Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. Service calls in Tucson start at $175 if you're lucky - and that's just to get a licensed plumber to show up at your door. Most outfits are charging $225-$300 now because there's a labor shortage that's absolutely killing this industry. You want a water heater replaced? We're talking $1,800 minimum for a basic 40-gallon tank, but if you're going tankless (and honestly, in this desert heat you should consider it), you're dropping $3,200-$4,000 easy. Hydro-jetting your main line because some IDIOT flushed baby wipes for six months? That's $450-$800 depending on access. Sump pump installation runs $800-$1,400, but here's the thing - most Tucson homes don't even need them unless you're in a wash zone or got some weird grading issues. I've seen people get quoted $600 just to replace a P-trap that should've been a $120 job. Shop around, but don't go with the cheapest guy (I'll explain why later).

Here's the cold hard truth about desert plumbing - this ain't Seattle. Our soil moves. When it's 115 degrees for three months straight, then monsoon season dumps water like a broken main line, the ground expands and contracts like crazy. I've pulled permits on homes where the slab shifted two inches and snapped the main line clean through. Copper pipes? They're expanding and contracting daily out here. PEX is your friend in Arizona (been using it since 2009 and haven't looked back). The calcium buildup in Tucson water is BRUTAL - I've cut into pipes that were 70% blocked with mineral deposits after just twelve years. Your water heater's gonna die faster here, period. Expect 8-10 years max on a tank system. Sediment settles at the bottom, hardens like concrete, and then the tank cracks. If you're not flushing it annually, you're gambling. Also - and this drives me nuts - outdoor hose bibs freeze maybe three nights a year, but those three nights cause half my January emergency calls because people don't disconnect their hoses or insulate the spigots.

It's gonna happen at the worst possible time. Always does. I've gotten calls at 2:47 AM from panicked homeowners standing in four inches of water because a 40-year-old galvanized pipe finally gave up the ghost. First thing - SHUT OFF YOUR MAIN WATER VALVE. I can't believe how many people don't know where this is (it's usually near the street, sometimes in a concrete box in your front yard). Every minute you wait is another 5-10 gallons flooding your house. Emergency calls in Tucson run $350-$500 just to get someone out after hours - yeah, it's expensive, but what's your alternative? Let your drywall turn into mush? Here's what actually causes most bursts around here: old galvanized pipes that should've been replaced in 1995, freezing temps hitting outdoor pipes (rare but devastating), or some yahoo who hung a picture frame and drilled straight into a water line (seen it probably 200 times, no exaggeration). If you've got a burst, expect the repair itself to run $400-$1,200 depending on access and how much pipe we gotta replace. Drywall repair? That's extra, and you're looking at another $600-$2,000 depending on how bad it got.

The labor shortage has unleashed an army of undertrained, overlicensed hacks on Tucson. Guy works as a helper for nine months, gets his journeyman card, and suddenly he's running service calls solo. I've seen nightmares. Sharkbite fittings used on main lines (they're for TEMPORARY fixes, people). PVC glued without primer. Water heaters installed without expansion tanks (required by code since 2014, by the way). Look, here's how you spot them: they don't pull permits for jobs that need them, they give you a price before even looking at the problem (how's that work?), and they push unnecessary replacements because they don't know how to actually repair anything. A real plumber explains the problem, shows you options, and doesn't pressure you. We carry cameras to scope lines. We test water pressure. We don't just guess. If someone shows up in a unmarked van with out-of-state plates and quotes you $8,000 to repipe your whole house after looking at one leaky faucet - that's a cowboy. Run.

Your main line is clogged. Toilet's backing up, shower's draining slow, and there's a smell you can't quite place (it's sewage, trust me). Standard augering (that's the snake) costs $200-$350 for most residential jobs. But here's where it gets interesting - half the companies in Tucson are gonna try to sell you hydro-jetting at $600-$900. Is it better? Yeah, actually. Hydro-jetting uses high-pressure water (we're talking 3,000-4,000 PSI) to blast out roots, grease, and that calcium buildup I mentioned earlier. An auger just pokes a hole through the clog. Hydro-jetting cleans the whole pipe. BUT - and this is important - if you've got old clay pipes or orangeburg (that compressed tar paper garbage they used in the 60s and 70s), hydro-jetting can blow them apart. A camera inspection should ALWAYS come before hydro-jetting. Costs $150-$275 but saves you from a $8,000 main line replacement because some kid with a jetter got overzealous. I've seen it happen. Not pretty.

Tank water heaters are dying faster in Tucson than anywhere I've worked (and I've done stints in Phoenix and Las Vegas). The mineral content is just savage. You're replacing them every 8-10 years if you're lucky, 6-7 if you're not flushing them. Installation runs $1,800-$2,400 for a standard 40-50 gallon gas unit, $1,600-$2,200 for electric (but your operating costs are gonna be higher with electric in AZ). Tankless is where it's at for desert living, real talk. Yeah, you're paying $3,200-$4,000 installed, but they last 15-20 years, you never run out of hot water (great for families), and your gas bill drops about 20-30%. The catch? Your gas line might need upgrading (add $400-$800), and if your water's super hard (it is), you NEED a descaling flush every 2-3 years ($150-$200) or the heat exchanger calcifies. I put a Navien in my own house in 2021. Best decision I made. Also - and people forget this - permits are required for water heater replacements. If your plumber isn't pulling one, you're gonna have issues when you sell the house.

Here's what you do. Check their license with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC number should be on their truck, website, everywhere). Read reviews, but ignore the extremes - the five-star reviews might be fake, the one-star is usually someone mad about pricing. Look for detailed three and four-star reviews. Ask if they carry insurance (general liability AND workers comp - if they don't and someone gets hurt on your property, YOU'RE liable). Get three quotes for big jobs, but don't automatically take the cheapest. I've been undercut by guys who do garbage work, then I get called six months later to fix their mistakes for twice what it would've cost originally. A good plumber shows up on time (or calls if they're running late), wears boot covers in your house, explains what they found and why, gives you options with different price points, and cleans up their mess. We're not miracle workers - some jobs are just expensive because they're complicated. But we shouldn't be making it worse by gouging or doing sloppy work. Tucson's got maybe 15-20 outfits I'd actually trust (out of probably 200+ operating). That's the reality. Ask your neighbors, ask your realtor, but DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you got a guy jackhammering your slab because that's his only solution.