Plumbing problems rarely announce themselves politely — you notice the damp drywall, the slow drain that got slower, the water bill that doubled. Describe the issue once and we'll match you with a plumber Portland metro homeowners have used, whether you're in Tualatin, St. Johns, or out toward Sandy.
Repiping galvanized supply lines, replacing cast-iron drains, water heater swaps, sewer lateral repairs, and hose bibs that split after a freeze make up the bulk of residential plumbing across the metro. Newer subdivisions in Hillsboro and Happy Valley bring a different list: pressure-reducing valve failures, PEX manifold issues, and tankless units that need descaling. Match the plumber to the era of your house.
If a drain backs up more than once, insist on a camera inspection before agreeing to a dig. The video tells you whether you're looking at roots at a joint, a bellied line, or a collapsed section, and those are wildly different repairs. Ask for the footage — a plumber who won't share it is asking you to buy a diagnosis on faith.
You describe the problem, we check the CCB licence and bond status of plumbing contractors who cover your address, and two or three of them contact you. Nobody buys their way to the top of the list. If your job is a small repair, we'll tell you when a single visit makes more sense than collecting bids.
Describe the project once and we match it with vetted local pros who actually do this work — you choose who to hire, or nobody at all.
A great deal of the close-in metro housing stock was plumbed with galvanized supply and cast-iron waste that is now well past its service life. Galvanized narrows from the inside until pressure drops to a trickle; cast iron scales and cracks at the hub joints. Both tend to fail on the same houses in the same decade, which is why repipe quotes here often come paired with drain work.
With rain from October into June, saturated soil around foundations means a slow leak in a crawlspace doesn't dry out — it feeds mold and rots joists quietly. Crawlspace access is standard on most metro houses, so ask any plumber to look at the vapor barrier and standing water while they're under there. Catching it in February is far cheaper than finding it during a summer sale inspection.
The metro is served by a patchwork of water districts and city utilities, and sewer connection rules differ between Portland, the Washington County cities, Clackamas County, and the smaller districts in between. Permits for water service lines, sewer laterals, and water heater replacement are filed with your local building department, not one regional office. A plumber who works your city routinely will already know its inspection quirks.
Service calls commonly start around $100 to $200 before parts, and routine repairs — a failed shutoff, a toilet rebuild, a leaking trap — usually finish under $500. Tank water heater replacement typically lands between $1,800 and $3,500 installed depending on venting and code upgrades, with tankless conversions higher. Sewer lateral repairs are the big variable: a spot repair may be a few thousand while a full replacement under a driveway can reach five figures. Bids far under the range usually leave out permits, restoration, or code-required upgrades.
Our shower pressure had been dropping for years and we assumed it was the fixture. The plumber we were matched with showed us the inside of a cut galvanized pipe and it explained everything.
Backed-up drain on a Saturday. Got two callbacks the same morning, and the one we hired ran a camera first instead of guessing. Roots at a joint, fixed without tearing up the whole yard.
Water heater failed Thursday night and a new one was in by Friday midday. The plumber added a proper drain pan and expansion tank that the original install never had.
In most metro jurisdictions, yes. Replacing a water heater is a permitted, inspected job because of gas, venting, seismic strapping, and expansion-tank requirements. A licensed plumber pulls it as part of the work; if a quote is unusually cheap, check whether the permit is in it.
In older homes it's most often corroded galvanized pipe closing up from the inside. In houses built since the 1990s, a failed pressure-reducing valve is the usual suspect and it's a far cheaper fix. A plumber can tell the difference in minutes with a gauge on the hose bib.
Yes. Mature street trees and long laterals to the main mean root intrusion at pipe joints is one of the most frequent causes of repeat backups here. Cutting the roots buys time; lining or replacing the affected section is what actually solves it.
Our freezes are short but they catch people out. Disconnect and drain hoses before the first hard night, insulate exposed crawlspace and garage runs, and know where your main shutoff is. Split hose bibs are the single most common post-freeze call in the region.
For an emergency repair, no — get it stopped. For planned work over a few thousand dollars, such as a repipe or a sewer line, two or three bids are worth the wait and often differ by more than you'd expect on scope, not just price.
Describe what's leaking, draining slowly, or not working at all, and we'll connect you with licensed plumbers who serve your part of the metro. No cost, no obligation.
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