Plumbers near you

No federal licence exists for plumbers. Texas runs one of the more structured systems: the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners licenses Master Plumbers, Journeyman Plumbers, Tradesman Plumber-Limited licensees and Plumbing Inspectors and registers apprentices, and a plumbing company operates under a designated Responsible Master Plumber. TSBPE tells consumers to get the Responsible Master Plumber's licence number, note that Master Plumber numbers begin with the letter M, and verify it through the board's public licence search, which also shows whether a certificate of insurance is on file. The board adds that the written estimate and invoice should carry the Responsible Master Plumber's licence number along with the board's own name, address and telephone number.

California takes a different route, licensing the business rather than the individual tradesperson: the Contractors State License Board issues a C-36 Plumbing Contractor classification and offers an instant licence check by licence number, personal name or business name. CSLB also requires licensed contractors to display their licence number in advertising, while an unlicensed advertiser must say they are not licensed. Other states place plumbing under a health department, a labor department or a combined contractor board, and in a few the meaningful licence is issued by the city or county. Find your own state's board by name before you hire.

Codes vary on the same state-by-state basis. Washington adopts the Uniform Plumbing Code as its state plumbing code, moving to the 2021 edition on March 15, 2024. Texas is unusual in that state law adopts both the Uniform Plumbing Code and the International Plumbing Code, under Section 1301.255 of the Occupations Code, while letting the plumbing board adopt later editions and letting cities apply their own requirements. Whichever model code applies, permits and inspections for work such as a repipe, a sewer replacement, a water heater changeout or moving a fixture are administered locally, so ask who is pulling the permit and who meets the inspector.

What is in your walls depends mostly on when the house was built and where. Copper dominated postwar construction and still performs well, though it develops pinhole leaks in some water chemistries. CPVC appeared widely in the South. PEX has taken over most repipes and new work because it tolerates freezing better than rigid pipe and needs far fewer joints. Galvanized steel, common before the 1960s, corrodes from the inside and gradually strangles flow, which is why a house with original galvanized supply often has good pressure at the street and poor pressure at the shower. On the drain side, cast iron and, in some eras, clay or fiber conduit give way to PVC or ABS.

One federal rule cuts across all of it. Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act defines lead free as not more than a 0.25 percent weighted average of lead calculated across the wetted surfaces of pipes, fittings and fixtures, and not more than 0.2 percent lead in solder and flux. The Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act, enacted in 2011, lowered the wetted-surface figure from the earlier 8 percent. Anything installed in a potable water line has to meet that definition, so when a plumber replaces a valve or a supply stop, the part must be a lead-free rated one rather than whatever happens to fit. In an older house, the service line itself is worth asking your water utility about.

Leaks are the most expensive plumbing problem people ignore, because nothing dramatic happens. EPA's WaterSense program puts the national figure at nearly 1 trillion gallons of water wasted annually by household leaks, with the average household's leaks accounting for more than 9,300 gallons a year, and it reports that nine percent of homes have leaks wasting 50 gallons or more per day. The usual culprits EPA names are worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets and leaking valves, all of them cheap parts doing quiet damage.

Checking is straightforward. Turn off every fixture and water-using appliance, then watch the water meter for a couple of hours; movement with nothing running means a leak somewhere on your side of the meter. For toilets specifically, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, wait without flushing, and look for color appearing in the bowl. Worth doing seasonally, and worth doing before you leave the house empty for a stretch.

The rest of routine care is simple. Exercise shutoff valves once a year so they are not seized when you need them, check supply connectors to washing machines, toilets and sinks for corrosion or bulging, keep an eye on the pan and the relief line at the water heater, and in cold regions disconnect hoses and insulate pipe runs in unconditioned crawlspaces and garages before the first hard freeze.

Know two locations before you need them. The first is the main shutoff where the service enters the house, typically in a basement, a utility closet, a garage or, on slab houses in warm states, outside near the hose bib. The second is the meter box at the curb, which usually needs a meter key. Individual fixtures have their own stops under the sink or behind the toilet, and those handle most smaller failures without shutting down the house.

A burst supply line, a water heater dumping its tank, or sewage backing up into a tub or floor drain all warrant an immediate call. Shut the water off, cut power to the water heater or to any circuit in standing water at the breaker panel if you can reach it safely, and keep people away from sewage backup, which is a health hazard rather than just a mess. If a gas water heater is involved and you smell gas, leave the building first and call the utility's emergency line from outside.

EPA's WaterSense label marks fixtures independently certified to use less water while still performing. Labeled toilets use 1.28 gallons per flush or less against the federal standard of 1.6 gallons per flush, and EPA notes that inefficient older models can use as much as 6 gallons per flush, which is why replacing a pre-1990s toilet changes a water bill noticeably. Labeled showerheads use no more than 2.0 gallons per minute against the federal standard of 2.5, and EPA estimates the average family saves 2,700 gallons of water a year and more than 330 kilowatt hours of electricity by switching, since less hot water drawn means less water heated.

WaterSense also labels whole homes, which must use at least 30 percent less water than typical new construction, and the specification adjusts to local climate and to the characteristics of the individual home. For an existing house, the practical route is your water utility: many run rebate programs for labeled toilets, irrigation controllers and leak detection devices, usually restricted to customers on their system and requiring proof of purchase. Check the utility's own site before you buy, since programs are seasonal and funding-limited.