Licensed Plumbing Services in San Antonio, TX
I'll be straight with you — most San Antonio plumbing calls don't need a sales pitch, they need a truck that shows up with the right parts. We run routes across Bexar County every weekday, from Stone Oak down to the South Side, and our trucks are stocked for the calls we actually get: water heaters, slab leaks, wax rings, PRVs, hose bibbs. One trip, done.
Texas RMP License #36282. When a job needs a permit — water heater changeouts, gas line work, sewer replacements — we file it with the City of San Antonio Development Services and walk it through inspection. No open records left behind for you to deal with at resale.
What we do in San Antonio
Slab leak detection on post-tension foundations
Most homes south of Loop 1604 sit on slab. Before anyone touches concrete, we pinpoint the leak with acoustic discs and tracer gas — usually within a few inches. If the copper's already failed once, a spot repair is a Band-Aid; we'll quote an attic reroute in PEX-A so you're not back here next year.
Sewer camera and trenchless replacement
Monte Vista, Olmos Park, parts of the West Side — the laterals out there are still cast iron or Orangeburg. We camera the line, mark the defect on the surface with a 512Hz sonde, then tell you whether pipe-bursting actually makes sense or if open-cut is cheaper. Sometimes it is. We won't sell you trenchless when a six-foot point repair will do.
Tankless and 50-gal water heater installs
Rinnai, Navien, Rheem, A.O. Smith. For gas tankless we size for ΔT 70°F (San Antonio's coldest groundwater is around 55°F) and verify the gas line carries enough BTU before we ever quote the swap.
Water softeners sized for 18+ gpg hardness
SAWS water tests around 15–20 grains per gallon depending on which plant feeds your zone. We size by household demand and grain capacity — not by what's stacked on the truck — and set the head to demand-initiated regeneration. You burn less salt, waste less water, and the resin lasts.
Gas line work and CSST bonding
Black iron and CSST (yellow flex) gas runs to ranges, dryers, tankless heaters, and outdoor kitchens. We pressure-test to 10 psi for 15 minutes minimum, bond CSST per the manufacturer spec, and pull the city permit so the inspector signs off the same week.
Drain cleaning, hydro-jetting, and camera inspection
Cabling for the standard kitchen-sink stoppage. Trailer-mounted jetter (4,000 psi at 18 gpm) for grease lines and root-bound laterals. Every job ends with a camera run so you see what was actually causing the backup — written report, recorded video, no upsell on faith.
Backflow testing & RPZ certification
Annual backflow tests for irrigation, fire lines, and commercial connections. We're TCEQ-certified, file directly with SAWS Cross-Connection Control, and rebuild Watts 909 / Wilkins 975 RPZ assemblies in place when they fail the test.
Neighborhoods we cover in San Antonio
- Stone Oak / Sonterra — 1990s–2000s builds, mostly PEX with copper risers, scale-heavy on tankless.
- Alamo Ranch — Newer construction (post-2010), builder-grade PRV failures around year 8–10.
- Monte Vista / Olmos Park — Pre-war stock, cast-iron drains, original galvanized supply still in service.
- Southside / Loop 410 South — Slab on expansive clay, slab-leak repipes are the bulk of the work down here.
- Castle Hills / Shavano Park — 1970s ranch homes, polybutylene retrofits gone bad, full-house repipes.
- Downtown / King William — Historic plumbing, lead-jointed cast iron, careful demo work near plaster.
Technical notes
Why San Antonio plumbing fails the way it does
Three things drive most of the calls we run in this city. First, the soil. Bexar County is a mix of expansive clay over caliche and limestone, which moves with moisture. That movement cracks rigid drain lines at fittings and shears copper supply lines under slabs.
Second, the water. SAWS pulls heavily from the Edwards Aquifer, and the dissolved calcium and magnesium are not subtle — water heater anode rods get eaten faster, fixtures scale up, and tankless heat exchangers will choke without an annual descaling.
Third, the housing stock. We work on 1920s bungalows in Mahncke Park, 1970s ranch homes in Castle Hills, and brand-new builds in Alamo Ranch. Each era brings its own failure pattern — galvanized supply, polybutylene, builder-grade PEX with bad crimp rings.
Permits, code, and inspections in the city
San Antonio enforces the 2021 IPC with local amendments. Water heater replacements need a permit and a final inspection; we file these so the homeowner doesn't end up with an open record at sale time.
Backflow on irrigation, dual-check valves at the meter, and expansion tanks on closed systems are the items inspectors flag most often. We install to pass the first time.
What we actually carry on the truck
A San Antonio service truck that doesn't have to leave for parts is the one that finishes the job in a single visit. Our trucks stock 40 and 50-gallon tank water heaters, three common sizes of expansion tank, PRVs from 3/4" to 1-1/4", PEX-A in red/white/blue from 3/8" up to 1", every common Moen, Delta, and Kohler cartridge, and wax rings in standard, jumbo, and double-stack heights.
On the diagnostic side: an acoustic leak detection kit, a 200-foot color sewer camera with a 512Hz sonde, a tracer-gas rig, a logging pressure gauge, and combustion analyzers for gas tankless work. The point isn't to flex the equipment — it's so the second visit doesn't happen.
Stuff we don't carry on the truck and won't pretend to: well drilling rigs, septic pumping trucks, and residential HVAC work. We'll refer you to people we trust if that's what you actually need.
How San Antonio's water profile shows up at the fixture
The Edwards Aquifer water that SAWS pumps is hard, mildly alkaline, and chlorinated. At a fixture, that means three predictable things: scale on aerators (clean them every 6 months), shorter-than-rated water heater anode rod life (inspect at year 3 on a 6-year tank), and accelerated wear on rubber components — flush valves, fill valves, and supply lines.
It's not catastrophic. It's just predictable, which means we can quote maintenance the same way you quote oil changes. A whole-house softener and a quality carbon block in front of the kitchen and ice maker reverses most of it.
What plumbing costs in San Antonio
- Standard service call (diagnose + minor fix): $129–$285 — Includes the trip, diagnosis, and most one-hour fixes (P-trap, fill valve, hose bibb, garbage disposal swap).
- Tank water heater replacement, 40–50 gal: $1,650–$2,400 — New unit, expansion tank, T&P, drip pan, code-compliant shut-off, permit, and haul-away.
- Slab leak — pinpoint + spot repair through slab: $1,800–$3,400 — Acoustic locate, concrete cut, repair in copper or PEX, patch back. Pricier on tile and post-tension slabs.
- Whole-home repipe (1,800–2,400 sq ft): $6,800–$11,500 — PEX-A throughout, manifold or trunk-and-branch, drywall patches squared and ready for finisher.
- Sewer camera + locate: $285–$425 — Recorded video, written report, surface locate with depth in inches if a defect is found.
- Whole-house water softener install: $1,950–$3,200 — Sized for SAWS hardness, demand-regenerated head, sediment pre-filter, loop tied in cleanly at the manifold.
How a San Antonio service call runs
1 — Real person on the phone
We pick up, scope the call, and set an arrival window that's actually ours to keep. No four-hour mystery slot.
2 — Tech arrives with the right truck
Stocked for the call you described. If it's a water heater, the new unit is on the truck — not back at the warehouse.
3 — Diagnose & quote in writing
Fixed price, signed before any work starts. If we open a wall and find more, you hear about it before we go further.
4 — Permit + inspection if required
We pull it, file it, walk it through. You don't end up with an open record at resale.
5 — Clean job site, written warranty
Drop cloths, shop vac, debris hauled. One-year workmanship warranty in writing, parts under manufacturer terms.
Frequently asked
Can you handle a slab leak the same day?
Usually yes. We can pinpoint the leak the same day and either spot-repair through the slab or run an overhead reroute, depending on how many leaks the line shows and the age of the copper.
Do you pull City of San Antonio permits?
Yes. Water heater swaps, gas work, and sewer replacements get permitted under our RMP license #36282 and inspected through the City Development Services Department.
What hardness does my softener need to handle?
SAWS water typically tests at 15–20 grains per gallon. A four-person household usually needs at least a 1.5 cu ft resin tank, demand-regenerated, to avoid hardness leakage between cycles.
How long does a tankless install take?
A like-for-like gas tankless replacement is one day. A first-time tankless conversion can take a day and a half because of gas line resizing, venting through the wall, and condensate routing.
What does a water heater replacement cost in San Antonio?
Standard 40-gallon gas tank with new shut-off, expansion tank, drip pan, and pulled permit usually lands between $1,650 and $2,100 installed. 50-gallon runs $1,800–$2,400. Tankless conversions vary widely based on gas line and venting — we quote on-site.
Do you work on commercial buildings inside Loop 410?
Yes — light commercial up through small office, retail, and restaurant. Backflow testing, grease line jetting, tank and tankless water heater work, and fixture/ADA upgrades. We're not the right call for high-rise risers or industrial process piping.
What hours do you actually answer the phone?
A real person answers from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 to 4 on Saturdays. After-hours calls roll to a dispatcher who texts the on-call tech directly — no answering-service ping-pong.