Plumber in Citra, FL

Type “plumber in Citra” into your phone and most of what comes back is not a plumber.

Rather text? Send a photo of the problem to 352-377-9447 and we’ll tell you what it sounds like.

Citra was founded in 1881

Which is why some of the pipe out here is older than anything in Ocala. Repipes and pipe lining

Service call, waived on larger jobs.

$ 69

Leak detection, find it or you don't pay.

$ 375

Parts and labor warranty, plus manufacturer warranty.

2 yr

First Choice Plumbing is a licensed, locally owned plumber in Citra, FL and northern Marion County. Most of Citra is on a private well and septic, so we handle well filtration, iron and sulfur removal, softeners, leak detection, repipes, drain work and water heaters for homes on acreage. Our service call is $69 and leak detection is $375, and if we don’t find your leak, you don’t pay. Call or text 352-377-9447.

Why is it so hard to get a plumber to come out to Citra?

Two things are working against you, and neither one is your fault.

The first is geography. Citra sits about fifteen miles northeast of downtown Ocala and a good drive south of Gainesville, which means both markets treat you as the far end of the route. Ocala shops fill the morning close to town. Gainesville shops stop at the county line. So a call from 32113 gets moved to tomorrow, and then tomorrow gets moved too.

The second is what fills that gap online. A lot of the pages ranking for Citra plumbing are not plumbers. They are lead pages and directory listings, some of them running the same template for forty towns with the name swapped in and a national number on top. You explain your problem to a stranger, then to a second stranger, and a truck you have never heard of shows up whenever it shows up. Nobody ever tells you a price.

There are real working plumbers in this part of the county, and we will say that plainly. The trouble is telling them apart from the brokers on a phone screen at seven in the morning with water on the floor.

We work the other side of that. Hawthorne to Citra is a straight run, Kim batches the day by area so the truck is not crossing the county twice, and when we say we cover Citra we mean a plumber who can tell you which road he is coming in on.

How do I know if I have a leak when I am on a well?

In town you watch the meter. Out here you watch the pump. Here is the test we would walk you through on the phone anyway, so you may as well have it.

1. Shut the water off at every fixture. No dishwasher, no washing machine, no ice maker filling, no irrigation timer about to run. Make sure nobody in the house is about to flush.

2. Stand near the pressure tank and listen for ten or fifteen minutes. A healthy system sits quiet. If the pump kicks on while everything is closed, water is going somewhere.

3. Count the cycles. If it comes on once and shuts off, it may be a running toilet flapper, which is a five dollar part and one of the most common calls we take. If it cycles again and again, you likely have a line leak, and if the pump runs constantly and never builds pressure, stop and call, because that is how pumps burn up.

4. Split the house from the yard. If there is a valve where the line enters the house, close it. Quiet after that means the leak is in the buried run to the house, the barn or the well house. Still cycling means it is inside.

That is genuinely most of the diagnosis. If step three lands on a toilet flapper, go fix it and keep your $69. If it lands on a buried line, that is what the $375 leak detection is for, and if we don’t find it you don’t pay.

Who is actually coming to your house?

Will Harrod owns First Choice Plumbing and holds the license, CFC1430748. He is not a name on a truck. He still runs the estimates himself, and on the bigger jobs he is on site. Mike handles service and drain calls. Ben is coming up behind him. Kim answers the phone and dispatches the day.

The CFC prefix on that license means state certified, which is why we can work in Marion County and Alachua County both without any registration games. You can check the number yourself before you let anybody in the door, and honestly, you should do that with every contractor you hire, especially out here where a truck with a magnet on the door is not proof of anything.

That is the whole company, on purpose. Small enough that the owner knows every job on the board, big enough to show up when you call. If something goes sideways you are not filing a ticket. You are talking to the man whose license is on the work. Licensing and insurance

What goes wrong with plumbing in Citra homes?

Almost everything out here traces back to one fact: there is no town water utility in Citra. A small private system serves one subdivision, and a handful of homes inside even that footprint are still on their own wells. Everybody else is drawing straight out of the ground.

Your well is the utility, and it does not send you a warning.

In town, a hidden leak announces itself on a water bill. On a well, nobody bills you, so the leak is silent. What it does instead is run your pump. A pressure tank that used to cycle a few times an evening starts kicking on every couple of minutes with nothing running, the power bill creeps up, and the pump wears out years early. By the time anybody notices, the leak has usually been running for months.

The water itself is hard on your plumbing.

North Central Florida groundwater comes up through porous limestone and carries iron and hydrogen sulfide with it. That is the rotten egg smell in the hot water, the orange staining in the tub and the toilet tank, and the laundry that never comes out white. Iron will also foul fixtures, appliance valves and the inside of a water heater over time. Private wells are not regulated, so nobody is testing yours but you, and untreated water quietly shortens the life of everything downstream of it.

Old pipe, and two very different kinds of it.

Citra was founded in 1881 in the middle of citrus country, and it is where the pineapple orange got its name in the 1880s, so there are frame houses out here a great deal older than the neighborhoods in Ocala. Those often have galvanized supply line that rusts closed from the inside until the back bathroom drops to a trickle, or cast iron drain line that corrodes from the inside out. The other half of the housing stock is manufactured and mobile homes, and those were plumbed with the black ABS drain pipe. ABS gets brittle with age and heat, the joints let go, and a lot of the "mystery smell under the floor" calls we take from out here end up being a cracked ABS line under a home.

The classic Citra leak

Pump cycling on and off with every faucet closed? That is the classic Citra leak. Call 352-377-9447.

What plumbing services do you offer in Citra?

Well Water Filtration

Air injection and chlorine free systems built for what actually comes out of the ground here. We test your water free and show you the numbers before we quote anything.

Iron and Sulfur Removal

The rotten egg smell and the orange staining are two different problems and they get treated differently. We size the system to your water, not to a catalog.

Water Softeners

Two media tanks and a brine tank, set up and serviced, so your fixtures and your water heater stop paying for hard water. Free water testing

Leak Detection

Our flagship. $375 flat to come out and find it, with equipment instead of guesswork, and we write it up for your insurer if there is a claim. If we don’t find it, you don’t pay.

Slab Leaks

Florida builds on slab, so supply lines run through concrete with nowhere to look. Warm spot on the floor, pressure drop, water moving with everything shut off. We locate it before anybody breaks concrete.

Water Line Repair

Long buried runs from a well house to a home, to a barn, or to a second structure are exactly where the quiet leaks live out here.

Drain Clearing

You have a clog and you want it gone today. Usually about an hour and a half and we are out of your way.

Drain Cleaning and Descaling

Different animal. A machine with chains and diamond bits mills the inside of an old cast iron line back to smooth. That is a one to two day job, and it is what finally stops the clogs that keep coming back.

Water Heaters

Tank and tankless, gas, propane and electric, repaired or replaced. Propane is common out here and we work on it. If yours is leaking from the tank itself, it is done, and we will tell you that instead of selling you a repair. Water heater repair

Repipes

Galvanized, cast iron, polybutylene, CPVC and old ABS out, copper or PEX in. Every hole we cut gets professionally patched.

Trenchless Pipe Lining

First Choice Plumbing, NuFlow Certified Contractor. We line the pipe you already have instead of cutting up your floors. Cutting up your house is not the only way to fix a drain line. Camera inspection

Septic

Locating, new installs, drain fields, replacements, and abandonment done right.

Farm and Barn Plumbing. Horse waterers, barn lines, hose bibs, outdoor kitchens and pool lines.

Not sure what you are dealing with yet? Read the well leak section below before you call anybody. It will save you money either way.

What happens when you call us?

Call or text 352-377-9447.

Same number for both. Tell us what you are seeing, whether you are on a well or that small private system, and roughly where you are off 441, 301 or 318. If it is an emergency we will say so and get you on the board today. Emergency plumber

We come out for $69 and tell you what is actually wrong.

Not a guess from the driveway. If it is a hidden leak, that is the $375 leak detection, and if we don’t find it you do not pay. If it is water quality, the test is free. You get the number before any work starts, and the $69 goes away on larger jobs.

We fix it, pull the permit, patch what we cut, and warranty it.

Two years parts and labor, plus whatever the manufacturer covers on top. Financing is available on jobs over about $500 if you would rather spread it out. Financing | Warranty

The difference is in the details

None of that is a shot at working plumbers. There are good ones in Marion County and we will happily tell you so. It is a shot at the brokers renting your town’s name. Ask any company you call for two things: their license number and their price to come out. If they will not give you both on the phone, you already have your answer.

What matters	First Choice Plumbing	Typical Out-of-Area Lead Service
Who answers	Kim, in our office, on a 352 number	An 888 or 833 line that routes to a dispatcher
Who is licensed	Will Harrod, CFC1430748, named on every page	License number rarely published
Price before the visit	$69 service call and $375 leak detection, published	"We'll have to see it first"
If the leak is not found	You don't pay	Diagnostic billed either way
Understands a well system	Pressure tanks, cycling, filtration and buried runs are daily work for us	Scripts written for houses on city water and a meter
Water treatment	Free water test and the numbers shown to you before any quote	One system sold to every house that calls
Permits	We pull them, and we tell you when your job does not need one	Often left to the homeowner to figure out
Drywall after a repipe	Every hole we cut gets professionally patched	"Patching is not included"
Who shows up	Background checked techs, and the owner still runs estimates	Whichever contractor bought the lead
Warranty	2 years parts and labor, then manufacturer coverage	Varies by whoever was dispatched

Do I need a permit for plumbing work in Citra?

Citra is unincorporated, which makes this simpler than it is in most of the towns around here. There is no town hall and no municipal permit office, so Marion County is the only authority in the conversation. If somebody tells you they need to pull a town permit for Citra, ask them which town.

Marion County requires a building permit to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove or replace any plumbing system covered by the technical codes. In plain English, a water heater changeout needs one. A repipe needs one. Moving or replacing a drain line needs one.

Marion County also publishes work that does not need one, and two items on that list are pure plumbing: repairing a faucet or a valve, and unstopping a clogged drain or drain line. So if all you need is a clog cleared, nobody should be adding a permit fee to your invoice.

Well and septic work runs on its own track, separate from the building permit, and the rules there have shifted at the state level in the last few years. If you are putting in a new system, replacing a drain field or drilling into a new water source, ask us early so paperwork is not the thing that holds up your project.

None of that should be your job to chase. We pull the permits on our work and we tell you up front which ones your job needs and which ones it does not.

Do you work on wells, septic and barns around Citra?

That is most of what we do out here, and honestly it is our favorite kind of work. Filtration, softeners, iron and sulfur systems, pressure tanks, the lines running from the well house to the home, hose bibs, barn lines, horse waterers and outdoor kitchens. Northern Marion County is farm country and small acreage, and a lot of these properties have plumbing that was added a piece at a time over thirty years by whoever was available. Farm and barn plumbing

We will test your water for free and show you the numbers before we quote anything. If what you actually need is a $400 fix instead of a $4,500 system, that is what we are going to tell you. We would rather have the next four jobs than oversell this one.

On septic we handle locating, new tank installs, drain fields, replacements, and abandonment when a property gets tied into something else.

Here is where we point you somewhere else on purpose: we do not run pump-out trucks and we do not do septic inspections yet, and we do not drill wells. If that is what you need, say so on the phone and we will point you to an outfit that does it right, instead of taking your money for something we are not set up for. Septic pump-outs

Call Now: (352) 377-9447

What does waiting on it actually cost you out here?

On a well, waiting costs you twice. First the leak, which does not stop on its own, softens the ground, finds a floor and eventually turns a $375 leak detection into a restoration job with fans running in your living room for a week. Then the pump, because every hour that leak runs is an hour your pump is working for nothing, and a pump that dies on a Sunday is a house with no water at all until somebody gets there.

Untreated iron and sulfur work the same slow way. It is never one dramatic failure. It is a water heater that gives out early, valves that seize, and fixtures that stain no matter how hard you scrub them.

The cheapest version of every one of these is the one where somebody finds it early and tells you the truth about it.

On a private well and septic

In town, a hidden leak announces itself on a water bill. On a well, nobody bills you, so the leak is silent. What it does instead is run your pump.

Manufactured and mobile homes

ABS gets brittle with age and heat, the joints let go, and a lot of the "mystery smell under the floor" calls we take from out here end up being a cracked ABS line under a home.

Farm and grove properties along 441, 301 and 318

Horse waterers, barn lines, hose bibs, outdoor kitchens and pool lines. Northern Marion County is farm country and small acreage.

Older frame houses from the citrus era

Galvanized supply line that rusts closed from the inside until the back bathroom drops to a trickle, or cast iron drain line that corrodes from the inside out.

Frequently asked questions about plumbing in Citra, FL

Do you really service Citra, or do you just say you do?

We really do. We are based in Hawthorne, Citra is a straight run for us, and our dispatcher groups jobs by area so the truck is not crossing the county twice in a day. Call 352-377-9447 and you will get a real answer about today's schedule, not a callback promise.

How much does it cost to get a plumber out to Citra?

Our service call is $69. That covers coming out and diagnosing the problem, and it is waived on larger jobs. Hidden leak detection is a flat $375, and if we do not find the leak, you do not pay for it. You get the price for the actual repair before any work starts.

How do I know if I have a leak if I am on a well and there is no water bill?

Watch the pump instead of a meter. Shut off every fixture and appliance that uses water, then listen near the pressure tank for ten or fifteen minutes. If the pump kicks on with everything closed, water is going somewhere. One cycle is often a running toilet. Repeated cycling usually means a line leak, and a pump that runs constantly without building pressure needs a call right away before the pump burns up.

Why does my well water smell like rotten eggs?

That is almost always hydrogen sulfide, which comes up naturally in North Central Florida groundwater along with iron. It is a treatment problem, not a plumbing failure, and it is fixable with the right filtration sized to your water. We test your water free and show you the numbers before we quote anything, because the smell in the hot water only and the smell in all the water point at two different fixes.

Do I need a permit for plumbing work in Citra?

Citra is unincorporated, so there is no town permit, only Marion County. The county requires a building permit to install, alter, repair, remove or replace a plumbing system covered by the technical codes, and a water heater changeout falls under that. The county also publishes work that does not need a permit, and repairing a faucet or valve and unstopping a clogged drain are both on that list. We pull the permits on our work and we will tell you when your job does not need one.

Do you work on manufactured and mobile homes?

Yes, and a lot of what we see out here is the black ABS drain pipe those homes were built with. It gets brittle with age and the joints let go, which is where the smell and the soft spot under the floor come from. We repair it, and when a home has had enough of them we will price replacing the run instead of patching it a fourth time.

Can you fix a leak in the buried line between my well house and my house?

Yes. Long buried runs to a home, a barn or a second structure are one of the most common leaks we find on acreage. That is exactly what the $375 leak detection is for, and if we do not find it you do not pay. We locate it before anybody starts digging up a yard.

Do you handle septic work, and do you pump tanks?

We handle locating, new installs, drain fields, replacements and abandonment. We do not run pump-out trucks, we do not do septic inspections yet, and we do not drill wells. If that is what you need, tell us on the phone and we will point you to somebody who does it right instead of stringing you along.

What areas around Citra do you cover?

We cover Citra and the 32113 ZIP, plus Sparr, Anthony, Orange Lake, Reddick, Orange Springs and the acreage along 441, 301 and 318. North of you we run McIntosh and Micanopy and we are across Alachua County every week. East we reach Fort McCoy. If you are not sure whether you are inside our range, call and ask. It is a two second answer. Hawthorne | Marion County | All service areas

Get a real plumber out to Citra.

One call, one company, a real price before we start, and the owner’s license on the work. Leaks don’t stand a chance. Book a Visit Online

First Choice Plumbing | 6940 SE 221st St, Hawthorne, FL 32640 | Licensed Florida plumbing contractor CFC1430748 | Serving Citra and northern Marion County

Tell us what's going on and we'll take it from there

You get a real person, a $69 visit, a flat price before we start, and a company that patches what it cuts and answers the phone when you call back. If a smaller fix is the right call, we’ll tell you that too.

First Choice Plumbing is a locally owned, owner led plumbing company working Gainesville, Hawthorne and Greater Alachua County. Leak detection, repipes, water heaters, drains, trenchless lining, well water filtration and septic. We find it, we fix it, we guarantee it.

Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor CFC1430748

Explore

Services

Proudly Building Legacy with Legacy Sales Engineering

Call Now Book Online