A plumber in Great Falls.
Plumbers for Great Falls, 22066, on septic or sewer, well or Fairfax Water: leaks, drains, water heaters and the line out of the house, priced first.
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
Two in three Great Falls homes sit outside the county’s sewer area.
Fairfax County’s own sewer map settles the first question about a Great Falls drain. About two in three home addresses in 22066 fall outside the Approved Sewer Service Area, the land the county plans for homes that don’t need public sewer, so the lots stay big. That takes in the village at Georgetown Pike and Walker Road and neighborhoods like Lexington Estates, Hickory Creek and Lockmeade. Holly Knoll, Locust Hill and Great Falls West are inside it, along with the edge near Leesburg Pike.
On septic, the drain leaves the house for a tank and then a field, and the plumbing side ends where that pipe meets the tank. A backup at the lowest drain can be the pipe, the tank or the field. We start inside and put a camera in from the cleanout, $89 added to the visit, so you know which before anybody pumps or digs. County code wants the tank pumped every five years regardless, and if yours has its own treatment unit, the kind the county calls an alternative onsite system, it wants an operator to inspect it every year. Storm water stays out of that system: the county’s septic code bars roof drains, sump discharges, floor drains and footing drains from it, and sends that water away from the drainfield.
Then there’s the water coming in. Close to a quarter of the private wells the Health Department has mapped in Fairfax County are inside the Great Falls Census area. On a well, the pressure comes from your own pump and pressure tank, not a main in the street. The county sends the well, the pump and the line up to the house to a licensed well contractor; from the pressure tank on, through every pipe and fixture, it’s plumbing.
The houses add up to a lot of plumbing. By the county’s tax records the middle Great Falls house has four full bathrooms, and more than one in four has five or more. A shower at the far end of a 3,700 square foot house waits a long time for hot water, and a recirculating line fixes that. More than four in ten houses here went up in the 1980s and 90s, when grey polybutylene was a common supply pipe; our polybutylene guide walks through repiping, which runs $1,000 to $12,000.
Great Falls houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Great Falls
- Median home built1986 Census
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, nearly all Census
- Heated withgas, about 5 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 Great Falls.
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 Great Falls usually looks like.
The basement shower backs up first
Nine in ten Great Falls houses have a full basement, so the lowest drain is usually down there. If it gurgles or backs up when the washer empties upstairs, the trouble is between the house and the tank, or in the tank itself. A camera from the cleanout tells you which.
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.
Water where it shouldn’t be
A damp patch on a ceiling, a warm spot on the floor, a meter that keeps ticking with every tap off. A slow leak inside a wall does most of its damage before it ever shows itself.
A drain that keeps coming back
One slow sink is a sink. Two slow drains on different floors are sharing the pipe out to the street, and a basement drain that gurgles while you run water upstairs is the main line talking.
After a storm in Great Falls, 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 Great Falls.
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 Great Falls.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Will they camera the line to the tank before anyone pumps it?
A backup on a septic lot can be a crushed pipe, roots, a full tank or a tired field. A plumber who scopes the line first tells you which one, so the pumper or the septic contractor only comes out when it’s theirs.
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.
Idk why they told me on the phone it cost me 49 but whn he got here it cost me 260 for clogged toilet
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Plumbing questions from Great Falls.
Is my Great Falls house on septic or sewer?
Two in three here are on septic, so start out back: a septic house has a tank lid or a riser somewhere in the yard. Fairfax County’s sewer service area map and the pump-out records the county keeps in PLUS settle it for certain.
We’re on a well. Do you work on our plumbing?
Yes, everything past the pressure tank: supply pipe, fixtures, water heaters and drains. The well itself, the pump and the line up to the house belong to a licensed well contractor, which is how the county Health Department splits it. Pressure that swings, or a pump that kicks on and off every few seconds, is usually the well side.
Do tree roots get into septic lines in Great Falls?
They can. The county’s plan for the area notes that Great Falls has many large and old trees, and roots go looking for the joints in an older line to the tank. A camera inspection, $89 added to a visit, shows whether roots are in it before anyone talks about digging.
How much does a plumber cost in Great Falls?
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.
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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 Great Falls 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.