Plumber in Terra Linda, Lucas Valley & Marinwood
Water heaters, boilers, leaks and repipes for north San Rafael homes, Eichler or not. Our San Rafael shop is just down the road on Andersen Drive, we answer 24/7, and you get a written estimate before any work starts.
Our shop is close by on Andersen Drive in San Rafael · Get directions
Plumbing work we do in 94903
We handle hot water and heat, from a tank that quit to a tankless unit throwing codes or a boiler that keeps losing pressure. We also track down hidden leaks, replace old supply lines and handle the everyday repairs in between.
Water Heater Replacement
Gas tank, tankless or heat pump, permit included
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Tankless Service & Installs
Descaling, error codes and new installs
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Boiler Repair & Replacement
Diagnosis, pumps, tanks, valves and new boilers
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Leak Detection
Under the slab, in the walls, or out to the meter
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Also: Heat Pump Water Heaters · Boiler Replacement · Whole Home Repipe · Water Service Repair · Emergency Plumbing · Plumbing Repairs
Same ZIP, two permit counters
Terra Linda, Marinwood and Lucas Valley all get San Rafael mail, but they aren't all in the City of San Rafael. Which side of the line you're on decides who issues the permit for a water heater, boiler or repipe.
Terra Linda
Terra Linda voted to join San Rafael in the early 1970s, so the City's Building Division handles permits here. The City now takes every application online through its OpenGov portal. Terra Linda is also home to roughly 900 Eichlers built between 1955 and 1961: slab floors, open-beam ceilings and hot-water heat.
Marinwood & Lucas Valley
Lucas Valley–Marinwood is an unincorporated community, so the County of Marin issues permits, not the City. Marinwood has about 375 Eichlers from 1957–58, and Upper Lucas Valley (the streets named for mountains) about 300 from 1962–66. The area's median home was built in 1964.
Live in the Lucas Valley Homeowners Association?
The LVHA covers 538 mostly Eichler homes and has an Architectural Review Committee for exterior changes. If a new tankless heater or boiler needs a vent through an outside wall, check with the committee early.
Eichlers sit on concrete slabs, so they have no basement, and their open-beam ceilings leave little room overhead. In those homes that shapes almost every job on this page: where a heater can go, how a vent gets out, and how new pipe gets from one end of the house to the other.
Water heaters: what we fix and what we replace
Tank, tankless or heat pump, repair or replacement. Before anyone sells you a new unit, we figure out whether yours actually needs one.
Gas tank won't stay lit
Often a thermocouple, pilot assembly or gas control.
We test each part and replace only the one that failed. If the tank is sound, that's a repair, not a new heater.
Water pooling under the heater
Could be the relief valve, a drain valve, a fitting or the tank itself.
We trace the water to its source. A tank that's leaking through its own wall can't be repaired.
Tankless shuts off or shows a code
Often mineral buildup, a clogged water filter screen or a vent problem.
We read the stored codes, run a descale, clear the screen and check the gas supply.
Picking the replacement
Gas tank
Same location, often same day, and the lowest upfront cost. In the City of San Rafael, swapping a tank of 100 gallons or less is a minor permit filed online.
Gas tankless
Wall-mounted and compact. Switching from a tank counts as a new tankless install in the City: it needs a gas schematic and plan review before the permit is issued, so plan on some lead time.
Heat pump water heater
The most efficient option and the direction the air district rules are heading. It needs enough surrounding air, a condensate drain and electrical capacity, so we check the space and your panel first.
Marin Water's supply is soft: about 3.5 grains per gallon from its reservoirs, closer to 6.5 when Sonoma water is blended in. Scale builds slowly here, but tankless units still need an occasional descale.
No hot water in Terra Linda or Lucas Valley? We can help today.
Boilers in north San Rafael homes
Every Eichler here was built with hot-water heat, so a boiler is the heart of the house. When it fails, we look at the whole boiler room: pump, expansion tank, air removal, fill valve and controls, not just the box on the wall.
A recent Terra Linda job
March 2026. An HTP UFTC boiler in a Terra Linda home had a significant internal leak and corrosion, beyond repair. We replaced it with a new NTI TRXC199 Series 2 and renewed the parts around it: a new air-water separator to pull air out of the loop, a new system pump, an autofill valve to keep the system at pressure, a mixing valve to temper the water going to the heating loops, and new expansion tanks to take up the expansion as the water heats.
NTI's TRX line is our usual pick for hot-water heat: we've installed more than 50 TRX systems across Marin, Sonoma and Napa in the last 24 months. We also service other major brands, including HTP, Navien and NTI.
- Repair first when it makes sense. A failed pump, a waterlogged expansion tank or a bad sensor is a repair. A corroded, leaking heat exchanger usually isn't.
- Replace the system, not just the boiler. A new boiler bolted to an old pump and a dead expansion tank won't last the way it should.
Radiant floor heat in an Eichler? Leaks in the slab tubing, steel versus copper loops, and how we test them loop by loop are covered in depth on our Eichler radiant heat repair page. Start there if your boiler pressure keeps dropping.
Leaks, slab leaks and repipes
On a slab, a leaking water line has nowhere to drip where you'd see it, so the clues are indirect: a water meter that keeps moving with every tap off, a bill that jumps for no reason, the sound of running water, or a warm patch of floor over a hot line.
- Find it first. We use acoustic detectors and thermal imaging to narrow down the leak before anyone opens a floor or wall.
- Repair or reroute. One leak in otherwise good pipe is usually a repair. Where the floor is the problem, a new line can often run through walls or cabinets instead.
- Repipe when the leaks keep coming. A whole-home repipe replaces every hot and cold line with PEX or copper, depending on the house and your budget.
Buried line from the meter leaking? That's a water service repair. One more local rule: Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, which serves Terra Linda, Marinwood and Lucas Valley, requires a sewer lateral inspection when a home sells or when a building permit is $30,000 or more. We don't do lateral work, but we can refer you.
The air district's gas rules, in plain terms
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District covers Lucas Valley, Marinwood and Terra Linda. Its Rule 9-6 sets cutoffs by the date a heater was manufactured, and it only applies when one is sold or installed.
Gas storage tanks
Tanks rated 75,000 BTU/hr or less that are built after January 1, 2027 have to be zero-NOx. Proposed changes could slide that a year, to 2028.
Tankless, big tanks and boilers
Home gas boilers, gas tankless units and larger water heaters built after January 1, 2031 come next. A pending proposal would move this to 2033.
Nothing here forces out equipment that works, and repairs remain allowed. The Air District Board votes on the amendments on November 4, 2026.
An aging gas tank is worth planning for now, not on the morning it fails. Our 2027 gas water heater rule guide has the details.
MCE heat pump water heater rebate
As of October 2026, MCE offers up to $675 on a heat pump water heater for owner-occupied, single-family detached homes lived in for 12+ months. A participating contractor files it, it isn't retroactive, and you can't do another electrification project through the program for 12 months afterward. Check mcecleanenergy.org for current terms.
Pricing in Terra Linda and Lucas Valley
These are our published 2026 ranges. Where your heater or boiler sits, venting, gas line size and electrical work move the number. You get a written estimate before anything starts.
Tankless installs and repairs: call for a quote or book a free written estimate. 2026 pricing; every home is different.
Terra Linda, Lucas Valley & Marinwood plumbing FAQ
Do you serve Terra Linda, Lucas Valley and Marinwood?
Yes. Our San Rafael location at 1221 Andersen Dr is nearby, and we're open 24/7. Call or text (415) 234-0370.
What does a new water heater cost in Lucas Valley or Terra Linda?
Plan on $3,500–$6,500 for a gas tank put in, or $6,500–$12,000 for a heat pump model before any rebate. Tankless gets priced once we've seen your gas line and venting, in a free written estimate.
Who issues the permit, the City or the County?
Terra Linda is in the City of San Rafael, which takes applications online through OpenGov. Lucas Valley and Marinwood are unincorporated, so the County of Marin issues the permit. We check your parcel and file with the right one.
Can I still install a gas water heater here?
For now, yes. The cutoff hits gas tanks manufactured after January 1, 2027, or 2028 if the amendments pass. Tankless heaters and boilers have until units made after January 1, 2031. The heater you have now can stay.
Is the water hard in north San Rafael?
No. Marin Water's supply is soft, about 3.5 grains per gallon from its reservoirs and around 6.5 with Sonoma water blended in. Tankless units still benefit from periodic descaling.
My boiler keeps losing pressure. Is it a slab leak?
Not always. A relief valve, expansion tank or fitting can cause the same drop, so we test those first. If you have an Eichler radiant slab, see our Eichler radiant heat page.
What does a new boiler cost in Terra Linda?
A high-efficiency boiler replacement is typically $8,500–$15,000, and a full radiant heating boiler system $12,000–$18,000. Pumps, tanks, valves and venting decide where you land.
Local Plumbing near Terra Linda
From our San Rafael shop we cover Terra Linda, Marinwood, Lower and Upper Lucas Valley, San Rafael Meadows and Santa Venetia, plus the rest of San Rafael.
- Address: 1221 Andersen Dr, Unit M, San Rafael, CA
- Phone: (415) 234-0370, call or text
- Open: 24 hours, 7 days. Emergency service available.
- License: C-16 & C-36 Lic #1091739
More nearby: Local Plumbing in San Rafael · Boiler & radiant heat in San Rafael · All water heater services · Radiant heating repairs
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