Millbrae Pro Plumbing is a plumbing company based at 166 N Rollins Rd in Millbrae, California. We handle emergencies, repairs and planned installations for homes and businesses in Millbrae and the nearby towns. The page you are reading is the plain version of who we are, because a plumber is someone you let into your house on a bad day.
We keep this page short on slogans for a reason. We would rather list what we do and how we handle your call than ask you to take our word for anything.
What we do
Our work falls into a few groups. Burst pipes, hidden leaks and slab leaks are the urgent ones. Clogged drains, main sewer lines and camera inspections cover the underground side. Water heaters, from a quick water heater repair to a planned replacement, are among the jobs people call about most.
We also install and fix fixtures: toilets, faucets, garbage disposals and new lines for remodels. Water softeners and filtration, high water bill investigations and commercial plumbing round it out. The full services list has all of it in one place.
How we handle a call
The 24/7 line is answered at night, on weekends and on holidays. When you call, we ask what you see, hear or smell, and we tell you what to shut off while you wait. If the situation is urgent, we say so.
Before work starts, you get a clear price. That means we explain what we found, what the repair involves and what it costs, and you decide. We schedule same-day visits whenever the day allows, and we tell you honestly when it does not.
The address on Rollins Road
Our office is at 166 N Rollins Rd, Millbrae, CA 94030. You can see it on the map on the contact page, and you are welcome to confirm it before you book. A business with a real local address is easier to hold accountable, and we prefer it that way.
What we cover
Millbrae is home base. We also serve Burlingame, which has its own plumber page, plus San Bruno and South San Francisco. The service area page lays out the details and ZIP codes.
Licensing and permits
Plumbing in California is a licensed trade. The state's contractor licensing board lists a plumbing classification, C-36, and lets anyone look up a contractor by name or license number before hiring them. We encourage you to do that with any plumber, including us.
Some plumbing work needs a permit, and in Millbrae the Building Division handles plumbing permits. If your job might need one, we will tell you when we set the price, rather than after the work is done.
From first ring to a visit, step by step
You call the 24/7 line
We ask for your street address and ZIP code first, then what is happening: water where it should not be, a drain that will not move, no hot water, or a smell. The order matters because the first answer decides whether you need to act before anyone arrives.
We tell you what to do while you wait
For a leak that means finding the main shutoff valve. For a backed up drain it means stopping every fixture that feeds it. If the problem is a gas smell, we tell you to leave the building and call 911 and your gas utility before you call us.
We book the visit
Urgent jobs go first. Planned work, such as a fixture swap or a water heater replacement, goes to the earliest opening that suits you, and we say plainly when that is not today.
The plumber looks before touching anything
We find the source, check what else it affects, and explain the choices in ordinary words. You hear the repair options and what each one involves.
You approve a price, then work begins
Nothing starts until the price is clear to you. If we find something new once a wall or a trench is open, we stop and talk to you before going further.
What we look at before we quote
A price is only as good as the look behind it. Before we name one, the plumber checks the fixture or pipe that is failing, the shutoff valves around it, and the condition of whatever it connects to. A leaking faucet on a corroded supply line is a different job from the same faucet on healthy pipe.
For drains, we ask how many fixtures are slow and where the slowdown starts. One sink points at a branch line. Several fixtures gurgling together point at the main line, and that is when a camera on a sewer inspection shows the pipe instead of guessing at it.
For water heaters, we look at the age of the tank, the venting, the space around it and whether it is strapped. California requires water heaters to be braced against earthquake movement, so a replacement always includes that check. We also look at where the pipes enter the building, because that tells us how far a repair could reach.
Emergencies and scheduled work are handled differently
An active leak, a sewer backup or a failed water heater with water on the floor is an emergency, and we treat it that way from the first minute of the call. The goal is to stop the damage, make the situation safe and then talk about the permanent repair once the water is off.
Scheduled work runs at a different pace. A faucet that drips, a toilet that runs or a disposal you want replaced can wait for a planned visit, which gives you time to compare options and pick a day that works. If a scheduled job turns out to be hiding a bigger problem, we say so and let you decide whether it becomes the urgent one.
Some calls sit in between. A slow drain on a Friday night is not a flood, but it can become one by Sunday. We will tell you honestly which side of the line your situation is on, even when the answer is that it can wait for morning.
What Millbrae homes tend to need
Millbrae grew fast after the war. Census counts show about 2,783 dwelling units in 1950 and 4,803 in 1960, against 8,679 in 2020. Most of the city's housing therefore dates from the postwar years, and plumbing from that era is worth inspecting before it fails.
The city runs its own water and sewer service through Public Works, and the water itself is purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. That means a problem on the street side of your meter is a city matter, while everything after the meter is yours. Knowing where that line sits saves a wasted call.
Sewer laterals work the same way. Under chapter 8.20 of the Millbrae Municipal Code, the owner builds, maintains and clears the lateral on their own lot, and the city looks after only the stretch between the cleanout and the main. If tree roots are the cause of a blockage, the clearing is the owner's job, which is why a drain cleaning visit often comes with a camera look.
Digging is the other local habit worth knowing. Before any trench or post hole, you or your contractor should contact 811, which serves Northern California and requires at least two working days of notice before excavation begins. We build that wait into any job that involves digging a line.
What we do not do
We do not use forms. There is no web form to fill out and wait on, because a plumbing problem needs a human conversation, and the quickest way to start one is to call the 24/7 line.
We also do not send price quotes by email. A number written down without anyone seeing the problem is a guess, and guesses turn into surprises. The price is set on the phone or at your door, after the plumber has looked, and before any work begins.
Finally, we do not skip the permit conversation. If your job needs one, we say so up front and explain who handles it.
What we will not do
We will not quote a number over the phone for a problem nobody has seen. We will not tell you a pipe has to be replaced when a repair will do. And we will not make up claims about ourselves that you cannot check.
Sources and standards: The California Plumbing Code (based on the Uniform Plumbing Code). Millbrae Municipal Code chapter 8.20. The CSLB license lookup.