Hear from Our Customers
Most Curtis Park homes were built between the 1920s and 1940s. That means the plumbing system your new water heater connects to has history and not always the clean kind. A proper replacement accounts for what’s already there: aging supply lines, tight utility spaces, and decades of patchwork work done by who-knows-who. When it’s done right, you stop worrying about it.
Sacramento’s water runs hard around 15 grains per gallon and that mineral content quietly works against your water heater every single day. It settles at the bottom of the tank, forces the unit to work harder, and shaves years off its lifespan. If your current unit is 8 to 10 years old and you’ve noticed rising energy bills or inconsistent hot water, that’s not a coincidence. That’s your water telling you something.
A new, correctly sized unit installed with the right connections for your home’s specific setup means reliable hot water, lower monthly energy costs, and no more wondering if today’s the day it finally gives out. That peace of mind is real, and it starts with getting the replacement done properly the first time.
Murray Plumbing has been serving Sacramento-area homeowners for over 60 years. That’s five generations of the same family, the same name on the truck, and the same accountability on every job. No call centers, no subcontractors you’ve never met just experienced technicians who show up when they say they will and tell you what’s actually going on.
We’ve worked in homes throughout Curtis Park and the Land Park corridor long enough to know what these houses look like on the inside. The galvanized pipes, the tight closet installs, the utility spaces that weren’t designed with modern equipment in mind none of that catches us off guard. We come prepared, and we leave with the job done.
Our Google rating sits at 4.7 out of 5 across hundreds of verified reviews. Customers consistently mention on-time arrivals, honest pricing, and technicians who actually explain what they’re doing. A few have noted their final bill came in under the original estimate. That’s not a sales line it’s just how we operate.
It starts with a call. You tell us what’s going on whether your unit failed overnight or you’re being proactive before winter and we’ll give you a straight answer on timing and cost before anyone drives out. No vague estimates, no “we’ll know more when we get there” runaround.
When we arrive, we assess your existing setup before touching anything. In Curtis Park’s older housing stock, that step matters. We check the connections, the surrounding supply lines, the space constraints, and whether your current configuration meets current California code. If there’s something worth flagging, we tell you upfront. In Sacramento County, a permit is required for any water heater replacement under California Plumbing Code Section 502.1 we handle that as part of the job, so your installation is documented, inspected, and clean on record. That matters when you sell your home.
From there, the old unit comes out and the new one goes in. We test everything before we leave. Most straightforward replacements are done in under an hour. You get hot water back the same day, and you get documentation showing the work was done right.
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Every water heater replacement in Curtis Park includes a full assessment of your existing system before we recommend anything. We look at your household’s actual hot water demand, the physical constraints of your install space, your fuel source, and how Sacramento’s hard water may have already affected your current unit. You get a recommendation based on your home not whatever has the best margin.
We’re Certified Installers, which means the manufacturer’s warranty on your new unit is valid from day one. That distinction matters more than most people realize. An uncertified install can void a warranty on a unit that costs anywhere from $1,500 to $3,900 before the first hot shower is taken. We make sure that doesn’t happen.
If your home is a good candidate for a tankless upgrade, we’ll walk you through the comparison honestly. Tankless units heat water on demand rather than keeping a full tank hot around the clock, which translates to real energy savings especially relevant during Sacramento’s long, hot summers when utility costs are already climbing. They also last 20 years or more versus 8 to 15 for a standard tank. It’s worth the conversation, and we’ll give you a straight answer on whether it makes sense for your specific home and budget.
Yes and this is one of the most commonly skipped steps when homeowners hire an unlicensed plumber or a handyman to do the job. Under California Plumbing Code Section 502.1, a permit is required for any water heater replacement in Sacramento County, which includes Curtis Park. The permit ensures the installation is inspected and meets current state and local code requirements.
Why does it matter? Because unpermitted work doesn’t stay invisible. It comes up during home sales, refinancing appraisals, and insurance claims. In Curtis Park, where home values are well above the Sacramento average, unpermitted plumbing work is a genuine financial liability not just a technicality. We handle the permit as part of every replacement, so when the job is done, your home’s record is clean and your installation is fully documented.
For most homes, a straightforward water heater replacement takes under an hour from start to finish. That includes removing the old unit, installing and connecting the new one, testing the system, and cleaning up before we leave. You’ll have hot water back the same day.
That said, Curtis Park’s older housing stock occasionally adds time to a job. Homes built in the 1920s and 1930s sometimes have non-standard connections, aging supply lines, or utility spaces that require extra care to work around. If we find something during the initial assessment that affects the timeline or cost, we tell you before we start not after. No surprises on the bill, and no work done without your approval first.
Sacramento’s water runs at roughly 15 grains per gallon, which puts it in the moderately hard range. Over time, that mineral content settles as sediment at the bottom of your water heater tank and coats the heating elements. The unit has to work harder to heat the same amount of water, which drives up your energy bill and accelerates wear on the internal components.
The practical result is that a water heater in Sacramento may show meaningful performance decline at 8 to 10 years earlier than you might expect based on the manufacturer’s stated lifespan. If you’ve noticed that white crusty buildup on your faucets or showerheads, the same thing is happening inside your tank. Annual flushing can slow the process, but once sediment is significant, the efficiency loss is real and ongoing. If your unit is approaching 10 years old, a replacement conversation is worth having sooner rather than waiting for a cold morning to force the issue.
It depends on your home’s setup, your hot water usage, and your long-term goals and the honest answer is that tankless isn’t the right fit for every situation. Tankless units heat water on demand rather than maintaining a full tank around the clock, which reduces energy consumption and is a real advantage during Sacramento’s long, hot summers when you’re already running air conditioning and watching utility costs climb.
Tankless units also last significantly longer 20 years or more versus 8 to 15 for a standard tank. But they require adequate gas line capacity and proper venting, and some of Curtis Park’s older homes need infrastructure upgrades before a tankless install makes sense. We’ll assess your home’s current setup honestly and tell you whether the upgrade is straightforward or whether the added cost of prep work changes the math. Either way, you’ll have the full picture before you decide.
At 9 years old in Sacramento, your water heater is statistically in its most vulnerable window. Most conventional tank units begin declining in efficiency between 8 and 10 years, and with the area’s hard water accelerating sediment buildup, you may already be paying more in energy costs than you realize without noticing a dramatic drop in performance.
The risk of waiting is timing. Water heaters that have been quietly declining tend to fail during peak demand the first cold snap of the season, a house full of guests, or a morning when everyone needs to shower before work. That turns a planned replacement into an emergency one, which limits your options and adds stress you don’t need. If your unit is 9 years old, showing any signs of inconsistency, or hasn’t been flushed in a few years, a replacement estimate costs you nothing and gives you real information to make the call.
The cheaper options in this market often skip two things: the permit and the certification. A non-permitted install in Sacramento County is a code violation that can surface at the worst possible time during a home sale or an insurance claim. An uncertified installation can void the manufacturer’s warranty on a unit you just paid $1,500 to $3,900 for. Those aren’t abstract risks; they’re documented problems that homeowners in Curtis Park have dealt with after hiring the wrong company.
We’ve been working in Sacramento-area homes for over 60 years. We’re Certified Installers, we pull permits on every job, and our pricing is straightforward some customers have paid less than their original estimate when the job turned out simpler than expected. Curtis Park is a neighborhood where people know each other, talk to each other, and have high standards for the work done on their homes. Our reputation here is built on doing the job right, not on being the lowest number on a quote comparison.
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