Central Plumbing
Company Overview
A family-run enterprise established by trustworthy plumbers.
The Payne family established Central Plumbing Co. 40 decades ago, and we take pride to run the business today.
We have increased from a single truck to over 20, always delivering exceptional customer service and plumbing expertise.
Our president, Jay Payne, a fourth-generation plumber, ensures that every service call meets our strict standards.
We emphasize service, delivering round-the-clock support for our customers and staff.
You can count on real people to assist you whenever you need us.
To fulfill your plumbing needs, we provide free consultations and fixed pricing.
With advanced training and the latest technology, our professional team is ready to handle any plumbing problem.
We are proud to keep the safety of homes and the health of families.
Central Plumbing, founded in 1974 by my parents, Jerry and Bennie Payne, began in our driveway in Tanglewood subdivision, Central, Louisiana.
Before Central Plumbing, my father was a union plumber, and finding work was difficult at that time.
He took a job in Hollywood, Florida, just to bring food on the table.
I was told that he was on his way back to pick us up to move to Florida when he came up with the idea to start his own business.
He envisioned providing service work to address leaks in faucets, sinks, and other small tasks.
With plans to retire, my father handed the business to his children.
I have been part of this business for 28 years, and it is genuinely a part of my soul.
My wife and I chose to take the risk and buy the company.
We have operated our business as usual since 1974.
I am a graduate of Central High School.
I attended LSU for continuing education courses.
I am a licensed Master Plumber.
I am affiliated with the PHCC (Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling Contractors).
At Central Plumbing Company, I have held every position.
From 1984 to 1988, I worked as a helper.
I was involved with the sewer truck from 1988 to 1990.
I served as a service plumber from 1991 to 1994.
From 1994 to 2000, I served as an estimator.
From 2000 to 2006, I was the Vice President/Project Manager.
Since 2006, I have been the owner and CEO.
Business Services
- Bathtub installation
- Bathtub repair
- Drain installation
- Drain repair
- Faucet installation
- Faucet repair
- Garbage disposal repair
- Gas line installation
- Gas line repair
- Plumbing inspection
- Plumbing installation or replacement
- Plumbing repair
- Shower installation
- Shower repair
- Sink installation
- Sink repair
- Toilet installation
- Toilet repair
- Water heater installation
- Water heater repair
- Water pipe installation
- Water pipe repair
Business Location & Hours
Mon: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Tue: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Wed: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Thu: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Fri: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Sat: | Closed |
Sun: | Closed |
Recommended Customer Reviews

Finding a good plumber is very difficult...keep looking. These guys took advantage of me, gave me bad advice, and charged me for nothing. The only thing that was a priority for them was getting my credit card number to charge me for a trip charge. Even the trip charge was more than I was quoted...just avoid Central Plumbing.

WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER CAME ACROSS IN MY LIFE! Our water heater pilot stopped working on a Sunday. My husband calls Monday morning and was told that no one was available until the next day. Get a call later that day and was told that someone could come by the same day...sounded great. Unfortunately, the tech comes and leaves us two separate estimates. The first estimate was for a part (gas control valve) we were told that he would have to do research to find the part because it is difficult to find (Water heater is only 6 years old!) and the second estimate was for a new water heater with an estimate of $1400!! The tech told us he would call us tomorrow (Tuesday) to give an update. Never heard from the tech! None of this made since to my husband and I when we were told the part needed was extremely hard to find. We felt from the get go they were just trying to make us get a new water heater. With a fast search on Amazon we found the part and my husband ordered it. Just to see where we stood with central plumbing I called on Wednesday afternoon explaining we do not have hot water and I have two little ones that we are having to bring to other places just to give them baths and the receptionist told me she would get in touch with the tech to find out about an update. She tells me that the tech ordered the part and it should come in on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon and that once the part arrived to call them and let them know. Keep in mind you pay $165.90 just for them to come look and you would think since they are a plumbing company they would have parts readily available....WRONG! Once the part came in it was going to cost another $165.90 to install. I was told that our water heater was still covered under warranty and that the parts were free and shipping was free. Friday rolls around and we still do not have the part that was ordered from the tech and the part we ordered from Amazon wasn't going to be in for several days. I called central plumbing again to get an update and was told I needed to call Rheem to track the package. This did not sit well with me because the customer should not be responsible for tracking a package that central plumbing placed the order. Central plumbing explained to me that I had to be the one to call because the warranty information was with my husband and I. I called rheem to only be told they do not have any information I was giving them and I called central plumbing to explain they couldn't find the tracking information and that central plumbing should have received an email with the tracking information. The receptionist told me that the tech has been doing plumbing work for a very long time and that Rheem has never done this in the past. She told me that she will check with the tech and give me a call right back...I never heard back. Weekend goes by and I get a phone call on Monday from central plumbing to tell me that they needed my email to send me estimates. I open my email and it's for a new water heater!!! Why on earth would I get this email if I am still waiting on the part that they told me we would have delivered to our house?? I emailed back explaining to them and then was sent another email with an estimate for the part and shipping with labor cost!!! Central plumbing then tells me our tank is no longer covered under warranty and that's why we have to pay $388.90 for the part and labor. This company lied so many times to us and clearly shows that the part was never ordered in the first place by the tech! Our Amazon package finally comes in and my husband replaced the gas control valve himself and guess what?! It still wouldn't turn on and we were told by several friends to change out the thermocouple since the pilot won't stay on. Ordered again from Amazon and changing the thermocouple worked. Not only did central plumbing completely waste our time, but they clearly are in it for the money! To sum this up they tried selling us a new water heater and if we would have gone the part route with them and it would not have worked we would have been charged more to either get us to get another part or to cave in with getting a new water heater. I do not recommend this company to anyone!! Use a more reliable plumbing company. My fault for not reading reviews first and seeing how terrible of a company they truly are!

This company is not reputable.
What they did wrong was more than they did right.
Never came back to fix the problems.

Called Central Plumbing to troubleshoot and repair a water heater that was having hot water issues. Salestaff member Gary upsold me on swapping out the unit instead of actually fixing the issue. This company came recommended by the manufacture website as a certified trained professional. Choosing to go with Central Pluming was the WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!!!!!
They charged me an outrageous labor fee and never mentioned their labor per house is $450 per hour. I asked office staff Lisa and Kim what the hourly rate was and they never gave me a exact dollar figure per hour they said it was around the diagnostic fee which is $169. NO CLUE HOW $450 IS CLOSE TO $169. These people are a scam. DO NOT choose this place, they are crooked and steal your hard earned money. This company puts a bad name on the plumbing industry.

What a great experience! Everyone we dealt with was friendly, courteous and helpful. I own a townhome in Baton Rouge for my college kids to live in. They made the situation of being out of town easy. Payment on credit card. They had even scheduled the service before I was able to get the paperwork back to them.
The technician explained the whole situation to my son and what happened. He them explained all that he corrected. I cannot recommend them enough.

Central changed a couple of spickets at my home today. The plumber was on time, very professional, and they were reasonably priced. Excellent overall.

We received excellent service from Central Plumbing! Zack, Gary and Troy were extremely thorough in diagnosing our leak issue. We had previously contacted several companies that could not figure out the issue so we were so thankful they were able to give us some help and guide us in the right direction.

**UPDATE to my review from 2 weeks ago** So after filing a complaint with the BBB, this company still chooses not to acknowledge their failure to tell us up front that they don't work on the logs & that we had already told them at the time we called that we checked the line for leaks but that our issue was with the smell emitted during use of the fire logs. Your company has unsatisfactory business practices, not to mention the nonexistent customer service skills in the office, and after trying to resolve through the BBB, it's obvious you have no intention to resolve customer issues FAIRLY. I will be looking into other avenues (Federal Trade Commission, Louisiana Attorney General, Louisiana Dept. of Revenue, etc) for resolution in this matter because that is how strongly I feel that this company should be held responsible for their treatment of customers & how they conduct business. It is only $120, but to me that is hard earned money & shouldn't be taken away by people like this, people only interested in fattening their pockets, no concern for customer service at all. If I don't see any of my money back, then I at least hope the negative reviews left here as well as Yelp & Google & the complaint filed with the BBB deters at least someone from wasting their hard earned money with this company. I will repeat - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!

Unsatisfactory communication and Customer service. In May 2019 Central Plumbing was one of the only plumbers available to call on a sunday evening. We paid the overtime evening weekend price to have a tech come out and unstop our line that was backing up into the house, after a few hours he said it was clear. Low and behold it was not clear and the system started backing up again the very next day. We called again and asked for help, they came back and did a ""hydro"" of the line to clear it out. and all was fine until this past Sunday August 2019. I called on Monday and explained that the same situation was happening again and that last time we needed the hydro to clear the line and would they be able to come out and do the hydro so we would have some peace of mind before leaving for a vacation. They said sure, but they would want to do an estimate to replace the main line so this would not happen again. I agreed. I was at work and my Father in law came to the house to meet the plumber and be there on my behalf. They did not talk to my father in law and did not give him an update, they did not ask for him to run any water or seem to do any due dillangace in making sure the line was clear, they did not do an estimate to replace the line and when i got home and looked at the bill it did not mention the hydro and all they communicated to my father in law was that it was, ""ALL CLEAR"" and we paid $229. As you can guess, it was not all clear. After giving my daughter a bath the line stoped up again, the toilets would not flush and sewage backed up into the tub and shower. I had to call again and ask why the hydro was not done, and that they needed to come back and finish the job. I then had to take the day off work to make sure the hydro was done and that the line was in fact clear. The bill came $450 for the 2nd day. I asked if there was any consideration they could take for the fact that communication was not handled correctly and a 2nd day was needed. after back and forth for over 2 hours they insisted I needed to simply pay the $450. I will never call upon this company again. They do not have good faith or concern for their customers. I will look else where to find a company to replace the main line to my house as my trust in Central Plumbing has been diminished.

Stay away from this company. If I could rate a company lower than a 1 it would be Central Plumbing. Set up an appointment to have a small leak repaired on one of outside water lines, I had marked the area where the leak was, if the huge wet area wasn't enough, I even offered to meet the plumber at my house but he said he could find it. When I returned home from work I noticed they had worked on the wrong line, Which was not leaking! They said they worked on site for 3 hours, which I don't believe by the small shovel of dirt that was disturbed. Charged me over $400 for NOT fixing he leak. After repeated attempts by my wife and I to resolve this issue they stopped answering our calls and offered us no resolution. I work for a major chemical company that has used central Plumbing in the past, and when I spoke to our company representative about Central, he said "" you didn't use central Plumbing at your house, those guys are the worst!"" So I will do my best to make sure our company uses a different plumbing company in the future! Very disappointed in this company, would never recommend them to anyone