Best Plumbing in Dallas, TX — 78 Vetted Contractors

Yes. The City of Dallas requires a permit for water heater replacements, and the installation must be inspected. Your licensed plumber should pull the permit through the City of Dallas Development Services Department — not you. Per TSBPE rules, only a licensed Master Plumber can pull a plumbing permit in Texas. If a plumber tells you a permit isn't needed for a water heater swap in Dallas, find someone else.

The most reliable early signs are: an unexplained increase in your Dallas Water Utilities bill (you can track usage online at dallaswater.com), warm or damp spots on your floor, the sound of running water when all fixtures are off, or new cracks appearing in drywall near plumbing walls. Dallas's expansive clay soil makes slab leaks more common here than in most U.S. cities. If you suspect one, call a plumber who uses electronic or thermal detection — not one who wants to start jackhammering based on guesswork.

It depends heavily on the repair method. Spot repair (cutting through the slab at the leak point) typically runs $1,500–$3,500 in the Dallas market. A full pipe reroute through the attic — often preferred to avoid repeated slab cuts on shifting clay — runs $4,000–$10,000+. Detection fees are separate: $300–$600. Get at least two written quotes before committing. Variance between bids on slab work is often 40–60%, so shopping matters more here than on simple repairs.

Go to tsbpe.texas.gov and use the license lookup tool. You can search by company name, individual name, or license number. Confirm the license type (Master Plumber is required to pull permits and supervise work), that it's currently active, and that there are no disciplinary actions on record. This takes about 60 seconds and is the single most important vetting step you can take before hiring anyone in the Dallas market.

Strongly recommended. Homes built before 1975 in Dallas almost certainly have cast-iron drain lines, which corrode from the inside and are vulnerable to joint separation from clay soil movement. A camera inspection runs $150–$300 and gives you a clear picture of what you're working with. If you're buying an older home in East Dallas, Oak Cliff, Lake Highlands, or similar neighborhoods, make this part of your due diligence — drain replacement is a $5,000–$15,000 project you want to know about before closing.

Yes, and you should specifically ask about this if your home was built after roughly 1985. Post-tension slabs — common in Dallas-area construction from the late 1980s onward — contain tensioned steel cables that cannot be cut without structural consequences. Any plumber doing slab work on a post-tension foundation needs to locate the cables before cutting and, in many cases, get a structural engineer's approval. Ask directly: 'Are you experienced with post-tension slabs?' and 'Do you use a cable locator?' before authorizing any slab penetration work.

First, check your Dallas Water Utilities account online — they provide daily usage data that can help you pinpoint when the spike started. Then check your irrigation system for obvious leaks or stuck valves, and check all hose bibs. If nothing obvious turns up, shut off the main water supply and watch your meter for movement — if it's still moving, you likely have a leak on the supply side. At that point, call a plumber for leak detection. Don't wait: Dallas Water Utilities does offer a one-time leak adjustment credit, but you need to document the repair.

For many Dallas households, yes — but the math depends on your gas line capacity and usage patterns. Dallas's relatively hard water (per Dallas Water Utilities, hardness runs 130–180 mg/L depending on the source blend) accelerates scale buildup in tankless units, so you'll need a water softener or descaling maintenance plan, which adds cost. Installed cost for a gas tankless unit in Dallas runs $1,800–$3,500. Payback period is typically 8–12 years in energy savings. If you're staying in the home long-term and have the gas line capacity, it's worth getting a quote alongside a standard tank replacement.