Service area
Forest Hill plumber for hillside homes, boilers and designer bath fixtures
Residential plumbing service and repair for Forest Hill homes, including service for designer fixtures.
Lutz Plumbing Inc., the oldest plumbing company in San Francisco, has been in business since 1929 and serves Forest Hill's hillside homes with side sewer, water heater, boiler, drain, leak and designer fixture service.
Forest Hill sits on the west slope of Twin Peaks, west of our 17th Street shop, with the Sunset District spread out below it toward the ocean.
Lutz Plumbing serves Forest Hill for residential and commercial plumbing, HVAC and heating, hydronic and radiant systems, and wellness work, water filtration, steam, sauna, and hydrotherapy. We are the oldest plumbing company in San Francisco, family-owned and licensed since 1929 (CA Contractor License #503971), and our trucks are dispatched from our shop at 3123 17th Street.
Whether it's an emergency, a planned replacement, or a full bath or kitchen remodel through Lutz Bath & Kitchen, we handle it. Call (415) 621-4292 Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, to book the earliest visit a crew can make, or request service online and we will follow up to schedule it. After hours, leave a voicemail and a dispatcher calls back for genuine emergencies.
On a Forest Hill lot, the hill decides how the plumbing runs
A Forest Hill lot is usually a hillside lot, and the house on it is a detached single-family home, often from the 1920s or 1930s and often renovated since. The hill sets the terms. Water service and the side sewer (the pipe to the city main) run up or down the slope between the house and the street, garages and utility rooms often sit below the living floors, and getting a water heater in or out can mean stairs.
Hillside side sewers are a common Forest Hill call. A pre-war line is often clay, roots work into the joints, and a long sloped run can sag or shift. Lutz Plumbing diagnoses with a camera, replaces by excavation when the line is past repair, and handles the DPW permits and SFPUC coordination for work under the street.
Water heaters and boilers are another steady Forest Hill call. Many of these houses heat with a boiler feeding radiators or radiant floors, often in a garage or basement below the house, so replacements are planned around access and venting, with every tank water heater seismic-strapped. Leaks in finished homes, slow drains, running toilets and designer fixtures round out the list. After hours, a burst pipe or sewer backup gets a dispatcher callback after a voicemail to (415) 621-4292.
Duravit and steam shower service in Forest Hill homes
Lutz Plumbing is an Authorized Service Representative for Duravit, and services Duravit wall-hung toilets, bidet seats and bath fixtures in renovated Forest Hill houses, where steam showers, wall-hung toilets, thermostatic shower systems and European kitchen faucets are common and each has parts a plumber needs to have seen before. The same crew services a ThermaSol or MrSteam steam generator as an Authorized Service Representative for both.
- Duravit wall-hung toilets: authorized service for Duravit toilets and bidet seats, and installation that starts with the drain and in-wall rough-in check a wall-hung model needs.
- Steam showers that stop steaming: authorized ThermaSol and MrSteam service when a steam shower stops producing steam or a control fails, generator and control replacement, and sizing and planning for a new installation during a remodel.
- European kitchen faucets and shower valves: VOLA, Dornbracht and Grohe lines carried by the showroom; our technicians work on their faucets, thermostatic valves and shower systems.
Lutz Plumbing is an Authorized Service Representative for TOTO, Kohler, ThermaSol, MrSteam, Duravit, Rinnai, Navien, and Viessmann. Lutz Bath & Kitchen, our showroom in the same building as the plumbing shop, was established in 1990 and carries 80+ fixture brands. Our technicians know these products, and because the showroom works directly with the manufacturers, we can reach their technical support teams when a repair needs it.
Services we do often in Forest Hill
Hillside or not, a Forest Hill house still needs the basics, and these are six services Lutz Plumbing does often here: a water heater in a garage below the house, a slow drain, a side sewer on a slope or a running toilet.
Why Forest Hill neighbors call Lutz
- Hillside side sewers replaced by excavation when past repair, with DPW permits and SFPUC coordination
- Boiler and water heater replacements planned around garage access and venting, with tank units seismic-strapped
- Licensed and insured, CA License #503971
- Plumbing, HVAC, and wellness under one roof
- SF's only Factory-Trained Authorized Service Rep for TOTO
- Family-owned San Francisco shop since 1929
- Written quote before the work starts
Common questions
Can you replace the boiler in my Forest Hill house?
Yes, Lutz Plumbing repairs, maintains and replaces conventional boilers and installs tankless and combination boilers, including in Forest Hill houses heated by radiators or radiant floors. We inspect the boiler, controls, system pressure, pumps, valves and the heating loop before recommending repair or replacement.
My steam shower stopped producing steam. Do you service it?
Yes, Lutz Plumbing services most common steam brands, and we are an Authorized Service Representative for ThermaSol and MrSteam, our preferred brands for new installations. No steam, slow steam or a control fault can trace to power, water supply, a generator component, the drain or the steam line, so we identify the model and inspect before recommending a repair.
Can you find a leak in a renovated Forest Hill home without tearing out the finishes?
Usually, yes: Lutz Plumbing pinpoints hidden leaks in renovated Forest Hill homes with acoustic, thermal and pressure testing before opening a wall or floor. The cause is often a pinhole in old galvanized steel pipe or a slab leak under a garage or addition, and we open only what the repair needs.
Do you service Duravit toilets and bidet seats in Forest Hill homes?
Yes, Lutz Plumbing is an Authorized Service Representative for Duravit and services Duravit toilets, bidet seats and bath fixtures in Forest Hill homes. Before a new toilet or seat goes in, we verify the drain rough-in, shutoff valve (angle stop) position, water pressure, mounting clearances and the model's electrical requirements.