MVP Plumbing works in Highlands, just west of Baytown in Harris County. Two jobs out here so far: a gas leak found underneath a house and capped off, and a full drain line replacement under a pier-and-beam house going onto a new septic system. Licensed master plumber, MPL 38224. Call 832-334-2836, 24 hours.
What have you actually done in Highlands?
Job notes · Highlands — gas leak found and capped off
Called out for a gas leak. We searched and found it underneath the house, sprayed the line with soap and water, and it bubbled up — so we knew exactly where it was leaking. The section was not being used, so rather than repair it we took it loose and capped it off, then tested the line. Everything held.
Job notes · Highlands — all drain lines replaced under a pier-and-beam house
A pier-and-beam house going onto a new septic system. The owners wanted all the drain lines replaced at the same time so they would not have to think about drainage again. We replaced the lot and installed two new toilets.
How do you find a gas leak?
Soap and water. It sounds too simple for something that serious, and it is still the right answer.
You brush a soap solution onto the line and watch it. Gas escaping under pressure pushes bubbles up through the film, so the leak announces itself. What makes it good is not that it is cheap — it is that it is exact. You get the spot, not a general area, which means the repair is the size of the actual problem instead of the size of the search.
On this job the leak was underneath the house, which is a common enough place for one and an easy place to miss if you are guessing from inside.
The leak was in a line that was not feeding anything. So we capped it rather than repaired it.
What if the leaking line is not being used?
Then it does not need repairing. It needs taking out of service.
That is what happened here. The section that was leaking was not feeding an appliance, so the honest fix was to take it loose and cap it off rather than repair pipe nobody had a use for. Repairing it would have been real work, on a real invoice, achieving nothing.
Then we tested the line, because finding one leak never proves it was the only one. On gas that final test is the part that matters, and a job is not finished until the system holds. See gas line services.
If you smell gas right now, get everybody out of the house and call the gas company from outside — that comes before calling a plumber. Once it is made safe, we do the finding and the fixing. We answer 24 hours.
Replacing drain lines under a raised house
The other Highlands job, and it is the clearest example of why what a house sits on matters so much.
Under a pier-and-beam house the drain lines are reachable. Somebody can get underneath and work on them, which means replacing the whole lot is a real option at a sensible price. The same job under a slab is a different scale entirely — every line is buried in or under concrete, and getting to them means tunneling in from outside.
So a whole-house drain replacement, which sounds enormous, is genuinely practical on a raised house. This one included two new toilets set at the same time, because the drains were open anyway.
Putting in a new septic system? Do the drains at the same time
This was the customer's own reasoning, and it was sound enough to be worth passing on.
They were already committed to the cost and disruption of a new septic system. Their old drain lines were going to be joined onto it and left there. The question they asked themselves was whether they wanted to be back under the house in two years chasing a drain line that was as old as the system they had just replaced.
They decided no, and had the lot replaced while everything was already open and accessible. That is the same logic that makes an apartment repipe cheaper on tenant turnover: the expensive part is getting access, and access you already have is worth using.
It is not automatically the right call — if your drain lines are sound and not that old, replacing them because something else is happening nearby is money you did not need to spend, and we will say so. But when the pipe is the same vintage as the system being replaced, it is worth putting on the table. See sewer line repair and replacement.
Everything we do out here
Water heaters · tankless · drain cleaning · hydro jetting · sewer lines · water line repair · leak detection · repipes · fixtures and toilets · water treatment · gas · 24-hour emergency. Full list on services.
Getting out here
Highlands is close to home for us — it is the next thing along from Baytown, where the trucks start the day. We answer 24 hours, and how fast we arrive depends on where you are and what we are already on. We will tell you straight rather than guessing to keep you on the phone.
Common questions
How do you actually find a gas leak?
Soap and water, still, after all this time. You brush it onto the line and watch: escaping gas pushes bubbles up through the film, so the leak shows itself. It is simple, it is visual, and it is exact - you get the spot rather than a general area. On a Highlands job that is how we found one underneath the house.
If a gas line is leaking, does it have to be repaired?
Not always. On that Highlands job the leaking section was not feeding anything, so we took it loose and capped it off rather than repairing a line nobody was using. Then we tested the rest of the system to confirm it held. Paying to repair a line you do not need is money spent on nothing.
Do you test the whole line afterwards?
Yes. Finding one leak does not tell you it was the only one. After the work we test the line and confirm it holds before we call the job finished - which on gas is the part that actually matters.
We are putting in a new septic system. Should we do the drains too?
It is worth asking about, and a Highlands customer decided yes. Their reasoning was simple: they were already spending on a new septic system and did not want to be back under the house in two years chasing the old drain lines. We replaced all of them and set two new toilets at the same time.
Is replacing drain lines easier on a pier-and-beam house?
Considerably. Under a raised house the drain lines are reachable - somebody can get underneath and work on them. The same job under a slab means tunneling in from outside or cutting through the floor, which is a different scale of work entirely.
Do you answer gas calls out of hours?
We answer 24 hours. If you smell gas, get everybody out first and call the gas company from outside the house - that comes before calling us. Once it is made safe, we do the finding and the fixing.
Last updated · written by a licensed master plumber, MPL 38224