Heating, cooling and plumbing in Alexandria, on both sides of the city line.
Most Alexandria addresses we work at are in Fairfax County, not the City. Different water, a different permit office, and more pipe eras than anywhere.
- Prices in writing, first
- Dedicated HVAC and plumbing teams
- Virginia license #2705192276
Get your price in writing
One street, four pipe eras.
Alexandria spans more plumbing eras than anywhere else we work.
Half the owner-occupied houses in the City of Alexandria were built before 1970, so one street can hold galvanized supply, cast iron drains, 1960s copper and grey polybutylene from the 1980s, each failing its own way.
Most Alexandria addresses we work at are really in Fairfax County: Kingstowne, Franconia, Rose Hill, Mount Vernon. Inside the City we still work on boilers and radiators; on the county side we almost never see one.
On the older City streets, ask about the chimney before a new high efficiency furnace goes in. It can leave the water heater alone on a flue sized for two, and the fuel gas code requires that flue to be checked.
Both trades, one call.
A dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team under one roof, so the leak that turns out to be your AC doesn’t need a second company.
Heating
Every kind of heat, from boilers and radiators on the older City streets to heat pumps and gas furnaces on the county side. The chimney question is the one to ask on any furnace quote for an older City house.
Cooling
Most AC repairs come down to a handful of parts: a capacitor, a contactor, a refrigerant leak, a condensate drain backing up. Each one is priced on our Alexandria AC repair page. Duct cleaning has its own Alexandria page, including when it’s worth doing.
Plumbing
Cast iron drains rust from the inside along the bottom of the pipe. Slow drains that keep coming back, or a sewer smell you can’t find, are the signs, and a camera settles it. Old Town still runs on a combined sewer, and the City pays back half the cost of a sewer backflow preventer.
The number, before anyone comes out.
Our prices are the same in every town we serve, and you get the number in writing before any work starts.
- AC run capacitor replaced$240 to $370
- Refrigerant topped up$190 to $740
- Condensate drain cleared$175 to $420
- Repair diagnostic visitabout $99
- One fixture drain cleared$200 to $800
- Main line cleared$850 to $1,650
- Hidden leak located$200 to $500
- Pressure reducing valve$500 to $1,000
- Water heater, tank, installed$2,757 to $7,494
These come straight from the price book on our plumbing page and our AC repair page. Replacing a water heater? The water heater estimator prices yours, permit included, in about a minute.
In a rowhouse or a condo, access is the variable, and it belongs in the quote rather than on the day.
Two utilities, two permit offices, one old sewer.
Your water
The city line splits it. The City of Alexandria is on Virginia American Water, which buys from Fairfax Water: 4.6 to 11.2 grains per gallon in 2025. The Fairfax County side is on Fairfax Water directly, 3.0 to 10.8.
Reports: Virginia American Water, 4.6 to 11.2 gpg; Fairfax Water, 3 to 10.8 gpg.
Your permit office
The City of Alexandria inside the city, Fairfax County on the county side. In the historic districts, an outdoor unit people can see from a street needs Board of Architectural Review approval; a barely visible one on the ground in a side or rear yard can be approved by staff, screened if it shows.
Permit pages: City of Alexandria or Fairfax County.
Your sewer line
About 540 acres of Old Town still run on a combined sewer from the 1800s. RiverRenew keeps its overflow out of the river but doesn’t stop basement backups, so the City reimburses half the cost of a sewer backflow preventer, up to $2,000.
Sources: the City’s sewer page and the City’s backflow program and the Board of Architectural Review’s policy.
What neighbors say.
Hard to find service like this in Alexandria.
…we had swift and professional responses for multiple plumbing and HVAC needs in our Rosemont Alexandria condo
I would gladly recommend them to anyone in the greater Fairfax/Alexandria area without reservation.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Voted a 2025 Nextdoor Neighborhood Faves winner in Emerald Chase (Herndon) and Hunters Run (Chantilly).
Listed in both the HVAC and Plumbing categories of Northern Virginia Magazine’s Best Home Experts directory, which is exactly how we’re built: a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
The City and the county side.
In the City: Old Town, Del Ray, Rosemont, Parker-Gray, Seminary Hill and the West End. On the Fairfax County side: Kingstowne, Franconia, Rose Hill, Huntington, Belle Haven, Hybla Valley, Mount Vernon and Lincolnia. Next door:
Alexandria questions.
Does SwiftPro work in the City of Alexandria or just the Fairfax County side?
Both. SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing works across the City of Alexandria, from Old Town and Del Ray to the West End, and across the Fairfax County side with an Alexandria address, from Kingstowne and Franconia to Mount Vernon. Most of the Alexandria addresses we work at are on the county side, which changes the water utility and the permit office, not the work.
Will Alexandria help pay for a sewer backflow preventer?
Yes. The City of Alexandria reimburses half the cost, up to $2,000, when a plumber licensed by both the state and the City installs a sewer backflow preventer in a house with a basement, under a permit that passes its final inspection. It matters most in Old Town, where about 540 acres still run on a combined sewer. The rules are on the City’s backflow program page.
Can I put an AC unit outside a house in Old Town?
Usually, with the right sign-off. In Alexandria’s historic districts, the Board of Architectural Review only reviews what people can see from a street or public place. A barely visible condenser on the ground in a side or rear yard can be approved by staff, and if it shows it has to be screened; plan on a staff review for a visible swap too. The BAR’s administrative policies spell it out.
How hard is the water in Alexandria?
It depends which side of the city line you’re on. In the City, Virginia American Water’s 2025 figures ran from 4.6 to 11.2 grains per gallon; on the Fairfax County side, Fairfax Water ran 3.0 to 10.8. Both are moderately hard to hard, which is why SwiftPro tells Alexandria homeowners with a tank water heater to flush it every year and anyone with a tankless unit to descale it.
Why do Alexandria houses have so many different kinds of pipe?
Because the city grew over more decades than anywhere else nearby. Houses from before 1960 often have galvanized steel supply and cast iron drains, 1960s houses have copper from the era that grows pinhole leaks, and subdivisions from 1978 to mid 1995 can have grey polybutylene. SwiftPro’s Alexandria plumbing write-up shows how to tell which you have in three minutes.
City or county, tell us your street.
Call and say where you are. We’ll tell you what’s typical for houses like yours, what it usually costs, and when we can be there.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company serving Northern Virginia, including Chantilly, Herndon, Reston and Fairfax. SwiftPro holds Virginia contractor license #2705192276, is a Trane Comfort Specialist, Rheem Pro Partner and Mitsubishi Diamond Contractor, holds 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews, was voted a 2025 Nextdoor Neighborhood Faves winner in Emerald Chase (Herndon) and Hunters Run (Chantilly), and is listed in both the HVAC and Plumbing categories of Northern Virginia Magazine’s Best Home Experts directory. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team. More at goswiftpro.com.
In Alexandria, SwiftPro repairs and replaces furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, air conditioners and ductless mini-splits, cleans air ducts and dryer vents, and handles plumbing from drains, leaks and cast iron lines to water heaters and sewer camera inspections, in the City of Alexandria and on the Fairfax County side.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Every town we serve is on the town-by-town guide.