Mon–Sat 7am–6pm · 24/7 Emergency Line
Serving Santa Ana & Central OC
You are about to let somebody into your house to tell you something expensive, and you have no way to check their work. These are the questions that actually separate companies, useful whether you hire us or somebody else.
Not “are you licensed” on the phone. Look it up. It takes a minute and it is the one check nobody can talk you out of.
| Ask | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Is detection flat or hourly? | Flat, hourly charges most for the hardest search |
| What is the flat fee? | A number, on the phone, before dispatch |
| Is it credited toward the repair? | Yes, and stated without being pushed |
| What if you cannot find it? | No detection fee, specific, not vague |
| What are the after-hours rates? | Given on the call, before anybody is sent |
| Will I get a written quote? | Itemised, with exclusions, before work starts |
| Are there trip or diagnostic add-ons? | Ideally none, and named if there are |
A company that will not give a detection price on the phone is asking you to let somebody into your house before you know what it costs. That is a choice they have made, and you can make one too.
These are the ones that separate a specialist from a general plumber with a moisture meter.
None of these is proof of bad faith on its own. Two of them together in the same conversation is a reason to get another quote.
| Look for | Discount |
|---|---|
| Reviews describing the diagnosis, not just politeness | “Great service, highly recommend” |
| Reviews from people who were told it was not plumbing | Reviews with no detail at all |
| How the company answered a critical review | The existence of a critical review |
| Repeat customers mentioning a second job | A cluster of five-star reviews in one week |
| Specifics: what was found, where, what it cost | Anything that reads like a template |
The most useful review on any contractor’s profile is a two- or three-star one with detail, and the reply underneath it. That tells you how the company behaves when something goes wrong, which is the only time any of this matters.
It is normal, it is reasonable, and nobody should make you feel awkward about it.
We take second-opinion calls routinely and we start from zero on them by policy. See mystery leak detection.
Ours is two years on workmanship, transferable, with the exclusions stated, full terms on guarantees and warranties. Read anybody else’s the same way you would read ours.
We are licensed and insured plumbers, and this site is about leaks, finding the ones you cannot see and repairing them properly. Roughly half of what looks like a plumbing leak turns out not to be one, so the boundary is worth stating plainly.
Roof leaks are a roofer. Water under an air handler is an HVAC technician clearing a condensate drain. Water under an appliance is appliance repair. Drying, restoration and mold are separate trades again, and gas line repair is SoCalGas or a licensed gas fitter. We detect gas leaks, we do not repair gas lines.
The full list, with the trade to call for each, is on what we don’t do.
Both are legitimate. The question is which one your situation calls for.
| Your situation | Who fits |
|---|---|
| You know exactly where the leak is | Either, a general plumber can repair it |
| You have no idea where it is | A specialist. That is the equipment-heavy part |
| Somebody has already looked and failed | A specialist, and one who starts from zero |
| It is under a slab | A specialist, the cost of guessing is very high |
| It is a pool | A specialist — pool plumbing is its own diagnostic |
| It is a visible drip at a fixture | A general plumber, and probably cheaper |
If your leak is on the last row, we would tell you the same thing on the phone. There is no sense paying detection rates for a problem you can already point at.
Ask us the same questions you ask everybody else. We would rather you did.
(714) 386-7923Call or text, day or nightSchedule a VisitGo to cslb.ca.gov and search by licence number or business name. Check that it is active and current, that the classification covers plumbing, and that the bond and workers’ compensation are in place. It takes a minute.
Flat is better for you. Hourly charges the most precisely when the leak is hardest to find, which is the situation you are most likely in if you have called a specialist rather than a general plumber.
It should mean that if the company cannot locate a leak during your paid detection visit, you do not pay the detection fee. Ask them to state it plainly — vagueness here, or “we always find it”, is worth noticing.
No, it is ordinary prudence on anything over a few thousand dollars. Give the second company the symptoms rather than the first company’s conclusion. You want an independent read, and comparing afterwards is where the value is.
A repair quoted before the leak is located, pressure to decide today, a repipe recommended without any diagnosis, and reluctance to hand over footage or written findings. Any two of those together is a reason to get another quote.
If you know where the leak is, a general plumber can repair it and may be cheaper. If you do not know where it is — particularly under a slab — the detection is the part worth paying a specialist for.
Look for reviews that describe what was actually found rather than how polite everyone was. The most useful thing on any profile is a critical review with detail and the company’s reply underneath it. That is how they behave when something goes wrong.
The scope, the material, the price, what is excluded, and the schedule. Restoration and finish work are the exclusions people are most often surprised by, so they should be named rather than left to be discovered.
You should be. You paid for the diagnosis; the report is what you bought. A company that withholds findings from somebody who declined the repair is telling you what those findings are worth to them.
Sometimes, but compare what each includes before deciding. Two quotes that differ by thousands on the same leak usually differ on scope: restoration, permits, material, or whether the failing run is being replaced or one point on it repaired.