Lago Vista Plumber, Grinder Pumps & AC

Real Texas Plumbing – Heating and Air is a licensed plumbing and HVAC company, family-owned since 2018, based at 20811 Dawn Drive in Lago Vista. We repair and replace grinder pumps, water heaters, water softeners, leaking pipes, drains, air conditioners, heat pumps and furnaces in Lago Vista homes. We're residential only, open Monday–Friday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon. We're a family-owned company, and we were named a 2024 and 2026 Nextdoor Fave. Our $65 trip charge is applied toward the work.

Call (512) 662-2949.

What Lago Vista homeowners call us about most

Most plumbing and AC problems in Lago Vista trace back to how the town is built: hills above Lake Travis, City water drawn from the lake, grinder pumps on most sewer connections, and summers that keep the AC running for months. Here's the short answer on each.

Grinder pump alarms, backups and banging pipes

If your grinder pump alarm is going off, stop using water and call us; the tank has limited reserve space once the alarm sounds. Grinder pumps are standard here because the City's residential permit application says homes need one even when they connect to city sewer. On Lago Vista's hills, the pump pushes wastewater uphill through a pressure line. A worn pump, a stuck float switch, or the wrong pressure on the discharge line shows up as alarms, slow drains, sewage smell or loud banging in the pipes.
See our grinder pump service →

Hard water wearing out water heaters and fixtures

Lago Vista's water is hard. It comes from Lake Travis and picks up minerals from the limestone around it. Hard water leaves scale inside tank water heaters, tankless units, faucet aerators and shower valves. A tank that pops or rumbles, a tankless unit throwing scale codes, or crusty aerators all point to minerals. The fix is a water softener plus regular flushing or descaling. The City's annual Water Quality Report has the current number.
Water softeners → | Water heaters →

AC and heat pumps that run all summer

A Central Texas summer keeps an air conditioner running most of the day for months, so parts wear faster than the brochure says. The repairs we see most are failed capacitors, refrigerant leaks, frozen or leaking evaporator coils, and clogged condensate drains in the attic. Many Lago Vista homes heat with an electric heat pump or a propane furnace, since natural gas only reaches some developments. With a heat pump, one system heats and cools, so a summer problem left alone can mean no heat in January. AC repair → | Heating repair →

Freezes and burst pipes

Lago Vista doesn't freeze often, but when it does it hits hard. In the February 2021 winter storm, the whole city went under a boil water notice and Stage 5 water restrictions until February 23. The pipes most at risk are in attics and outside walls, plus hose bibs, backflow devices and outdoor tankless water heaters. Damage often shows up on the thaw, not during the freeze. Know where your main shutoff is before the next cold snap. Broken pipe repair →

After a boil water notice

Lago Vista has had several: citywide in February 2021, south of Dawn Drive after Water Treatment Plant 3 went offline in late 2025, and in Lower Tessera in August 2026. Once the City lifts a notice, follow its instructions first. Standard utility guidance is to run cold taps about five minutes, run hot water until the water heater has refilled with fresh water (or drain and refill a tank set below 113°F), replace refrigerator and under-sink filters, and run your softener through a regeneration cycle. Pressure drops can also knock sediment loose, so sputtering faucets, clogged aerators or tankless error codes afterward are common. If they don't clear up, call us.

Weekend and lake homes

Plenty of Lago Vista homes sit empty for stretches. A slow leak, a failing grinder pump or a clogged AC drain can go unnoticed for weeks. Before you leave, shut off water at the main, leave the grinder pump powered, and don't turn the AC fully off in summer, since humidity builds fast in a closed house.

Grinder pump alarm going off? Do this now

1. Stop using water. No flushing, showers, laundry or dishwasher. Every gallon goes into a tank that isn't emptying.

2. Press the silence button on the alarm panel, but leave the power on.

3. Check the grinder pump breaker in your electrical panel. If it's tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off.

4. Don't open the tank lid or reach in. It holds sewage, grinding blades and live power.

5. Call (512) 662-2949. Tell us if the alarm is steady or on and off, if you smell sewage, and if drains are slow inside.

A grinder pump alarm is an emergency call. We give it priority and book you into the next available time slot. Until we arrive, keep water use to a minimum.

Plumbing services in Lago Vista

We handle the plumbing in your home from the water meter to the grinder pump. Each item links to its own page.

• Grinder pumps: alarms, repairs, float switches, full replacements, and noisy discharge lines.

• Water heaters: tank and tankless, repair and replacement.

• Water softeners: installation and repair, sized for Lago Vista's hard water.

• Leaks and broken pipes: including freeze damage.

• Drain cleaning: kitchen, bath and main line drain clearing.

• Fixtures: faucet repair, faucet installation, toilet repair, toilet installation, garbage disposal repair and garbage disposal installation.

• Sump pumps: installation.

Heating and AC services in Lago Vista

• AC repair: no cooling, warm air, frozen coils, leaks and drain clogs.

• AC replacement: sized to your home, with help on any PEC rebate.

• AC maintenance: spring tune-ups before the long cooling season.

• Heating and heat pump repair: heat pumps, electric and propane furnaces.

• Heating tune-ups and replacement: fall checkups before the first freeze.

• Ductless mini-splits: for additions, garages and rooms the main system can't reach.

How we price, and what can lower the cost

You get a written price before any work starts, and you decide whether to go ahead. Our trip charge is $65 and will be applied towards any work we do. A grinder pump replacement runs $6,000 to $12,000 installed, depending on tank depth, the pump your system takes and the run to the city main; most alarm calls end as a repair for a fraction of that. Tank water heater replacements run $2,200 to $4,400 installed. For a new AC or heat pump, Pedernales Electric Cooperative has offered rebates to members on qualifying high-efficiency systems; amounts and rules change, so check pec.coop or ask us. The federal 25C tax credit no longer covers residential heat pumps placed in service after December 31, 2025.

Neighborhoods we serve in Lago Vista

We cover all of Lago Vista from our shop on Dawn Drive, including:

• Highland Lake Estates and The Oaks at Highland Lake Estates

• Bar-K Ranches

• Lago Vista Country Club Estates

• Tessera on Lake Travis and Lakeside at Tessera

• Lakeshore Ranch

• Marshall's Point and Marshalls Harbor

• Rancho Cielo

• Lago Vista Estates and Lago Ranchos

• The Cove at Lago Vista

• Waterford on Lake Travis

• Montechino and Bella Vista

• North Shore Colony, Emerald Bend and Lakeview Hills

• Lakefront condos, including The Island on Lake Travis, Waterstone and Highland Lake Villas

Next door, we also serve Point Venture and Jonestown →.

Neighborhoods we work in

Most of Lago Vista's sewer system is low-pressure, which means a grinder pump at nearly every home, and the city's code makes the homeowner responsible for it. Here is what we see most, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Highland Lake Estates. Homes from the 1970s up to new builds, mostly on city sewer with grinder pumps. Highland Lake Drive is the street we visit most for grinder pump alarms and replacements. We also handle AC repairs, drains and water heater flushes here.

Bar-K Ranches. Homes from the 1970s on, with lots still being built. Most sections are on city sewer with grinder pumps, and a few still use septic. Our regular calls on Stampede Trail, Horseshoe Loop and Bighorn Circle are grinder pump alarms, AC that quit in summer, and pressure regulator problems on the higher lots.

Lago Vista Country Club Estates. Homes from the mid-1970s through the 2020s around the golf course. We mostly replace and repair AC systems here, along with water heater flushes and main drain work.

Lago Vista Estates (La Mesa, Vista Corta, Ridgeview, Hillside). Homes from the 1970s on, on city sewer with grinder pumps. Grinder pump replacements, water heater installs, and low water pressure from worn pressure regulators are the usual calls.

Tessera on Lake Travis. New construction from 2015 to today. Even on homes this new, grinder pump alarms are already a common call, along with tankless water heater service, water pressure and AC repair.

Lakeshore Ranch. Homes built from 1970 to 2019 on lots from under an acre to more than 13 acres. That mix means older tank water heaters and original AC equipment in the early homes, and newer systems in the custom builds. We size each repair or replacement to the home in front of us.

Rancho Cielo. Custom homes built in the 2000s on lots of about five acres. Homes from that era are now at the age when the original water heater and first AC system start to wear out, and we handle both, along with grinder pump service.

Who you'll be dealing with

• Licensed in Texas: plumbing under Responsible Master Plumber license RMP44420 and AC under TDLR contractor license TACLA22663C. Anyone can look both up on the state license search sites.

• Local: our shop is on Dawn Drive, not in Austin.

What your Lago Vista neighbors say

Kathy K. had loud water hammer in a home with a grinder pump. Three plumbers couldn't fix it; we traced it to too much pressure in the discharge line. In her words: "Grinder Pumps are not something that every plumber knows."

Nicholas P.'s grinder pump alarm went off in Lago Vista. We fixed the pump the same visit, and his neighbor later called us for an AC repair.

Karina M. needed an AC replacement after a bad evaporator coil. She said we laid out the fix clearly with no high-pressure pitch and finished on schedule.

Book a visit

Call (512) 662-2949 You'll talk to someone at our Dawn Drive office, and you'll know the price before we start.

Nearby areas we serve: Point Venture, The Hollows, Northshore on Lake Travis, Highland Lake Estates, Leander and Cedar Park.