Van Franey Plumbing provides emergency and scheduled plumbing services to Lehigh Acres in Lee County, Florida. We respond to plumbing emergencies 24/7, 365 days a year. Our expert plumbers can quickly repair leaking or burst pipes, address sewer blockages and backups or locate a difficult to find leak using state of the art technology.
Our full service plumbing business can schedule water heater replacements, install new toilets and even repipe your whole house.
What is different about plumbing in Lehigh Acres
Lehigh Acres is two water towns in one. Homes near the older core and along the main corridors, Lee Boulevard, Homestead Road and Joel Boulevard, are in the areas served by FGUA, the utility that provides water and sewer to part of the community. Most of the rest of Lehigh, and nearly all of the half-acre and acre lots to the east and south, are on a private well and a septic tank. That changes almost every plumbing job. There is no water bill to warn you about a leak, no city line to blame when the toilets back up, and no water at all when the pump quits. It also means the plumber who comes to your house needs to understand well pumps, pressure tanks, and what a septic system will and will not tolerate.
The housing is split too. The older streets from the 1960s and 70s carry copper supply lines and, in some, cast iron drains under the slab. The great majority of Lehigh, though, was built in the 2000s boom and in the years since, and those homes have CPVC or PEX supply lines, PVC drains, and original water heaters that are now fifteen to twenty years old in a hot garage. Newer construction east of Joel and out toward the Hendry County line brings its own calls: builder-grade fixtures failing early, and wells and pumps that were sized for the house but never treated for the water.
Well water, iron and sulfur
Lehigh well water is untreated until it reaches your garage, and what it brings up is usually some mix of sulfur, iron, and hardness. Sulfur is the rotten egg smell, worst on the hot side. Iron leaves orange stains in the toilet and on the driveway where the sprinklers hit. Hardness scales the water heater, clogs showerheads, and shortens the life of everything the water touches. None of those are dangerous, but bacteria and nitrate from the septic systems around you can be, and only a lab test finds them. Test yearly and after any flooding. On FGUA water, which is treated and disinfected before it reaches you, the usual complaints are the chlorine taste and scale in the water heater. In either case, the right treatment stack starts with knowing what is in the water, not with a system somebody wants to sell you.
Well pumps, pressure tanks and septic
When the water stops in Lehigh, the well is the first suspect. A pump that runs constantly, pressure that surges and drops in the shower, water that comes out cloudy or sandy after a storm, or a pressure tank that is waterlogged are all calls we handle. We service and replace submersible and jet pumps, pressure tanks, pressure switches, and the check valves and controls between them. A power outage after a storm means no water in a well home; a hurricane checklist for Lehigh starts with filling tubs and knowing where the pump breaker is.
On the drain side, a septic tank changes the advice. Chemical drain cleaners, wipes, grease, and heavy softener brine all end up in the tank and the drain field. When several drains slow at once in a septic home, the tank or the field is often the problem rather than the pipe, and we tell you which before recommending a jetting or a camera run. Toilets that flush weakly, gurgling, or wet ground over the drain field after rain are the signs to watch.
Neighborhoods we serve
We cover all of Lehigh Acres and the country around it: the older core along Lee Boulevard and Homestead Road, the streets off Gunnery Road and Sunshine Boulevard, the Joel Boulevard corridor north to Buckingham and Alva, the newer subdivisions east toward the Hendry line, and the rural lots south toward Immokalee Road and the Corkscrew area. Long driveways and unmarked roads are normal here; give us the nearest cross street when you call and we will find you.
Plumbing services in Lehigh Acres
The calls we get most from Lehigh Acres are no water at all from a failed pump or pressure switch, sulfur and iron treatment, water heaters that scaled up and died early on hard well water, septic-related drain backups, slab and attic leaks in 2000s homes, and toilet and faucet replacements where the water has chewed through builder-grade parts. The full list of what we do:
Our plumbing services include:
- Sewer & Drain Cleaning
- Backflow Prevention Devices
- Leak Diagnostics
- Toilet Repairs & Replacement
- Whole House Water RePipes
- High Velocity Water Jetter
- Video Camera Diagnostics
- Water & Well Pumps
- Faucets, Sinks, Disposals
- Water Heater Installation
What to expect on the visit
A licensed Van Franey plumber arrives in a marked truck with the common well and water heater parts on board. On a no-water call we check power to the pump, the pressure switch, and the tank before anything is pulled from the well. On a water quality call we test hardness, iron, and chlorine at the tap and explain what the results mean for your heater and fixtures. We explain the options before doing the work, and work that needs a Lee County permit, such as a water heater replacement or a repipe, is pulled and inspected by us. We protect the floors and clean up before leaving.
When to call
Call right away for no water at all, a burst pipe or a leak you cannot shut off, sewage backing up into the house, a water heater leaking from the tank, or the smell of gas. Turn off the pump breaker or the main valve first if you can. Call during the day for a slow drain, a running toilet, orange stains and sulfur smell that have gotten worse, a pump that cycles more than it used to, or a water heater past ten years. A plumber answers 24/7.
Call Van Franey Plumbing 24/7 at (239) 851-0207 for an emergency plumber or for a scheduled service in Lehigh Acres
Learn more before you call
- Lehigh Acres water: wells, utility water, and what to treat
- Well water testing checklist for Lehigh Acres, Alva, and rural Lee County homes
- On a septic system in Lehigh Acres or Alva? The basics every owner should know
- No water at all? Meter, well pump, or utility
Common questions from Lehigh Acres homeowners
How do I know if my Lehigh Acres house is on a well?
Look for a pressure tank, usually a blue or gray cylinder in the garage or outside near a pipe coming up from the ground, and for the absence of a water bill. FGUA customers get a bill. Well homes in Lehigh are almost always on septic too, so a lid or riser in the yard is another clue.
I have no water at all. Is it the well or the plumbing?
Check the pump breaker first. If it is on and the pump is silent or running with no pressure, it is the pump, switch, or tank. If you are on FGUA water, check with a neighbor and the utility before calling. Either way, we can tell you what failed on the first visit.
Can a water softener hurt my septic tank?
Softener regeneration sends salty brine into the septic system, and opinions differ on how much that matters. A salt-free conditioner protects against scale with no discharge, and a modern softener can be set to regenerate less often. We go over both before you choose.
Why did my water heater fail so early?
Hard, iron-heavy well water scales the bottom of a tank and eats anode rods years ahead of schedule, and a hot garage does the rest. Treating the water ahead of the new heater is the fix that makes the next one last.