Charlie's Plumbing
Company Overview
Charlie's Plumbing offers constant service to educational and municipal facilities. Serving the Houston region since 1979. Our company is certified by WBENC and HUB, and we hold various safety and TWIC certifications. Our services include video line and leak locating, waste repairs, gas and water line repairs, hydro-jetting, backflow certification, and boiler service.
We are a WBENC-certified business and is certified by WBENC. Started by Charlie (yes, there is a real Charlie) in 1979, it is now owned and operated by Merrill Crawford. I became part of Charlie's Plumbing in 1998 and took over in 2008. Our company is not only a plumbing service; it is a family business and functions as a family in itself. We value each other and our clients.
Business Services
- Plumbing inspection
- Water heater 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

Technician Ramon came out and due to his experience was able to diagnose the water leak was not from plumbing but upstairs a/c unit. He save me a lot of grief and expense in not having to tear up my ceiling to find leak.

Worst experience ever! Such a shame as the last time I called them they were very responsive. Unfortunately not this time. I called because we needed the shower looked at (was told by the plumber that a screw needed tightening). They also replaced a seal on a drain at the bathroom sink and left telling me all was fixed. Not so. Once I turned on the faucet, water began to seep heavily from under the faucet cold side. How was this missed as it was so obvious even to me??? I called the company back and even had to speak with a manager to ask why they didn't see this very obvious leak before they left. The manager seemed to agree. I found out the person replacing the sink seal told me he was an apprentice who admitted later that he didn't tell the other guy about the leak (and the other plumber didn't check himself before he left either knowing the first guy was learning). Over an hour later they returned to tell me a plastic stem in the faucet needed replacement. They went off to Home Depot to pick one up. They returned and replaced the plastic piece. I looked up the Home Depot price and saw they had them for $15.98 but I was charged $28.54 along with a $5.50 seal kit and $330 hours worth of time for a total bill of $388.50!! Considering they spent less than an hour total at my house between visits I find this extremely offensive. Needless to say I won't be using this plumbing service again.

Back in December 2020....Loved that they showed up in a mask. However, the first thing that the guy said was "How did you hear about us? You do know we are the most expensive plumber in town right?" I was like okay. I called them because they are local. They installed an brand new hot water system including a vent through my roof. But took FOREVER! They left on multiple occasions and were gone for long per of time. After everything was installed they left us with low water pressure and told us we needed to replace the kitchen faucet. Fast forward to February, there was a leak on the hot water. Called them out because there is a warranty. Sam guy came out and said thats not our fault. This is your issue. This and this needs to be replaced. Instead of replacing everything at the beginning like I thought they were doing. Instead I had to pay a service fee for a 5 minute consultation. Will NEVER use Charlie's Plumbing again.

Terrible experience from this company, the only thing they do good is asking your credit card number. Plumber don't check anything, then followed with hundreds dollars of bill. They will charge your card even the they couldn't fix the issue. When you call them again, they will tell you pay for another visit first. There is a lot of decent plumbers on the market, but not from this one.

Horrible service. Do not call this plumber. Does not back up his work. And they rip you off and don't care if their service don't work. OVER CHARGES FOR TERRIBLE SERVICE. Plumber took all day to hook up a stackable washer and dryer (new machine) then it didn't even work. They also put my connections in and they overcharged me then too. And they don't do what they said they would, call me back. Then to top it all off, they charged my credit card with notification. When I called them they said "if it doesn't work is not our problem." They are blaming the appliance which I had inspected before I purchased it.

Very good experience working with this company. I had a water leak coming from the unit above mine. They arrived early and were able to determine the cause and resolve it on a timely manner.

This review is for our most recent experience with this company. There were other times they did a respectable job, but this one was awful. We had them out to test for leaks in our pipes, which is not hard to do, but is best done by someone competent. We thought that would be Charlie's. When the plumber showed up, he announced that he did not have the proper materials. About 45 minutes later, with nothing accomplished, he said that someone from the shop was on the way with the correct materials. After they arrived, he immediately lost his ball to the city's side of the water clean out, which took 2 hours to resolve. Then tried to test the lines, which appeared to be inconclusive. They auto-charged my card over $800 for apparently the full period of time wasted by the plumber, who did not apparently get the job done. Then suggested that they come back and go through the lines with a camera, which no doubt would cost significantly more. Extremely disappointed.

Very disappointed by the service provided by this company, especially after my neighbors had such positive experiences with them.
I had a leak in my water heater pipe, and after the first visit I was told that they did not have the valve they needed in stock (despite having installed it themselves.) In the week or so that followed, I needed to call them twelve times to see what they planned to do to fix my heater; I was promised a call back or a call from a manager multiple times, but I had to call in myself on almost all occasions.
After the valve was repaired, I discovered a small second leak in the water heater that Charlie's Plumbing had missed during the first two visits, the plumbers who arrived for the third time were EXTREMELY surly and rude, not only to me but to my neighbor. They also left without telling me they were going, what they had discovered, what they needed or how they planned to proceed.
Because the second leak was not found, it caused damage to my downstairs neighbor's ceiling, which now has to be fixed at my expense.
While I could understand them not finding the smaller leak in my water heater, it was extremely frustrating to be told that they did not have parts in stock, that I needed to call repeatedly after being promised that someone would speak to me, and to be treated so brusquely on the third occasion that the plumbers visited. I will not be using them again.

Do not call this plumber!! Put down your phone!! Step away!!! No, RUN AWAY!!!
You know those "licensed professionals" you've always heard horror stories about? The ones who take advantage of unsuspecting, unknowing home owners, simply because they can? Well, these guys are who those stories are about, and I just happened to catch them in the act.
So now I'm spreading the word in hopes of empowering other homeowners to protect themselves against blatant acts of sabotage and deceit. Here goes...
One day, Centerpoint came out to test our home for a gas leak. Thankfully, they did not find one, but they did have to shut off the pilot in the water heater as part of the test. Afterward, they could not reignite the pilot light and said I would need a plumber. We called Charlie's Plumbing. The so-called "licensed professional" emerged from the attic, claiming we needed a new pilot switch, but that the maker of the water heater no longer manufactured that switch. The only solution is buying a new water heater. Two weeks went by as we waited for this water heater.
Fortunately, our electrician just so happened to be working in the attic the day it was scheduled for installation. He overheard me explaining about having to buy a new $1000 water heater because the manufacturer no longer made this pilot switch.
When I got off the phone, he said, "Ma'am, I apologize for eavesdropping, but I've been in your attic all day and your water heater is only about 2 years old. Plus, it's Rheem, one of the largest makers of water heaters in the world. There is no way they no longer make that part. Call my supplier and ask him."
I do. Note, by now, the water heater is scheduled to be delivered/installed in less than one hour. I have to act quick! The supplier says, "Yep, they still make that part. You should call them and they'll send you a replacement part for free. Your unit is still under warranty."
Interesting. So I call Rheem. Yep, they overnighted the new pilot switch, for free.
So when Charlie's Plumbing drove up with our new water heater, I said, "You guys lied to us. A replacement part is on its way. Take your water heater and go." And they did.
But that is not where the story ends. I hired a new plumber to install the switch. That guy says, "Um, your problem is not the pilot switch." He showed me pics of where the Charlie's Plumbing pro severed the thermostatic valve cleanly from the water heater. Cut. Destroyed. Sabotaged. And then had the nerve to tell me it was the pilot switch. I know nothing about water heaters, so I had not choice but to believe him.
This new plumber didn't charge me for the visit, and he instructed me to get the correct part from Rheem, and then call when it arrived. I did, he installed it, and it's been working great ever since.
If you're in the market for some awesome sabotage, lies, and deceit. Not to mention, outright hemorrhaging of your hard-earned money, then Charlie's Plumbing is your kind of place. The rest of us will be over here, shaking our heads, thinking, "We tried to warn 'em."

They are a rip off couldn't even complete a simple clean out.. paid them for an hour of time got 35 mins of time and right when they left, the washer backed up.. called them back and was told they wouldn't do anything about it unless I gave them another 300.. scammers will report to BBB. Thanks for nothing. Hope you karma gets ya.. matter of time