MVP Plumbing works in La Porte and across the bay side of Harris County. Three jobs out here so far: a split washing machine hose putting water on the ground, an attic leak where two sections of galvanized pipe were replaced with PEX, and a slow kitchen sink cleared from the outside cleanout. Licensed master plumber, MPL 38224. Call 832-334-2836, 24 hours.
What have you actually done in La Porte?
Job notes · La Porte — split washing machine hose
Called out for water leaking on the ground. The washing machine hose had split and was dripping steadily. We replaced both the hot and the cold hose and checked for leaks.
Job notes · La Porte — attic leak, galvanized replaced with PEX
A water leak in the attic. We replaced two sections of galvanized pipe with PEX.
Job notes · La Porte — slow kitchen sink cleared
A kitchen sink draining slowly. We cleared it with the sink machine through the cleanout on the outside of the house.
Your washing machine hoses are the cheapest flood you will ever prevent
The La Porte call came in as water on the ground. The cause was a rubber hose behind the washing machine with a split in it.
That house got the lucky version. A split drips, and somebody notices water where it should not be. The unlucky version is the same hose letting go completely while the house is empty — and unlike almost every other leak in a house, that one is on a supply line under full pressure with nothing to stop it. It does not slow down and it does not wait for you to get home.
A hose costs almost nothing. A hose that lets go while you are at work costs whatever is in the room, plus the floor.
We replaced both of them, hot and cold, which is the only sensible way to do it. The two hoses are the same age and have had the same water through them. Replacing the one that failed and leaving its twin means booking the same visit again.
Worth looking at yours: pull the machine out, and if the hoses are bulging, stiff, cracked at the ends, or you simply do not know how old they are, they are due. It is the smallest job in this entire trade and it prevents one of the most expensive.
Galvanized pipe in the attic
The second La Porte job was a leak up in the attic, and the pipe was galvanized. We replaced two sections of it with PEX.
Two sections, not the house. That was the right scope for that house on that day, and we are not going to sell a repipe to somebody with one leak. See water line repair.
What is worth knowing is when that answer changes. Galvanized rusts from the inside out. It scales up, the bore narrows, pressure drops off over years, and it rusts through at joints. The important part: a run that has failed at one joint is the same age and has had the same water through it along its whole length. So one leak is a repair, and three leaks in a year is a pipe telling you something. Brown flecks in the water and pressure that has quietly dropped off are the other two signs. At that point see repiping, and our guide to what a repipe costs.
Why PEX going back in?
Because the problem with the old pipe was the material, and putting the same material back means doing this again.
We run Uponor PEX-a inside the house. It does not corrode the way galvanized does, it handles the runs through an attic well, and there are fewer joints to fail in the first place.
One thing we will not do is run PEX outdoors where it is exposed. UV degrades it, and a pipe that is fine in your attic is not fine on the side of your house in Texas sun. Outside, copper gets replaced with copper. If somebody quotes you PEX for an exposed outdoor run because it is cheaper, that is worth a question.
And the slow kitchen sink
Cleared with the sink machine through the cleanout outside — no cabinet emptied, no trap pulled apart over a bucket indoors. We go through why that matters, and what to do when a line keeps blocking on the same interval, on our Dayton page and on drain cleaning.
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
We answer 24 hours across the service area. How fast we can get to you depends on where you are and what we are already on, and we will tell you straight rather than guessing to keep you on the phone.
For a burst line — a washer hose included — the first thing we will do is walk you through shutting the water off before we even leave. See 24-hour emergency plumbing, or ask for a quote.
Common questions
Water is on the floor near my washing machine. What is it usually?
Very often the hoses. They are rubber, they age, and they split - which is exactly what we found on a La Porte job where water was showing up on the ground. It had been dripping steadily rather than bursting, which is the lucky version of that failure.
Should I replace both washing machine hoses or just the split one?
Both. They are the same age and they have had the same water through them, so the second one is not far behind the first. Doing one and leaving the other is booking the same visit again.
I have galvanized pipe. Does it all have to come out?
Not necessarily. On a La Porte attic leak we replaced two sections with PEX and that was the right scope for that house. What changes the answer is repetition - galvanized rusting through at one joint is rusting everywhere along that run, so several leaks in a year is a pipe telling you something.
Why PEX instead of new galvanized?
Galvanized rusts from the inside, silts up and loses pressure, which is how it got you here. We run Uponor PEX-a inside the house. What we will not do is run PEX outdoors where it is exposed, because UV degrades it - outside, copper gets replaced with copper.
My kitchen sink is draining slowly. Do you have to take my cabinet apart?
Usually not. On a La Porte job we cleared a slow kitchen sink with the sink machine through the cleanout on the outside of the house - nothing pulled apart indoors. Where there is a usable cleanout outside, that is how we would rather do it.
How fast can you get to La Porte?
We answer 24 hours. How fast we arrive depends on where you are and what we are already on, and we will tell you honestly rather than guessing to keep you on the phone. A burst washer hose or a line leaking into a ceiling is one we treat as urgent.
Last updated · written by a licensed master plumber, MPL 38224