Plumber in Freedom, CA — I know what's under these streets

I live here

Not “we service the Freedom area.” I live in Freedom, my van is parked here, and when you call that number you get me.

That matters more for plumbing than for most trades. It means I am usually ten minutes away rather than coming over the hill from Santa Cruz in afternoon traffic. It means I already know what is under the street on Green Valley Road and what is typical of the houses off Hames. And it means if something I did is not right, you know where to find me — which is a decent guarantee of doing it properly the first time.

I have been fixing plumbing in the Pajaro Valley since 1997. Almost all of my work comes from people telling their neighbours. I do not spend ten thousand a month on advertising, which is a large part of why my prices are what they are.

What Freedom houses need

Freedom is a particular kind of housing stock and it fails in particular ways. After nearly thirty years here I mostly know what I am walking into before I am through the door.

Galvanized supply lines. A lot of the mid-century ranch homes out along Freedom Boulevard and Buena Vista still have original galvanized steel somewhere in the system — often a section left in when the rest was repiped years ago. It rusts shut from the inside, so the first symptom is poor pressure rather than a leak. Then it starts weeping at the threads. If you have got good pressure at one tap and nothing at another, that is usually what it is.

Clay sewer laterals and roots. The heavy clay soil out here holds water through the winter, and the mature trees in these older neighbourhoods send roots looking for it. Vitrified clay pipe has a joint every few feet, and that is where they get in. If your main line has backed up more than once, you do not have a clog problem, you have a pipe problem — and a camera inspection will show you which.

Ground movement. That same clay swells in the winter rain and shrinks through the summer. Over decades it pulls sewer joints apart and settles pipe into low spots that never fully drain.

Well water and septic. Plenty of the more rural parcels toward Pinto Lake and out past Airport Boulevard are on wells and septic systems. That is a different setup — different pressure, different water chemistry, and different rules about what you can put down a drain.

Hard water everywhere. It scales water heaters, shortens the life of every fixture, and is why so many heaters out here do not make it past ten years.

What I do

• Drain cleaning — kitchen, bath, laundry and main lines
• Sewer line repair — spot repairs and full replacement of clay and cast iron laterals
• Water heater installation — tank and tankless, strapped to code
• Leak detection — acoustic locating for slab and underground leaks
• Sewer camera inspection — before you buy a house or agree to a repair
• Garbage disposal repair
• Faucet repair
• Water softeners
• Reverse osmosis

Straight answers

I will tell you when something does not need fixing. That costs me a job now and again and it is the reason I have had the same customers for twenty years.

I speak English, Spanish and Portuguese, so we can sort it out in whichever is easiest for you.

If you are further out, I also cover Watsonville and Santa Cruz, along with Corralitos, Aptos, La Selva Beach, Las Lomas and Aromas.