Plumbing in San Jose

That faucet has been dripping since spring, and you've stopped hearing it. Fixing it is quick; fixing it well is mostly discipline. A faucet swap should include new supply lines and a check of the angle stops while the water's off — reusing a 20-year-old braided line under a new faucet is asking for a flood. A toilet gets set with the right wax ring or gasket, snugged evenly so the porcelain doesn't crack, and caulked correctly. Traps go hand-tight plus a quarter turn, not cranked until the plastic threads strip. And everything gets tested under real pressure before the tools leave — a drip that shows up ten minutes later should be found by the installer, not by you next week. Cheap work skips the test, reuses the old parts, and puts thread tape where it doesn't belong; the callback arrives on schedule.

South Bay plumbing has local character. The water here is hard, so aerators clog, cartridges seize, and shutoff valves that haven't turned in a decade freeze open — original 1960s angle stops in ranch homes often crumble the first time anyone touches them, which is exactly why we check them on every fixture job. Older houses still carry galvanized branch lines that choke flow at one faucet while the rest of the house runs fine. Slab-on-grade tract homes — most of Blossom Valley included — have supply lines under concrete, which turns some leaks into specialist work. And every winter, the first big rains reveal which outdoor spigots, irrigation valves, and drain lines cracked quietly over the summer. Most of it is routine — if it's caught while it's still small.

Raftermark handles the fixture-and-drain layer of plumbing: faucets, toilets, garbage disposals, supply lines, shutoff valves, running-toilet rebuilds, slow drains, and outdoor hose bibs. We're clear about the ceiling — repipes, water heaters, gas lines, and anything requiring a permit belongs to a licensed plumber, and we'll refer you to one instead of improvising above our scope. On the jobs we do take, you get a firm price up front, floor protection under the work area, old fixtures hauled away unless you want them, and a pressure test before we call it done. If we spot something worth watching — a corroded stop, a soft cabinet floor — we'll point it out while we're there.

How we approach plumbing

1. 1We confirm the fixture or fix you need, check your shutoff valves work, and give you a firm price.
2. 2We protect the work area and shut off water locally so the rest of the house stays live.
3. 3We install or repair with new supply lines and hardware — no reusing tired parts hidden under a new fixture.
4. 4We test everything under full pressure and check for weeps at every connection before cleanup.
5. 5We haul away the old fixture and leave the space clean and dry.

Typical cost: $150 – $450 for most fixture jobs (faucets $150 – $300, toilets $200 – $450). See the full pricing guide — every job gets a firm quote before work begins.