Plumbing Repair & Installation in Southeastern MA & RI

Armus Mechanical handles residential plumbing repair for homeowners across SouthCoast Massachusetts, the South Shore, Cape Cod and eastern Rhode Island. Leaking pipes, dripping faucets, running toilets, slow drains, no hot water, a frozen line in February or a water heater that quit on a Sunday morning. Because we are a heating contractor as well as a plumber, we also handle the plumbing side of heating: boiler piping, gas lines, water heaters of every type and the sump and condensate pumps in the mechanical room.

If you are not sure whether your problem is a plumbing problem or a heating problem, call 508-521-9477 today or schedule online for a free estimate. A leaking boiler and a leaking water heater look the same on the floor, and we work on both.

Plumbing Repair – Leaks, Drips, Clogs and Running Toilets

Most plumbing calls we get in Lakeville, New Bedford, Taunton, Fall River and the surrounding towns fall into a handful of patterns. Here is what each one usually means and how we approach it.

Leaking pipes and fittings. Copper that has been in the wall for 40 or 50 years develops pinhole leaks, especially on hot-water lines and in homes where the water runs acidic, which is common on well water. Older galvanized steel supply lines rust from the inside until they either close up or leak at the threads. We find the leak, cut out the bad section and repair it with the right material – copper, PEX or brass.

Dripping faucets and running toilets. A dripping faucet is a worn cartridge, washer or seat. A toilet that runs is a flapper, fill valve or flush valve that has given up, and on a metered city account in New Bedford or Fall River it wastes real money. These are quick repairs.

Slow or clogged drains. Kitchen sinks clog with grease, bathroom drains with hair and soap, and the main line with everything at once. We clear the line and then look at why it clogged: a belly in the pipe, a corroded cast-iron section, a bad vent or roots in the yard. Clearing a drain that clogs again every few months without finding the cause is money spent twice.

Low water pressure. At one fixture it is usually a clogged aerator, cartridge or supply valve. Everywhere at once, on city water it often points to a failing pressure-reducing valve or a shutoff that is not fully open; on a well, to the pressure tank, switch or pump. We check the simple things first.

Fixture and shutoff-valve replacement. Corroded angle stops under a sink, a main shutoff that will not close, an outdoor spigot that froze and split, a faucet or garbage disposal at the end of its life. We replace them, and we make sure the shutoff valves actually shut off, so the next emergency is a five-minute problem instead of a flooded floor.

Water Heater Repair and Replacement

No hot water is the plumbing call that cannot wait. A tank that has stopped heating usually has a failed element or thermostat (electric), a bad thermocouple or gas valve (gas) or a burner problem (oil-fired). A tank leaking from the bottom has rusted through and needs replacement, not repair. Rust-colored hot water, rumbling from sediment in the tank, or a heater well past ten years old are signs to plan the replacement before it picks the date for you.

We install and service standard tank water heaters (gas, electric, propane and oil-fired), tankless on-demand units, indirect tanks that run off your boiler, and heat pump water heaters, which typically qualify for current Mass Save incentives. For sizing and the pros and cons of each type, see our water heaters page and our heat pump water heaters page.

Plumbing for Your Heating System – Boiler Piping, Gas Lines and Indirect Tanks

This is where a plumbing and heating contractor earns its keep. A hot-water or steam boiler is a plumbing system as much as a heating one: near-boiler piping, circulators, zone valves, expansion tanks, fill valves, backflow preventers and relief valves. We repair and re-pipe all of it, and we install the indirect water heater that lets your boiler make the domestic hot water. If the boiler itself is the problem, start on our boilers page.

Gas piping. A new gas line to a boiler, furnace, water heater, range or generator; a sizing check when you add an appliance and the existing line is too small for the load; and leak checks. Gas piping in Massachusetts is licensed, permitted and inspected work, and we treat it that way. If you smell gas right now, leave the house and call the gas company from outside first. If you are thinking about moving from oil to gas, see oil-to-gas conversions.

Oil lines. For the oil-fired boilers, furnaces and water heaters still common across Plymouth County, we service the supply line, filter and shutoff valve between the tank and the burner; tank work is on our oil tank replacement page.

Frozen and Burst Pipes in Southeastern Massachusetts

Every hard cold snap brings a wave of frozen-pipe calls from the capes and ranches of Lakeville, Middleborough, Carver and Wareham, and from the older homes in New Bedford and Fall River where a supply line runs along an outside wall or through an unheated crawl space. The lines that freeze first are in garages, attic bathrooms, kitchen sinks on exterior walls, three-season rooms and outdoor spigots without a frost-free sillcock. A frozen pipe is an emergency before it bursts, not after.

If a faucet slows to a trickle in freezing weather, open the cabinet doors, leave the tap trickling and call. We thaw the line safely, repair the split section and then fix the cause – insulate the run, re-route the pipe, seal the draft or add heat tape – so it does not happen again next winter. If a pipe has already burst, shut the main water valve first and then call the 24/7 line.

Drains, Cast Iron and the Older Homes of the SouthCoast

The housing stock across our region is old. The triple-deckers and mill-era homes of New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton were plumbed with cast-iron drain stacks and galvanized supply lines, and many still have them. Cast iron lasts a long time, but after 80 or 100 years it scales up inside, rots along the bottom of horizontal runs and cracks at the hubs. The symptoms are recurring clogs, gurgling fixtures, a sewer smell in the basement or a stain on the ceiling under a second-floor bathroom.

We repair and replace the drain, waste and vent piping inside the house – a rotted section of stack, a bathroom re-pipe, a new kitchen drain during a renovation – and we clear the lines. If the problem is the sewer lateral under the street or a septic system, we say so and point you to the right specialist.

Well Water vs City Water – What It Does to Your Plumbing

New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton and most of Dartmouth and Fairhaven are on municipal water. Much of Lakeville, Freetown, Rochester, Carver and parts of Middleborough and Wareham are on private wells.

Well water in this part of Massachusetts often runs on the acidic side and can carry iron and manganese. Acidic water eats copper from the inside, which shows up as blue-green stains in sinks and tubs and eventually as pinhole leaks; iron stains fixtures orange and clogs aerators, valves and water heater elements. We service the plumbing side of a well system – pressure tank, pressure switch, check valve, sediment filter – and will tell you when the issue is the pump or the well itself.

On city water the usual problems are older house piping, a failing pressure-reducing valve and thermal expansion: once a backflow preventer or check valve is on the meter, the house is a closed system and the water heater needs an expansion tank or the relief valve will drip. We diagnose pressure problems with a gauge, not a guess.

Sump Pumps, Condensate Pumps and Basement Water

A high water table comes with living near the coast. Basements in Wareham, Mattapoisett, Marion, the Cape and the low-lying neighborhoods of New Bedford and Fairhaven take on water during spring thaws and nor’easters. We install and replace sump pumps, check valves and discharge lines, and we add battery-backup pumps for homes that lose power in a storm, which is exactly when the pump is needed most. We also replace the condensate pumps that high-efficiency furnaces, boilers and air handlers depend on.

Permits, Licensing and Inspections

Plumbing and gas work in Massachusetts must be done by a licensed plumber or gas fitter, and most of it – a water heater replacement, a new gas line, drain or supply re-piping – requires a permit and an inspection with your city or town. Rhode Island has its own licensing and permit process.

What a Plumbing Visit Looks Like

1. Diagnose. The technician finds the actual cause, not just the puddle, and explains it in plain language.
2. Flat-rate quote. One price for the repair before any work starts. No hourly meter, no surprise at the end.
3. Approve. You decide. If a fixture or water heater is not worth repairing, we say so and lay out the replacement options without pressure.
4. Repair. Most common plumbing repairs are finished on the same visit from parts on the truck.
5. Test. We run water, check for leaks under pressure, confirm drains flow and shutoffs hold, and clean up before we leave.

Plumbing Service Areas

We are based at 143 Main St in Lakeville, minutes from Route 18, Route 140 and I-495, so the whole region is a short drive.

• New Bedford and the SouthCoast: down Route 140 or Route 18 into New Bedford, then along Route 6 through Dartmouth, Westport, Fairhaven, Acushnet and Mattapoisett.
• Fall River and the Mount Hope Bay towns: Route 24 into Fall River, plus Somerset, Swansea and Freetown.
• Taunton and the Route 44 corridor: Route 24 and Route 140 into Taunton, and Route 44 through Raynham, Middleborough and Berkley.
• Bridgewater, Brockton and the South Shore: Route 24 north to Bridgewater and Brockton, and Route 3 into Plymouth, Kingston and Carver.
• Wareham and the Cape: Route 25 into Wareham, Marion and Rochester and over the bridges to the Upper Cape.
• Rhode Island: I-195 west through Seekonk into Providence and East Providence, and Route 24 south to Tiverton, Bristol and the East Bay. See eastern Rhode Island.

If you do not see your town, call – we probably still cover it. The phone is answered 24/7 and burst pipes and no-hot-water calls go to the front of the schedule. You can also reach us through our contact page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Plumbing in Massachusetts

Do you handle emergency plumbing, like a burst pipe, 24/7?

Our phone is answered 24 hours a day, every day, and burst pipes, active leaks and no-hot-water calls go to the front of the schedule. Before you call, shut off the main water valve if a pipe has burst, and shut the cold-water supply valve on top of the water heater if the tank is leaking. Tell us what you see and where the water is coming from so the technician arrives with the right parts.

My water heater is leaking. Can it be repaired, or does it need to be replaced?

It depends on where the leak is. Water at a fitting on top of the tank, at the relief valve or at the drain valve is usually a repair. Water seeping from the bottom of the tank or from a seam means the tank itself has rusted through, and that is a replacement – there is no reliable way to patch a steel tank. If the heater is past ten years old, replacement is usually the better use of the money either way.

Why do I keep getting pinhole leaks in my copper pipes?

Pinhole leaks in copper are common in the well-water towns around Lakeville, Freetown and Rochester because the water tends to run acidic and slowly dissolves the pipe from the inside. Blue-green staining in sinks and tubs is the tell-tale sign. Hot-water lines go first. Repairing each leak as it appears works for a while; when they start coming in clusters, the fix is to re-pipe the affected runs and, on a well, to treat the water so the new pipe does not suffer the same fate.

Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Massachusetts?

Yes. In Massachusetts a water heater replacement must be done by a licensed plumber (and a licensed gas fitter for the gas connection), and it requires a plumbing permit and, for gas units, a gas permit, followed by an inspection from your city or town. Armus Mechanical pulls the permits and schedules the inspections as part of every installation. Rhode Island has its own permit process, which we follow on that side of the line.

Do you do sewer line replacement or septic work?

We repair and replace the drain, waste and vent piping inside the house and clear clogged lines, and we handle the plumbing side of well systems. Sewer lateral replacement out under the yard or street, and septic tank and leach field work, are jobs for an excavation or septic specialist. If our diagnosis points there, we tell you plainly and point you to the right people rather than sell you a repair that will not fix it.