Tampa Bay’s Trusted Plumber Since 1979

You hear a strange gurgle from the kitchen sink. Or maybe you notice the water in the shower isn’t draining as fast as it used to. These little things can pop up in any home, leaving you with a lot of questions. Below, we’ve put together some answers to the things we hear most often from homeowners around the Tampa Bay area.

That gurgling noise you hear is usually a cry for help from your pipes. It often means air is trapped in your drain line and is being forced through the water sitting in the P-trap (that U-shaped pipe under your sink). The cause is typically a partial clog that forms somewhere along the line.

When your drainage system is slow, it creates a vacuum effect that pulls air from wherever it can, resulting in that tell-tale gurgle. It could be a simple buildup of grease and food particles, or it might point to a bigger blockage further down in your main sewer line.

It certainly seems small, doesn’t it? Just a little drip-drip-drip. But that tiny leak can have a surprisingly large impact. A single dripping tap can waste dozens, or even hundreds, of gallons of water each month. You’ll definitely see that on your water bill over time.

A sudden jump in your water bill with no obvious cause is a classic sign of a hidden water leak. These are the tricky ones, hiding in walls, under your home’s foundation, or out in your yard. Before you worry, you can do a quick check. Make sure every tap and water-using appliance is off, then go look at your water meter. If the dial is still spinning, water is flowing somewhere.

This is where professional leak detection becomes so valuable. A trained plumber has equipment that can pinpoint the source of a leak without having to open up walls or dig up your lawn.

The rainy season here in the Tampa Bay area can be intense. All that water has to go somewhere, and when the ground becomes completely saturated, it can cause real problems for your home. Poor yard drainage can lead to pools of standing water that can damage your landscaping and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Worse, that water can start to pressure your home’s foundation. If your property isn’t graded correctly or your systems are clogged, you could see water seeping into your garage or crawl space.

Think of it like this: a standard drain snake is good for poking a hole through a specific clog, like a clump of hair, to get water moving again. It’s an effective fix for a simple blockage in your drain.

Hydro jetting, on the other hand, is a complete cleaning of the inside of your pipes. A specialized hose shoots a high-pressure stream of water into the pipe, blasting away years of accumulated grease, scale, sludge, and even tree roots. It doesn’t just clear a path; it scours the pipe walls clean. This is a much more thorough solution for recurring slow drainage issues.

If you’re constantly fighting soap scum on your shower doors, seeing white, chalky buildup on your faucets, and your dishes have spots right out of the dishwasher, you likely have hard water. This is common in our region and is caused by a high concentration of minerals like calcium and magnesium in the municipal supply.

The solution to this is water treatment. A whole-home water softener or water filtration system can fix the issue at the source. These systems work to remove the hard minerals before the water ever reaches your tap. The result is cleaner dishes, softer skin and hair, and longer life for your water-using appliances, since they won’t be fighting that mineral buildup. There are plumbers in Tampa, FL, who can test your water and find the right setup for you.