Emergency Plumber
A burst pipe or a sewer backup needs a plumber at any hour. ASC Plumbing takes emergency calls 24/7, nights and weekends included.
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Much of Aptos gets its water from Soquel Creek Water District, which calls it hard to very hard. When hard water is heated, minerals can drop out as scale inside the water heater. Most homes here also went up between 1960 and 1989, so the pipes in many of them are getting old.
ASC Plumbing handles plumbing around Salinas and across the Monterey Bay Area, and Aptos is part of our service area. When you need a plumber in Aptos, we fix leaks and clear clogged drains in homes and businesses. We also repair and replace water heaters and repipe older houses. Call or text (831) 262-9943, and we will look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Tell us about the leak, clog, water heater or repipe and where the property is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Soquel Creek Water District draws all of its drinking water from wells in the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin. The district calls that basin overdrafted. Its Pure Water Soquel project is designed to purify treated wastewater and recharge the basin. The aim is to keep seawater from pushing further in.
The district's 2017 figures put Aptos and Rio del Mar at 150 to 200 parts per million of hardness. That zone runs from State Park Drive to Mar Monte Avenue. West of State Park Drive, toward Soquel, the range runs 140 to 300. The U.S. Geological Survey counts anything over 180 as very hard.
The USGS says that scale can shorten a water heater's life and raise the cost of heating water. It can also clog pipes over time. Flushing a tank and replacing a failed heating element are part of water heater repair.
Census figures count about 2,800 homes in the Aptos census area, which leaves out Rio del Mar and Seacliff. Most are detached single-family houses. Nearly 72 percent were built between 1960 and 1989, and the median home dates to 1977. Near the village, the Hihn Subdivision east of Trout Gulch Road was laid out in the 1890s.
A house from the 1960s or 1970s may still have its original water pipes. Over time, hard water can build scale inside a pipe and lower the water pressure, the USGS notes. Leaks that keep turning up in new spots are another sign the pipes are wearing out.
Soquel Creek Water District has classified every service line in its system as non-lead, customer-owned lines included. That inventory covers the pipe that brings water to a building, not the pipes inside it. When those inside pipes fail, repiping replaces them with copper or PEX. A repipe can cover the whole house or part of it.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was centered in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, north of Aptos. A park sign along the Aptos Creek Trail marks the spot. When a home sells, state law has the seller certify in writing that the water heater is secured against earthquakes. The state plumbing code sets the minimum standard.
Our water heater installation work includes the earthquake straps the code calls for. Census figures show about one Aptos home in six heats with propane, and over half use utility gas. We match a replacement gas water heater to the fuel the house runs on.
Aptos is an unincorporated part of Santa Cruz County, so the county issues its building permits. The county's Unified Permit Center lists a water heater permit among its online EZ Permits, with no plans required. Parcels in a flood zone apply in person instead, and FEMA maps flood zones along the creeks in Aptos.
The Santa Cruz County Sanitation District serves parts of Aptos and Soquel, plus Live Oak and Capitola. Its pipes carry wastewater to the City of Santa Cruz treatment plant at Neary Lagoon. Under county rules, you own the sewer lateral from where it meets the public main to your building.
A sale typically triggers a lateral inspection. In the district, the seller pays for the first inspection and any required repairs. Those repairs must be finished before close of escrow. A remodel that adds plumbing fixtures beyond what was permitted before also triggers one.
Federal soil maps show much of the Aptos census area as steep hillside. On a hillside lot, the sewer lateral can run a long way to the main. We clear main sewer line stoppages and replace failed sections of drain line as part of drain cleaning.
Communities and areas we serve around Aptos: Aptos Village, Rio del Mar, Seacliff, La Selva Beach, Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, Aptos Creek, Valencia Creek, Soquel Drive, Trout Gulch Road, State Park Drive, Highway 1.
Aptos ZIP codes served: 95003.
Aptos is part of our service area. We look at the job first, then put the quote in writing.
(831) 262-9943 A burst pipe or a sewer backup needs a plumber at any hour. ASC Plumbing takes emergency calls 24/7, nights and weekends included.
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We clear clogged kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, tubs, showers, toilets and floor drains, plus main sewer line stoppages. When a drain keeps backing up, we find out why and put any repair in a written quote.
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We repair leaking pipes, slab leaks, running toilets, dripping faucets and jammed garbage disposals. We look at the job first and put the quote in writing.
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We repair gas and electric tank water heaters for homes and businesses. We find the part that failed and put the quote in writing.
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We replace failed or aging tank water heaters and install new ones, gas or electric. Each new tank is sized for the home and strapped the way California law requires.
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We install tankless water heaters, conversions from a tank included. We also repair and flush the tankless units already in place.
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We replace the water pipe in a house or building when old galvanized steel or copper starts to fail. Whole house and partial repipes go in as PEX or copper, with the quote in writing.
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We install toilets, faucets, sinks and garbage disposals, plus the rough-in plumbing for remodels and new builds. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
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We handle plumbing repairs, drains, water heaters and fixtures for shops, offices, restaurants and rental buildings. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Aptos. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us what is going on with the plumbing and the town the building is in. Call or text (831) 262-9943 or use the form, and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the leak, clog, water heater or repipe and where the property is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.