Being straight with you
We route the call. We do not do the plumbing.
This site is a free service to assist homeowners in connecting with local service contractors. All contractors are independent and this site does not warrant or guarantee any work performed. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to verify that the hired contractor furnishes the necessary license and insurance required for the work being performed. All persons depicted in a photo or video are actors or models and not contractors listed on this site.
Questions
Plumbing, answered.
How much do plumbers charge per hour in San Diego?
We don't publish a rate, because the plumbing company sets its own prices. Get the price in writing before work starts.
If the job is a water heater replacement, it needs a Simple MEP permit from the City of San Diego, so ask whether the permit is included in the price.
How fast can somebody get to me?
That depends entirely on the company we connect you to, your area and the time of day. We will not promise you a window on their behalf. Ask them directly on the call, because they are the ones who have to keep it.
Where is my main water shutoff?
Most commonly where the supply enters the building: a basement or crawl space wall, a utility closet, or an exterior ground box near the street. In warmer states it is often outside near the meter. Worth finding now rather than at 2am with water coming through a ceiling.
Is a dripping faucet worth calling about?
On its own, usually not urgent, though it will show up on the water bill. If the drip started alongside low pressure elsewhere, or you can hear running water with everything shut off, that is a different conversation and worth a call.
My water heater is leaking. Repair or replace?
If it is leaking from a fitting or valve, often repairable. If it is weeping from the tank body itself, the tank has corroded through and no repair is reliable. Age matters: past ten to twelve years, most plumbers will steer you to replacement, and they are usually right.
Do you cover my ZIP code?
Plumbing has some of the widest coverage of the trades we handle, but it is not universal. Call and give us the ZIP and you will know in under a minute, rather than leaving your details and waiting.
Other trades
Not a plumbing problem?
Water still going where it should not?
One call connects you to an independent plumbing company covering your ZIP. Free to connect, no obligation.
(833) 545-0417