Plumbing answers for Simpsonville & Upstate homes.

Most Upstate homes have a main shut-off valve where the water line enters the house: just inside the crawl-space door in a crawl-space home, or on a garage or utility-closet wall near the water heater in a slab home. There is also a valve at the water meter, in a box in the ground near the street.

The house valve is the one to use. A lever handle turns a quarter turn until it sits across the pipe; a round handle turns clockwise until it stops. The valve inside the meter box belongs to the water utility, so if your house valve is missing or will not turn, call the utility’s emergency number and ask them to shut the water off at the meter.

Find your valve on a calm day, not during a leak, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. If it is buried, seized or in a spot you cannot reach quickly, a plumber can install a new one where you can.

Shut the water off at the main valve, then open a faucet on the lowest floor to drain the pressure out of the lines. That stops the damage from growing while you call a plumber.

If water is near outlets, light fixtures or the electrical panel, stay out of it, and switch off the affected breakers only if you can reach the panel safely on dry ground. Move what you can out of the wet area, take photos for your insurance company and start drying with towels and fans.

In a crawl-space home the break is often under the floor, where you will hear it before you see it. Do not crawl in while the water is running.

Leave the building right away, then call your gas utility’s emergency line or 911 from outside or from a neighbor’s house. Natural gas is given a rotten-egg smell so that you will notice it.

On your way out, do not flip light switches, use a phone indoors, start a car in the garage or light anything. Do not go looking for the leak and do not try to shut off appliances. Wait outside until the gas company or the fire department says it is safe.

Once they have made the house safe, a licensed plumber can find and repair the leaking gas piping. Gas line work is never a do-it-yourself job.

A water heater leaking from the tank itself will not heal and can let go without much warning, so treat it as urgent. Close the cold-water valve on the pipe above the heater to stop it refilling, and call a plumber.

If it is an electric heater, switch off its breaker at the panel. If it is a gas heater and you smell gas, leave the house and call the gas utility or 911 from outside. Otherwise leave the gas controls alone and let the plumber deal with them.

A drip from a pipe connection or from the relief-valve drain line is a different problem from a leaking tank, and is often repairable. Either way, have it looked at soon. Water heaters in attics and upstairs closets can do a great deal of damage quickly.

Stop using water everywhere in the house, including toilets, the washing machine and the dishwasher, and call a plumber. When the lowest drains in the house back up, the blockage is in the main sewer line, and every gallon you send down comes back up.

If you have a sewer cleanout in the yard, a capped pipe a few inches across near the foundation or between the house and the street, tell the plumber where it is. It usually makes clearing the line faster and cleaner.

Keep children and pets away from the backed-up water, and wash anything it touched. If your neighbors are backing up too, call your sewer provider, because the problem may be in the public main.

Yes. Three Sons Plumbing offers emergency plumbing service in Simpsonville, Greenville and across the Upstate. Call (864) 640-1244, tell us what is happening, and we will tell you straight how soon we can be there.

While you wait, shut off the water at the main valve for any leak you cannot contain, and keep people out of standing water near anything electrical.

Polybutylene is a flexible plastic pipe, usually gray, about half an inch to an inch across, stamped with the code PB2110. Look where pipes are exposed: at the water heater, under sinks, at the toilet supply stubs and in the crawl space.

It was installed in a great many Southeastern homes from the late 1970s until the mid 1990s, including subdivisions all over Simpsonville, Mauldin, Taylors and Greer. Some homes have a blue or black polybutylene service line running underground from the meter as well.

Do not confuse it with PEX, which is also flexible but usually red, blue or white and found in newer homes, or with CPVC, which is rigid and cream colored. If you are not sure, a plumber can tell at a glance.

In most cases, yes, plan for it. Polybutylene breaks down from the inside as it reacts with the chlorine in treated water, so a pipe can look perfect on the outside and still be close to failing. Leaks tend to start at the fittings and tend to come without warning.

There are practical reasons too. Many insurers will not write or renew a policy on a house with polybutylene, or will exclude water damage from it, and it comes up in nearly every home inspection when you sell. The class-action settlement that once paid for replacements closed years ago.

A repipe is usually done in PEX, takes a few days in a typical house, and can often be routed through the crawl space or attic to limit the drywall that has to be opened.

CPVC is an approved piping material and plenty of it is still working fine, but it grows brittle with age. In houses from the 1990s and 2000s it can crack when it is bumped, when a valve is turned hard or when a fitting is disturbed during a repair.

That is why a small job on an older CPVC system needs a careful hand: the pipe next to the repair is as old as the one that failed. If you are seeing repeated cracks or leaking joints, it is worth talking about replacing the worst runs, or the whole system, instead of chasing leaks one at a time.

The usual signs are a water bill that climbs for no reason, the sound of running water when nothing is on, a musty smell, cupping hardwood floors, or low pressure at the fixtures. Many crawl-space leaks go unnoticed for weeks because nobody looks down there.

A simple check: turn off every fixture and appliance, then look at the water meter. If the small leak indicator is turning or the reading changes over half an hour, water is going somewhere.

Red clay drains slowly, so leaked water tends to pool under the house instead of soaking away. That feeds mold and wood rot and can ruin insulation and ductwork, so it is worth fixing quickly.

Warm or damp spots on the floor, the sound of water running when everything is off, a higher water bill, low hot-water pressure and cracks or lifting in flooring are the common signs of a leak under a concrete slab.

Many newer Upstate subdivisions are built slab-on-grade with water lines running under or through the concrete. When one of those lines leaks, there are usually two choices: open the floor and repair the spot, or abandon that line and reroute a new one through the walls or attic. Rerouting often costs less in the end and leaves no pipe under the slab to fail again.

Household water pressure should sit somewhere around 50 to 70 psi, and plumbing codes cap it at 80 psi. Above that, pressure wears out faucets, toilet fill valves, washing-machine hoses and water heaters, and makes weak pipe joints fail sooner.

The Upstate is hilly, and homes in lower-lying neighborhoods can see high pressure from the street. Signs include banging pipes, faucets that spit when first opened and a toilet that runs on and off by itself. A plumber can read the pressure with a gauge in a minute.

The fix is a pressure-reducing valve on the main line. Many homes already have one, and they wear out: if your pressure has crept up or dropped off, the valve may simply be due for replacement.

If the pressure is low at one faucet, the cause is usually a clogged aerator or a failing cartridge. If it is low everywhere, look at the main shut-off valve (it may be partly closed), a failing pressure-reducing valve, or a leak on the service line.

Low pressure on hot water only usually points to the water heater: sediment in the tank or a problem with a valve or connector on the hot side.

In older homes that still have galvanized steel pipe, rust builds up inside until there is little room left for water. Cleaning does not fix that. Replacing the pipe does.

A tank water heater typically lasts about 8 to 12 years, and a tankless unit can last around 20 years with regular maintenance. The year it was made is coded into the serial number on the rating label.

Signs a tank is near the end include rust-colored hot water, rumbling or popping, moisture around the base and hot water that runs out sooner than it used to. If the heater is past ten years old and sits in an attic, an upstairs closet or over finished space, replacing it before it leaks is usually the cheaper choice.

A tankless water heater makes sense if you want hot water that does not run out, want the floor space back, or plan to stay in the house long enough to benefit from its longer life. It costs more up front than a tank.

The catch is in the installation. A gas tankless unit needs far more gas while it is firing than a tank does, so the gas line often has to be upsized, and it needs its own venting and a condensate drain. Those are what separate a good tankless installation from a troublesome one.

The Upstate’s soft city water is kind to tankless heaters, since scale is what usually shortens their life. They still need periodic service.

That is a thermal expansion tank. Water expands as it heats, and in a home with a pressure-reducing valve or a backflow device on the main line, the expanding water has nowhere to go. The expansion tank gives it a cushion so the pressure does not spike every time the heater runs.

Without one, a closed system can make the relief valve drip, wear out fixtures and shorten the life of the water heater. Plumbing codes require expansion control on closed systems, so expect one to be part of a proper replacement.

Expansion tanks do wear out. If yours is heavy and full of water when tapped, or the relief valve has started dripping, have it checked.

The temperature and pressure relief valve opens when the pressure or temperature inside the tank gets too high. A steady drip usually means high water pressure, a failed expansion tank or a worn-out valve.

Do not cap or plug the valve or its drain line under any circumstances. It is the safety device that keeps a water heater from becoming dangerous. Have a plumber find out why it is opening and fix the cause.

Less often than in hard-water areas, but yes, some maintenance is still worthwhile. Soft city water leaves little scale, yet sediment and corrosion by-products still collect in the bottom of a tank over the years.

A yearly check is sensible: drain a few gallons to clear sediment, test the relief valve, look at the anode rod on older tanks, and check the venting and connections. Homes on well water often need more frequent attention, because well water here can carry minerals, iron or grit.

If a tank has never been flushed in ten years, be careful. An old drain valve may not close again once it is opened. That is a job for a plumber who has the parts on hand.

In most Upstate jurisdictions, yes. Replacing a water heater is regulated work under the building codes South Carolina has adopted, and the city or county building department typically requires a permit and an inspection.

The inspection is there to check the things that keep a water heater safe: the relief valve and its drain line, the venting and gas connection on a gas unit, the electrical connection on an electric one, and expansion control. A licensed plumber will know what your jurisdiction requires and will normally handle the permit.

It is soft. Greenville Water, which supplies Simpsonville, Mauldin and much of Greenville County, draws from protected mountain reservoirs (Table Rock and North Saluda) and from Lake Keowee. That surface water is naturally very low in the minerals that cause hardness.

So a water softener is rarely needed on city water here. People who add treatment usually do it for taste, chlorine or sediment, which a filter handles. Your utility’s annual water quality report lists the actual numbers.

Private wells are a different story. Well water in the Piedmont varies from one property to the next and can be hard, high in iron or acidic. Have it tested before you buy any equipment.

It depends on your address. Greenville Water supplies drinking water to most of Greenville County, including Simpsonville and Mauldin. Greer has Greer CPW, Easley has Easley Combined Utilities, and Spartanburg has Spartanburg Water.

Sewer is split in two. Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) treats the wastewater for Greenville County and parts of the counties around it, while the pipes in your street belong to your city or to a sewer district. Your bill will show who that is.

Outside the sewered areas, homes are on septic systems, and some are on private wells.

The homeowner, in almost every case. The sewer lateral, the pipe that runs from your house to the public main, is private plumbing, and keeping it clear and in repair is the owner’s responsibility. The same goes for the water service line on your side of the meter.

Exactly where your responsibility ends, at the property line or at the connection to the main, varies between sewer providers, so check with yours before any digging in the right-of-way. And call South Carolina 811 before any digging at all, so buried utilities are marked.

Most household septic tanks should be pumped every three to five years, more often for a large family, a small tank or a home with a garbage disposal. Waiting until it backs up risks pushing solids into the drain field, which is the expensive part of the system.

Septic systems are common outside the sewered parts of Greenville, Laurens, Spartanburg, Pickens and Anderson counties, and red clay makes drain fields work hard because it absorbs water slowly. Spread laundry over the week, fix running toilets promptly and keep vehicles and roof runoff off the drain field.

In South Carolina, septic systems are permitted through the Department of Environmental Services. A plumber repairs the lines between the house and the tank and clears stoppages; a licensed septic contractor pumps the tank.

Turn off every faucet and water-using appliance, then look at your water meter. If the small leak indicator is spinning, or the reading changes after 30 minutes with nothing running, you have a leak.

Check toilets first, since they are the most common cause. Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait 15 minutes without flushing. Color in the bowl means the flapper is leaking.

If the toilets pass, the leak may be in the crawl space, under a slab or on the service line in the yard. A soggy patch of lawn that never dries is a strong hint. A plumber can isolate which it is.

Water in a crawl space comes from one of three places: a plumbing leak, rainwater draining toward the foundation, or groundwater rising after long wet spells. Red Piedmont clay holds water instead of letting it soak away, which makes all three worse.

Start by ruling out a plumbing leak with the water-meter test. Then look outside: gutters, downspouts and the slope of the ground should all send water away from the house.

If water still comes in after heavy rain, a sump pump set in a basin at the low point of the crawl space will move it out. The pump needs a dependable discharge line and a check valve, and it should be tested before the wet season.

Yes. Winters here are mild on average, but the Upstate gets hard freezes most years, and pipes in unheated spaces are at real risk once the temperature drops to around 20°F or below. At Christmas 2022 the region fell into the single digits and pipes burst across the Upstate.

Southern houses are more exposed than northern ones, because pipes here are often run through vented crawl spaces, garages, attics and outside walls with little insulation. The pipe does not have to be outdoors to freeze.

Disconnect garden hoses, close crawl-space vents, insulate exposed pipes, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls and let the faucets farthest from the meter run at a thin, steady stream overnight.

Keep the heat on, even if you are away, and leave the garage door closed if there is plumbing in the garage. Know where your main shut-off is before the cold arrives.

If a section of pipe freezes every time the temperature drops, it can be rerouted or protected properly. That is cheaper than repairing it after it splits.

Leave the faucet open, shut off the main water valve if you can see or suspect a split, and warm the frozen section gently with a hair dryer or a space heater kept at a safe distance. Never use a torch or any open flame.

A frozen pipe often does not leak until it thaws, so stay home and watch as things warm up. If you cannot find the frozen spot, cannot reach it, or see a bulge or a crack, call a plumber and leave the water off.

Yes: disconnect the hose before the first freeze. A hose left attached traps water in the faucet, and even a frost-free faucet will split if it cannot drain.

A split frost-free faucet usually breaks inside the wall, so you will not know until spring, when you turn it on and water runs into the crawl space or the wall. If a hose bib drips, runs weak or leaks inside when it is on, have it replaced.

Shut off the water at the main valve. It takes ten seconds and it is the single best protection against coming home to a flooded house.

Set the water heater to its vacation or low setting, leave the heat on in winter (55°F or higher) and ask someone to look in on the house if you will be gone more than a few days. If you would rather leave the water on, at least close the valves to the washing machine, where burst hoses are a common cause of damage.

Look the plumber up with the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) at verify.llr.sc.gov. Search by the person’s or company’s name and check that the license is active and covers plumbing.

Two LLR boards are involved. The Residential Builders Commission licenses residential plumbers as residential specialty contractors for work on homes. The Contractor’s Licensing Board licenses mechanical contractors with a plumbing classification for commercial work.

Ask any plumber for the license number before work starts. A good one expects the question.

Licensed means the state has confirmed that the plumber has the experience and has passed the examination required to do plumbing work legally. Insured means the company carries liability insurance, so that if something goes wrong on the job, there is coverage for the damage.

Both protect the homeowner. Unlicensed work can fail inspection, cause trouble when you sell and leave you without recourse. Ask to see proof of each if you want it. Three Sons Plumbing is licensed and insured.

A BBB accredited business has applied to the Better Business Bureau, been reviewed against its standards for honest advertising, transparency and responsiveness to customers, and agreed to keep meeting them. The letter grade reflects the BBB’s view of how the business deals with its customers.

Three Sons Plumbing LLC has been BBB accredited since March 2026 and holds an A rating. You can read the profile on bbb.org.

Ask for the price before the work starts, and ask what would change it. A good plumber will explain what is wrong in plain words, tell you what the repair costs, and tell you up front if opening a wall or a floor could reveal more.

That is how Three Sons Plumbing works. In customers’ own words on Yelp: “very reasonable/upfront pricing,” and “straight forward process and pricing … no surprises.”

Find out what the water pipes are made of, how old the water heater is, what the water pressure reads, and whether the house is on sewer or septic. Those four answers cover most of the expensive surprises.

In houses built between the late 1970s and the mid 1990s, look specifically for gray polybutylene pipe. In a crawl-space house, someone should actually go under it and look for leaks, standing water and old repairs. For a house on septic, ask for pumping records.

A general home inspection touches on these, but a plumbing inspection by a licensed plumber goes further, and it can be done before you close.

Yes. Three Sons Plumbing provides residential and commercial plumbing service and plumbs residential new construction, from the groundwork and rough-in through to setting the fixtures.

For builders and business owners, the best first step is a call to (864) 640-1244 to talk through the project and the schedule.

Three Sons Plumbing is based in Simpsonville and serves the Upstate of South Carolina: Simpsonville, Mauldin, Fountain Inn, Greenville, Taylors, Greer, Spartanburg, Easley and Anderson.

If you are nearby and your town is not on the list, call (864) 640-1244 and ask. You will get a straight answer.

Yes. Three Sons Plumbing offers regular maintenance plans alongside its repair and emergency service. Call (864) 640-1244 to find out what a plan would cover for your home or business.

Regular maintenance is mostly about catching the cheap problem before it becomes the expensive one: a water heater that needs attention, a pressure-reducing valve that has failed, a slow leak in the crawl space.