Captain Rooter Emergency Plumbers · Chicago (773) 823-0199

Open 24 hours · Chicago, IL

Water where it shouldn't be, at an hour nobody should be awake.

Captain Rooter has been pulling Chicago out of flooded basements, backed-up sewers and dead water heaters since 1998. One number, answered by a person, any hour of the day or night.

Call (773) 823-0199 See what we fix
Response window
60–90 min citywide
Licensed
IL Plumber Lic. #058-14207
Google rating
3.7 ★ · 82 reviews
Plumber tightening a fitting on pipework beneath a kitchen sink
Under-sink supply line replacement, Ukrainian Village — 2:40 a.m. call.

No overtime surcharge on nights or weekends. The price you're quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice.

Burst pipe? Sewage backing up? Don't run the water. Shut the main, then call.

(773) 823-0199 →

01 — What we fix

The work, in the order people usually need it.

Tap any line to open it. Everything below is done by our own licensed plumbers — we don't subcontract, and we don't send a salesperson to your door.

01 Emergency & after-hours calls Answered live, 24/7

Roughly two-thirds of what we do happens between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. A dispatcher picks up on the first ring — no phone tree, no callback queue — and a truck rolls with a stocked van: fittings, couplings, two sizes of shutoff, a wet vac, and a sewer machine.

  • Burst and frozen supply lines, including galvanized pipe in pre-war two-flats
  • Overflowing toilets and failed wax rings
  • Water heater leaks, no-hot-water calls, and pilot failures
  • Sewage backing into basement floor drains
  • Water shut off at the main and the building secured before we leave

Typical arrival: 60–90 minutes inside the city limits. Longer in a hard freeze — we'll tell you honestly on the phone.

02 Drain cleaning & sewer rodding Camera inspection included

Chicago's older housing stock means a lot of clay tile and cast iron laterals, and a lot of tree roots in them. We rod the line, then run a camera down it and show you the footage on the monitor before we quote anything.

  • Kitchen, bath and laundry branch lines
  • Main sewer lines up to 6" — rodding and jetting
  • Root cutting and descaling
  • Video camera inspection with a copy of the recording
  • Floor drain and catch basin clearing

If the camera shows a collapsed section, you'll see it yourself. We'd rather show you than describe it.

03 Water heaters & boilers Repair or same-day replace

We service gas and electric tanks, tankless units, and the hydronic boilers that heat most Chicago two- and three-flats. Most no-hot-water calls are a thermocouple, a heating element, or a sediment-flogged tank — we diagnose before we recommend replacing.

  • Thermostat, thermocouple and element replacement
  • Tank flushing and anode rod service
  • 40, 50 and 75-gallon tank replacement, hauled away and disposed of
  • Tankless descaling and installation
  • Boiler repair, zone valve and circulator pump replacement

Replacement units are carried on the truck in the two most common sizes, so most swaps finish the same visit.

04 Leak detection & repiping Non-invasive first

A water bill that jumped, a stain on a ceiling, a sound of running water with everything off — that's a hidden leak. We start with acoustic and thermal detection so we open the smallest hole possible, then repair and patch.

  • Slab and under-floor leak location
  • Galvanized-to-copper and PEX repiping, whole-unit or partial
  • Toilet, tub and shower valve rebuilds
  • Frozen pipe thawing and freeze-proofing
  • Sump pump and ejector pump service

Repipes are quoted by the fixture count, in writing, before any wall is opened.

05 Fixtures, remodels & gas lines Scheduled work

The daytime half of the business: bathroom and kitchen rough-ins, fixture swaps, and the gas piping that feeds a range, dryer or outdoor grill. Permits pulled where the City of Chicago requires them.

  • Bathroom and kitchen remodel rough-in and trim-out
  • Faucet, disposal, toilet and vanity installation
  • Gas range, dryer and grill line installation and leak testing
  • Backflow testing and RPZ certification
  • Commercial grease trap and floor drain service

Scheduled work is booked in two-hour windows, and we call 30 minutes out.

06 Property management & multi-unit accounts Net 30 available

We hold standing accounts with landlords, condo associations and small management companies across the near Northwest Side. One number for every unit, one invoice per property, and a written report with photos after each call.

  • Priority dispatch for account holders
  • Per-property job history and photo documentation
  • Annual backflow and boiler maintenance schedules
  • Tenant-facing scheduling — we coordinate directly, you don't relay

Ask for Marcus when you call about setting up an account.

Close-up of copper supply pipes and brass fittings during a repair
Copper repipe in progress, West Town three-flat.

02 — Who shows up

A shop, not a call center.

Captain Rooter started in 1998 out of a single van working the blocks around Chicago and Ashland. Twenty-seven years later it's nine plumbers, four trucks and the same address on West Chicago Avenue — the office is the storefront, and the parts room is behind it.

What that means practically: the person who answers your call at 3 a.m. knows which of our plumbers is closest to you, and the plumber who arrives has been on our payroll for years, not dispatched from an app. Every one of them is licensed in Illinois and carries a city plumbing license for the work that requires it.

We quote before we start. If a job turns out to be smaller than we thought, the price goes down, not up. If it turns out bigger, we stop, explain it, and get your yes before continuing.

  • Founded 1998, Chicago
  • Licensed IL Plumber Lic. #058-14207
  • Insured $2M general liability
  • Coverage Chicago + near suburbs

03 — How a call goes

Four steps, no surprises in the middle.

  1. 1

    You call, a person answers

    Tell us what's happening. We'll walk you through shutting off the water or the gas while the truck is on its way — that alone saves a lot of damage.

  2. 2

    We quote before we work

    On arrival, the plumber diagnoses, shows you what he found, and gives you a flat price. Nothing starts until you say go.

  3. 3

    We fix it and clean up

    Drop cloths down, work area wiped, old parts and old equipment hauled away with us. You shouldn't be able to tell we were there except that it works.

  4. 4

    You get it in writing

    Itemized invoice by email or on paper, plus the warranty terms on parts and labor. Card, check or cash — no financing pitch.

04 — Hours

Open every hour of every day.

Business hours by day
MondayOpen 24 hours
TuesdayOpen 24 hours
WednesdayOpen 24 hours
ThursdayOpen 24 hours
FridayOpen 24 hours
SaturdayOpen 24 hours
SundayOpen 24 hours

Holidays included. Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Fourth — the phone is answered the same way.

05 — Visit & call

Where to find us.

Captain Rooter Emergency Plumbers
1252 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60642

Between Noble and Bishop, on the north side of Chicago Avenue — the storefront with the red door. Street parking on Chicago Ave; the 66 bus stops at the corner.

Walk-ins are welcome for parts and scheduling, but for anything actively leaking, call first — we'd rather send a truck to you than have you drive here.

Call (773) 823-0199 Open in Google Maps →

06 — Where we drive

Chicago and the near suburbs.

If you're inside these lines, we're usually there within 90 minutes. Outside them, call anyway — we'll tell you straight whether we can make it worth your wait.

07 — What people say

82 reviews, 3.7 stars, and the ones that sting.

We'd rather show the mixed ones than pretend they don't exist. The pattern in the low reviews is scheduling on the busiest freeze weeks, and we've added a second night truck because of it.

Called at 11:40 on a Sunday night with water coming up through the basement drain. Someone picked up on the second ring and a guy named Dave was here in about an hour. He showed me the root ball he pulled out of the line on his camera. Charged what he quoted.

R. Kowalczyk · Logan Square

Water heater died on a Friday. They had a new 50-gallon in the truck and it was running by mid-afternoon. Clean work, hauled the old one out, swept up after themselves.

Priya M. · West Town

Good work on the repipe, but I waited almost three hours during that January cold snap. They did call to warn me, and they knocked the price down for the wait without me asking. Would use again, would just call earlier.

D. Ferreira · Avondale

08 — Before you call

Questions we get at two in the morning.

A Where's my water shutoff? Do this first

Most Chicago two-flats and single-family homes have the main valve in the basement, near the front wall where the service enters, or under the front stairs. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If it's a gate valve that won't budge, don't force it — call us and we'll talk you through the curb stop instead.

B Do you charge more at night or on holidays? No

No overtime rate, no holiday rate, no weekend rate. Emergency plumbing is the business, not a surcharge opportunity. The price quoted on the phone is the price on the invoice.

C Can you give me a price over the phone? Range, yes — firm, no

We'll give you a realistic range based on what you describe, and we'll tell you the diagnostic fee up front. The firm number comes after the plumber sees it, before any work starts. Anyone who quotes a hard price for a leak they haven't looked at is guessing.

D Do you work with landlords and condo boards? Yes

Standing accounts, per-property invoicing, photo documentation after every call, and Net 30 terms for established accounts. We coordinate with tenants directly so you're not relaying messages at midnight.

E What payment do you take? Card, check, cash

All major cards, check and cash. No financing programs, no subscription plans, no maintenance contracts you didn't ask for. You pay for the work that was done.

One number

If it's leaking, it's not going to fix itself overnight.

Call and a person picks up. Tell us what you're seeing and we'll tell you what to do in the next five minutes — whether or not you end up needing us.

(773) 823-0199

Captain Rooter Emergency Plumbers · 1252 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60642 · Open 24 hours

Service van parked on a residential Chicago street
Four trucks, nine plumbers, one address since 1998.