Leaks, clogs, toilets and fixtures: when to call now, what a repair visit involves, and how it's billed.
If you're here, something in the house isn't doing what it should. Start with the one that sounds like yours.
Water is going somewhere it shouldn't. Whether to call now, and what to do first.
You've found a leak, or you suspect one you can't see. What usually causes it, and how we find it.
A drain is slow, backing up, or clogged again. Why the second clog matters more than the first.
A toilet, faucet, disposal or outdoor spigot needs fixing. The everyday repairs that make up most of our work.
Water heater trouble has its own page: water heater repair and replacement. Old or leaking pipes have their own page on repiping, and insurance inspections, backflow and gas lines are covered on our plumbing services page.
If you smell gas, don't call us first. Get everyone out of the building, and don't touch a light switch, an appliance or a garage door on the way. From a safe distance away from the house, call 911 or your gas company's emergency line. Call us afterward, once they've made it safe.
Call now if water is coming out and you can't stop it, if you can hear a leak inside a wall or feel a floor that's warm and wet, or if sewage is backing up into a tub or shower. Shut off the main first if you can.
It can wait for office hours if it's one slow drain, a running toilet, a drip a bucket can keep up with, or a shutoff that's stiff but still turns. If you're not sure, ask yourself one question: can you shut off the water to just that one thing and still use the house? If yes, it can wait. If not, call.
Our office is open Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, and we provide emergency service on nights and weekends. If it can wait, request service online and our office will text or call you, whichever you choose, to set a time.
A drip under a sink is usually a fitting, a supply line or a shutoff valve, and it's usually a short repair. The harder leaks are the ones you can't see: a wall that stays damp, a warm spot on the floor, a stain on the ceiling under a bathroom, or a water bill that jumped with nothing to explain it.
For those, your water meter is a useful witness. With nothing in the house using water, read it, wait about two hours and read it again. If the number moved, water is leaking somewhere. That tells you to call. It doesn't tell you where, and it isn't a fix.
When we arrive, we start with what we can see and hear: the fixtures, toilets, visible lines, water heater, hose bibbs and irrigation connection. Many leaks turn up right there. If the leak is under the slab or inside a finished wall, pinpointing it takes specialized locating equipment, and we'll tell you so and point you to a leak-detection company. Once they've marked the spot, we come back and repair it. If your house keeps producing leaks, the conversation changes; here's how we think about repair versus repipe.
A single slow sink is usually a local clog of hair, soap, grease or something that went down and shouldn't have. We clear it and tell you what we found.
A clog that comes back is a different story. When the same drain backs up every few months, or running the washer makes the tub gurgle, the problem is usually further down the line: buildup in an older drain, roots in the sewer line, or a section that has sagged or cracked. Clearing it again buys time, but it doesn't answer why. That's when we look further, and where it fits, we run a camera down the line so you can see what we see before you decide anything.
If several drains back up at once, especially the lowest ones in the house, treat it as a main-line problem and call. And for the short list of what should never go down a toilet, here's what can (and can't) be flushed.
Along with water heaters, toilets are what we fix most often. A toilet that runs, rocks, leaks at the base or never quite finishes a flush usually needs a part in the tank or a new seal at the floor, and occasionally a flange that has failed under the tile. A running toilet wastes more water than most people expect, so it's worth fixing even when it's only annoying.
We also repair and replace faucets, shutoff valves, supply lines and garbage disposals, and we install new toilets and fixtures. If you've already bought the fixture you want, tell us when you call.
Outdoor hose bibbs, the spigots on the outside of the house, spend their whole lives in the weather. One that drips at the handle, won't shut off, or leaks into the wall behind it is a routine repair, and the last one is worth catching early.
License and gas certification, pipe materials, warranty — the difference between a plumber who finds the real problem and one who just sells inventory.
An Air & Energy plumber, in a marked truck, on our payroll. We don't subcontract.
The first part of the visit is finding the actual problem, not the first plausible one. Then you hear what we found, what it will take and how it will be billed, before anything starts. What we find goes on the ticket, so the next person who looks at your house, including us three years from now, can see what was there. If the work needs a permit, we pull it and we close it; we never ask a homeowner to pull their own.
We can't publish a price for a plumbing repair, because "a leak" isn't a job; it's a symptom. What we can tell you is how the bill is built.
Most repairs are billed time and materials: the hours the work actually took, plus the parts it actually needed. That's the model we prefer. A flat rate has to be priced for the hard version of the job, so on the ordinary version you'd be paying for a difficulty that didn't happen. Some work is flat rate, where the scope is genuinely predictable.
There's no separate trip or diagnostic fee. A repair visit does carry a minimum charge, and we'll tell you the rate before anyone comes out. After-hours and weekend work is billed at its own rate, and you'll hear that rate when you call, not when you read the invoice. Larger jobs are quoted in writing before work starts, and replacement estimates are free.
Most repairs are finished the same day we're there, because our trucks are stocked. Our workmanship carries a one-year warranty: if something we touched fails and it was our mistake, we come back, and there's no diagnostic fee for it.
If another company has handed you a big repair bill or a repipe quote, we'll review it with you for free. Our plumbers are paid hourly, not on commission, so there's no reason for them to grow the job. Before you compare totals, compare the jobs: what's wrong, how they found it, what gets replaced and what gets opened up. Here's what a good plumbing quote should show.
Our Bradenton office is open Monday to Friday, 8 to 5. Outside those hours, we provide emergency service on nights and weekends. Calls go to our automated on-call system, which our own technicians respond through: one of ours, not a call center in another state. Leave your name, number and what's happening, and the technician on duty calls you back.
Why does my drain keep clogging?
If the same drain clogs again and again, the cause is usually further down the line: buildup in an older pipe, roots or a damaged section. Here's how we track it down.
How can I tell if I have a water leak?
With nothing in the house using water, read your water meter, wait about two hours and read it again. If it moved, something is leaking. Call us; the meter tells you there's a leak, not where it is.
Should I turn off my water if I have a leak?
If water is coming out and you can't stop it at the fixture, yes: shut off the main, then call. The main shutoff is usually where the water line enters the house or at the meter.
Is a running toilet worth fixing?
Yes. A toilet that keeps refilling is one of the most common household leaks, it can waste a surprising amount of water, and it's usually a simple repair.
Is there a charge to come out?
There's no separate trip or diagnostic fee, but a repair visit has a minimum charge. Repairs are billed for time and parts, and we'll tell you the rate before we send anyone. Replacement estimates are free.
Do you do emergency plumbing on nights and weekends?
Yes. Outside office hours, calls go to our automated on-call system, which our own technicians respond through.
I'm a VIP member. Does that change anything?
Mention it when you call. VIP members get 10% off all repairs and never pay overtime fees. Learn about VIP.
We've been working on houses around here since 1983, long enough to have met your house's vintage of plumbing before, and occasionally the actual house. Call and describe it. We'll tell you what it's likely to be, what the visit costs and what happens next, before you commit to anything.
Air & Energy is a Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor, license CFC1429106, and the license covers gas work. You can check it at myfloridalicense.com.