Frequently asked questions.

We serve homeowners and businesses across the Greater Houston area — including Houston, Spring, The Woodlands, Cypress, Katy, Tomball, Kingwood, Humble, Conroe, Sugar Land, Pearland, League City, Pasadena, Baytown, and many surrounding communities. Not sure if you're in our area? Call (346) 636-2418 and we'll let you know right away.

Yes. Texas Quality Plumbing is fully licensed and insured, and our plumbers work to the standards of the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. We're also BBB A+ Accredited, so you can book with confidence.

We do. Burst pipes, sewage backups, and no-hot-water emergencies don't wait for business hours — and neither do we. Call (346) 636-2418 for 24/7 emergency plumbing across Greater Houston.

We're a family-owned plumbing company that has served the Greater Houston area since 2007 — and we've been BBB A+ Accredited since 2011. We built our reputation on being the friendliest faces in plumbing, one home at a time.

You can usually identify your piping by sight:

• Copper — used in most homes built between the 1970s and the early 2000s. Golden brown when new, deepening to rust or brown with age. Copper can last up to 50 years.
• Galvanized steel — gray in colour. Cheaper than copper and common in homes up to the 1970s, until builders found it lasted only around 40 years.
• PB (polybutylene) — flexible pipe, usually gray but sometimes black or blue, most often marked "PB2110".
• PVC — white plastic, typically seen under kitchen and bathroom sinks as drain pipe.
• PEX — flexible plastic tubing, usually white, red or blue, with the colour indicating hot and cold. Widely used today because of its flexibility.
• Cast iron — black finish, in widespread use from the mid-1960s to around 1970.

Even in newer homes, clogs and leaks turn up when you least expect them. The most frequent issues we're called for are clogged toilets, blocked bath or shower drains, garbage disposal jams, low or lost hot water pressure, running toilets, sewage odour in the house from a blocked sewer line, backed-up sewage systems, low water pressure, leaking faucets, leaking pipes, and water heater faults.

Do-it-yourself drain clearing tends to mask the problem rather than solve it. Snaking a drain with a wire hanger only reaches surface clogs, not the deeper blockages actually causing the trouble. Chemical cleaners are worse: they generate heat inside the pipe, leave slime and sludge behind, and on older or already-compromised piping they can turn a cleaning job into a repair. If a drain needs clearing often enough that you're buying drain cleaner routinely, the cause is structural — call us instead.

A non-toxic hydro jetting treatment cleans the interior of the lines without chemicals. For most homes, scheduling it every two to three years keeps the system clear.

Hydro jetting is a high-pressure water process that uses no chemicals. Water is forced through your pipes at close to 4,000 PSI, cutting through blockages, debris and tree roots so wastewater flows freely again. Unlike a cable, which bores an opening through an obstruction, jetting cleans deposits off the full pipe wall.

Watch what goes down your drains and toilets. A few habits that make the biggest difference:

• Run cold water when using the garbage disposal.
• Use a drain strainer where there's no disposal.
• Never pour grease or oil down the sink.
• Run hot water after washing to rinse grease from dishes.
• Remove and clean shower and bathtub drain stoppers regularly.
• Flush only toilet paper.
• Keep coffee grounds, bones, grease, fruit peels and fibrous items out of disposals.
• Inspect your septic tank every two to three years and pump it if needed.

Tree roots seek the moisture inside buried pipe and can cause substantial damage if left. Options that work: have a persistently troublesome tree removed by an arborist; install a root barrier by digging an 18–24 inch trench around the root zone; schedule a camera inspection every two to three years to catch intrusion early; and use hydro jetting, which cuts through roots and waste without chemicals.

Houston doesn't freeze often, which is exactly why local plumbing is vulnerable when it does. Before a hard freeze: run heating cable along exposed pipes before insulating them; seal visible cracks near the foundation with spray foam or caulk; shut off and drain outdoor faucets and cover them with an insulating dome; open cabinet doors so warm air reaches the pipes under your sinks; and let a faucet drip slowly, which helps prevent freezing.

Burst pipes are one of the most common homeowner insurance claims, and most insurers will cover leaks or bursts where the damage was unavoidable. To reduce the risk: caulk and seal tubs and showers fully, check indoor and outdoor faucets for leaks, insulate pipes ahead of cold weather, and inspect dishwasher and washing machine hoses for cracks, replacing them as needed. Your policy terms govern — check with your insurer.

If your tank is more than about 10 years old, leaking from the tank itself, or needing repeated repairs, replacement usually makes more sense. We service and install both traditional tank and tankless water heaters — and we'll give you honest, upfront options so you can decide with confidence.

Typically 8 to 12 years. Regular maintenance extends that: if you have a conventional tank, draining it once a year clears the sediment and minerals that collect at the bottom and make the unit work harder. Hard water accelerates that build-up, which is one reason a water softener pays back on the heater as well as the fixtures.

The EPA recommends between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Set too low, bacteria can grow in the tank; set too high, you waste energy and risk scalding.

Our $49 special covers a water heater flush — clearing the sediment that settles at the bottom of the tank and makes the unit work harder for less hot water. Limit one per household; it can't be combined with other offers or member discounts, or used toward a Membership Plan purchase, and it must be presented at the time of service. See all current offers on our promotions page.

Often, yes. Traditional sewer repair costs homeowners twice — once for the line and again for the yard, driveway or flooring it disturbs. We run a camera inspection to see exactly what's happening, then use trenchless methods where they apply, including pull-in-place lining, inversion lining and epoxy coating. Each has its own requirements and pricing, and we'll tell you which fits your line.

Yes. Hydro-jetting uses high-pressure water to scour grease, scale, and roots out of your pipes — a deeper clean than cabling alone for stubborn or recurring clogs. A camera inspection tells us whether your line is a good candidate.

Leaks are hard to spot when the house is on a slab or the pipes run underground. The most common indicators are floors that feel wet or spongy, a sudden jump in the monthly water bill, the sound of running water inside the walls, low water pressure, and one patch of the yard that is noticeably greener than the rest. Any of these is worth a leak detection visit.

Warm spots on the floor, the sound of running water when everything's off, an unexplained jump in your water bill, or low pressure can all point to a slab leak. Our plumbers use electronic leak detection to pinpoint the source before any work begins — so we fix the leak, not your whole floor.

A slab leak is a water pipe beneath the home's foundation that has burst or started leaking. Left alone it saturates the soil, which can cause the slab to shift or sink. A spot repair is the most common fix. Where the piping under the slab is old or extensively damaged, re-routing, pipe bursting or pipe relining may be the better option — we'll show you what we find before recommending either.

For many older Houston homes with corroded or failing pipes, repiping ends the cycle of pinhole leaks, discolored water, and low pressure. We repipe in PEX and copper and will inspect your system and give you honest, upfront options before starting any work.

Yes. Our licensed plumbers install, repair, and pressure-test gas lines for ranges, water heaters, outdoor kitchens, and more — permitted and code-compliant, with safety first every time.

Faucets, sinks, toilets, showers, tubs, garbage disposals, water filtration, and more. We install trusted brands like American Standard, Kohler, Moen, Rheem, Bradford White, and Navien — and we'll happily install a fixture you've already purchased.

Start with a plunger — seal it over the drain and plunge several times. If that doesn't clear it, a drain snake will often reach a clog the plunger can't. If neither works, or the water isn't draining at all, stop and call a plumber rather than forcing it; waste that isn't clearing properly becomes a health issue.

Repeated problems are the signal. Constant clogging, needing several flushes each use, leaks that keep recurring, or an age of more than about 10 years — older toilets are also markedly less water-efficient — all point toward replacement rather than another repair.

Yes — jams, humming units, leaks and dead units, plus full replacement where the motor or seal has failed. Because we're licensed plumbers rather than appliance installers, we also check the kitchen drain the disposal empties into. See garbage disposal repair.

Every homeowner draws the line differently, but this checklist helps. Is the trouble confined to one faucet, drain or shower, and can you shut a valve to stop it? If so, it can usually wait for business hours. Has the water stopped entirely, and it isn't a municipal outage? Call an emergency plumber. Is there flooding inside or outside the house from a leaking pipe or a water main break? That is an emergency. See our emergency plumbing page for what to do first.

Stop the water. Every fixture has a local shutoff valve directly beneath or behind it; if you can't reach or find it, use the main shutoff where the supply enters the house or at the meter. It's worth locating yours and confirming it turns before you ever need it. If you have a gas water heater, shut its gas off once the water is off. If you smell gas, leave the building first, don't touch switches or phones inside, and call your gas utility from outside.

Always. You'll get upfront, honest options and pricing before any work begins — no surprises on the invoice. That's part of being the friendliest faces in plumbing.

Yes — flexible financing is available through GoodLeap and Service Finance, subject to credit approval. It's a popular option for water heater replacements, repipes, and larger repairs. See our financing page for details.

Our maintenance plan keeps your plumbing healthy year-round with a whole-home inspection, priority scheduling, exclusive member discounts on repairs, and a waived service-call fee. Learn more on our maintenance plan page.

We do — a $49 water heater flush and 10% off up to a $400 purchase. Mention the offer when you place your order and present it to your technician at the time of service. See both offers in full, with their terms, on our promotions page.