A licensed local plumber who knows what Apache Junction water, 1980s polybutylene and monsoon season do to a house. Hard water, repipes, drains, water heaters and emergencies — priced before we start, with nothing added afterward.
Your water is quietly destroying your plumbing right now
At 15 to 25 grains per gallon, Apache Junction water is among the hardest in the country — and it is only one of four things working against houses here. Between Superstition Mountain and Gold Canyon we deal with all four every week.
A plumber who has worked this town for sixteen years does not have to diagnose these from scratch. Tell us the year your house was built and which street you are on, and we can usually tell you what we expect to find before we open a cabinet. Here is the short version of why.
Hard water at 15–25 grains per gallon
Apache Junction water tests between 15 and 25 grains per gallon. The Water Quality Association classifies anything above 10.5 as very hard, so we run at roughly two to two and a half times that threshold.
That “not-quite-hot-enough” shower, the dishwasher that leaves film, the water heater that rumbles and pops — they are all the same problem. Every month it goes untreated, the deposit inside your heater, your valves and your fixtures gets thicker.
What actually fixes it: Whole-home softening, an annual water heater flush, and anode rod replacement on a two to three year interval rather than the standard five.
Expert tip: Flush your water heater annually. At this hardness, sediment builds roughly twice as fast as it does on soft water — and a flush only removes it while it is still loose.
Polybutylene and galvanized pipe in older neighborhoods
Homes built between roughly 1978 and 1995 — a large share of Ironwood Estates, Acoma Estates and the tracts along Ironwood Drive — were plumbed with polybutylene: dull gray flexible pipe, usually stamped PB2110. Pre-1978 homes closer to downtown typically have galvanized steel.
Polybutylene does not leak politely. Chlorine degrades it from the inside until it is brittle, then it splits at full pressure — usually behind drywall, usually while nobody is home. Galvanized fails the opposite way, rusting closed until your pressure has quietly halved.
What actually fixes it: A planned repipe in PEX on your schedule, at a fixed written price, with the drywall repaired as part of the job. Most single-story homes here take one to three days.
Expert tip: Open the cabinet under a bathroom sink tonight. Dull gray flexible pipe stamped PB2110 means you should be planning rather than hoping — send us a photo and we will identify it free.
Properties beyond municipal service — through Gold Canyon, out past Goldfield Ghost Town and across rural Pinal County — run on private wells. That water is untreated and commonly carries dissolved iron, sometimes manganese, and frequently hydrogen sulfide.
That reddish staining in the sinks and the rotten-egg smell from the taps are the visible half. The expensive half is invisible: iron permanently fouls water softener resin, and we have replaced beds destroyed inside two years by a softener installed in the wrong order.
What actually fixes it: Sediment filtration first, then iron and sulfur removal, then softening — designed off an actual lab panel rather than a test strip. On a well you are the utility, and sequence beats brand every time.
Expert tip: Test well water annually for bacteria and nitrate at minimum. Aquifer chemistry here genuinely shifts after a heavy monsoon season, and a compromised wellhead seal can admit surface influence.
Between June and September a single storm can put a large volume of water into a sewer system very quickly. A lateral that carries daily flow fine despite being half restricted by scale or roots will not carry a surge.
The surplus comes up through the lowest opening inside your house — a floor drain, a garage drain, a first-floor shower. That is contaminated water in your home, during a storm, at emergency rates.
What actually fixes it: Clear the main line in spring, and camera it if it has backed up more than once. A recurring backup has a physical cause — roots, scale, a crack or a belly — and clearing it again without looking is paying to treat a symptom.
Expert tip: Schedule main line cleaning before June. The April version of this job is a scheduled morning; the July version is an emergency with water damage attached.
What is in your walls depends on the year it was built
Most homeowners have no idea what their supply lines are made of — and it is the single fact that determines whether you are looking at a repair or a repipe. Find your era.
Typical plumbing materials, risk level and what to check, by construction era, for homes in Apache Junction, AZ
Built
Supply lines
Drains
Risk
What to check
Before 1978Apache Village, Hazelwood, Apache Homes, downtown corridor
Galvanized steel
Cast iron or vitrified clay
High
Pressure that has faded over years, plus rusty water on the first draw of the morning. Not repairable — the whole run corrodes at the same rate.
1978 – 1995Ironwood Estates, Acoma Estates, Apache East Estates
Polybutylene (PB2110)
Cast iron, clay or early ABS
High
Dull gray flexible pipe under the sinks. Fails without warning, at full pressure, usually behind drywall.
1985 – 2000Desert Harbor, Sonoma Valley, Mountain View
Copper, often unsleeved in the slab
ABS or PVC
Moderate
A warm patch on a tile floor with nothing running above it. Hot lines abrade against concrete and fail first.
2000 – 2015Jacob’s Ranch, Cortez Ranch, Saguaro Canyon Village
PEX or copper
PVC
Low
The pipe is fine; the builder-grade equipment is not. Water heaters, angle stops and fill valves all reach end of life together around year eight to twelve.
2015 onwardVistara, Silver Cross, Mesquite Trails, Dolce Vita
PEX
PVC
Low
Nothing is failing yet, which makes it the cheapest moment to treat the water — equipment that starts life on softened water lasts dramatically longer.
Complete plumbing services for Apache Junction homes
35 services covering everything from a running toilet to a whole-home repipe — plus the heating, cooling and remodeling work that plumbing-only shops have to sub out.
Restaurants, rentals, mobile home parks and small commercial. Scheduled maintenance that keeps you off the emergency list.
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Why choose us
Six reasons neighbors call us instead of a franchise
We are not the biggest plumbing company in the East Valley. We are the one whose owner answers the phone and still runs calls.
Actually local, not a franchise territory
Our shop is at 870 W 15th Ave in Apache Junction. Shane, Leo and Justin live here. You are not calling a dispatch center that has to look up where you are.
The quote is the price
You hear the number before we start and it does not change afterward. It is the single thing customers mention most often in our reviews, and it is not an accident.
We know what this water does
At 15–25 grains per gallon, hard water is behind most plumbing failures in this town. We fix the failure and tell you what caused it, which is usually the more valuable half.
Licensed, insured and permitted
AZ ROC classification CR-37 Plumbing, BBB accredited with an A+ rating. We pull permits and pass the fee through at cost — no shortcuts that cost you at resale.
Plumbing, HVAC and remodeling under one roof
When a slab leak opens a floor or a bath remodel needs the water moved, one company handles it. Nobody gets to point at somebody else when something does not work.
Family-owned and veteran-owned
Small enough that you deal with the same people every time, and accountable in a town where reputation travels fast. Veteran and senior discounts available.
16+
Years as a master plumber
Locally owned & operated
Run by a master plumber who lives here too
Shane Hooper is a master plumber with more than 16 years in the trade and the owner of AllStar Home Services. He lives in Apache Junction, answers the phone himself most days, and still runs calls. AllStar is a family business and a veteran-owned one, with about 60 years of combined experience across Shane, Leo and Justin.
That matters more than it sounds like it does. In a town this size, how a contractor treats one customer gets known quickly — and we have to see you at the grocery store afterward.
Shane — Master Plumber & Owner. Sixteen-plus years in the trade. Handles diagnostics, repipes, tankless installs and every estimate that goes out the door.
Leo — Service Plumber. Drain cleaning, hydro jetting and sewer camera work. If a line in your house is slow, Leo is usually the one who finds out why.
Justin — Service Plumber. Water heaters, fixtures, softener installs and remodel rough-ins. Known for leaving a job site cleaner than he found it.
From our shop on 15th Ave we cover Gold Canyon, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Mesa, Gilbert and the length of Pinal County — plus every Apache Junction neighborhood and mobile community.
Every competitor in this town hides pricing behind a quote form. We are not going to publish flat rates we cannot honour on a house we have not seen — but we will tell you exactly how the money works before you call.
The reason we do not print a price list is simple: an honest number depends on what actually failed, how deep it is, what is on top of it and whether a permit is required. A published rate that moves once we arrive is worse than no rate at all.
What you get instead is a written number before anything starts — and it is the thing our customers mention in reviews more than any other.
Water heater replacements, repipes, water treatment, sewer repairs and remodels are quoted free, in writing, before anything is ordered.
Diagnostic visits carry a service call fee
Where we have to find out what is actually wrong before anyone can price it, there is a service call fee — and it is applied to the repair if you go ahead with us.
The quote is the price
You hear the number before we start and it does not move afterward. If we genuinely find something different once a wall is open, we stop, show you, and issue a written change before continuing.
Senior, veteran and first responder discounts
Available on request with valid ID. You do have to ask, which is why we mention it on the phone — it comes off the estimate.
Free on-site water hardness test
We test your actual hardness during any service call at no charge, so treatment gets sized to a real number rather than a citywide average.
After-hours rates, stated up front
Emergency, weekend and holiday work costs more than a Tuesday morning. You hear that number on the phone before we dispatch, never on the invoice.
What neighbors say
4.7★ from 20 Google reviews
Real reviews, published exactly as our customers wrote them. We publish the critical ones too — you can read every single review on our reviews page.
We had a great experience with Shane installing our tankless water heater. He was friendly, respectful, and clearly very knowledgeable. He walked us through the process, explained everything in a way that was easy to understand, and made sure we felt confident and comfortable about the work being do…
Shane was able to come out within 2 hours of contact to check my water heater. I had been dealing with contractors and a warranty company for weeks and I got everything settled and will get my install all in a 48 hour window. I prayed for this and Shane showed up! Great customer service!!
One of the best plumbing companies I have had come out of one of the properties! Shane is a great and honest guy! Went out of his way to solve a problem a previous plumber created. Knew exactly how to solve the issue and was very knowledgeable on how to make the situation much better than it origina…
1 / 8
Homeowner guides
Straight answers about plumbing in the desert
Hard water, polybutylene, monsoon prep, well systems and what things actually cost. Written by the people who do the work.
Estimates on planned work — water heater replacements, repipes, water softener installs, sewer line repairs and remodels — are free and given in writing before anything starts. Diagnostic calls, where we have to find out what is actually wrong before anyone can price it, carry a service call fee that gets applied to the repair if you move forward with us. You will always hear the number before we pick up a tool.
We are based at 870 W 15th Ave in Apache Junction, not dispatched from a call center in Phoenix, so most of our service area is a short drive. Same-day appointments are common, and true emergencies — burst supply line, sewage backing up into the house, no water at all — get moved to the front of the schedule. One customer wrote that Shane was at her door within two hours of first contact. That is the standard we hold ourselves to.
Local water runs roughly 15 to 25 grains per gallon, which the Water Quality Association classifies as very hard. Every gallon that moves through your house leaves calcium and magnesium behind. That scale insulates the bottom of a water heater tank so it burns more gas to make the same hot water, narrows the inside of supply lines, chews through faucet cartridges and toilet fill valves, and coats the heat exchanger of a tankless unit. It is the single biggest reason plumbing in this town wears out ahead of schedule.
Yes. AllStar Home Services holds an Arizona Registrar of Contractors license in classification CR-37 (Plumbing), issued in November 2024, and we carry liability insurance on every job. We are also BBB accredited with an A+ rating under Plumber, Bathroom Remodel, Remodel Contractors and Drywall Repair. Ask any contractor for their ROC classification before you let them in the door — it is public record and it takes thirty seconds to check.
Possibly. Homes built in Apache Junction and across the East Valley between roughly 1978 and 1995 were often plumbed with polybutylene — dull gray or blue-gray flexible pipe, usually visible under a sink or at the water heater. Chlorine in treated water makes it brittle from the inside out, and it tends to fail without warning. Pre-1978 homes often have galvanized steel, which rusts closed and drops your pressure. Either way, a fifteen-minute look under two sinks tells us what you have.
We do. Plenty of properties in Gold Canyon, the Goldfield area and the rural edges of Pinal County are on private wells, and well chemistry here is a different animal from city water — iron staining, sediment, sulfur smell and seasonal swings after monsoon rain. We service well pumps and pressure tanks and size filtration and softening around what your specific water actually tests at, not a generic package.
Apache Junction is home base, and we regularly work throughout Gold Canyon, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe, Fountain Hills, Florence, Coolidge, Casa Grande, Maricopa, Eloy, Superior and Mammoth. If you are not sure whether your address is in range, call and ask — we will tell you straight rather than send a truck you have to pay for.
Coverage varies more than almost any other claim type, so check your own policy rather than assuming. Many Arizona policies cover the cost of accessing the leak — the concrete cutting — and the resulting water damage, while excluding the failed pipe itself. Others exclude anything they can classify as gradual seepage rather than a sudden failure. Document everything with photos from day one, note when you discovered it and when you shut the water off, and call your carrier early. We provide the photos, thermal images, a measured loss rate and a written scope, which is usually what determines whether a claim succeeds.
Once a year for a system on municipal supply, and more often if you are on a well with any iron present. A yearly service means checking the resin bed, verifying the metered regeneration settings against your actual hardness, cleaning the brine tank and confirming the output with a test. The two things that quietly kill softeners here are an undersized unit regenerating constantly and iron reaching an unprotected resin bed — both are avoidable, and both are cheaper to prevent than to fix.
Yes. AllStar is a home services company: plumbing is the core, and we also handle heating and cooling and full remodeling work including bathrooms, kitchens, drywall and finish carpentry. That matters when a job crosses trades — a slab leak that opens up a floor, or a bathroom remodel that needs the water moved before tile goes down. One company, one point of contact, one crew responsible for the result.
Licensing, insurance & credentials
Everything here is verifiable in about a minute
Arizona contractor licensing is public record. Search the Registrar of Contractors database for any contractor you are considering — including us.
CR-37 Plumbing
Arizona Registrar of Contractors license, issued November 2024. Licensed and insured on every job.
BBB A+
Accredited June 2026 under Plumber, Bathroom Remodel, Remodel Contractors, Drywall Repair.
16+ years
Shane Robert Hooper, master plumber and owner — still writes the estimates and runs calls.
60+ years
Combined experience across plumbing, heating & cooling and remodeling.
Water hardness figures on this page reflect the 15–25 grains per gallon range documented for Apache Junction supply; the Water Quality Association classifies anything above 10.5 grains as very hard. Pricing policy, local codes and water quality data on this page are reviewed annually. Last reviewed .
Same-day service is often available.
Burst pipe, no hot water, a drain that will not clear, or a repipe you have been putting off — we are ten minutes from most of Apache Junction.
