Questions
Plumbing questions, answered straight
General questions here. Anything specific to a particular job lives on that service page, where the answers can actually be useful rather than generic.
General plumbing
What we do, where we do it, and when something is worth calling about straight away rather than leaving until Monday.
When should I call a plumber rather than wait?
Call straight away for water you cannot stop, sewage coming up indoors, no water at all, or water reaching electrics. Those get worse by the minute. A dripping tap, one slow drain or a running toilet are worth fixing but they will keep until normal hours and they will cost less then. If you are unsure, describe it on the phone and we will tell you honestly which it is.
Do you offer emergency plumbing?
We take emergency calls during business hours and put them ahead of scheduled work. We are not currently running round-the-clock cover, and we would rather say that than take a booking we cannot keep. If something fails overnight, shut the water off at the main and call first thing. A property with the water off has stopped getting worse.
Which areas do you serve?
Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The ZIP codes we cover are 17042 Lebanon, 17046 Lebanon, 17016 Cornwall, 17078 Palmyra, 17003 Annville, 17010 Campbelltown, 17067 Myerstown, 17087 Richland, 17073 Newmanstown, 17088 Schaefferstown, 17038 Jonestown, 17026 Fredericksburg. If your ZIP is not on that list we will tell you rather than waste your time.
Is this Lebanon County in Central PA or Mt. Lebanon near Pittsburgh?
Lebanon County, in Central Pennsylvania, between Harrisburg and Reading. Mt. Lebanon is a separate municipality in Allegheny County, roughly 200 miles west outside Pittsburgh, and search results for the two get mixed up constantly. If you are in Mt. Lebanon we cannot reach you.
Do you work on commercial properties?
Yes, residential and commercial. Commercial work differs in ways worth mentioning when you call: grease loading in kitchen lines, flushometer fixtures rather than tank toilets, and the fact that a failure closes a business rather than inconveniencing a household. Tell us it is commercial so we bring the right parts.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. You are welcome to ask for our details before we start, and it is sensible to ask that of any contractor you have in your home, not just us.
Quotes, scheduling and permits
How pricing works before anyone starts, what a visit actually involves, and which jobs need a permit or an inspection.
Can you give me a price over the phone?
For a straight swap where you can tell us the make, model and age, often yes, at least as a realistic range. For anything buried, hidden behind a wall, or intermittent, no. A firm price on a sewer line before anyone has seen camera footage is a guess, and guesses on that work get revised upward once the digging starts.
Will I know the cost before work starts?
Yes. We look at the actual problem, explain what it needs and what it will cost, and only then do the work. If you decide not to go ahead, that is the end of it. Nothing gets done that you have not agreed to.
What if you find something else once you have started?
We stop and tell you before doing anything about it. Opening a wall or a trench sometimes reveals a second problem, and on the older housing around here that is not rare. You decide whether it gets dealt with now or later, and the price gets agreed again before work continues.
Do I need to be home?
Usually yes, at least to let us in, show us the problem and agree the price. If the work runs on and you need to leave, we will sort that out with you at the time rather than assume.
Who pulls the permit?
For work that needs one, sewer laterals and water service lines in particular, we handle it as part of the job, and we will tell you when a municipal inspection is required before a trench gets closed. It is worth asking that of anyone who quotes you, because an unresolved permit on buried work causes problems when you sell.
Local water and older housing
Questions that come up because of what is under and inside houses here: well water, hard water, galvanized supply and cast iron waste.
Why is hard water such a recurring theme on this site?
Because Lebanon County sits largely on limestone, and the groundwater carries a heavy mineral load as a result. That single fact explains a surprising amount of what we get called out to: sediment shortening water heater life, scale blocking aerators and shower cartridges, deposits roughening drain walls so they foul faster, and stiffened toilet fill valves.
My water authority wrote to me about lead pipes. What now?
Check the pipe yourself first, which takes about five minutes with a coin and a magnet where the line enters your basement. Most of those letters say the material is unknown rather than that lead was found. Our lead service line guide walks through the test and explains who owns which half of the line, which is what decides who pays.
I am on a private well. Is that different?
Completely. There is no utility standing behind your water, so the pump, the pressure tank, the plumbing and the water quality are all yours. Nobody tests it but you. The most common call is a pressure tank that has lost its charge, which shows up as the pump snapping on and off every few seconds while a tap runs, and it destroys pumps if it is left.
Do you work on older city rowhomes?
Regularly, and they have their own patterns. Original galvanized supply corroding inward, cast iron waste stacks roughening, supply lines run through unheated back additions that freeze every winter, and short front yards that make service line work quicker than it would be elsewhere. Access is usually the constraint rather than the plumbing itself.
Questions about a specific job
Every service page has its own FAQ written for that job, rather than the same generic answers repeated across the site.
Emergency Plumbing
Leak Detection & Pipes
Bathroom & Kitchen
Wells & Water Treatment
Ready when you are
Still not sure? Just ask.
Describe what is happening and we will tell you what it sounds like.
- Licensed and insured
- Residential and commercial
- Price agreed before work starts
Talk to a plumber
Tell us what is going wrong and we will arrange a visit.
Rather not call? Request service online
Emergency callouts during business hours