Frequently Asked Questions

All 674 cities and unincorporated communities across all 67 counties — Pensacola to Key West. We operate from eight regional dispatch hubs (Panhandle, Northeast FL, Central FL, Tampa Bay, Southwest FL, Treasure Coast, Southeast FL, Florida Keys), each staffed with technicians who specialize in that region's leak patterns.

Major metros (Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, St. Pete): 45–90 minutes typical. Suburban Florida cities (Sarasota, Naples, Pensacola, Daytona, Lakeland, Gainesville, Tallahassee): 90–150 minutes. Rural Panhandle counties and the Florida Keys: 2–4 hours. Emergency calls always jump the queue.

Yes. Live dispatch operates 365 days a year — Christmas morning, Sunday at 3 a.m., during hurricane prep windows. Real humans answer, not a call center or chatbot. The flat-rate price you'd be quoted Tuesday at noon is the same flat rate at midnight on a holiday.

Single-family homes (the bulk of our calendar), condos and multi-unit buildings, mobile homes on slab foundations, small commercial properties (restaurants, retail, multi-tenant offices), and pool/spa plumbing. We do not service utility-scale or industrial plumbing.

Phone diagnosis is always free. For active leaks where we need to identify the source, on-site diagnosis is included as part of the repair — no separate charge. For scenarios where the leak source is obvious (a visible burst pipe, a known fixture failure), we'll provide a flat-rate repair quote in writing before starting work.

Yes. $2M aggregate general & professional liability coverage. Active workers' compensation on every technician. Certificate of insurance available before any job begins on request.

W-2 employees, not 1099 subcontractors. Background-checked at hire. Continuing education funded by us (Uponor ProPEX, Viega ProPress, Sewerin tracer-gas certifications). Insurance covers our team and your property — not a separate subcontracted crew.

5 years on workmanship for surgical pipe repairs (copper press, PEX expansion, CPVC reglue, etc.). 1 year on minor cartridges and consumables. Warranty details print on every invoice.

Active flooding, burst pipes, water spraying inside the home, ceiling stains spreading visibly, slab leak with audible water hissing, no-water service (whole house). Anything where damage is compounding by the hour qualifies. Slow leaks that have been there for weeks are urgent but not emergency — they can usually be scheduled same-day or next-day.

Correct. Same flat-rate pricing 24/7/365 — including Christmas, hurricane prep windows, and Sunday at 3 a.m. Your written quote at midnight matches your written quote at noon for the same job. We don't add "after-hours fees," "weekend surcharges," or "holiday rates" — those are common industry practices we deliberately don't follow.

Metro Florida: 45–75 minutes typical. Suburban: 90–150 minutes. Rural Panhandle & Keys: 2–4 hours. We give you a real ETA when you call — not a sales-pitch number. If we tell you 90 minutes, the tech is there in 90 minutes (or we call you with an update).

Close the main shut-off (garage wall near water heater, exterior box near the meter, or front-yard meter box — turn clockwise). Photograph everything with timestamps (insurance evidence). Move electronics and cardboard up off wet floors. Cut power to wet areas at the breaker panel if water is near outlets. Don't try to mop standing water — let pros extract it.

Three usual spots: (1) Garage wall near the water heater, (2) Exterior wall facing the street in a small access box, (3) Front-yard meter box near the curb — turn the valve clockwise. If you can't find it, call us and the dispatcher will walk you through locating it while the tech is en route.

We dispatch through hurricane prep windows and resume the moment storm conditions safely allow. We don't drive in active wind warnings above ~50mph. Emergency calls queued through landfall get prioritized post-storm. All eight regional hubs plan their post-hurricane response calendars in advance.

Slab leaks have a specific signature: water bill spike with no usage change, warm spots on tile floors (hot-water line failures), audible water-running sound with all fixtures off, localized cracks or mildew on flooring, and sometimes a sudden drop in water pressure. We confirm with a pressure isolation test before any cutting — if it's not a slab leak, we tell you and bill only the diagnostic.

Spot repairs: $1,500–$3,500 depending on access depth and tile material. Reroutes through walls/attic: $2,500–$5,500. Every quote is flat-rate in writing before work starts — no time-and-materials surprises.

Spot repairs: 4–6 hours including slab cut, replacement, pressure test, and patch. Reroutes: 1–2 days depending on access. Same-day completion is standard for non-reroute repairs in metro Florida.

No. Chemical sealants ("stop-leak") clog fixtures, void warranties, and don't address the underlying failure. Slab leaks are pressurized — a homeowner "patch" without proper soldering or fusion typically fails again within months and may flood the slab cavity in the interim. Florida code also requires licensed plumbers for any pipe replacement work.

You choose — we don't keep cutting slab to chase failures. The conversation we have at that moment matters: most homeowners run the numbers and pick the permanent solution.

Most Florida HO-3 policies cover access (slab cut, tile demo) and resulting water damage but exclude the failed pipe itself. We document with moisture meter readings, before/after photos, and an itemized invoice formatted for adjuster review. Many customers receive full access-cost reimbursement on first submission. We don't bill insurance directly — you file the claim, we provide the documentation.

Polybutylene was a flexible plastic supply pipe used heavily in Florida between 1978 and 1995. It chemically reacts with chlorine in treated municipal water and gets brittle from the inside out. A 1995 class-action lawsuit (Cox v. Shell) settled for $1B confirming the material fails systematically. An estimated 250,000+ Florida homes still have it. Insurance carriers increasingly refuse new policies on polybutylene homes.

Visible runs at the water heater, under-sink valves, and exposed exterior bibs are diagnostic. Red/blue flexible = PEX (post-2005). Cream-colored rigid = CPVC (1995–2010 builder favorite). Copper-colored metal = copper. White rigid = PVC (drain only). Gray flexible with acetal fittings = polybutylene. Threaded gray steel = galvanized. We verify in-wall via the smallest cut needed.

Both are cross-linked polyethylene flexible supply pipe. PEX-A (Uponor's signature product) uses cold-expansion fittings that grip the pipe back tighter than the original wall — almost never fails at the fitting. PEX-B uses crimp or clamp rings to grip — slightly stiffer pipe, fittings depend on installer skill for tightness.

Florida's treated municipal water is naturally acidic (pH 5.8–6.8 vs ideal 7.0–7.5) and contains chlorine plus chloramine — all of which corrode copper interior walls. Pitting microcells form within years 1–5. Stagnation legs (dead lines, summer-home water sitting still) accelerate it. After 18–30 years, the deepest pit finally breaches the outside wall and water starts escaping. Type M copper fails 2x faster than Type L because of the thinner pipe wall.

Cream/tan-colored rigid plastic supply pipe used heavily in Florida tract builds 1995–2010. Cheap to install, but goes brittle from UV exposure (attic installations especially) and from years of thermal cycling. The fitting joints crack before the pipe itself — failures usually show up at glued elbows behind walls. We can spot-repair CPVC with proper cement, but on heat-degraded systems we recommend transitioning to PEX-A with brass adapters.

Three classic signs: a wet patch in the yard between the meter and house that stays wet even in dry weather, water pressure that dropped across every fixture in the home (not just one), and a water bill that doubled with no usage change. Inside-the-house leaks usually show up at a fixture or in a wall — not across the yard.

The water utility owns and maintains the line from the city main up to and including the meter. Everything from the meter back to your house is your responsibility — that's the section we work on. If the leak is on the utility's side of the meter, we'll tell you that and you call the city for free repair.

Spot repair (single failure on healthy pipe): $1,500–$3,500. Horizontal directional drilling where obstacles require it: $7,500–$15,000. Open-trench repair: $3,500–$7,500 depending on length and restoration scope.

Pipe bursting: 4–8 hours of no-water during the actual pull and reconnect. Open trench: similar window. HDD: 4–6 hours. We schedule the water-off in coordination with the utility — usually a morning start with water restored by mid-afternoon.

No. We diagnose non-invasively — acoustic listening, thermal imaging, tracer gas, line pressurization. We open the wall or slab only at the exact pinpointed location, which keeps restoration cost down. Most jobs end with a 6"x12" drywall patch, not a torn-up bathroom.

Yes. Your written quote covers everything from diagnosis through completed repair.

45–90 minutes for a standard residential pinpoint. Whole-house mystery-leak diagnostics: 1.5–2.5 hours. Pool leak diagnosis: 1–2 hours. Service-line leak in the yard: about 1 hour. A written report is available on request, usually same-day.

A non-flammable, non-toxic blend of 95% nitrogen and 5% hydrogen. We pump it into an isolated pipe section. Hydrogen is the lightest gas, so it escapes through any leak and migrates upward to the surface, where a handheld H₂ sensor picks it up. Right tool when acoustic fails — very small leaks, depressurized lines, drain leaks under concrete.

Rare — but if we exhaust our seven diagnostic technologies without confirming the leak source, we explain what was ruled out and you're only charged the standard callout, never a failed-diagnosis fee. In 15 years of doing this in Florida, that's happened about a dozen times — almost always cases where the "leak" turned out to be HVAC condensate, roof migration, or condensation, not plumbing.

A typical "leak detection" invoice from a general plumber says "leak located, repair $X." Ours is a 3–5 page PDF: pinpoint coordinates with floor-plan diagram, accuracy radius, pressure-test data, moisture readings, thermal images, cause-of-loss assessment, and a flat-rate repair quote. Built for the adjuster, not just the homeowner.

Most HO-3 policies cover resulting water damage and access costs (drywall, tile, slab cuts) but exclude the failed pipe itself. Two exceptions: (a) "sudden & accidental" supply-line bursts are usually covered including the pipe, (b) some carriers offer a buried/concealed-pipe rider for $30–$80/year that explicitly covers underground service-line repair up to $10k–$15k. Check your declarations page for "buried service line coverage."

No. You pay us; we provide adjuster-grade documentation; you file the claim. This is deliberate — direct-bill arrangements give the carrier negotiating leverage and slow the payout. Our way: you control the claim, our paperwork makes it processable on first review, and most customers report full reimbursement of covered access costs.

Pinpoint location with floor-plan diagram, before/after photos, moisture meter readings, pressure-test data, cause-of-loss assessment (sudden vs. gradual — critical for coverage outcome), itemized repair invoice, written workmanship warranty, certificate of insurance, and W-9. Formatted as a single packet the adjuster can attach to the claim file.

HO-3 policies usually cover "sudden & accidental" water damage (a pipe burst, a fitting that snapped) but exclude "wear and tear" or gradual deterioration (a 30-year-old pipe slowly pinholing). Our diagnostic reports include a cause-of-loss assessment with supporting evidence — pressure-test rate of loss, moisture readings, pipe material/age. The wording determines whether your claim gets approved.

It can. Florida's homeowner insurance market has been turbulent — water claims are a leading underwriting concern. Carriers may non-renew or surcharge after a claim, especially if the cause was a known-failure material like polybutylene. We're not insurance agents and can't predict your specific outcome, but a documented, justified claim is harder to penalize than an undocumented one.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (the state-run insurer of last resort), State Farm, Tower Hill, Universal, Heritage, USAA, ASI, Florida Peninsula, People's Trust, and the handful of regional carriers operating in the FL market. Our documentation format is structured to satisfy the most common adjuster expectations across these carriers.

Yes — and that's a frequent use case. A homeowner already knows where the leak is but the adjuster requires a third-party diagnostic report with cause-of-loss documentation. We can provide that report from an on-site visit even if you choose a different contractor for the repair.

Because time-and-materials creates an inherent conflict: the longer the work takes, the more we make. Flat-rate aligns our incentives with yours — finish the job correctly, document it clearly, get paid the agreed amount. You know the price before we start. If something unexpected comes up during the work, we stop and re-quote — we don't proceed and adjust at the end.

Credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), check, cash, ACH/bank transfer, and Apple/Google Pay. We do not accept Bitcoin or other crypto.

Yes — 0% APR for 12 months on jobs $1,500+ through GreenSky or Synchrony, with approved credit. Application takes about 5 minutes online; we can do it during the on-site quote visit.

No. The quote you authorize is what you pay. Permit fees (when required) are itemized on the quote, not added after. Restoration costs (drywall patch, paint, sod, irrigation reconnect) are itemized on the quote when applicable. No fuel surcharge, no environmental fee, no shop-supply charge, no "after-hours" surcharge.

No. We come out, diagnose the leak, and give you a flat-rate written quote before any work starts — diagnosis is included, not billed separately. You only pay if you authorize the repair. If you choose a different contractor, you still receive a written diagnostic report you can hand to them.

Faucet cartridge replacement, toilet wax seal swap, toilet fill valve replacement, washing machine hose replacement (and we recommend braided over rubber), dishwasher supply line replacement (when accessible), exterior hose bib washer replacement, drain trap cleaning, P-trap reseating, and angle-stop valve replacement under sinks if you have a real shutoff. Most cost under $30 in parts.

Sweat-soldering copper near drywall, insulation, or wood framing (fire risk). Slab cuts of any kind. Main water line excavation. Anything requiring Florida 811 utility-locate ticket (legal requirement). Anything inside a wall cavity with electrical proximity. Anything requiring a permit (and FL law requires permits for most pipe replacement work).

Technically yes, code-wise yes, and they work — for accessible repairs. We use them ourselves on emergency calls when speed matters. The caveats: SharkBite fittings can fail at higher pressures or with poor pipe-prep, and most warranties require they remain accessible (not buried in drywall). For long-term in-wall installations, soldered/pressed copper or PEX-expansion fittings are more robust.

Avoid them. Sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid-based drain cleaners damage older galvanized and cast iron drain lines, corrode P-traps, can blind back at the user (caustic burns), and rarely clear root or grease clogs anyway. Mechanical cabling and hydro-jetting are the right tools.

Not a real solution. Epoxy injection kits address symptom not cause. The underlying pipe failure continues, and the epoxy clogs fixtures downstream.