Plumbers in Phoenix, AZ

Hard water and hot garages

The first thing a Phoenix plumber looks at in a house is usually the water heater, because in this city it is probably closer to the end than the owner expects. Phoenix blends Salt and Verde river water, Colorado River water from the CAP canal, and groundwater, and all of it arrives loaded with calcium and magnesium. At twelve to twenty grains per gallon, sediment collects on the bottom of a tank fast enough to rumble within a couple of years. Then the garage that houses most Valley water heaters reaches 120 degrees every summer afternoon, and the tank is working against heat from both sides. Six to ten years is normal here. Annual flushing, replacing the anode rod and a softener push it back toward the lifespan the manufacturer intended.

The same water scales tankless exchangers, crusts aerators and stiffens shower valves, which is why softeners and reverse osmosis systems are close to standard equipment in Phoenix homes and why our plumbers install and service them as routinely as they replace heaters.

Under the slab and in the walls

Nearly every Phoenix home built from the 1960s through the 1990s has copper supply lines under a concrete slab. Hard water pits them from the inside. In the clay pockets of south Phoenix and toward the East Valley, soil movement works on them from outside. A pinhole opens under the floor and the first signs are a warm tile, a water bill that doubled, or running water that can be heard but not found. Slab leak detection is everyday work for Phoenix plumbers, and the usual fix is to abandon the failed line and reroute through the attic.

The homes of the late 1970s through mid-1990s in Ahwatukee, Deer Valley, Paradise Valley Village and parts of north Phoenix add polybutylene supply pipe, which fails at its fittings without warning and is usually replaced with PEX rather than repaired. The historic districts of Willo, Coronado, Encanto, Garfield and F.Q. Story still carry galvanized steel in unrenovated houses, with rust and pressure that has faded over decades.

Monsoon and freeze

Phoenix’s weather delivers two sharp tests each year. From mid-June through September, monsoon storms drop intense rain on caliche that absorbs almost nothing, and water runs to the lowest point. Floor drains and cleanouts back up, scuppers on flat-roofed homes overflow, and sewers surcharge. The rest of the summer, heat and ultraviolet light cook exposed PVC irrigation lines, pool plumbing and hose bibs brittle. Then in December and January a few nights drop to freezing, and the hose bibs, backflow preventers, pool equipment and exterior-wall lines that no one insulated split. Our plumbers handle the pre-season checks and the calls that follow when the weather arrives first.

Licensing and permits

Plumbing contractors in Phoenix hold Arizona Registrar of Contractors licenses, required for any job over a thousand dollars or any work that needs a permit. The city permits water heater replacement, repipes, new fixture locations and drain line changes. Every plumber we dispatch in Phoenix holds the license and pulls the permits the job requires.