Verify the licence — it takes two minutes
Texas requires plumbers to hold a state licence and to display the number in advertising. That requirement exists precisely so this check is possible.
The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners maintains a public search. You can confirm a licence is current, what class it is, and whether there is disciplinary history.
A Master Plumber is the senior classification — licensed to design, plan and supervise. A Journeyman works under a Master's licence. Neither is wrong; it is just worth knowing what you are getting.
If a company will not give you a licence number, that is the answer. There is no legitimate reason to withhold it. Ours is M-38925.
This matters more than it sounds. Unlicensed work on gas or on anything requiring a permit can affect your insurance and will surface at resale.
Worth knowing
Ask specifically whether the person coming to your house is licensed, not just the company. A company can hold a Master's licence while the person who arrives is neither licensed nor supervised on site.
What “local” actually means
Search results for “plumber near me” are full of companies that are not near you. Some run call centres that dispatch to whoever is available, sometimes from another city.
Look for a real, verifiable address in the area, not just a service radius on a map.
Ask directly how far away they are based. It affects response time on an emergency, which is when it matters most.
Local also means local knowledge, which is not marketing. A plumber who works here every day knows the water runs 15-30 grains per gallon, that the clay soil pulls sewer joints apart, that hot lines fail first under slabs, and that a freeze here breaks pipe that a colder climate would not — because the houses were never built for it.
That knowledge shortens diagnosis. Someone unfamiliar with the area will get there eventually; they will just charge you for the time.
Get it in writing, and know what is excluded
A quote is a price. An estimate is a starting point. Ask which one you have been given.
Ask what is not included. This is where the gap between quote and final bill almost always lives — drywall repair after a repipe, restoration after a sewer dig, permit fees, hauling the old unit away.
Ask whether the diagnostic fee is credited to the work if you go ahead.
Be careful with anything quoted over the phone, sight unseen, particularly a large job. Nobody can price a water heater replacement responsibly without knowing the access, the venting and whether it meets current code.
Real figures for this market are in what a plumber costs in Boerne, including the four things that actually move a quote.
Reading reviews usefully
Volume matters less than pattern. A hundred five-star reviews with no detail tell you less than fifteen that describe actual jobs.
Look for reviews from your area. Neighbours in Boerne, Fair Oaks Ranch or Bulverde are describing the same conditions your house has.
Read the negative ones and the responses. Every company that has worked long enough has an unhappy customer. What the response says is more informative than the complaint.
Look for repeat customers. “Third time we have used them” is worth more than any number of first impressions.
Be sceptical of a sudden cluster of short, similar, five-star reviews in one week.
Signs to walk away, and when we will tell you no
Pressure to decide immediately on a large job, especially after hours. Emergency work is the easiest time to sell an unnecessary replacement, because nobody is in a position to get a second opinion. Stopping the water is urgent; deciding whether to repipe is not.
A diagnosis with no evidence. If someone says the sewer line needs replacing, they should be able to show you the camera footage. If someone says your pressure is wrong, they should have a gauge reading.
Cash-only, no paperwork, no licence number.
A quote dramatically below everyone else's. Usually it is a different scope, and the difference appears later.
And the other direction: we will tell you when a repair is not worth doing, when a problem can wait until Tuesday and cost you less, and when the honest answer is that the heater has years left and does not need replacing. That occasionally costs us the job. It is still the right call, and it is the same standard we would want applied to us.