Matthews, NC · Mecklenburg and Union County
A plumber in Matthews, NC for burst pipes, water heaters and sewer backups
Water on the floor, no hot water or a drain that will not clear? Call (833) 571-0120 and a plumber serving your address takes it from there.
Tell us what you see and where the water is coming from. You get steps to limit the damage while you wait, and a straight answer on whether the job is a repair or a replacement.
Water is running where it should not: the first five minutes
Stopping the water comes before everything else, including finding someone to fix it. These steps are safe in most homes.
- Close the main shutoff valve. It is where the water line enters the house. Find it now, before you need it, and turn it until it stops.
- Open the lowest faucet or hose bib. That drains what is left in the pipes and takes pressure off the break.
- Stay out of standing water near outlets, appliances or the electrical panel. If water is reaching them, leave the room and call 911.
- Photograph the damage and the source before you move anything. Your insurer will ask for them.
- If you smell gas, leave the house and call 911 or your gas utility. Gas is not a plumber's first call.
Once the water is off, a split pipe is a repair job and a soaked room is a drying job. They are separate calls: burst and broken pipe repair fixes the source, and water removal and drying handles what the water already reached.
Not sure whether what you are looking at is an emergency? Describe it on the phone and get a plain answer.
Call (833) 571-0120Plumbing problems Matthews homeowners call about most
Water Damage Restoration
Water removal and drying after a burst pipe, backup or appliance failure. Rebuilding is not part of this service.
Burst & Broken Pipe Repair
Stop the flow, find the failed section and repair or replace it, including pipes split by a freeze.
Water Heater Repair
No hot water, lukewarm water, a leaking tank or a rumble from the unit. A diagnosis separates a part from a replacement.
Drain Cleaning & Clog Removal
Kitchen, bathroom and main-line clogs cleared, with a camera look when the same drain keeps backing up.
Commercial Plumbing Maintenance
Scheduled and on-call plumbing for shops, offices and small commercial buildings around Matthews.
Sewer Line Repair & Replacement
Camera inspection and repair or replacement of the private sewer line, and what to do when the trouble is the public main.
Whose problem is it, Charlotte Water’s or yours?
Charlotte Water supplies water and sewer service in Matthews and Mint Hill and repairs the public side. When the trouble is on the private side, Charlotte Water says finding a plumber and paying for the repair is the homeowner’s job, and that customers are responsible for repairs and water use from leaks beyond the meter outlet.
| What you see | Whose side | Call first |
|---|---|---|
| Wet ground or a leak at or before the meter | Charlotte Water’s side | Charlotte Water, 311 or 704-336-7600 |
| A leak, wet spot or low pressure past the meter, in the yard or inside | Yours, the private side | A plumber |
| Sewage backing up into tubs, showers or floor drains | The public main or your own line | A plumber to camera the line; Charlotte Water if it looks like the main |
| A water bill that jumped and nothing looks wet | A leak past the meter is billed to you | A plumber; ask Charlotte Water about its private-side leak adjustment |
Charlotte Water’s pages do not spell out the exact property-line boundary, so when you cannot tell which side a problem is on, call them and ask before you pay for any digging. A plumber can run a meter test to separate a hidden leak from normal use, which is the job of finding a hidden leak. For a backup, a camera pass shows whether sewer line repair on your side is needed at all.
Replace the pipe or the heater? Start with the year your house was built
A pinhole leak, rusty water from one tap or a heater that is past its years all raise the same question: fix it again or replace it. In Matthews the answer often starts with the build date.
The median Matthews home was built in 1991, and 53 percent date from 1980 to 2000, according to a UNC Charlotte Urban Institute housing assessment of the town. Polybutylene supply pipe went into homes from about 1978 to 1995, a window WRAL reported on when covering the class-action settlement. Many Matthews homes sit inside that window. That does not mean yours has it.
The action is simple: ask a plumber to identify what your supply lines are made of before you buy, sell or remodel. If the answer is polybutylene, or you have had two leaks in a short time, whole-house repiping becomes a real decision rather than a worry.
- One leak in an otherwise sound system: repair it.
- Repeated leaks or a known problem pipe: price a repipe.
- A heater that leaks from the tank itself: replace it, not repair it.
Water hardness is the other thing people get sold on. Charlotte Water’s 2025 water quality report puts average total hardness at 32 ppm, roughly 2 grains per gallon, which is soft. If scale is the only reason a salesperson gives for a softener or a new heater, ask the plumber to show you what actually failed. Whether it is water heater repair or replacing a water heater, the diagnosis should come first. This applies to Charlotte Water customers in Matthews and Mint Hill, not to every town nearby.
Who may replace a water heater in North Carolina?
North Carolina law treats installing or replacing a water heater as plumbing work that needs a plumbing license. The one exception is a homeowner doing it personally on a property that is not for sale or for rent, under G.S. 87-21 as summarized by the North Carolina Department of Administration.
So before anyone replaces your heater, ask whether the person holds a North Carolina plumbing license. Ask whether the job needs a permit and who files it. Permit rules for plumbing work come from the local code office, and a plumber who does this work regularly will know whether yours applies.
Matthews, Mint Hill, Stallings and the Union County line
The question of who to call changes at the county line. Charlotte Water serves Matthews and Mint Hill. In Indian Trail, the town says Union County Water provides most of the water and sewer service, at 704-296-4210, with Carolina Water Services covering a small part of the town. Stallings extends into Union County, and Weddington is a Union County town, so ask which utility serves your street before you call one.
Nearby towns
Matthews-area neighborhoods
We take calls from ZIP codes 28104, 28105 and 28106 and the towns above. Call with your ZIP and we confirm your address by phone. See the full list on the areas we serve page.
If you place yourself by landmarks, the Matthews Heritage Museum in downtown Matthews, Squirrel Lake Park on Pleasant Plains Road and the Four Mile Creek Greenway that links the two are all in town. A landmark helps us picture where you are, but we still ask for the street address, because the address decides which utility and which county rule apply.
Call and describe what you see
There is no form to fill out. Requests come in by phone, and the first thing you get is a plain read on how urgent your situation is.