Plumber in Santa Cruz, CA — for older coastal homes

Coastal houses, coastal problems

I come up to Santa Cruz regularly from Freedom — about thirty minutes. I am not going to pretend I am around the corner, so if you need someone in fifteen minutes I am probably not your man. What I am is someone who has been doing this since 1997, charges fairly, and will tell you the truth about what your house needs.

Santa Cruz is a different problem set from the Pajaro Valley. Down there it is clay soil and roots. Up here it is salt.

What the ocean does to plumbing

Salt air corrodes everything exposed. Hose bibs, outdoor showers, exterior supply runs, water heater flues, anything galvanized on the weather side of a house in Seabright or Pleasure Point ages at maybe twice the rate it would inland. That white bloom around an outdoor shower valve is not cosmetic — it is the fitting giving up.

Damp crawlspaces. Compact lots close to the water table mean crawlspaces that never fully dry out. Pipes that would last decades in a dry space corrode from the outside in, and a slow leak under the floor stays hidden much longer because everything down there is already damp. When I am under a Westside house I am looking at the outside of the pipe as much as anything.

Small old cottages, repeatedly remodelled. The 1920s–40s beach cottages are mostly charming and mostly re-plumbed in pieces. Kitchens moved, bathrooms added, water heaters relocated — each time somebody ran a new line the shortest way rather than the right way. Long undersized runs are why one fixture has no pressure when another is on.

Vacation rentals and second homes. A house that sits empty for weeks has its own problems: traps that dry out and let sewer gas in, water heaters running for nobody, and small leaks that go unnoticed until they are large ones. If you own a rental here, a shutoff you can actually reach and an annual look-over is cheaper than one bad surprise between guests.

Hillside pressure. Up the Westside and on the higher ground, long supply runs and elevation mean pressure complaints that are not always the fixture’s fault.

What I do most in Santa Cruz

• Leak detection — the one I get called for most up here, because damp crawlspaces and corroded exterior lines hide leaks well
• Water heater installation — coastal air is hard on flues and jackets, and heaters here often need replacing early
• Faucet repair — salt outside, hard water inside, and fixtures caught between the two
• Plus drain cleaning, sewer repair and camera inspections

Why call someone from over the hill

Santa Cruz is not short of plumbers. Most of them spend a great deal on advertising, and that comes out of what they charge you.

I am one person with a van and nearly thirty years of doing this. My work comes from referrals. If you want somebody who will look at your problem, tell you honestly whether it needs fixing now or can wait, and charge you a fair price either way, that is what I do.

Also serving Watsonville, Capitola, Soquel, Aptos, Rio del Mar and Scotts Valley.