Works Plumbing runs a staffed location in Burlingame, which keeps our technicians close to homes from Easton Addition to the Mills Estate. We are a family-owned company founded in 2009, licensed and insured under CSLB #982663. We handle sewer laterals, drains, water heaters, leaks, gas lines and fixtures, with same-day appointments and emergency service 24/7.
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Burlingame is one of the older towns on the Peninsula, and its plumbing shows it. Census data puts the median home at 1957, and more than 4,000 of the city’s homes were built in 1939 or earlier.
How the city was built
The Burlingame Historical Society traces the first cottages to 1893 and the train depot to 1894. Easton Addition No. 1 was mapped in 1905, the town incorporated in 1908, and the Town of Easton was annexed in 1910, with a rush of building through the 1920s. Later growth went west and uphill. Land from the Mills estate south of Murchison Drive joined Burlingame in 1954, and Eichler atrium homes went up on the Mills Estate hillside streets, with long-time owners buying in 1963 and 1964.
Each era means different plumbing. A 1920s house near Burlingame Avenue and an Eichler in the hills have little in common behind the walls, so we confirm what is actually installed before we price a repair.
Sewer laterals and cleanouts
The city maintains its mains and the short run from the right-of-way cleanout to the main. Everything between the house and that cleanout is the owner’s. Homes built before the mid-1960s were never required to have a cleanout in the right-of-way, so many older lots have none. That matters for routine drain cleaning in Burlingame and for the lateral test the city requires when a property with older buildings changes hands. Homes in unincorporated Burlingame Hills are a separate case: the County of San Mateo runs that sewer, and owners there also maintain their own laterals.
Roots
Burlingame has been a Tree City USA every year since 1980, and the city maintains more than 11,000 street trees. The city root-foams its own mains where roots have intruded, and the same roots find cracked joints in private laterals. On a city street tree, any root over 2 inches in diameter needs the City Arborist before it is cut, so we clear roots from inside the pipe.
Water and hidden leaks
The city buys all of its water from SFPUC, mostly Hetch Hetchy snowmelt, with no local groundwater. It is soft to moderately hard and chloraminated, so scale is rarely the issue. In an older house, the more common trouble is supply pipe that has started to seep inside a wall or under a floor. Our leak detection in Burlingame uses acoustic, thermal and pressure testing to find it without guesswork.
Why Burlingame homeowners call Works Plumbing
A staffed Works Plumbing location right here in Burlingame
Family owned since 2009, with an upfront price on every job
Licensed and insured plumbers, California CSLB #982663
Same-day visits and emergency calls answered 24/7
Plumbing services we provide in Burlingame
Burlingame calls cover the full range of home plumbing. Here is how we group them.
Drains, sewer and laterals
When one fixture is slow, a cable usually solves it. When grease or roots have narrowed the whole line, hydro jetting in Burlingame scours the pipe wall. A camera inspection in Burlingame shows what is left behind, with the recording available on request, and failed laterals can often be replaced by trenchless pipe repair instead of an open trench through the garden.
Water heaters
Our technicians handle water heater repair in Burlingame, including relief valves, gas controls and leaking tanks. City water sits between soft and moderately hard, which is easy on tanks, so a heater that fails early often points to venting, a valve or the original installation rather than scale. For owners ready to upgrade, we install tankless water heaters and heat pump units.
Leaks, water lines and gas
Leaks between the meter and the house fall under water line repair in Burlingame. Inside, we repair or replace failing supply branches. Our gas line repair covers leaks, new appliance connections and capped lines.
Fixtures and storm water
We repair toilets that run or rock, faucets that drip, shower valves that will not hold temperature, and disposals that jam. For lower floors and crawl spaces that collect water in winter, sump pump service in Burlingame keeps the discharge out of the sanitary sewer, as city rules require.
Every visit starts with a diagnosis and an upfront price. We handle permits and inspections when the work calls for them.
Drain and sewer cleaning
Lateral repair and replacement
Water heater service
Leak detection
Gas line repair
Sump pumps
A Works Plumbing technician on a sewer lateral repair in Burlingame.
“Just Works. I’ve never had a repair happen at the beginning of a service window rather than the end of it – it was pretty magical. Will was sent to fix a valve and had it done quickly and smoothly, and helped me finish a bidet installation as a bonus, once the main repair was complete. He was methodical and easy to work with. I needed someone in a pinch, and they came through. Thank you!”
“Works Plumbing came to help me immediately with an emergency leak. Their technician was polite, courteous, and professional. I was presented with three price options to fix and update my plumbing so I wouldn’t run into this problem again. I will gladly hire them in the future!”
Walk your yard after the first heavy rain of the season. If a downspout or yard drain disappears into a pipe near the sewer cleanout, have it traced; storm water belongs in the storm system, never the sanitary lateral.
See how we handle it:
Prefer to listen? Catch this topic on our homeowner podcast:
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The Works Plumbing Podcast · Homeowner Tips
Schedule Burlingame service
Whether you are in Easton Addition, Ray Park or up near the Mills Estate, tell us what you are seeing. We will diagnose the cause and give you a price before any work begins.
Rocket Rewards: Maintenance That Suits an Older House
Old plumbing rewards attention and punishes neglect, which is the entire premise of our membership.
Rocket Rewards members get an automatic 10 percent discount on all services with call-out charges waived, so documenting pipe material and pressure before a problem costs nothing extra.
The plan includes periodic water heater inspections and flushing, scheduling priority over non-members, and price protection that locks in your rate for the term.
Burlingame’s storm drainage starts with its creeks. The city lists seven major ones: El Portal or Trousdale, Mills, Easton, Sanchez, Terrace, Burlingame and Ralston. Together they provide more than 11 miles of natural storm drains, and about 45 miles of man-made storm drain lines feed into them. The City of Burlingame’s creeks page also explains a split that surprises many owners.
West of El Camino Real, the creeks run through private side and rear yards, and the owners of those lots own and maintain them. East of El Camino Real, most of the creeks run underground in pipes and box culverts.
Why does that matter for plumbing? Burlingame keeps two separate pipe networks. The sanitary sewer carries household wastewater to the treatment plant. The storm system and the creeks carry rain to the Bay. Trouble starts when the two are mixed. A downspout, area drain or crawl space pump tied into a sewer cleanout pushes rainwater into the sanitary lateral, and city rules treat that as a nuisance the owner must fix. Going the other way, a cracked lateral on a lot near a creek bank can leak sewage toward water the owner is responsible for.
On creekside lots in the western neighborhoods, we pay close attention to where every drain on the property ends up. When we camera a lateral, we note any line that should not be connected to it. When we reroute a yard drain or sump discharge, we send it to the storm side by a path the city accepts, and we confirm that route with the city before the work is done.
Residents also fund this system directly. In May 2009 voters approved a storm drain fee that pays for a $39 million capital program to replace aging levees, pipes and pumps.
FAQ
Burlingame plumbing questions.
Here are the questions we hear most. Don’t see yours? Give us a ring, a real human answers, day or night.
Who maintains the creek that runs through my Burlingame yard?
If your lot is west of El Camino Real, you probably do. The city says creeks on that side run through private side and rear yards and are owned and maintained by those owners. East of El Camino, most creeks run underground in city pipes and culverts. We do not do creek bank work, but we make sure your plumbing and drains are not adding to the problem.
Where can I get sandbags in Burlingame before a storm?
The city keeps a free sandbag station at 600 California Drive. Its storm advice also covers cleaning gutters, dry wells, French drains and inlet junction boxes before the rainy season. If water reaches your crawl space or lower floor anyway, we can repair or install a sump pump with a legal discharge route.
What does Burlingame’s sewer lateral test actually check?
Only whether groundwater can get into the city main through your lateral. The city says the witnessed water or air test does not confirm alignment, grade, pipe material, root intrusion or blockages. A lateral can pass and still clog the next winter. That is why we recommend a camera inspection alongside the test if you want to know the real condition of the pipe.
Is there a fee break for a heat pump water heater in Burlingame?
Possibly. The city’s current Master Fee Schedule lists a separate plumbing permit line for heat pump water heaters, with a footnote saying those fees are waived for now when the work replaces an outdated furnace for energy efficiency. Ask the Building Division how it applies to your project. We pull the permit and install the unit either way.
Who can work on the part of my sewer lateral under the street?
The city requires sewer contractors to hold a State of California license and a Burlingame business license, and roadway work needs a Class A General Engineering license. Works Plumbing holds a C-36 plumbing license, so we coordinate any work in the roadway with a qualified contractor. Work on your private property is ours to perform.
Do you cover Easton Addition, Ray Park and Central Burlingame?
Yes. Our Burlingame location serves the whole city, including Easton Addition, Ray Park, the Burlingame Terrace area, the Mills Estate and the streets around Burlingame Avenue and Broadway. We also work in unincorporated Burlingame Hills. Same-day appointments are available, and emergency calls are answered 24/7.
Nearby Areas We Serve
Just outside Burlingame.
Next door, we also serve Millbrae, Hillsborough, San Mateo, San Bruno and Foster City.
We’ve earned our reputation one happy homeowner at a time.
“I had a backed up kitchen drain and David from Works Plumbing came out and cleared the line in a matter of minutes. Very professional and very knowledgeable. Definitely recommend!”
GG
George G.
Daly City · Yelp Review
“Great professional and quick service! Shamir was friendly, efficient, and professional. He fixed the leaking problem in my sink and garbage disposal in under an hour. Highly recommend!”
MR
Maria R.
Oakland · Google Review
“Thank you again for another job well done, and thank you for responding right away. I will continue to recommend Works Plumbing because they respond right away and get the job done efficiently.”
DK
David K.
San Mateo · Google Review
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