Emergency Plumber in Los Gatos, CA
Water on the floor at 2 a.m. or a drain that will not clear before guests arrive. Call (855) 575-2890 any hour. We send a licensed and insured plumber and give you a clear price before work starts.
Pick the problem that matches what you see
You do not need to know the service name to call. A wet ceiling, a gurgling drain, a meter that keeps spinning or a tank that is cold by morning all point to a specific repair. Find the closest match below, or call and describe it in your own words.
Leaks and pipes
Water heaters
Drains and sewer
Fixtures
Installs
Commercial
What happens when you call the 24/7 line
There is no form to fill out and no app to download. You talk to a person, and the call works in four steps.
Tell us what you see
Describe where the water is, what you hear and whether you have already shut anything off. Mention the street or ZIP so we place you in the right town.
Get safe first
If water is running, we talk you through the main shutoff. If you smell gas, we tell you to leave the house and call 911 from outside before anything else.
Hear the price before work
A licensed and insured plumber is matched to your job. You are told a clear price before work starts, and the work does not begin until you agree to it.
Book the visit
We offer same-day appointments when available, including nights and weekends. We do not promise an arrival time on the phone because traffic, hills and job length vary.
Water is coming through the ceiling right now
Stay calm and work from the source outward. These four steps limit damage while you wait for a plumber.
- Turn the main water shutoff clockwise until it stops. It is usually at the front of the house, in the garage or by the water heater.
- Switch off power to any room where water is dripping from a light fixture or pooling near outlets.
- Move rugs, electronics and furniture out of the wet area, and set a bucket under any active drip.
- Call (855) 575-2890 and describe where the water is coming from, so the right tools come with the plumber.
Who owns the sewer pipe in Los Gatos?
A backed-up toilet or a tub that fills with gray water often means a sewer problem, and the first question is whose pipe it is. West Valley Sanitation District covers Los Gatos, Campbell and Monte Sereno, along with about two thirds of Saratoga. Its code makes the upper lateral, from your house to the property line cleanout, your responsibility.
The lower lateral, from that cleanout to the public main, belongs to the district. If your property has no cleanout, or nobody knows where it is, the district says the owner is responsible all the way to the main. That is worth finding out before you pay for digging.
The district asks residents to call it first about a backup and to stop using water until it clears. Its crews check the main and clear the lateral from the cleanout if one exists. Anything past that point needs a plumber, and that is where sewer line cleaning and sewer line repair by the plumber we send come in.
Hard water and the age of your water heater
San Jose Water serves Los Gatos, along with Campbell, Saratoga and Monte Sereno, and its report lists three supply types. Mountain surface water averages 151 ppm hardness, groundwater averages 288 ppm, and treated Valley Water supply averages 99 ppm. Which one reaches your tap varies, so test your own water before you buy anything.
Harder water leaves more scale on heating elements, tank bottoms and tankless heat exchangers. A tank that rumbles when it heats, or a tankless unit that throws errors, may be fighting scale. A heater repair visit can flush the tank and check the anode rod, while a water softener addresses the water itself.
Water heater permits and earthquake straps
Replacing a water heater with the same type in the same spot needs a Town of Los Gatos permit, and the Town takes permit applications through its online portal only. If you change the type or move the unit, the quick replacement application does not apply and a regular building permit is needed.
The Town's bracing handout calls for at least two restraints, one in the upper third and one in the lower third of the tank. When we quote a water heater replacement, the straps, drain pan and shutoff valves belong in the price, so you are not surprised after the old tank is out.
Towns we dispatch to around Los Gatos
The line covers Los Gatos and the neighboring communities. If your town is listed below, the same 24/7 number reaches you, and each page lists its own ZIP codes. If you are unsure where your street falls, call and ask. Calls from ZIP codes 95030, 95031, 95032 and 95033 are all answered by this one dispatch line, so give the dispatcher your street and ZIP.
Each town page covers its own setup. Campbell has a large group of 1960s and 1970s houses and creekside flood checks, and Saratoga splits sewer service between two districts, so confirm yours.
Monte Sereno and Lexington Hills have hillside lots where sewer versus septic needs settling, and Lexington Hills adds wells. Cambrian Park is a south San Jose neighborhood where the sewer provider can differ from one street to the next.
Planning around a ZIP code or a street name? The dispatcher can confirm coverage in one call.
Call (855) 575-2890When the cause is gas, not water
A rotten-egg smell near a water heater or furnace is a safety problem before it is a plumbing one. Leave the building, avoid light switches and anything that could spark, and call 911 from a safe distance. Then call the gas utility, and only after that call a plumber.
If a gas shutoff is closed, the utility must be called to turn the gas back on. A plumber can repair the water heater, the flue connection or the gas line once the area is cleared.
Questions that decide repair or replace
A clear price starts with a few facts. How old is the equipment, where exactly is the leak, and is the damage still spreading? A pinhole in an accessible copper line is a short repair, while a tank leaking from the shell is almost always a replacement. Pipe, drain and fixture jobs have the same split.
Cost depends on access, materials, pipe length and whether a permit is needed. Our leak detection and burst pipe repair pages explain how those factors change the work, and the plumber we send goes over them with you before anything starts.
Common questions before you call
Yes. The line is open 24/7, including holidays. We offer same-day appointments when available, though we do not promise a fixed arrival time.
It depends on the job, the access and the materials. You are given a clear price before work starts, so you can say yes or no before anything is done.
Yes. The plumbers we send are licensed and insured. You can also check any California contractor through the License Check tool on the state contractors board website.
Call West Valley Sanitation District first, since its crews check the main and the lower lateral at no charge. If the blockage is in your own upper lateral or past the cleanout, call (855) 575-2890.
No. We are a call-only service, so there are no forms, chat boxes or text lines. Call (855) 575-2890 and talk to a person.
We serve Campbell, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Lexington Hills and Cambrian Park in south San Jose. See our service areas for the ZIP codes in each town.
Water running or a drain backed up? Call (855) 575-2890 now and talk to a person who can send a licensed plumber.
Call (855) 575-2890