Plumbing Services

Plumbing repair for homes and businesses

Most of what we do is repair work: a faucet that will not stop dripping, a toilet that runs all night, a shutoff valve that seized years ago, a garbage disposal that hums but will not turn, a supply line weeping behind a vanity. These are small jobs on paper, but they waste water and they tend to be early warnings about the age and condition of the rest of the system.

Our plumbers arrive with stocked trucks so the common repairs are finished on the first visit. You get the price before the work begins, and if we find a second problem while we are in there we tell you what it is, what it will cost and whether it actually needs attention now.

Drain cleaning and clogged drains

A single slow drain is usually local — hair and soap in a bathroom line, grease and food in a kitchen line, lint in a laundry standpipe. When several fixtures back up at once, or a floor drain gurgles when the washing machine empties, the problem is further down the system and clearing one fixture will not fix it.

We clear kitchen, bathroom, laundry and floor drains, and we look at why the clog happened rather than just pushing it downstream. A drain that clogs on a predictable schedule is telling you something about slope, buildup or a partial obstruction in the main line.

Sewer service, sewer rodding and camera inspection

Older Chicagoland neighborhoods are full of clay and cast iron sewer laterals, and both are vulnerable to root intrusion, offset joints and bellies where water and solids collect. Sewer rodding cuts through the blockage and restores flow. A camera inspection afterward shows what the line actually looks like inside, so you can tell the difference between routine maintenance and a line that needs repair or replacement.

We recommend camera work whenever a main line backs up more than once, before you finish a basement, and when you are buying a home with mature trees near the sewer run. Seeing the footage yourself takes the guesswork out of the decision.

Leak detection, pipe repair and frozen pipes

Not every leak announces itself. A rising water bill, a warm spot on a floor, a musty smell in a closet or staining on a ceiling can all point to water moving where it should not. We track leaks down with as little demolition as possible and repair or replace the affected section.

Winter brings its own version of this. Pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces, unheated garages and vacant units are the ones that freeze. If you have lost water to a fixture in cold weather, call before thawing it yourself — a frozen line that has already split will flood the moment it thaws. We repair frozen and burst pipes and can advise on insulation and rerouting so the same run does not freeze again next January.

Water heaters, tankless systems and Navien service

Water heaters rarely fail conveniently. Rust-colored hot water, popping or rumbling from the tank, water around the base, or hot water that runs out faster than it used to are all signs the unit is near the end. We repair what is repairable — thermocouples, igniters, elements, thermostats, anode rods — and replace the rest with properly sized equipment.

Tankless systems are a good fit for some homes and a poor fit for others. They save space and provide continuous hot water, but they need adequate gas supply, correct venting and periodic descaling in our hard water. We will tell you honestly which option suits your house, your fixture count and your budget rather than defaulting to the more expensive install.

We are certified for Navien tankless water heater installation, service and maintenance, and we also repair and maintain other tankless brands already installed around Chicagoland. That covers new installation and tank-to-tankless replacement, repair and error-code diagnosis, and the yearly descaling that keeps a heat exchanger clear in hard water.

More detail on sizing, descaling and repair is on our tankless water heater installation and repair page.

Sump pumps and ejector pumps

In a region with finished basements and heavy spring storms, the sump pump is one of the most important pieces of equipment in the house and the one most often ignored. We replace worn pumps, install battery backup systems for homes that lose power during storms, and check the pit, float, check valve and discharge line — a failed check valve quietly recycles the same water and burns out a pump early.

Sewage ejector pumps serve below-grade bathrooms and laundry rooms and need the same attention. If a lower-level fixture has started draining slowly or the pit is running constantly, have it looked at before it fails outright.

Commercial plumbing

Restaurants, retail spaces, offices, salons and multi-unit buildings all call us for plumbing that has to keep working during business hours. That includes grease-line maintenance, commercial water heater sizing and replacement, fixture and faucet repair, drain and sewer rodding, and repairs to supply piping in buildings where a shutdown affects more than one tenant.

Where the work allows, we schedule around your hours and coordinate with landlords, tenants and property managers so the disruption is as small as possible.