Plumber in San Jose, CA

A Los Gatos Plumber Working San Jose Neighborhoods Since 1988

Who We Are

Simply Green is a family plumbing company, licensed and insured, CA License 943556. Nearly four decades in the South Bay means we have already met whatever your house is doing, usually many times.

We work with evidence. Camera footage of your sewer line, a marked leak location, the corroded fitting in your hand. You see what we see, you hear the options with prices, and then you decide.

Plumbing Services in San Jose

What San Jose homeowners call us for most:

• Sewer camera inspections and sewer repair, the only sure way to know what shape your lateral is in
• Trenchless sewer replacement for clay and Orangeburg lines that are past saving
• Drain cleaning and rooter service for clogs, roots, and recurring backups
• Hydro flushing to scour out grease and scale that a cable machine leaves behind
• Leak detection for pinhole leaks, mystery water bills, and stains that spread
• Repiping when an older home is ready to stop leaking one fitting at a time
• Water heater repair and installation, tank and tankless

Every Era of San Jose Home, One Set of Problems Each

San Jose housing spans a full century, from prewar bungalows near downtown to the postwar tracts of Willow Glen, Cambrian, and Almaden. Each era fails in its own way, and after decades of working these neighborhoods we can usually guess what we will find from the year the house was built. Three problems fill most of our San Jose schedule.

Failing sewer laterals, clay and Orangeburg

The pipe from your house to the street is yours to maintain, and in older San Jose neighborhoods it is often clay with roots in the joints, or Orangeburg, a tar and wood fiber pipe used in many postwar tracts that slowly flattens until it collapses. A camera inspection settles what you have. If the line is done, trenchless replacement installs a new one with a couple of small access pits instead of a trench through your yard.

Cast iron drains wearing thin

Homes built before the 1970s usually drain through cast iron. It rusts from the inside, the walls get rough, and the rough spots snag everything that passes. If your drains back up every few months no matter how often they get snaked, the pipe itself is usually the reason. We scope it, show you the footage, and give you the range of fixes from hydro flushing to replacing the worst runs.

Pinhole leaks in aging copper

Copper lines from the 60s and 70s are reaching the age where tiny pinholes open up, usually announced by a green stain on a ceiling, a warm patch of wall, or a water bill that crept up for no reason. One pinhole gets a repair. The third pinhole in two years starts a conversation about repiping, and we will tell you honestly which visit you are on.

Questions San Jose Homeowners Ask Us

Which parts of San Jose do you serve?

The neighborhoods closest to our Los Gatos shop: Willow Glen, Cambrian Park, Almaden, and the south and west sides of the city. If you are farther out, call anyway and we will tell you straight whether we can get to you in a reasonable time.

What is Orangeburg pipe, and does my house have it?

Orangeburg is a sewer pipe made of wood fiber and tar, used in many tracts built between the 1940s and early 1970s. It softens and deforms with age, and once it starts to flatten, collapse is a matter of time. A camera inspection tells you in twenty minutes what your lateral is made of and what shape it is in.

My drains back up every few months. Why does it keep happening?

Repeat backups usually mean the problem is the pipe, not the clog. Old cast iron gets rough inside and snags waste, and a sagging line holds standing water. Snaking clears the symptom for a while. The camera shows the cause, and fixing that ends the cycle.

Do you handle plumbing emergencies in San Jose?

Yes. We run 24/7 emergency service on the same number, (408) 358-6446. For the neighborhoods we serve, we can usually get someone moving quickly at any hour.