A thud in the wall when a valve shuts
That’s water hammer, and in a Centreville house the usual cause is pressure: a reducing valve on the main that has drifted with age. A pressure reading at the spigot is the first thing to check.
Centreville, Virginia
A plumber in Centreville.
Drain cleaning for one fixture is $200 to $800 and toilet repair is $250 to $900, from our published price list.
Get your price in writing
Send this and the office calls or texts you back to set a time.
We’ll call or text this number about your request. By sending it you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Rather talk now? (703) 997-9757
Plumbers for Centreville, 20120 and 20121, from Sully Station and Virginia Run to Centre Ridge: leaks, drains, pressure valves and water heaters, priced first.
- Prices in writing, first
- Camera before any dig
- Dedicated plumbing team
5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews
Part of our plumbing team, with the drain machine, the sewer camera and the jetter they bring to the house.
Licensed and insuredVirginia Class A contractor #2705192276
24/7 emergency serviceOften same-day, and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Our own plumbers, our own trucksNobody here is a subcontractor with a magnet on the door
The price is settled before the workYou see the number in writing before anything is taken apart
What it costs
What a plumber costs in Centreville.
The same list as our plumbing page, every line a range because the house decides where it lands. You get the number before the work starts.
Drain cleaning, one fixture
$200 to $800
Main sewer line cleaning
$550 to $1,650
Sewer camera inspection, added to a visit
$89
Leak detection
$200 to $500
Toilet repair
$250 to $900
Pressure reducing valve replacement
$500 to $1,000
Water heater replacement
$2,757 to $10,486
or $46/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Monthly figures: 60mo @ 0% APR on each starting price, the whole price financed, on approved credit. Longer plans lower the payment and cost more in total. The lender sets the final terms. How financing works
A sewer camera inspection is $89 added to a visit we’re already making. It’s the cheapest way to know what a drain is doing before anybody talks about digging.
With Comfort+ membership, any service is 15% off, and a water heater flush with a sewer camera inspection and a plumbing safety inspection comes every year.
Recent work
Recent plumbing work in Centreville.
What our technicians found and fixed on visits in Centreville, from their notes on each job.
October 2026
A 75 gallon water heater leaking from the top and the bottom, drained that night and replaced the next morning with a 50 gallon gas tank, a new expansion tank and a pan.
September 2026
A failed shutoff valve and a section of half inch water pipe cut out and replaced, then the water turned back on and checked for leaks.
July 2026
A clogged kitchen drain cleared from the cleanout: about 35 feet of cable, grease on it from a blockage at about 21 feet, then the sink filled and drained twice to prove it.
Who comes out
The plumbers our customers ask for by name.
Two of the people we send, in their customers’ own words from our Google reviews. The same team covers Centreville from our Chantilly shop and our Ashburn office.
My technician James gave an honest assessment of my situation, clearly laid out the scope of work, and provided different pricing options to resolve my concern.
I am very happy with the service I received in installing my water heater. Tyson and the crew were very kind and cleaned everything up before they left.
What’s different in Centreville
In Centreville, the pipe era and the pressure valve decide most plumbing calls.
The median owner home in Centreville went up in 1990, and about seven in ten of all its homes were built between 1980 and 1999. That puts most of the town squarely in the years grey polybutylene supply pipe was going into houses. Some have been repiped since and some haven’t, and the fastest way to find out is to look where the supply lines come up through the floor under a sink or leave the top of the water heater.
Nearly every one of those houses also went up after December 4, 1972, the date Fairfax County’s plumbing code began requiring a pressure reducing valve. So most Centreville mains have one, usually on the lowest level right where the line comes through the foundation, beside the main shutoff that Fairfax Water’s rules have the builder put inside the foundation wall. A valve that came with a 1990 house has been holding back street pressure for more than thirty years.
When one of those valves wears out, the pressure in the house creeps up toward whatever the street delivers. You hear it as a thud in the wall when the washer stops filling, a toilet fill valve that hisses, or a drip line off the water heater’s relief valve that’s never quite dry. A gauge on an outside spigot answers the question in a minute, and a new valve runs $500 to $1,000.
Centreville is where water treatment questions come up most for us. Fairfax Water’s own FAQ calls its water moderately hard to hard, typically 5 to 10 grains per gallon, and says the white residue on fixtures is dissolved calcium and magnesium. A hardness test at the kitchen tap tells you whether a softener is worth having before anybody quotes one.
By the numbers
Centreville houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey. Median year built and heat count owner-occupied homes only.
Centreville
- Median home built1990 Census
- Built before 1980about 1 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aretownhouses, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 7 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- A lot of houses here went up while polybutylene supply pipe was in use, about 1978 to 1995, and it fails at the fittings.
- Townhouses share walls, so a leak can start on either side of one; the meter test tells you whether it’s yours.
What you’d notice
What a plumbing problem in Centreville usually looks like.
Grey plastic pipe near the water heater
Polybutylene, often stamped PB, went into houses from about 1978 to 1995. It tends to let go at the fittings with no warning, so it’s worth knowing whether you have it.
Water where it shouldn’t be
A damp patch on a ceiling, a warm spot on the floor, a meter that keeps ticking with every tap off. A slow leak inside a wall does most of its damage before it ever shows itself.
A drain that keeps coming back
One slow sink is a sink. Two slow drains on different floors are sharing the pipe out to the street, and a basement drain that gurgles while you run water upstairs is the main line talking.
After a heavy rain
After a storm in Centreville, check the basement drains.
Heavy rain finds the weak spots in a house’s plumbing. Four checks you can make yourself, then call us and we’ll look at the rest.
- 1
Water coming up a floor drain?
Clear water with no smell is usually groundwater. Gray water, or a sewer smell, means the main line is backing up: stop running water in the house and call us.
- 2
Drains slow or gurgling since the rain?
A main line with a cracked joint or roots in it can take in groundwater during a storm and slow down. A sewer camera inspection, $89 added to a visit, shows where.
- 3
Is the sump pump running?
If the house has one, watch it once: it should start as the pit fills, empty it and shut off. Our sump pump replacement page has the rest of the checks.
- 4
Did water reach the water heater?
If floodwater got to a gas water heater’s burner or controls, leave it off. Don’t relight it until a plumber has checked it.
Call us after a storm and we’ll check it all: the floor drains, the main line, the sump pump and the water heater. Any repair gets its price in writing before the work starts.
Your pipes, your paperwork
Who owns what under the street in Centreville.
Fairfax County
In Fairfax County the homeowner owns the whole sewer lateral, from the house to the county main, including the stretch under the street. Replacing it takes a county plumbing permit, plus a VDOT permit under a state road. Source.
Fairfax Water promises 20 psi at the main and no uniform pressure, and the pressure reducing valve on your side of the meter is yours to buy and keep up. Over 80 psi, the Virginia Residential Code calls for one, and an expansion tank with it. Source.
Our Virginia Class A contractor license, 2705192276, is on the side of the van.
Choosing a plumber
How to pick the best plumber in Centreville.
Questions worth asking anybody who comes out, us included.
Will they test the pressure before replacing a fill valve?
In a house that came with a pressure reducing valve in 1990, that valve is a likely suspect for running toilets and dripping fixtures upstairs. A plumber who puts a gauge on first saves you paying for the same fix twice.
Is the plumber licensed in Virginia?
Anyone can check on the state’s license lookup in about a minute. It’s the one question that takes the guesswork out of the rest.
Will they put a camera in before they talk about digging?
A sewer camera inspection is cheap next to any dig, and it shows whether the problem is a root, a sag or a break. A quote to dig without one is a guess.
Do you get the price before the work?
Every plumbing job on our list has a range. A plumber who won’t say where yours lands until the wall’s open is asking for a blank check.
Two of our crew going over a work order before the day's calls.
From our Google reviews
What our customers say.
5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Idk why they told me on the phone it cost me 49 but whn he got here it cost me 260 for clogged toilet
Questions
Plumbing questions from Centreville.
Where is the main water shutoff in a Centreville townhouse?
Usually on the lowest level, where the water line comes in through the foundation wall, since Fairfax Water’s rules have the builder put a main valve inside the foundation of every building it serves. It’s often right next to the pressure reducing valve. Find it before you need it, and check that it actually turns.
Does Fairfax Water help if sediment keeps getting into my water?
It can. Fairfax Water’s rules let its general manager reimburse up to $50 toward buying and installing a sediment filter for customers who keep getting sediment, once per residence and on receipts. Keeping the filter up after that is on you.
How do I tell polybutylene from PEX?
Polybutylene is usually grey, often stamped PB2110, and joined with metal crimp rings or plastic fittings. PEX is usually white, red or blue and stamped PEX. If the pipe at your water heater is grey, have a plumber look before it picks the day for you. A repipe runs $1,000 to $12,000, and the size of the house and the number of fixtures set where yours falls.
How much does a plumber cost in Centreville?
It depends on the job, and every one has a published range: drain cleaning for one fixture $200 to $800, main sewer line cleaning $550 to $1,650, leak detection $200 to $500, a pressure reducing valve replacement $500 to $1,000, toilet repair $250 to $900. A sewer camera inspection added to a visit is $89.
Ready when you are
Tell us what the water is doing.
Call, or send the form at the top. You get the price before the work, and if it can wait, we’ll tell you that too.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing
4230 Lafayette Center Dr N, Chantilly, VA 20151
44679 Endicott Dr, Suite 211, Ashburn, VA 20147
Virginia Class A contractor license #2705192276
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Centreville and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 1,132 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
From SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing in Chantilly. Housing figures are the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024, for each place named; permit, water and sewer facts link to each office’s own page and were checked in September and October 2026.