Santa Cruz is the heart of the county. It's a vibrant coastal city on Monterey Bay, home to the Beach Boardwalk, and the UC Santa Cruz campus. It has a famous surf culture, and neighborhoods that range from historic Victorians to beach bungalows and hillside homes. As our home base, Santa Cruz is where Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® does its best work.
We carry one of the most trusted names in American plumbing, a brand named Forbes' Top Ranked Plumbing Company of 2024. The people answering your call are your neighbors, based right here in Santa Cruz. We're The Punctual Plumber: if we're not on time, we pay you $5 a minute, up to $300.
Every Santa Cruz home has access to our full range of plumbing services. The menu is the same across our entire Santa Cruz County service area, and each service links to the national brand page with full details:
Around-the-clock emergency service dispatched for Santa Cruz homeowners facing burst or leaking pipes, sewer or septic backups, water heater failures, storm flooding, or no-water situations. We are available day or night, weekends and holidays.
Water softeners, filtration, and treatment for the county's varied water. The county features the harder groundwater of the Soquel and Scotts Valley basins, the surface water of the San Lorenzo watershed, and the iron, minerals, and sediment found in mountain wells. This service can help in improving taste, protecting fixtures, and extending appliance life.
We offer pipe repair and whole-home repiping for aging galvanized and cast-iron pipe in older coastal homes and mountain cabins, and 1980s–90s polybutylene. Our services include water service line and leaking pipe repair, with seismic-conscious workmanship.
Water heater repair, replacement, and installation, including tankless systems, a popular, energy-efficient upgrade in California, installed with code-compliant seismic strapping.
Non-destructive leak detection, leak repair, and slab leak detection, finding hidden leaks that waste precious water in drought-conscious Santa Cruz County, plus low-flow fixture upgrades.
Sewer line repair and replacement and trenchless options for aging laterals invaded by redwood and tree roots, often with minimal digging to protect forested and coastal yards.
Water pump service for the private wells common in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We also do septic tank inspection and service, sewer camera inspection, and backflow-prevention testing and certification for homes off the municipal grid.
Sump pump installation and repair, plus drainage work for the crawlspaces and low areas that flood during the region's wet winter storms.
Drain cleaning and hydro jetting with camera inspection, clearing grease, roots, and buildup from coastal and mountain drain and sewer lines.
Boiler service for the homes that have it, plus faucets, toilets, showers, sinks, bathtubs, and garbage disposals repaired and installed, plus outdoor plumbing.
Commercial plumbing service for the shops, restaurants, wineries, and businesses across Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley, and the mountain towns.
Santa Cruz's coastal, historic character shapes its plumbing. The city draws about 95% of its water from local surface sources, the San Lorenzo River, North Coast creeks, and Loch Lomond. Its water is relatively soft, and treatment is mostly about filtration for taste and sediment, though some homes benefit from softening. Santa Cruz's historic Victorians, beach bungalows, and older homes commonly carry aging galvanized, cast-iron, or polybutylene pipe worth repiping, and the university and rental-heavy neighborhoods bring steady repair and fixture work.
Santa Cruz's homes sit on raised, crawlspace, and some slab foundations near the coast, not basements. Crawlspace plumbing, leak detection, and moisture management matter, and salt air corrodes coastal fixtures. Water conservation is a constant priority in drought-conscious Santa Cruz County, making leak detection and low-flow upgrades valuable. Mature trees send roots into aging sewer laterals. In this earthquake country, seismic-conscious work like water heater strapping matters.
As the hometown team based right here in Santa Cruz, we know the city's coastal homes, older housing, and water. We offer repiping, leak detection and conservation, water heater service, sewer-root and trenchless work, water treatment, and commercial plumbing. Our stocked trucks fix most issues in one visit.
If we're not on time, we pay you $5 for every minute we're late, up to 60 minutes or $300. See our guarantees.
We are independently owned and operated. We live and work in Santa Cruz County, from the coast to the mountains, and hire from the community.
High standards, respect for you and your home, and honest, up-front pricing you approve before any work begins, no upselling.
Our vehicles stay stocked with parts, so we finish most plumbing services in a single visit. We clean up after ourselves, shoe covers and all.
We've built relationships with lenders so you can restore your plumbing comfortably. Ask about your options for larger repipe, sewer, and water heater projects.
We answer the phone around the clock, every day of the year, vital during a burst pipe, a sewer or septic backup, or storm flooding.
Background-checked, drug-tested professionals, licensed in California, with liability coverage and workers' compensation, and backed by a brand named Forbes' Top Ranked Plumbing Company of 2024.
Santa Cruz plumbing follows the coastal calendar. Check for hidden leaks to conserve water. Flush the water heater yearly. Watch older homes for repiping needs. Protect coastal fixtures from salt-air corrosion. Before winter storms, check drainage. Strap and service the water heater for earthquake safety.
Call Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® of Santa Cruz at (831) 236-5045 anytime, day or night, or book your appointment online. Meet the Santa Cruz team behind every visit. We proudly serve Santa Cruz and communities across Santa Cruz County, from the coast to the Santa Cruz Mountains, on time, every time. Learn more on the Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® national brand site.
Learn more about our Santa Cruz-based plumbers.
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When you need plumbing repairs now, we’ll be there. Our 24/7 home plumbers are available to address your emergency plumbing service needs day or night.
Whether you have an emergency burst pipe, a water leak, or an overflowing toilet, we’re here to help. And we don’t just fix the problem, we take preventive measures to stop it from happening again.
Brennie Brackett
Made appointment to pinpoint leak in shower head. Turned out it was the valve which needed replacing. Hugo was great. Ordered it and returned the following day to install. He also shared information about flushing out our tankless water heaters and addressing excessive pressure coming into the house. We are checking with the builder before we schedule those additional jobs to see if there is any warranty on our home.
Mark Katzman
Hugo came on time. Fixed problem.
Donna
Angi recommended Benjamin Franklin Plumbing with a 5-star rating. Repairman, Wilson did a great job. We had a leak in a waterline in the front yard. Excellent service. He was professional, knowledgeable, and worked in a timely manner. Afterwards, he cleaned up the work site and did a safety inspection. I would definitely recommend this company and Wilson 😃
Rich Dunham
★★★★★ Exceptional service from Ethan and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in Lisbon! I called just before closing and they had someone out to my home first thing the next morning. Ethan was fantastic - very polite, professional, and efficient. Pricing was very upfront before any service was provided, so there were no surprises. The job was completed within an hour! Exceptional customer service from start to finish - I also spoke to the office manager and everybody was very polite. It’s GREAT to have and know this company is serving the North Country! Thank you! Highly recommend!
Jim O'Callaghan
We were very blessed to have such an expert as Mike come to our house to troubleshoot our hot water heater. The man is a consummate professional, has decades of experience, knew exactly what he was doing, did what he needed to do, and we couldn't be more pleased to have had this absolute expert come to evaluate our water heater. As soon as we met him, we knew we were in good hands. He'll be back in 2 days to replace the hot water heater. Thank you so much!
William Rosshirt
Great! Andrew was friendly and knowledgeable. Came out an hour after I called and got my water line fixed up. He also let me know how to protect it from future problems. I'm a happy customer
Justin Faulkner
Great communication when trying to schedule and when in route. Answered my questions and explained options before starting. Completed the work, verified it was fixed and cleaned the area when he was done. (Kitchen sink clog - more than 25’ from the sink)
William Whitehouse
Justin did a great job unclogging my kitchen sink. I tried to do it myself and evidently it went up the vent at the T instead of going down into the clog. Hopefully it will not clogged again but if it does and I can't get it I will be calling again. This is the 2nd time I've used Ben Franklin Plumbing and am happy the the fast response and courtesy of the plumbers. I recommend Ben Franklin Plumbing to anyone I know needing a plumber.
N Peterson
Chris is very upbeat and personable. He showed up on time and was very knowledgeable and got everything done the same day that we needed repaired and replaced. I’m very pleased with his work and would highly recommend Chris for any future plumbing projects.
Jorge Hernandez
Jordan is amazing! He went out of his way to get the job done. Professional top-notch the best I’ve seen in a long time I would recommend and make sure you ask for Jordan.M
The City of Santa Cruz draws about 95% of its water from surface sources, so it's relatively soft. Treatment is mostly filtration for taste and sediment, though some homes still benefit from softening. We test and advise.
Historic Victorians, beach bungalows, and older homes often have aging galvanized, cast-iron, or polybutylene pipe. Repiping restores pressure and water quality. We do it with care for an older or historic home.
Yes. In drought-conscious Santa Cruz County, we find and fix hidden leaks and install low-flow toilets, showerheads, and faucets to cut your water use.
Yes. We install and service water heaters with code-compliant seismic strapping and flexible connectors, important in earthquake country.
Yes. Our emergency plumbers answer around the clock, every day, from our home base right here in the city, backed by the On-Time Guarantee.
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