Plumbing Services in Houston, TX

Is it an emergency, or can it wait?

Four problems need action now: water you cannot stop, sewage coming up, no water at all, and a gas smell. Those are the calls for an emergency plumber in Houston. Most other jobs can wait for a scheduled visit. Use this table to sort yours:

What you see	Do this first	How soon
Gas smell or hissing	Leave, then call 911 from outside	Right now
Burst pipe or water you cannot stop	Close the main valve, turn off the water heater	Call now
Sewage coming up a tub or floor drain	Stop using water, keep people and pets away	Call now
No water anywhere in the house	Check for a utility notice, then check your main valve	Call today
Slow drain, drip or running toilet	Close the fixture's own valve if it helps	Book a visit
Tank heater past 10 years with no leak	Start planning the replacement	Plan ahead

A slow leak or dripping fixture can usually wait until morning if you can close a fixture shut-off and the water is not reaching floors or walls. If the meter still runs with every fixture off, call the same day, because a hidden leak keeps doing damage until someone finds it. A leak on the City side is a different matter: report it to Houston 311, because a homeowner cannot repair the city's main.

What should you do in the first 30 minutes of a burst pipe?

Stop the water, then protect the house and your claim:

1. Close the main shut-off valve, at the meter or where the line enters the house.
2. Turn off the water heater at its gas control or breaker.
3. Open a low faucet so the lines empty.
4. Photograph and film the damage before you move anything.
5. Move valuables, mop up, and keep any failed part for your insurer.
6. Call us during open hours, and call your insurance company.

Find and turn your main valve today. A valve that has sat for years can seize, and that is a bad thing to learn during a burst pipe repair.

What if you smell gas?

Get everyone out and call 911 from outside. Do not touch switches or look for the leak, because a spark can ignite gas. Call your gas utility too. Once emergency crews clear the house, call a plumber for the repair.

When are the phones open?

Our phones are answered Sunday through Thursday from 7 AM to 8 PM and Friday from 7 AM to 6 PM, and we close Saturdays. If something happens while we are closed, the emergency plumbing page lists who to call in the meantime.

Still not sure how urgent it is?

Answer a few quick questions:

Which signs point to a sewer line rather than a simple clog?

A single slow drain is usually a local clog, while several fixtures backing up at once points to the main sewer line. Run through these before you call, because the answer changes what you need:

• One sink or tub is slow, and everything else drains fine: a local clog, and usually a quick job.
• A toilet bubbles when the washer drains: air and water are fighting in a shared line.
• Water comes up in the tub when you flush: the main line is likely blocked.
• You smell sewage at a floor drain: a dry trap, or a problem further down the line.
• Sewage shows at the lowest drain in the house: stop running water and treat it as an emergency.

A sewer camera confirms the cause, and it should come before any digging. In Houston, tree roots and offset joints from moving clay are the usual culprits, and hydro jetting often clears grease and roots once the camera shows the pipe is intact. Jetting a cracked or collapsed pipe makes the damage worse, so ask to see the footage first. If the camera shows a break, sewer line repair is the next step, and a collapsed run may need sewer line replacement.

Which water heater suits a Houston home?

The right water heater depends on your existing gas line or electric circuit, because tankless units can change the install. UEF, the uniform energy factor, is the efficiency score on the label, and a higher number means less energy wasted.

Type	Typical life	Efficiency (UEF)	Fits best when
Gas tank	10-12 years	0.60-0.70	You already have a gas line
Electric tank	10-12 years	0.90-0.93	You have a 240V, 30-amp dedicated circuit
Tankless gas	20+ years	0.82-0.96	You can add a dedicated 3/4-inch gas line and Category III/IV venting

Those lifespans are the usual published ranges. Houston plumbers report tank heaters lasting 8-12 years here, against the 10-15 years often quoted nationally, because sediment and a spent anode rod shorten that life. A heat pump water heater is a fourth option, but its cost, life and UEF vary by model, so get a written estimate for the exact unit. To weigh the options, read tankless vs tank for Texas homes.

Should you repair or replace an aging water heater?

Plan around age, not failure. A failed thermostat, element or valve on a younger tank is usually worth repairing. Rust-colored hot water, or a leak from the tank body itself, usually means replacement, because a tank cannot be patched and a failed tank floods the floor around it. The price of a water heater replacement in Houston should include the City permit and final inspection where one is required.

Why do clay soil, rain and humidity cause Houston pipe leaks?

Houston's ground and weather stress pipes in two ways: soil movement breaks lines, and humidity plus age corrodes them.

Expansive clay takes on water and swells, then shrinks again as it dries, which moves slabs and stresses underground lines. NOAA climate normals put Houston near 53 inches of rain yearly, and the long dry stretches between storms shrink that clay. NOAA normals also count about 102.4 days a year at or above 90°F. Slab leaks and offset sewer joints often start where the soil moves most.

Humidity speeds corrosion in galvanized pipe, and homes built before 1980 often have cast iron drains. Corrosion shows up as brown or rusty water, falling pressure and slow drains. A sewer camera shows whether a drain needs a spot repair or full replacement, and our guide on cast iron drains in older Houston homes explains the difference.

Each season brings its own problems:

• Spring and fall storms: full sewer lines and backups in low-lying streets
• Summer heat: soil shrinks, and slab leaks and offset sewer joints show up
• Winter: rare hard freezes that catch exposed pipe unprepared, as February 2021 did

City pipes are aging as well. ABC13, using Houston Public Works figures, counted 13,911 reported City water leaks in 2023, against 9,143 three years earlier. KPRC reports that about 6% of roughly 7,000 miles of lines need immediate replacement.

Which Houston homes carry the most pipe risk?

Census ACS 2020-24 data put the Houston-area median year built at 1993, so a newer home and a pre-1980 home need different checks. In Baytown, about one in five homes predates 1960.

What your home has	What tends to fail	First step
Slab on expansive clay	Slab leaks, offset sewer joints	Meter test, then leak detection
Galvanized supply lines	Pipe corrosion, rusty water, low water pressure	Price galvanized pipe replacement or repiping your Houston home
Cast iron drains, often pre-1980	Slow drains, repeat clogs	Sewer camera first, then spot repair or cast iron pipe replacement
Polybutylene supply lines	No longer approved under current codes	Get a written repipe estimate