A plumber in Vienna.
A plumber for Vienna houses on Town or Fairfax County water and sewer: leaks, slow drains, galvanized and cast iron, and the laterals under rebuilt houses.
Drain cleaning for one fixture is $200 to $800 and toilet repair is $250 to $900, from our published price list.
- Prices in writing, first
- Camera before any dig
- Dedicated plumbing team
Get your plumbing job priced
Town water, county water, and whose sewer: Vienna plumbing starts there.
Who sends your water bill decides a lot here. Inside the town, and on about 3,300 connections outside it, the Town of Vienna runs both the water and the sewer. Elsewhere it’s usually Fairfax Water and Fairfax County sewer, and some houses mix the two: Town water, county sewer. Either way the pipe between the main and your house is yours to keep up; the paperwork below says how each side puts it.
The Town checked every water service line in its system in 2024 and found no lead and no galvanized pipe: almost all copper, on the public side and the private one. That’s the line from the street to the house. Inside the walls is another question. About two in ten town houses went up before 1960, when supply pipe was galvanized steel, and most of the older stock drains through cast iron.
Rebuilt houses carry a quirk underground. When an old Vienna house comes down, its sewer lateral is usually capped near the property line, and the Town lets the builder reuse the piece from its main to that cap if a licensed plumber certifies it’s graded right and in like new condition. So a brand new house can sit on a decades-old stretch of sewer, and a camera, $89 added to a visit, is how you find out which you have.
Out in Wolf Trap about a third of the houses went up in the 1980s and 90s, the stretch when grey polybutylene supply pipe was going in, so it’s worth a look under a sink before a fitting decides for you. If a gauge on an outside spigot reads over 80 psi, the pressure reducing valve has quit or was never there, and replacing one runs $500 to $1,000.
What’s in the walls across Vienna.
Census figures for each place, and the pipe that usually goes with houses that age. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Vienna houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
The Town of Vienna
Nearly the whole town sits in 22180, which it shares with county streets toward Dunn Loring and Merrifield.
- Median home built1972 Census
- Built before 1980about 7 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 8 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 8 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 in 10 Census
- Houses from before 1960 were plumbed in galvanized steel, which narrows with rust from the inside until the pressure goes.
- Houses built before 1980 mostly drain through cast iron, which rusts through along the bottom of the pipe.
The county side, around Wolf Trap
Vienna mail outside the town line: Wolf Trap and the Tysons edge in 22182, the Oakton side of 22181, Dunn Loring. The figures are Wolf Trap’s, the biggest piece.
- Median home built1980 Census
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 1 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, nearly all Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 in 10 Census
- Rentedhardly any Census
- A lot of houses here went up while polybutylene supply pipe was in use, about 1978 to 1995, and it fails at the fittings.
What a plumber costs in Vienna.
The same list as our plumbing page, every line a range because the house decides where it lands. You get the number before the work starts.
- Drain cleaning, one fixture$200 to $800
- Main sewer line cleaning$550 to $1,650
- Sewer camera inspection, added to a visit$89
- Leak detection$200 to $500
- Toilet repair$250 to $900
- Pressure reducing valve replacement$500 to $1,000
- Water heater replacement$2,757 to $10,486
A sewer camera inspection is $89 added to a visit we’re already making. It’s the cheapest way to know what a drain is doing before anybody talks about digging.
With Comfort+ membership, any service is 15% off, and a water heater flush with a sewer camera inspection and a plumbing safety inspection comes every year.
What a plumbing problem in Vienna usually looks like.
A Town water bill that jumped
On Town of Vienna water the quarterly bill is often the first sign of a hidden leak. Turn every tap off and watch the meter; if it still moves, the leak is on your side, and the Town’s leak credit needs a paid repair receipt.
Pressure that drops a little every year
Galvanized steel supply pipe rusts from the inside, so the pressure falls slowly until a shower upstairs is a trickle. The fix is new pipe, not a new faucet.
A sewer smell you can’t place
Old cast iron drain pipe rusts through along the bottom where the water sits. A smell with no source, or a basement floor drain that backs up, is the usual sign, and the camera tells you for sure.
Grey plastic pipe near the water heater
Polybutylene, often stamped PB, went into houses from about 1978 to 1995. It tends to let go at the fittings with no warning, so it’s worth knowing whether you have it.
After a storm in Vienna, check the basement drains.
Heavy rain finds the weak spots in a house’s plumbing. Four checks you can make yourself, then call us and we’ll look at the rest.
Water coming up a floor drain?
Clear water with no smell is usually groundwater. Gray water, or a sewer smell, means the main line is backing up: stop running water in the house and call us.
Drains slow or gurgling since the rain?
A main line with a cracked joint or roots in it can take in groundwater during a storm and slow down. A sewer camera inspection, $89 added to a visit, shows where.
Is the sump pump running?
If the house has one, watch it once: it should start as the pit fills, empty it and shut off. Our sump pump replacement page has the rest of the checks.
Did water reach the water heater?
If floodwater got to a gas water heater’s burner or controls, leave it off. Don’t relight it until a plumber has checked it.
Call us after a storm and we’ll check it all: the floor drains, the main line, the sump pump and the water heater. Any repair gets its price in writing before the work starts.
Who owns what under the street in Vienna.
Town of Vienna
On Town of Vienna water and sewer, the owner signs an agreement to maintain the sewer connection from the Town’s main to the house, and the water line from the main or the meter to the house. Source.
Fairfax County
In Fairfax County the homeowner owns the whole sewer lateral, from the house to the county main, including the stretch under the street. Replacing it takes a county plumbing permit, plus a VDOT permit under a state road. Source.
Fairfax Water promises 20 psi at the main and no uniform pressure, and the pressure reducing valve on your side of the meter is yours to buy and keep up. Over 80 psi, the Virginia Residential Code calls for one, and an expansion tank with it. Source.
How to pick the best plumber in Vienna.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Do they ask whose sewer you’re on?
In Vienna it can be the Town’s or Fairfax County’s. The answer decides whose main your line joins and who you call when the main itself backs up, so a plumber who works here asks before quoting a dig.
Is the plumber licensed in Virginia?
Anyone can check on the state’s license lookup in about a minute. It’s the one question that takes the guesswork out of the rest.
Will they put a camera in before they talk about digging?
A sewer camera inspection is cheap next to any dig, and it shows whether the problem is a root, a sag or a break. A quote to dig without one is a guess.
Do you get the price before the work?
Every plumbing job on our list has a range. A plumber who won’t say where yours lands until the wall’s open is asking for a blank check.
What our customers say.
Nii is the best. He’s been to the house twice – once for a galvanized to PVC piping change-out, and another time for a badly clogged kitchen line that wouldn’t budge with my snake and a good bit of effort. Super nice guy, very skilled, fair, calm, etc. Exactly what you want in a plumber.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Plumbing questions from Vienna.
Who owns the sewer line from my Vienna house?
You keep it up either way. On Town of Vienna sewer, owners sign on to maintain the connection from the Town’s main to the house. On Fairfax County sewer, the county code puts the whole lateral on the homeowner, out to the main and under the street.
Will the Town of Vienna credit my bill after a leak?
Once every five years, when the leak was between the meter and the house and you send the Town a paid repair receipt. Town water and sewer customers get credit for the water and sewer used above their average; customers on Fairfax County sewer get the water part.
Could my Vienna house still have galvanized pipe?
If it went up before 1960, yes, inside the walls. The Town’s survey found copper service lines from the street, but that stops at the foundation. One look at the pipe coming off the water heater usually answers it, and replacing it runs $1,000 to $12,000, depending on how much of the house is still steel.
How much does a plumber cost in Vienna?
It depends on the job, and every one has a published range: drain cleaning for one fixture $200 to $800, main sewer line cleaning $550 to $1,650, leak detection $200 to $500, a pressure reducing valve replacement $500 to $1,000, toilet repair $250 to $900. A sewer camera inspection added to a visit is $89.
Plumbers in the towns next door.
More from SwiftPro in Vienna
Tell us what the water is doing.
Call, or book online and pick a window. You get the price before the work, and if it can wait, we’ll tell you that too.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Vienna and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.