Plumber in Melrose, FL

Licensed, locally owned, and about 20 minutes down State Road 26. Leaks don’t stand a chance.

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

4 Counties, All Served From Hawthorne

Alachua, Bradford, Clay and Putnam. Licensed Florida plumbing contractor CFC1430748, locally owned, out of Hawthorne. Emergency plumber

To come out, waived on larger jobs

$ 69

Leak detection, find it or it's free

$ 375

Parts and labor warranty, plus manufacturer coverage

2 yr

First Choice Plumbing is a licensed plumber in Melrose, FL, based in nearby Hawthorne and serving ZIP 32666 across the Alachua, Bradford, Clay and Putnam county lines. We handle leak detection, repipes, water heaters, drain clearing, well water filtration and septic installs for lake country homes. It’s $69 for us to come out, and leak detection is $375 with a find it or it’s free guarantee.

Why does Melrose need a different kind of plumber?

Melrose isn’t a subdivision. It’s an unincorporated community strung along SR 26 and around the lakes, settled back in the 1870s, with houses that range from Victorian era homes in the historic district to 1960s lake cottages to newer builds on five acres out toward Lake Geneva and Keystone Heights. Almost none of that housing stock is on a city sewer. Most of it is on a septic tank, and a lot of it draws from a private well.

That combination changes everything about a plumbing call. A leak here isn’t just a water bill problem, it’s a well pump running all night and a pressure tank cycling itself to death. A drain backing up isn’t a call to the utility, it’s your tank, your drain field, or the old cast iron under the house. Rotten egg smell in the shower isn’t the city’s problem to fix, it’s yours.

Then there’s the part nobody warns you about. Half the plumbers you call are coming from Gainesville, Palatka or Jacksonville, and Melrose sits at the ragged edge of all three service maps. You get the “we don’t really go out that far” answer, or you get a truck that shows up four hours late with the wrong parts because nobody told the tech there was no city water at the meter.

You shouldn’t have to beg somebody to come fix your house. A working home with hot water, dry floors and drains that drain is the baseline, not a luxury, and the person you call for it ought to answer the phone.

Do you work on septic systems in Melrose?

Yes, and here’s exactly where the line is, because you deserve a straight answer before you call.

We do: new septic installs and replacements, drain field installs and replacements, locating a tank nobody can find, and abandonment and decommission when a property goes onto a new system. Locating comes up constantly around here, because on an older Melrose property the tank is under twenty years of pine straw and the last person who knew where it was moved away in 1994.

We don’t: pump-outs, septic inspections, or pulling an old tank out of the ground. We’re not going to fake it. We work with a local partner company for pump-outs and we’ll hand you straight to them, no markup and no runaround.

Worth knowing before you plan a new system: this part of North Central Florida sits inside springs protection areas, and that can require an enhanced nutrient reducing system on a new install rather than a conventional one. That changes the design and the budget. We’ll tell you that on the front end instead of after you’ve already committed. The full septic overview is here.

Who's actually coming to your house?

First Choice Plumbing is locally owned. Will Harrod owns it and holds the license, Florida Certified Plumbing Contractor CFC1430748. Mike runs the service and drain calls and is background checked. Ben is coming up behind him. Kim answers the phone and does the dispatching, which is why we batch our Melrose work instead of bouncing a truck back and forth to Gainesville all day.

Will still does the estimates himself. That’s on purpose. When the owner is standing in your yard, you’re not dealing with somebody collecting money behind a curtain, and you know exactly who to call if something isn’t right.

We’re not a franchise and we’re not owned by an investment group three states away. We’re the plumber down the road in Hawthorne, and we plan on still being here when your kid buys a house out here.

Which county is Melrose actually in, and why does your plumber care?

All four. Melrose straddles the corner where Alachua, Bradford, Clay and Putnam counties meet, and the line can run right down a street or through the back of a property. There’s no mayor and no city hall, so there’s no single office that handles everything.

That matters more than it sounds. In Florida a permit is required to alter, repair, replace or convert a plumbing system, and that includes swapping a water heater. Which building department pulls that permit depends on which county your driveway sits in. Septic is the same story. Onsite sewage permitting for all four of these counties still runs through the county health department, not the state, so a drain field in the Putnam part of Melrose and a drain field a mile away in the Clay part are two different applications to two different offices.

We deal with all four. When we come out, the first thing we sort out is whose jurisdiction you’re in, and we pull the permit under our license. You don’t chase it, you don’t guess, and you don’t find out at closing that the water heater somebody swapped in 2019 was never permitted.

You can read the county by county detail here: Alachua County, Putnam County, Clay County and Bradford County.

Why does Melrose well water smell like rotten eggs?

Because of what’s under your feet. This whole region draws from the Floridan Aquifer through porous limestone, and that water comes up naturally high in iron and hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide is the rotten egg smell. Iron is the orange staining in the toilet tank, the rust colored streaks on white laundry, and the ring in the tub you can’t scrub out. Neither one means your well is broken. It means your water needs treating.

Part of Melrose is served by the Melrose Water Association and part of it is on private wells, and the two need completely different work. A private well in Florida isn’t regulated the way a utility is, so nobody is testing it but you. That’s why we test for free before we quote anything. We’d rather find out you need one softener than sell you a train of tanks you don’t need.

What we install depends on what the test says. Iron and sulfur usually get an air injection system with a gas off tank, which is a chlorine free approach. Hard water gets a softener, generally two media tanks plus a brine tank. If you want the whole picture on what a full system looks like and what it runs, start here.

One more thing worth knowing even if you never call us. If the smell only shows up in the hot water, it’s usually the water heater, not the well, and it’s often the anode rod. That’s a much smaller fix, and we’ll tell you so.

Get a Free Water Test

Free water test.

No charge, no obligation, and we'll tell you if you don't need anything.

Iron and sulfur.

Usually an air injection system with a gas off tank, which is a chlorine free approach.

Hard water.

A softener, generally two media tanks plus a brine tank.

Smell only in the hot water?

It's usually the water heater, not the well, and it's often the anode rod. That's a much smaller fix.

What we get called out to Melrose for

Leak Detection.

$375 flat to come find it, and if we don’t find it you don’t pay. We locate it, mark it, and write it up for your insurance company.

Slab Leaks.

Warm spot on the floor, water running with everything shut off, bill jumped for no reason. Florida builds on slab, so this one is common.

Water Heaters.

Tank and tankless, gas, propane and electric. Repair when repair is honest, replace when it isn’t. Water heater repair

Drain Clearing.

One clog, one visit, usually about an hour and a half. If the drain keeps coming back, that’s a different job and we’ll say so.

Repipes and Cast Iron.

Older Melrose homes still have original cast iron and galvanized pipe. We repipe, and we line cast iron from the inside instead of cutting up your floors. Cast iron pipe lining

Farm and Property Plumbing.

Horse waterers, feeder lines, hose bibs, outdoor kitchens and pool lines on acreage.

Melrose, we’re 20 minutes away.

Licensed, locally owned, and used to wells, tanks and four county lines. $69 to come out, $375 to find your leak or it’s free, and two years parts and labor behind the work. Leaks don’t stand a chance. Book Online

How does it work?

Call or text 352-377-9447.

Kim answers, gets your address, and tells you honestly when we can be there. Nights and weekends there’s an emergency line, because water doesn’t wait for business hours.

We come out for $69 and find the real problem.

Not a guess, not a sales pitch. If it’s leak detection, it’s $375 and we find it or you don’t pay. You get the price before we touch anything.

We fix it, patch what we cut, and warranty it.

Two years parts and labor, plus whatever the manufacturer covers. If the job runs over $500, financing is available.

The difference is in the details

One call, one published price, and a plumber who will actually drive to Melrose.

What matters	First Choice Plumbing	Typical Franchise or Out of Town Plumber
Will they drive to Melrose	Yes. We're in Hawthorne, straight down SR 26.	Often outside the service map, or a surcharge for the drive.
Price to come out	$69, published, waived on larger jobs.	Rarely published anywhere on the site.
Leak detection risk	$375, find it or it's free.	You pay for the search whether they find it or not.
Wells and septic	Everyday work for us out here.	Frequently referred out to a third company.
Permits	We figure out which of the four counties you're in and pull it under our license.	Sometimes skipped entirely on a swap-out.
After a repipe	Every hole we cut gets professionally patched.	Patching is your problem to hire out.
Who shows up	A small local crew, and the owner runs the estimate.	Rotating techs on a commission sheet.
Warranty	2 years parts and labor, plus manufacturer coverage.	Commonly 30 days to 1 year on labor.

What it looks like when it's handled

The water is clear, the laundry stays white, and nobody comments on the smell in the guest shower. The toilet fills without that long groan. The tub drains while you’re still standing in it. The pump kicks on when you actually use water and stays quiet the rest of the day.

The wall we opened up is patched and painted over and you’d have to be told where it was. The permit is closed out under our license, so when you sell this place in eleven years nothing surprises you at the inspection. And you have one number in your phone for all of it, answered by somebody who knows which county your house is in.

What does waiting actually cost out here?

A hidden leak on a private well doesn’t show up as a utility bill, so there’s no monthly reminder that it’s happening. It just runs. The pump keeps cycling, the pressure tank wears out early, and the water goes somewhere, usually under the slab or into a wall, quietly, for months.

A drain field that’s failing gives you soggy ground and a slow tub before it gives you anything worse, and replacing one is a permitted job with a design behind it, not a same day fix. Cast iron that’s already scaling shut will keep closing up until the day it doesn’t drain at all, and that day is never convenient.

None of that is meant to scare you. It’s just the arithmetic of an older house on a well and a tank.

Lake cottages and older homes

Victorian era homes in the historic district, 1960s lake cottages, original cast iron and galvanized pipe.

Homes on a private well

Nobody is testing it but you. We test for free before we quote anything.

Homes on a septic tank

Installs, replacements, drain fields, locating and abandonment, permitted through the right county.

Acreage out toward Lake Geneva

Horse waterers, feeder lines, hose bibs, outdoor kitchens and pool lines.

Frequently Asked Questions

What county is Melrose, FL in?

All four of them, depending on where your property line falls. Melrose sits at the corner of Alachua, Bradford, Clay and Putnam counties and it's unincorporated, so there's no city government. For plumbing that matters, because your permit goes through whichever county you're actually in. We sort that out for you before we pull anything.

Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Melrose?

Yes. Florida requires a permit to alter, repair, replace or convert a plumbing system, and a water heater changeout counts. The office you file with depends on which county your address sits in. We pull it under our license, CFC1430748, so it's closed out properly and doesn't come back to bite you at resale.

Why does my Melrose well water smell like rotten eggs?

That's hydrogen sulfide, and it's common in this part of Florida because the Floridan Aquifer runs through porous limestone. If the smell is in both the hot and cold water it's the well and it needs treatment, usually air injection with a gas off tank. If it's only in the hot water, it's usually the water heater and often just the anode rod.

How fast can you get to Melrose?

We're based in Hawthorne, about 20 minutes down State Road 26, so we're closer than the Gainesville, Palatka and Jacksonville companies most people call. Kim batches our east county work geographically, so there's a good chance we already have a truck heading your direction.

What does it cost to have a plumber come out in Melrose?

$69. That's the trip charge, it's the same in Melrose as it is in Hawthorne, and it gets waived on larger jobs. Leak detection is its own flat price at $375, and if we don't find the leak, you don't pay for it.

Do you install septic systems and drain fields in Melrose?

Yes. We do new installs, replacements, drain fields, locating a buried tank, and abandonment when a property goes onto a new system. We don't do pump-outs, inspections or pulling old tanks, and we'll refer you straight to a partner for the pump-out rather than pretend otherwise.

Can you find a leak under the slab of a lake house?

Yes, that's our flagship work. Slab construction is the Florida norm, so supply lines run through concrete with no crawl space to check. We locate it without demolishing the house first, mark it, and document the whole thing for your insurance carrier if a claim is involved. Insurance claim leak detection

Are you really available 24 hours?

There's an emergency line after hours and on weekends, and Will or Mike is on the rotation. If you've got water running and can't stop it, shut off the main or the well pump breaker first, then call us at 352-377-9447. Emergency plumber

Do you serve the rest of the lakes?

We do. Melrose is one stop on a route that already runs through Hawthorne, Keystone Heights, Interlachen and Waldo, which means if you’re out near Lake Santa Fe, Melrose Bay or off toward Lake Geneva, we’re probably already going to be near you this week.

If you’re not sure whether you’re inside our map, call and ask. The worst that happens is we tell you honestly that you’re outside it and point you toward somebody who isn’t. See every city and county we cover: Where We Serve in North Central Florida

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

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