Emergency Plumbing
Burst pipes, sewer backups and dead water heaters do not wait for business hours. Neither do we — a real plumber answers, day or night.
Learn more
24/7 emergency service · MHIC #117712
Plumber in Catonsville, MD — Family Owned for Over 40 Years
Repairs, installations, remodels and emergency service for the homes of Catonsville and the Baltimore metro. Call and a plumber answers — day, night, weekend or holiday.
- 9 five-star reviews
- 40+ years experience
- Licensed & insured · MHIC #117712
9
Five-star Google reviews
Verified, not bought
40+
Years of experience
Family owned and operated
24/7
Emergency service
A plumber answers, not a service
MHIC
Licensed #117712
Fully insured, permits pulled
Free
Hard water testing
On every service call
What we do
Plumbing services across Catonsville and Baltimore County
27 services covering everything from a running toilet to a full repipe. Every one of them starts the same way — we look at the problem, tell you what it is, and give you the price before we start.
Drain Cleaning
We clear the clog, then camera the line to show you what caused it — because in an older Catonsville home a slow drain is rarely just hair and soap.
Learn moreSewer Line Repair
Roots, bellies and cracked clay laterals — diagnosed on camera and repaired with the least digging your yard can get away with.
Learn moreSump Pump Services
Storms here knock the power out exactly when your pump matters most. We size, install and back up pumps that actually run when the grid does not.
Learn moreWater Heater Repair & Installation
Repairs on every brand, tank or tankless — plus a free hard water test, because Catonsville water is why most heaters here die early.
Learn moreWater Softeners & Filtration
Free hardness testing on every visit, then softeners and filtration sized for Catonsville water — the fix that makes every other plumbing repair last longer.
Learn moreLeak Detection & Repair
Electronic detection finds the leak before the drywall comes down. We locate it precisely, then repair it with the smallest opening the job allows.
Learn moreWater Line Repair
The buried line from the meter to your house is yours to maintain. We find the failure, then repair or replace it with as little digging as possible.
Learn moreWhole-House Repiping
When a house starts leaking in a second place, patching stops being the cheap option. We repipe in stages or all at once, with the smallest openings possible.
Learn moreBathroom Plumbing & Remodels
From a stuck shower valve to a full bathroom re-plumb — including the older Catonsville bathrooms where nothing is standard size.
Learn moreKitchen Plumbing
Disposals, faucets, sinks, ice maker and dishwasher lines — plus the grease-loaded kitchen drains that older Catonsville homes are famous for.
Learn moreToilet Repair & Installation
Running, clogged, rocking or leaking — including the rotted flanges and non-standard roughs that older Catonsville bathrooms hide.
Learn moreResidential Plumbing Repairs
The ordinary stuff done properly — dripping valves, weak fixtures, mystery noises and the small failures that turn expensive if ignored.
Learn moreLeaky Pipe Repair
We repair the leak and then pressure-test the run — because in an older house the drip you found is often the second-oldest problem in the wall.
Learn moreClogged Pipe Repair
When clearing stops working, the pipe itself is the problem. We find out which section, how bad, and what it takes to fix properly.
Learn moreSlab Leak Repair
Warm patches on the floor and a bill that doubled. We locate it precisely, then price both a spot repair and a re-route so you can choose.
Learn moreFlood & Water Emergencies
Water coming in faster than it goes out. We stop the source, get the water moving, and tell you what caused it before it happens again.
Learn moreFaucet Installation & Repair
Drips, weak flow and seized handles — usually a cartridge and an aerator, not a new faucet. We will tell you which.
Learn moreBathtub & Shower Installation
Tubs, shower pans and tub-to-shower conversions — done with the drain, slope and valve depth right, because tile hides everything.
Learn morePlumbing Installation
New lines to new places — a basement bath, a laundry relocation, an addition. Permitted, vented properly and inspected before it is covered.
Learn moreHome Water System Upgrades
Treating the water system as one thing — supply, pressure, heating, treatment and distribution — instead of five separate service calls.
Learn moreRemodeling Plumbing
The plumbing side of a renovation, coordinated with your other trades and inspected before anything gets covered up.
Learn morePlumbing Maintenance
An annual visit that catches the cheap problems before they become the expensive ones. In hard-water Catonsville it pays for itself.
Learn moreGas Line Services
New gas runs for ranges, grills, dryers and generators, plus leak testing and repair — permitted, pressure-tested and inspected.
Learn moreVideo Pipe Inspection
A camera turns a guess into a diagnosis. Essential before you buy an older Catonsville home, remodel a bathroom, or agree to any sewer repair.
Learn moreHistoric Home Plumbing
Pre-1950 houses need a different approach. We upgrade galvanized supply and cast iron drainage without tearing apart what makes the house worth owning.
Learn moreCommercial Plumbing
Restaurants, offices, salons, retail and rental property along Frederick Road and beyond — with a response time that respects the fact you are losing money.
Learn moreWhy Catonsville calls us
Six reasons homeowners keep our number
We are not the cheapest plumber in Baltimore County and we do not try to be. What we offer is the thing people actually want from a trade: a straight answer, a fair price, and work that does not need doing again.
A family business, not a franchise
You get the same faces on every visit. Our reviews name Danny by name because that is who turns up. National chains send whoever is on the rota and start the explanation from scratch each time.
Older homes are our specialty
Galvanized supply, cast iron stacks, ten-inch toilet roughs and plaster walls are normal working conditions for us. We plan around them instead of being surprised by them halfway through your job.
Free hard water testing, every visit
Catonsville water runs 7–8.2 grains per gallon. That is why heaters die early here. We test on the spot at no charge, and if the number does not justify equipment we say so.
Price before work, in writing
You hear the number before we pick up a tool — including whether this is the permanent fix or a stop-the-bleeding repair. No hourly open-ended billing, no surprise add-ons.
Permits pulled, inspections met
Water heaters, sewer work and gas piping all require Baltimore County permits. We file them and meet the inspector. Un-permitted work has a way of surfacing at the worst moment in a home sale.
We clean up after ourselves
Our customers write about this more than anything else. Drop cloths, shoe covers, containment around the work area, and a floor left the way we found it. It is not optional here.
What working here actually teaches you
Four things about Catonsville plumbing that a national chain will not know
Every town has its own failure patterns. These are ours — the water, the housing stock, the trees and the weather. Knowing them before we arrive is the difference between a diagnosis and a guess.
The water: 7–8.2 grains, and it is why heaters die here
Catonsville runs on Baltimore City surface water, which arrives at roughly 120–141 PPM — about 7–8.2 grains per gallon. That is moderately hard to hard, and every gallon of it that gets heated leaves calcium behind on the bottom of the tank. A heater rated for ten to twelve years commonly gives six to eight here if nobody ever addressed the water. We test hardness free on every visit and show you the reading, because the number changes the recommendation.
More on water softeners and filtrationThe houses: pre-1950 stock with pre-1950 problems
Thousands of homes here were built before 1950, especially off Frederick Road and through Paradise and Westchester. The pattern is consistent: galvanized supply corroding from the inside so pressure drops room by room, cast iron drainage that scales and cracks, and venting that was never sized for the bathrooms since added. If your house predates 1986, the supply lines are also worth checking for lead solder.
More on historic home plumbingThe trees: mature roots and clay laterals do not mix
The tree canopy is part of why people move here, and it is the single most common cause of sewer backups we get called to. Roots find the joints in old clay and cast iron laterals, then catch everything that passes. If your property has mature trees, a camera inspection every two or three years costs a fraction of an emergency dig and tells you years in advance which way this is going.
More on camera inspectionThe seasons: two predictable spikes every year
Freeze calls cluster in the small hours of a cold snap, on pipes running through crawl spaces, garages and exterior walls — the runs nobody insulated. Then storm season overwhelms sump pumps, and the power tends to fail at exactly the moment the pump matters most, which is the whole argument for a battery backup. Both are cheap to prevent and expensive to clean up after.
More on sump pumps and backupsAll of it runs through Baltimore County, which means water heater replacements, sewer work and gas piping need permits and an inspection. We file them and meet the inspector ourselves — un-permitted work has a habit of surfacing at the worst possible moment, usually during a home sale.
Locally owned & operated
Three generations of Maryland plumbers, based on Westowne Road
We are a family owned and operated business dedicated to providing quality service to your home water system. We specialize in residential repairs, remodels, and upgrades. With over 40 years of experience, Collins & Sons, LLC is the right choice for your home.
Catonsville is not a service area on a map for us — it is where the trucks park at night. We have worked on the 1920s bungalows off Frederick Road, the colonials through Westchester and Oak Forest, and the newer builds out toward Rolling Road. There is a fair chance we have been inside a house on your street.
That matters because this town is really several housing stocks living side by side, and the right answer changes with the era. Knowing which one you have before we arrive is what keeps the estimate honest.
Most requested
The five calls we take most often
If one of these is why you are here, the service page will tell you what the job involves, what drives the price, and what we would check first.
Where we work
132 service areas across 7 Maryland counties
Based in Catonsville, working across Baltimore County, MD, Howard County, MD, Anne Arundel County, MD, Carroll County, MD, Frederick County, MD and Anne Arundel County. Response times are fastest in 21228 and 21229 — pick your town for the local detail.
Baltimore County
Howard County
Anne Arundel County
Carroll County
Frederick County
Montgomery County
What it costs
How we price the work, in plain terms
Sticker shock is the complaint we hear most about other plumbers, and almost all of it comes from finding out the number too late. Here is how ours works, before you call.
You get the number before we pick up a tool
In writing, after we have looked at the job. We will not quote blind over the phone, because a guess that turns out low helps nobody — but we will tell you what drives the cost so the figure is not a surprise when it comes.
Priced by the job, not by the hour
An open-ended hourly clock rewards the slow plumber and punishes you for a hard access. You agree a price for the work, and if the job turns out to be something other than what we quoted, we stop and have that conversation before continuing.
Free estimates on the big ones
Water heater replacement, sewer line work and whole-house repiping are free to estimate, with no obligation. Diagnostic service calls carry a service charge — we tell you what it is on the phone before we dispatch, never as a line item you discover on the invoice.
Repair or replace, answered honestly
Sometimes the right answer is the cheaper one. We say so, and we tell you how much life a repair is likely to buy, so you are choosing between real options rather than being sold the larger of two.
We do not publish a rate card, because the honest range for most of this work depends on what the house turns out to be doing — and a number on a page that does not survive contact with your basement is worse than no number at all. What we will commit to is that you hear the figure, and what drives it, before anything starts.
What our neighbors say
9 five-star reviews, and not one of them bought
These are real Google reviews, quoted as published. Several of them mention the same two things: we explain the work before we do it, and we clean up afterward.
Plumbing advice
Straight answers from forty years under Maryland houses
No filler, no fear-selling. Practical guides on the problems we actually get called about in Catonsville — several of which you can solve yourself in fifteen minutes.
Buying & Selling6 min read
Selling Your Home? Sort These Plumbing Items First
Every item on this list costs less to fix now than it does to concede at the negotiating table.
Remodeling7 min read
The Kitchen Remodel Plumbing Checklist
Whether the sink can move is decided by joist direction and drain slope. Find that out before the cabinets are ordered, not after.
Troubleshooting6 min read
No Hot Water? Work Through This Before You Call
Some of these you can fix yourself in ten minutes. Others need a plumber. Here is how to tell which you have.
Find us
Based at 209 Westowne Rd, Catonsville
Come by, or let us come to you. The office line is answered during business hours and the emergency line is answered around the clock.
- Address
- 209 Westowne Rd, Catonsville, MD 21229
- Phone
- +1 (207) 419-2600
- Hours
- Monday – Friday: 7:00 AM – 6:00 PMSaturday: 8:00 AM – 2:00 PMSunday: Emergency service onlyEmergency line: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- License
- MHIC #117712 · Maryland Home Improvement Commission · fully insured
Get Your Free Estimate
Tell us what is going on and we will get back to you with next steps. For anything urgent, please call — a form is the wrong tool for a burst pipe.
Common questions
Plumbing questions Catonsville homeowners ask us
Do you offer 24/7 emergency plumbing in Catonsville?
Yes. We answer the phone around the clock for burst pipes, sewer backups, gas smells and water heater failures. Collins & Sons is family owned and operated, so you reach someone who knows the trucks and the neighborhood rather than an answering service.
What areas do you serve?
We are based at 209 Westowne Rd in Catonsville and work across Baltimore County, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, Frederick County and Montgomery County. Response times are fastest in 21228, 21229 and the surrounding communities. Every city we cover has its own page under Service Areas.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. Collins & Sons LLC holds Maryland Home Improvement Commission license MHIC #117712 and carries full liability insurance. We also pull the permits required for water heater replacements, sewer work and gas piping, and we meet the inspector ourselves.
How much will my plumbing repair cost?
You get the price before we start any work, in writing. We will not quote a number over the phone without seeing the job, because guessing helps nobody — but we will explain exactly what drives the cost, and we tell you honestly when a repair makes more sense than a replacement.
Why do water heaters fail so quickly in Catonsville?
Hard water. Our supply runs roughly 120 to 141 PPM, about 7 to 8.2 grains per gallon, and that scale plates out on the bottom of the tank or inside a tankless heat exchanger. A unit rated for ten to twelve years commonly gives six to eight here without treatment or annual flushing. We test your hardness free on every visit.
Do you work on older homes?
It is most of what we do. Catonsville has one of the higher concentrations of pre-1950 housing in Baltimore County, which means galvanized supply lines, cast iron drainage, plaster-and-lath walls and non-standard fixture roughs. We plan around those conditions rather than being surprised by them.
How long have you been in business?
Collins & Sons LLC brings more than 40 years of experience to Maryland homes. We are a family owned and operated business specializing in residential repairs, remodels and upgrades to your home water system.
Do you offer free estimates?
We provide free, no-obligation estimates for larger projects such as water heater replacement, sewer line work and whole-house repiping. For diagnostic service calls there is a service charge, which we tell you about on the phone before we dispatch — never as a surprise on the invoice.
Get it fixed properly, the first time
Forty years, one family, and a phone that gets answered. Tell us what is going on and we will give you an honest arrival window and a price before any work starts.
- 9 five-star Google reviews
- 40+ years, family owned
- Licensed & insured · MHIC #117712