16 min read

Top 4 Plumbers in San Jose, CA

Quick Comparison

Firm Founded / Tenure & Credentials Services & Specialties Geographic Focus
Water Quality Plumbing Continuous family operation since 1970 (55 years), founded by Marty Satalino; three-generation Satalino family ownership with current operating team Marty Satalino Jr. (General Manager) and Jason Satalino (Water Treatment and New Construction); combined 70+ years of plumbing and water treatment industry experience across the named operating leadership; BBB A+ rating since 2007; Angie's List Super Service Award (Plumbing, Water Heaters, Water Softeners, Sewer Cleaning, Drain Cleaning); San Jose City and Neighborhood Favorite (NextDoor); 4.5-star Yelp rating; 25-year limited warranty on repiping work Video inspection, water heaters, water softeners, water purification, sewer service, gas systems, residential plumbing, commercial plumbing, new construction, remodeling, copper repiping, drain cleaning Willow Glen HQ (1716 Stone Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125); South Bay area / Santa Clara Valley
CPI Service (Consolidate Plumbing Services) Continuous operation since 1986 (39 years), founded by Craig and Jane McKinna as a small family-operated plumbing company supporting local property managers; McKinna family ownership through approximately 2023 when new ownership took control; current operations under "Consolidate Plumbing Services DBA CPI Service, Plumbing, Heating & Cooling"; CSLB License #1101278; Angi Certified Pro; BBB Accredited Business; 5-star Yelp; Google 5-Star Reviews; 35+ years of operating experience; 24/7/365 operation Residential and commercial plumbing, heating, cooling, drain cleaning, sewer service, water heater service, leak detection, fixture installation, gas line work, emergency plumbing South San Jose HQ (2880 Aiello Drive, San Jose, CA 95111); San Jose and Greater Bay Area region
Ribbs Plumbing & Sewer (R.P.S. Plumbing) Continuous firm operation since 1997 (28 years), founded by David Ribbs as a fourth-generation master plumber from the Ribbs family that has been providing plumbing services in Silicon Valley since 1927 (98-year cumulative family-trade tenure); CSLB License #1023081; NASSCO Certified sewer contractor; Certified Morgan Hill contractor (authorized for sewer lateral real estate transactions); Diamond Contractor Elite designation; Angi 2023 Super Service Award; HomeGuide 2024 recognition; free 1-year warranty on all services Pipe repair and leak detection, water heater installation and repair (traditional and tankless), drain cleaning, repair, and rooter services, sewer repair and trenchless sewer solutions, bathroom fixtures, garbage disposals, gas line work, hydro jetting and camera inspections, water filtration systems, sump pumps, septic tank services, kitchen plumbing and remodels, sprinkler system work South San Jose HQ (2912 Daylight Way, San Jose, CA 95111); San Jose, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, surrounding Silicon Valley communities
Venture Plumbing Continuous family operation since 2009 (16 years), founded by Derek and Norah Smith; family-owned and operated with the same core team since inception; CSLB License #C934775; factory-certified on the water heater brands the firm installs most; relocated headquarters from Campbell to San Jose in October 2025 to be closer to the heart of the South Bay Custom construction and service plumbing, residential and light commercial work, water heater installation, drain cleaning, leak detection, fixture services, sewer service, 24-hour booking Willow Glen HQ (228 San Jose Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125); 11 South Bay communities including San Jose, Campbell, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Los Altos, Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View

1. Water Quality Plumbing

  • Address: 1716 Stone Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
  • Phone (Plumbing Division): (408) 267-9330
  • Phone (Water Treatment): (408) 266-0707
  • Fax: (408) 448-6231
  • Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
  • Email: <a href="mailto:marty[email protected]”>marty[email protected]
  • Founder: Marty Satalino (1970)
  • Current Operating Team (Third Generation): Marty Satalino Jr. (General Manager); Jason Satalino (Water Treatment and New Construction)
  • Operating Since: 1970 (55 years of continuous family operation across three Satalino family generations)
  • Combined Operating Experience: 70+ years across the current operating team
  • Credentials: BBB A+ rating since 2007; Angie’s List Super Service Award across Plumbing plus Water Heaters plus Water Softeners plus Sewer Cleaning plus Drain Cleaning categories; San Jose City and Neighborhood Favorite (NextDoor); 4.5-star Yelp rating; fully licensed, bonded, and insured
  • Specialty Profile: 25-year limited warranty on copper repiping
  • Service area: South Bay area; Santa Clara Valley
  • Website: waterqualityplumbing.com

Three-Generation Satalino Family Operation Since 1970

Water Quality Plumbing has operated continuously since 1970, when Marty Satalino founded the firm in San Jose. The 55-year service envelope spans the full Silicon Valley building stock evolution from the early-1970s pre-tech-boom South Bay era through the 1980s-1990s Silicon Valley first-generation tech-company expansion, the 1990s-2000s dot-com-era residential housing surge, the post-2008 recovery cycle, and the contemporary Silicon Valley luxury renovation cycle plus the broader Santa Clara Valley residential service market. The Satalino family operating succession runs across three generations, with Marty Satalino Jr. carrying the General Manager role and Jason Satalino handling Water Treatment and New Construction across the modern operating capacity. The combined 70+ years of plumbing and water treatment industry experience across the current named operating team establishes the firm’s institutional-knowledge profile, with the multigenerational continuity producing the trade-specification memory that 1970s-onward Silicon Valley building stock requires.

Plumbing Plus Water Treatment Dual-Division Operating Model

Water Quality Plumbing operates a distinctive dual-division model with separate phone numbers for the Plumbing Division (408-267-9330) and the Water Treatment Division (408-266-0707). The two-division operating structure reflects the firm’s specialty profile in water-quality work alongside conventional plumbing service work, addressing the Silicon Valley-specific water-quality profile where Santa Clara Valley Water District source-water blends produce moderate-to-high mineral content across the regional distribution system. The water treatment specialty covers water softeners, water purification systems, and the associated installation-and-service work that the regional water-quality conditions drive. The combined operating stance across plumbing plus water treatment plus copper repiping (with the 25-year limited warranty on repipe work) plus video inspection plus drain cleaning plus sewer service distinguishes Water Quality Plumbing from single-division competitors in the South Bay market.

Twenty-Five-Year Repipe Warranty Plus Multi-Platform Recognition

Water Quality Plumbing publishes a 25-year limited warranty on copper repiping work, an notably long warranty period in the Silicon Valley plumbing market that underpins the firm’s confidence in the repipe service quality. The multi-platform recognition profile spans BBB A+ rating since 2007, Angie’s List Super Service Award across five service categories (Plumbing, Water Heaters, Water Softeners, Sewer Cleaning, Drain Cleaning), San Jose City and Neighborhood Favorite designation through NextDoor, and a 4.5-star Yelp rating. The cross-platform recognition stack (BBB plus Angie’s plus NextDoor plus Yelp) produces a verifiable customer-feedback profile that distinguishes Water Quality Plumbing from single-platform competitors. The Willow Glen headquarters at 1716 Stone Avenue places the firm geographically inside the central San Jose corridor, with daily-dispatch reach extending across the broader South Bay residential service market.

Willow Glen Headquarters Plus Multi-Decade Service Footprint

Water Quality Plumbing operates from 1716 Stone Avenue in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose (ZIP 95125), with the headquarters position shaping daily-dispatch reach across the South Bay region. The Willow Glen position covers central San Jose neighborhoods (Willow Glen, Cambrian Park, Almaden Valley, Rose Garden, Naglee Park) plus the broader Santa Clara Valley corridor (Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino). The 55-year continuous tenure window across the full Silicon Valley development arc means Water Quality Plumbing has serviced the building stock that defines each construction era of South Bay residential growth, from the 1970s tract development through the 1980s-1990s Eichler-and-mid-century-modern renovation cycle, the 2000s tech-boom residential expansion, and the contemporary luxury renovation work across the dense Silicon Valley submarkets.

Multi-Service Stack From Video Inspection Through Commercial Plumbing

The Water Quality Plumbing service stack spans video inspection, water heaters, water softeners, water purification, sewer service, gas systems, residential plumbing, commercial plumbing, new construction, remodeling, copper repiping, and drain cleaning. The new-construction service category distinguishes Water Quality Plumbing from repair-only competitors in the Silicon Valley market, with the new-construction capability supporting builder-channel specification work alongside the residential service-call market. The commercial plumbing scope rounds out the dual residential-and-commercial operating posture. The video inspection service category secures the diagnostic-side capability that contemporary plumbing service work increasingly requires, with the camera-inspection-before-trenchless-repair workflow producing the kind of non-destructive diagnostic-and-repair capability that older Silicon Valley building stock with mature-tree root-intrusion failure modes requires.

2. CPI Service (Consolidate Plumbing Services)

  • Address: 2880 Aiello Drive, San Jose, CA 95111
  • Phone: (408) 549-8181 (general); (408) 978-3093 (24/7 emergency)
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Founders: Craig McKinna and Jane McKinna (1986)
  • Ownership Transition: McKinna family ownership through approximately 2023; new ownership took control thereafter while maintaining family-owned and locally-operated status
  • Current Legal Entity: Consolidate Plumbing Services DBA CPI Service, Plumbing, Heating & Cooling
  • Operating Since: 1986 (39 years of continuous service across San Jose and the Greater Bay Area)
  • License: California CSLB License #1101278
  • Credentials: Angi Certified Pro; BBB Accredited Business; 5-star Yelp reviews; Google 5-Star Reviews; licensed and insured; 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
  • Operating Hours: 24/7/365
  • Service area: San Jose and the Greater Bay Area region
  • Website: cpiservice.com

McKinna Family Founding 1986 With Property Manager Operating Origins

CPI Service has operated continuously since 1986, when Craig and Jane McKinna established the firm as a small, family-operated plumbing company in San Jose with an initial focus on supporting local property managers. The 39-year service envelope spans the full Silicon Valley commercial-and-residential development arc from the late-1980s pre-internet-boom era through the 1990s-2000s dot-com-era tech-company-driven housing expansion, the post-2008 maintenance cycle, and the contemporary Greater Bay Area residential-and-commercial service market. The McKinna family carried operating ownership through approximately 2023, when new ownership took control while preserving the family-owned and locally-operated service profile. The current legal entity operates as Consolidate Plumbing Services DBA CPI Service, Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, with the expanded service scope now covering plumbing plus heating plus cooling work across the residential and commercial service categories.

CSLB License #1101278 Plus 24/7 Operating Profile

CPI Service operates under California CSLB License #1101278, placing the firm’s regulatory-credential foundation across the state. Beyond the underlying state license, the firm maintains Angi Certified Pro status, BBB Accredited Business standing, plus 5-star ratings across Yelp and Google. The 24/7/365 operating-hours profile distinguishes CPI Service from weekday-only Silicon Valley plumbing competitors, with the continuous-service availability supporting both scheduled service work and emergency-response work across the Greater Bay Area. The published 100% Satisfaction Guarantee grounds the firm’s customer-trust positioning in the current operating period. The South San Jose headquarters at 2880 Aiello Drive places the firm geographically inside the southern Santa Clara County corridor, with daily-dispatch reach extending north across San Jose proper, west into the Cupertino-Sunnyvale corridor, and south toward Morgan Hill and Gilroy.

Property Manager Origin Plus Greater Bay Area Service Footprint

CPI Service’s founding-era operating focus on local property managers rooted a commercial-side operating relationship that distinguished the firm from residential-only competitors in the late-1980s Silicon Valley plumbing market. The property-manager-origin business model produces institutional knowledge of two-and-three-unit residential plumbing service work, commercial-property service contracts, and the relationship-driven service-account-management pattern that property-management plumbing service work requires. Beyond the original property-manager focus, the contemporary service profile spans residential plumbing service work, single-family-home renovation, plus the heating-and-cooling work that the contemporary expanded service stack covers. The Greater Bay Area service grid extends operating reach beyond San Jose proper into the broader Bay Area regional market.

3. Ribbs Plumbing & Sewer (R.P.S. Plumbing)

  • Address: 2912 Daylight Way, San Jose, CA 95111
  • Phone: (408) 516-8724
  • Hours: Monday through Saturday, 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM; Sunday by appointment only
  • Founder: David Ribbs (fourth-generation master plumber)
  • Family Plumbing Lineage: Ribbs family providing expert plumbing services in Silicon Valley since 1927 (98-year cumulative family-trade tenure)
  • Operating Since: 1997 (28 years of continuous firm operation; 98-year cumulative Ribbs family-trade lineage to 1927)
  • License: California CSLB License #1023081
  • Credentials: NASSCO Certified sewer contractor; Certified Morgan Hill contractor (authorized for sewer lateral real estate transactions); Diamond Contractor Elite designation; Angi 2023 Super Service Award; HomeGuide 2024 recognition; free 1-year warranty on all services
  • Service area: San Jose, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, surrounding Silicon Valley communities
  • Website: ribbspremierservices.com

Fourth-Generation Ribbs Master Plumber Lineage From 1927

Ribbs Plumbing & Sewer carries a distinctive four-generation Ribbs family plumbing lineage tracing to 1927, with the contemporary firm operating since 1997 under David Ribbs as the fourth-generation master plumber. The 1927-traced family-trade lineage produces a 98-year cumulative Ribbs family operating presence in Silicon Valley plumbing across four operator generations, even though the contemporary R.P.S. Plumbing firm-name service history runs 28 years. The four-generation continuity matters operationally for Silicon Valley work because the building stock spans the full pre-tech-era residential development (1900s-1940s downtown San Jose plus original Willow Glen and Naglee Park bungalow construction) through the postwar tract expansion (1950s-1970s Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, and the original Eichler subdivisions) into the contemporary Silicon Valley luxury renovation cycle. Each construction era produces different plumbing-specification requirements, and institutional knowledge transfers across Ribbs family operator generations rather than across hires.

NASSCO Certification Plus Diamond Contractor Elite Designation

Ribbs Plumbing operates under California CSLB License #1023081, supplemented by an unusual specialty-certification stack: NASSCO Certified sewer contractor (the National Association of Sewer Service Companies certification that frames industry-standard sewer-inspection-and-repair competency), Certified Morgan Hill contractor (authorized for the Morgan Hill municipal sewer-lateral real-estate-transaction certification program that the city administers for property transfers), and Diamond Contractor Elite designation (the upper tier of the regional Diamond Certified contractor recognition program). The three-credential specialty stack distinguishes Ribbs from generalist Silicon Valley plumbers without comparable sewer-specialty certification. The Angi 2023 Super Service Award and the HomeGuide 2024 recognition round out the contemporary editorial-recognition profile.

Sewer Specialty Plus Trenchless Solutions for Silicon Valley Building Stock

Ribbs Plumbing’s published service stack emphasizes sewer specialty work, with the NASSCO Certified status positioning the firm’s positioning in the sewer-inspection-and-repair segment of the Silicon Valley plumbing market. The sewer specialty addresses a Silicon Valley-specific service-demand profile where mature-tree root-intrusion failure modes (decades-old trees across the postwar tract neighborhoods) routinely damage clay sewer lateral pipes, plus the Morgan Hill municipal sewer-lateral certification program drives real-estate-transaction sewer inspection demand. The trenchless sewer solutions service category supports non-destructive sewer-line replacement work, addressing the Silicon Valley-specific access-and-cost reality where traditional trench excavation across mature landscapes and bedrock-impacted easements becomes prohibitively expensive. The South San Jose headquarters at 2912 Daylight Way (ZIP 95111) places the firm geographically adjacent to the CPI Service headquarters at 2880 Aiello Drive in the same ZIP, rooting both firms in the southern Santa Clara County corridor.

4. Venture Plumbing

  • Address: 228 San Jose Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
  • Phone: (408) 898-2500
  • Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (booking available 24 hours daily); Saturday and Sunday closed
  • Founders / Owners: Derek Smith and Norah Smith (2009)
  • Operating Since: 2009 (16 years of continuous family-owned operation)
  • License: California CSLB License #C934775
  • Operating Status: Family-owned and operated with the same core team since inception
  • Credentials: Factory-certified on the water heater brands the firm installs most; fully insured; verifiable through CSLB at any time
  • Recent Relocation: Headquarters moved from Campbell to San Jose in October 2025
  • Service area: 11 named South Bay communities including San Jose, Campbell, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Los Altos, Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View
  • Website: ventureplumbinginc.net

Family Operation Since 2009 With Smith Family Ownership

Venture Plumbing has operated continuously since 2009 under Derek and Norah Smith as founders and current owners. The 16-year service envelope spans the post-2008 Silicon Valley recovery cycle through the 2010s tech-boom residential expansion, the 2020s remote-work-era housing surge, and the contemporary South Bay residential-and-light-commercial service market. The Smith family working setup emphasizes continuity with the same core team since inception, establishing the firm’s published staff-retention claim. The October 2025 headquarters relocation from Campbell to San Jose (228 San Jose Avenue, ZIP 95125) places the firm geographically inside the central San Jose Willow Glen corridor, with daily-dispatch reach extending across the South Bay 11-named-community service area. The recent relocation positioning brings Venture Plumbing closer to the heart of the South Bay, supporting the firm’s expanding service-area coverage across the Santa Clara Valley.

CSLB License #C934775 Plus Custom Construction Operating Profile

Venture Plumbing operates under California CSLB License #C934775, with the C-prefix license number reflecting the C-36 Plumbing Contractor classification that the California Contractors State License Board administers. The firm’s published operational structure emphasizes “custom construction and service plumbing” focused on residential and light commercial projects, with the dual residential-plus-light-commercial scope covering the South Bay single-family-home renovation segment plus the small-commercial-tenant-improvement segment that the Silicon Valley business district routinely requires. The factory-certified status on the water heater brands the firm installs most places the firm’s manufacturer-authorization layer for water-heater specification work. The 24-hour booking availability extends the customer-engagement window beyond the Monday-through-Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM operating hours.

Eleven-Community South Bay Service Footprint

Venture Plumbing operates an 11-community South Bay working radius covering San Jose, Campbell, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Los Altos, Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Mountain View. The eleven-community span covers the heart of Silicon Valley including the major tech-headquarters cities (Cupertino headquarters of Apple, Mountain View headquarters of Google, Menlo Park headquarters of Meta), the historic peninsula corridor (Palo Alto, Atherton, Menlo Park), and the South Bay valley corridor (San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Altos). The eleven-community footprint distinguishes Venture from neighborhood-grounded San Jose plumbers, with the breadth supporting both Silicon Valley luxury residential renovation work and the small-commercial-tenant-improvement service market through one operating dispatch model. The custom-construction service category positions Venture Plumbing for the high-design renovation segment that Silicon Valley luxury residential projects increasingly drive.

Reference Notes

San Jose plumbing licensing runs through the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB), with the C-36 Plumbing Contractor classification supporting residential and commercial work. The Santa Clara Valley Water District plus the City of San Jose Public Works Department administer water-and-wastewater compliance. Regional municipal water authorities (Great Oaks Water Company, San Jose Water Company, California Water Service-San Jose District) handle annual backflow certification cycles. Title 24 energy-code revisions, State Water Resources Control Board drought-conservation requirements, and California Plumbing Code seismic-zone mandates layer additional pressures.

Silicon Valley housing covers about 125 years. Naglee Park and Willow Glen support early-20th-century downtown San Jose commercial-and-residential development. Prewar bungalow expansion ran 1910-1945. Postwar tract construction (1950-1975) filled out Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, and Joseph Eichler’s mid-century-modern subdivisions. The 1980s-1990s saw first-generation tech-company-driven residential expansion. The contemporary cycle is luxury renovation plus new construction tied to ongoing tech-driven population growth.

The four firms profiled cover four positions on the San Jose market arc. Water Quality Plumbing (1970 founding by Marty Satalino, three-generation succession through Marty Satalino Jr. as General Manager and Jason Satalino on Water Treatment and New Construction) carries dual plumbing-and-water-treatment divisions. The firm holds BBB A+ since 2007 plus an Angie’s List Super Service Award across five categories plus a 25-year limited warranty on copper repipe work from a Willow Glen base. CPI Service (1986 founding by Craig and Jane McKinna, ownership transition around 2023 to new owners preserving family-owned and locally-operated status, current legal entity Consolidate Plumbing Services DBA CPI Service Plumbing Heating & Cooling, California CSLB License #1101278) runs 24/7/365 across the Greater Bay Area. Ribbs Plumbing & Sewer (firm-name founding 1997 with David Ribbs as fourth-generation master plumber, family plumbing lineage to 1927, California CSLB License #1023081) holds NASSCO Certified sewer contractor status, Certified Morgan Hill contractor designation for sewer lateral real estate transactions, Diamond Contractor Elite designation, the Angi 2023 Super Service Award, and HomeGuide 2024 recognition. Venture Plumbing (2009 founding by Derek and Norah Smith, California CSLB License #C934775, factory-certified water heater installation) covers 11 South Bay communities including Cupertino, Mountain View, and Menlo Park from a San Jose Willow Glen base since the October 2025 relocation from Campbell.

Verification paths run through cslb.ca.gov, BBB Bay Area listings, the PHCC of California directory, the City of San Jose Public Works contractor records, and the NASSCO certified-contractor directory. Pre-1945 prewar bungalows tilt toward Water Quality’s 55-year three-generation depth. Sewer-specialty work fits Ribbs Plumbing’s NASSCO certification. 24/7 emergency service fits CPI’s round-the-clock dispatch. Custom-construction luxury renovation fits Venture’s tech-corridor footprint.

Selection Methodology

Selection follows four criteria. First, continuous family ownership or founder-operator continuity outside the national rollup pattern. Second, verifiable CSLB C-36 Plumbing Contractor license cross-checked via the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) public lookup. Third, BBB Accreditation or equivalent third-party rating. Fourth, minimum 10-year continuous operating tenure with documented San Jose, CA service coverage. Firms acquired by national franchise networks (Authority Brands’ Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, Neighborly’s Mr. Rooter, Service Experts, Roto-Rooter, Wrench Group, Redwood Services, Master Trades Group, ARS) are excluded.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I verify a San Jose, CA plumber’s license?

Use the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) public licensee database at cslb.ca.gov. Search by license number or business name. Confirm active status, classification, bonding, and insurance before authorizing work.

What credentials should a San Jose, CA plumber hold?

At minimum: CSLB C-36 Plumbing Contractor credential plus general liability insurance and workers’ compensation coverage. Specialty work (gas line, backflow prevention, fire sprinkler, sewer lateral) requires additional credential layers.

How can I tell if a San Jose, CA plumber is locally owned versus a national rollup?

Check ownership disclosures and acquisition history. National franchise brands typically operate under parent-company branding. Search the firm name plus “acquired” or “parent company” to surface ownership structure. The four firms in this directory all run as independent locally-owned operators.

When should I call an emergency plumber in San Jose?

Burst pipes, sewer backups, gas leaks, no-water events, and water heater failures justify after-hours dispatch. Each firm in this directory offers either 24/7 emergency service or structured after-hours response.

Editorial Note

Compiled by the editorial team. Firm details cross-verified through state license databases, BBB business profiles, and firm-published websites where available. License numbers should be re-verified through the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) public lookup before authorizing work. Information current as of the date below; firm details may change without notice. Last updated: 2026-05-10.