TSBPE #M-43891
Toilet Repair & Installation in Austin — High-Efficiency Swaps & Austin Water Rebates
From a running fill valve to a full bowl swap, toilet work is the most common single call we run in Austin. Hard water destroys flappers and fill-valve seats faster than the manufacturers admit. Austin Water rebates up to $100 for swapping a pre-1992 toilet to a high-efficiency model. Austin Plumbing Pros repairs from $145 and installs new high-efficiency toilets from $389.
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Austin Water’s $100-per-toilet rebate for swapping pre-1992 high-flow toilets is one of the most under-claimed programs in the city — limited to 2 per household but legitimately worth the paperwork. The rebate plus the water-bill savings on a 4-person household typically pays back the new toilet inside 24 months. We file the paperwork on every qualifying swap because most homeowners don’t know it exists.
Common Toilet Failures And The Real Cost To Fix
Constantly running. 90% of the time it’s the flapper. Hard water mineralizes the rubber and the seal fails. $145 with the call. 10% of the time it’s the fill valve assembly — $185 with the call. Ghost flushing. Water from the tank slow-leaks into the bowl, then the fill valve cycles to top off. Flapper. Same $145. Weak flush, doesn’t clear. Sediment in the rim jets or a fouled flapper releasing too little water. Clean and replace flapper, $165. Wobbles or rocks. Wax ring failure, possibly subfloor rot. Pull, inspect, re-wax with a Korky Wax-Free seal, $245-$345 depending on subfloor condition. Leak at the base. Wax ring. Always pull and inspect — never try to caulk around it.
When To Replace Vs Repair
A pre-1992 toilet uses 3.5 gallons per flush. A modern WaterSense toilet uses 1.28 GPF. For a 4-person household that’s 30,000+ gallons of water saved per year. At Austin Water rates, that’s $180-$280/year saved on the water bill alone. The rebate from Austin Water is $100 per toilet swap (limit 2 per household), application is one page and we file it for you. A new TOTO Drake II or Kohler Highline Classic installed runs $389-$525 and the payback against the water savings + rebate is under two years. If you have a pre-1992 toilet, replace; don’t repair. Tell us the year of the house and we’ll quote both.
Brands We Install In Austin
TOTO Drake II — best value high-efficiency. Strong flush, replaceable internals, $389 installed. Kohler Highline Classic — slight upcharge for the styling, same performance, $445 installed. American Standard Champion 4 — overengineered flush valve for households that abuse toilets, $465. We do not install pressure-assist (loud, expensive parts) or composting models in residential.
Wax Rings, Subfloor Rot, And The Hidden Surprise
About 15% of the toilet pulls we do reveal subfloor rot under the flange — water has been seeping under the wax ring for months or years. Cosmetic fix would be to drop a new wax ring and re-seat, but the rot means the next leak is 18 months away. Right fix: cut and replace the rotted subfloor (1-2 sqft typically), re-set the flange at the correct height, install a Korky Wax-Free urethane seal that survives subfloor movement. Adds $245-$385 to the job. We always show you the rot in a phone photo before quoting the upgrade.
Bidet Seats — The Add-On Almost Everyone Loves
An electric bidet seat (TOTO Washlet C2 at $539 or Kohler Purewash E700 at $485, installed) needs a GFCI outlet within 3 feet of the toilet. About 60% of Austin bathrooms don’t have one. We can either install the GFCI ($235) or recommend a non-electric Tushy-style spray ($65). We don’t push these — but if you ask, we’ll install while we’re there.
Transparent Austin Plumbing Pricing
Service calls from $79 daytime · $189 after-hours (waived if you authorize the repair) · Free written quote on jobs over $500
Five Promises We Keep On Every Austin Job
Written estimate before we cut
Every Austin job gets a flat-rate quote texted to your phone before any drywall or pipe is touched. No surprise invoices, no nibble-charges. 📞 (512) 555-PLBR
Master plumber on every truck
TSBPE M-43891. The lead tech who arrives at your house is a Master or Journeyman, never apprentice-only. Verify any Austin plumber’s license at tsbpe.texas.gov. 📞 Verify license
Two-year parts-and-labor warranty
Repair fails inside 24 months? We come back free, parts and labor. That’s twice the typical Austin trade warranty and we mean it. 📞 Warranty claim
Every permit, pulled and closed
City of Austin, Travis County, Williamson County, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown — we know every jurisdiction and pull every permit. 📞 Same-day permit
Honest repair-vs-replace math
If the cheaper fix is the right answer, we tell you. We don’t run mandatory membership clubs. We don’t manufacture urgency to upsell a whole-house repipe when a $145 cartridge swap is what you need. 📞 Get a quote
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a toilet repair in Austin?
Flapper or fill valve: $145-$185. Wax ring: $245-$345. Full toilet replacement: $389-$525 installed including haul-away.
What’s the Austin Water rebate?
$100 per pre-1992 toilet replaced with a WaterSense-certified model, up to 2 per household. We file the rebate paperwork for you on every qualifying swap.
How long does a toilet install take?
45-75 minutes from arrival. Same-day appointments most days.
Can I use any flapper or are they brand-specific?
Mostly brand-specific. TOTO uses a 3-inch flapper; Kohler uses 3 or 4 depending on year; American Standard uses a flush tower. We carry universal and brand-specific parts on the truck.
Why does my toilet smell?
Almost always a dried wax ring (sewer gas escaping at the base) or a dry P-trap on a rarely-used toilet. Replacement of wax + a regular flush solves both.
Will you take away my old toilet?
Yes — included on every replacement install. We recycle the porcelain at the City of Austin transfer station.
What about smart toilets?
We install TOTO Neorest and Kohler Numi if you supply the unit. Add $245 for the GFCI install if not already present.
More Austin Plumbing Services
Emergency Plumber Austin · Drain Cleaning · Water Heater Repair · Leak Detection
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About Austin Plumbing Pros
Austin Plumbing Pros is the city’s premium master-licensed plumbing operation, run out of three depots — South Slaughter Lane, Anderson Mill, and East Riverside — so a TSBPE-licensed plumber is on-site for most calls within 35-60 minutes of dispatch anywhere inside the 130 loop. Every emergency truck carries a Master or Journeyman as the lead tech (never apprentice-only), the standard inventory truck stocks Rheem, A.O. Smith, and Bradford White water heaters plus Moen, Delta, and Kohler cartridges and aerators, and we pull permits with the City of Austin, Travis County, Williamson County, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, and Manor jurisdictions every business day. We’ve spent enough hours pulling cast iron out of pre-1980 Hyde Park backyards and chasing slab leaks under 1990s North Austin builds that we know which symptom is the easy fix and which is buying time. When you call, a real Austin dispatcher picks up. When the truck arrives, the Master plumber writes you a flat-rate estimate before any drywall or pipe is touched. When the job’s done, you get a two-year parts-and-labor warranty. That’s the entire operation in three sentences.
📞 Same-day service in any Austin ZIP — (512) 555-PLBR · Master licensed TSBPE #M-43891 · TRRC #LP-2089 · $2M general liability · Two-year warranty · Free written quote on any job over $500.