One Way Rooter & Plumbing has been taking calls in Downey since 1979. The work covers sewer laterals, slab leaks, blocked drains, camera inspections, water heater repair and water heater replacement, in houses and in commercial buildings. Our California contractor license is #537893, and we carry bond and insurance. There is no charge for an estimate. Reach us on (562) 947-0110 during the day, or on the same number overnight if it will not wait.
Downey Service Area
Call (562) 947-0110 to schedule an appointment.
- County: Los Angeles County
- ZIP codes: 90240, 90241, 90242
- Working in Downey since: 1979
- License: CSLB #537893, bonded and insured
- Office hours: Monday to Friday 7:30am to 5pm, Saturday 8am to 12:30pm, Sunday closed. Emergency line answered 24 hours.
All three Downey ZIP codes are covered, from the blocks around Downtown Downey out along Firestone Boulevard, Lakewood Boulevard, Paramount Boulevard, Imperial Highway, Florence Avenue and Telegraph Road. The Downey plumbing company page sets out the full range. Work in the adjoining cities goes through the same office: Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount, South Gate and Pico Rivera.
Plumbing Problems in Downey Homes
Downey filled in fast. The aircraft plant on Lakewood Boulevard turned into a missile and spacecraft operation through the fifties, and the command and service modules for the Apollo program were built here. The workforce needed housing, and most of the city's houses went up between 1945 and 1960. That timing shapes what we get called for, because a street built in one season reaches the end of its plumbing life in one season too.
Aging 1950s Tract Plumbing
When a builder ran a tract, every house on it got the same lateral material, laid at the same depth, on the same grade, by the same crew. Seventy years later they wear out together. We will clear a main on one block and be back three doors down inside a month, on a line that failed in the identical way. That is worth knowing when a neighbor has just paid for a sewer replacement, because a camera run is a cheap way to find out where yours stands rather than waiting for the backup.
Cast Iron and Galvanized Still in Service
Houses of this vintage were drained in cast iron inside the walls and under the floor, and plumbed in galvanized steel on the supply side. Both corrode from the inside. In a drain, the rust builds into a rough shelf that catches everything passing over it, so the line narrows slowly and then blocks all at once. On the supply side the same rust closes the bore, which is why a bathroom at the far end of the house has poor pressure and why the first draw in the morning runs brown. What we look at is how much bore is left and whether the failures are spreading beyond one run.
Downey Slab Leak Detection and Repair
Postwar Downey houses sit on slab. Their water lines run in and beneath that concrete, so when one opens up the water goes into the soil under the floor rather than anywhere you can see it. Slab leak detection and repair in Downey is a large share of what we do here.
How the Line Fails
- The soil attacks the copper from outside and eventually eats through the wall
- The pipe rubs on rebar, aggregate or a footing edge every time pressure changes, thinning the wall at that one point
- Earth movement bends a run that is locked in concrete at both ends
- The line was set against something sharp or joined badly when the house was built, and has been waiting ever since
What Gives It Away
- The sound of water moving when nothing in the house is on
- A meter dial that keeps turning after every fixture is shut
- A bill that has climbed for two or three cycles without an explanation
- One area of floor noticeably warmer than the rest of the room
- Carpet or flooring going damp with no fixture above it
Deciding the Repair
Detection comes first and it keeps the concrete work small. We listen for the leak, isolate pressure line by line and mark the spot before a saw comes out. From there a single break in sound pipe gets opened and repaired locally. A run that has failed before, or a house where the supply is original and already giving trouble at more than one point, is usually better rerouted above the slab or taken out of service entirely and replaced with a copper repipe. We put the numbers for both in front of you before starting, and our leak detection service is what those numbers rest on.
Downey Drain Cleaning
Blocked drains bring in more calls than anything else. Drain cleaning in Downey takes in kitchen lines packed with grease, tubs and showers stopped by hair and soap, basins slowed by what sits in the trap, laundry standpipes that flood on the discharge cycle, and toilets that quit after something went down that should not have. The first job on any of these is working out how far the blockage is from the fixture, because a stoppage in a trap arm and a stoppage in the building main need different equipment and a different price.
Cabling opens a channel through whatever is in the way and gets the water moving again. It does not take the coating off the pipe wall, and that coating is what the next blockage will build on. A kitchen line cleared with a cable often closes again within months for exactly that reason. Hydro jetting strips the wall back to bare pipe with high-pressure water, so the line starts over at full diameter. Where a drain keeps failing on a schedule, read recurring clogged drains, and for routine clearing see our rooter service.
Downey Sewer Camera Inspections
The lateral carries the whole house, and its failures announce themselves in a particular way. Two or more fixtures backing up at once, a floor drain that overflows when the washer empties, a gurgle from the lowest drain whenever another fixture runs. At that point guessing gets expensive, so we send a camera down the line. It puts the inside of the pipe on a screen and a distance on the counter, which tells us what is wrong and how far out to dig if digging is needed. Roots at a joint, a low section holding standing water, a crushed or offset length, or simply a line that needs cleaning all look different on camera and cost very different amounts to put right. The recording is what separates a sewer line repair in Downey from a full replacement, and where replacement is the answer it also shows whether a trenchless method will work or whether the line has to be opened up. Video inspection is also how we check a lateral before a sale closes.
Downey Water Heater Repair
A cold shower is what most people call about, and the tank is rarely the part that failed. Water heater repair in Downey starts by testing the components, because several different faults produce the same complaint at the tap.
Common Causes of No Hot Water
- The thermostat has failed or been knocked off its setting. We run them at 120 degrees, which serves the house and slows both scaling and the risk of a scald.
- An electric element has burned out under a coat of scale, so the water heats slowly or not at all.
- The dip tube has split. It is supposed to deliver incoming cold to the bottom of the tank, and when it fails the cold short-circuits straight to the outlet. Bits of plastic in a faucet aerator go with this.
- The gas control valve, thermocouple or burner assembly has stopped, leaving a pilot that will not stay lit or a unit that will not fire.
- The tank floor is buried in sediment, which insulates the water from the flame and makes the heater knock.
- The tank is too small for the number of people drawing on it, and empties before they finish.
What We Usually Replace
- Thermostats, elements and dip tubes
- Gas control valves, thermocouples, burner assemblies and relief valves
- Leaking fittings, unions and shutoffs at the top of the tank
- Anode rods, where there is enough tank left to be worth protecting
- The whole unit, when what is leaking is the tank itself
- A tankless system, where the household wants more hot water than a tank of that size can hold. See water heater installation.
Downey Water Heater Replacement
Gas heaters around here last roughly 6 to 8 years and electric ones 8 to 10. Mineral in the water pulls those figures down. The serial number stamped on the data plate carries the manufacture date, so before you spend anything we can tell you what you are working with.
Reasons to Stop Repairing
- Water appearing under the tank rather than at a fitting. A crack through the steel shell is not repairable. We check the valves and the relief line first, so nobody replaces a heater that needed a union.
- Rust staining around the cold inlet or the relief valve outlet, which means corrosion has already worked through from inside.
- Knocking and popping loud enough to hear in the next room, usually sediment or a spent anode rod.
- A second significant repair on a unit already past ten years, where the cost of the part is a fair share of the cost of a new heater.
Hard Water and What It Costs
Supply water in this part of the county is high in dissolved mineral. Nothing about it is unsafe, but heat drives it out of solution and it settles wherever the water is hottest. In a gas heater it forms a crust across the tank floor directly above the burner. The burner then has to fire longer for the same result, and the steel over it runs hotter than it was designed to, which is what brings a heater to the end of its life early. In an electric heater the same deposit builds on the element and burns it out. Elsewhere it shows up as white deposit on shower heads and faucet cartridges that start to drip. Where a house has already been through two heaters faster than it should have, a softener costs less over ten years than the heaters do.
Other Plumbing Work We Do in Downey
- Leaking pipe repair in walls, ceilings and under floors
- Pipe replacement and section repairs
- General plumbing repairs
- Garbage disposals
- Toilet repair and replacement
- Sump pumps
- Scheduled plumbing maintenance
- Commercial plumbing for shops, restaurants and offices
- Emergency plumbing, answered 24 hours
Downey Plumbing FAQ
How quickly can someone get out to Downey?
Call during office hours to schedule an appointment. After hours, the emergency line reaches a plumber.
When are you open?
Weekdays 7:30am to 5pm, Saturday 8am to 12:30pm, closed Sunday. The emergency number is picked up around the clock, every day of the year.
Can you come out on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturday morning is regular working time until 12:30. Sunday is emergencies only, through the 24-hour line.
Is there a fee for an estimate?
None. We look at the job and quote it before any work is done. If diagnosing it needs equipment, a camera run being the usual case, we agree that price first.
What is your license number?
California contractor license #537893, held by One Way Rooter & Plumbing, with bond and insurance in place. You can verify it on the CSLB website.
Which parts of Downey do you cover?
90240, 90241 and 90242, north end to south end. We are also in Norwalk, Bellflower, Paramount and Lakewood.
Our street has had several sewer replacements. Should we be worried?
It is worth a look. Tract-built streets share a lateral material and an installation date, so failures tend to arrive in a cluster. That does not mean your line is going, but it does mean a camera run will answer the question for a small fraction of what an emergency dig costs. If the pipe is sound you will know, and if it is not you get to schedule the work instead of having it scheduled for you.
Do you replace galvanized supply lines?
Yes. Galvanized steel closes up with rust from the inside, and the symptoms are low flow at the fixtures farthest from the meter and discolored water first thing in the morning. We check pressure and flow at several points first, since one blocked branch and a house-wide problem are not the same job. Where the whole system has gone, a copper repipe is the usual answer.
Call a Downey Plumber
Ring (562) 947-0110 for a plumber in Downey, or write to us through the contact page. If a pipe has burst, the sewer has backed up, or the water is off at midnight, use the same number and ask for the emergency plumber.
