A plumber who answers in February

Nobody local publishes a rate, so the honest answer is the national one plus the drive. Plumbers charge $45–200 an hour by experience — an apprentice $45–90, a journeyperson $60–110, a master $80–200, a residential average of $80 — with a service call of $100–250 that usually includes the first hour, a trip fee of $50–300 on its own, flat-rate simple calls of $100–400 and an average job of $340 ($182–500), per one national guide’s 2026 figures. After hours runs time-and-a-half to triple, or $300–400-plus flat. The three Hamptons companies we checked say call for a quote; one offers 18-month 0% financing and one ran a $0 diagnostic promotion in late summer 2026. Plumbers who work the far ends of the fork charge for the drive whether the line says so or not.

Heat it or drain it, and tell someone. Heated: leave the thermostat at 55°F or more — the insurance industry’s “reasonable care” standard for an unoccupied house, and the fact pattern a 2024 New York court case turned on — open the cabinet doors under the sinks, insulate the exposed runs, shut and drain the outdoor lines, and put a Wi-Fi freeze alarm (from about $25) on the boiler and a smart shutoff ($579.99 for the one we could price) on the main. Drained: a plumber shuts the main, drains the supply lines, water heater, traps and outdoor lines and adds antifreeze; no Long Island company publishes the price, so ask. The pipes will see 15.7°F at Islip’s design temperature, and a burst costs $200–3,000 to fix and $1,000–4,000 in damage.

Shut the main water valve first — at the meter on the main, at the pressure tank on a well — then the water heater’s breaker or gas valve, then open a low faucet and call a plumber who answers at night. A frozen line that has not burst thaws for about $100 flat; a burst repairs for $200–3,000, about $500, with an emergency call-out of $100–300, travel of $50–300 and after-hours rates of time-and-a-half to triple; the water damage runs $1,000–4,000 more. Until the plumber comes, open the cabinet doors under the sinks so warm air reaches the pipes, keep the heat on, and do not turn the water back on to see what happens. Then find what let it freeze — the open shutoff, the uninsulated run, the set-back thermostat — before the next cold night.

A tank if the budget and the basement are ordinary: $800–2,500 installed for 40–50 gallons, labor $150–450 for a swap, 6–15 years of life by one guide and 8–12 by another. A tankless if the house fills up on Fridays and empties on Mondays: $2,638 average installed ($1,404–3,901), labor $600–1,900 because the venting and gas change, about 20 years of life, and no tank to fail in an empty house. A heat-pump water heater if the basement is big and warm: $1,200–3,500 installed and PSEG Long Island rebates up to $1,200 on an ENERGY STAR model in 2026, the only water-heater rebate left after the federal credit ended in 2025. On a propane or oil house, which is most of the fork, the fuel at the street decides more than the brochure does.

Look in the basement: a meter and a Suffolk County Water Authority bill means the main; a pressure tank, a pump switch and no bill means a well. Nobody publishes the share of South Fork houses on each, and both are common east of the village centers. It matters in four ways. Cost: SCWA charges $1.866 per hundred cubic feet, $34.33 a quarter and a $20 water-quality charge; a well costs the pump ($975–2,821 to replace) and the power. Water: South Fork wells commonly run iron and manganese that stain fixtures once treated, and Long Island drinks from the sole-source aquifer under it either way. Winter: a well pump stops when the power does. Lead and PFAS: SCWA is replacing lead service lines by 2030 with an address checker, and treats PFAS with granular activated carbon; a well is the owner’s to test.

Ask the building department, because it does not say online. The Town of East Hampton’s Building Department publishes its permit requirements — two sets of quarter-inch plans, licensed-contractor documentation, notarized signatures, workers’ compensation, a survey — and a 13-question FAQ that never mentions plumbing, water heaters, boilers or gas piping; its fees rose in May 2024 and its desk ran 16–20 weeks behind in 2026. The Village of East Hampton issues in two to four weeks. The general pattern for like-for-like equipment swaps that touch no structure or service is a lighter permit, but no Town page states it, so we do not. The code applies either way: a temperature-and-pressure relief valve set no higher than 210°F and 150 psi, and an expansion tank on a closed system. The plumber we send you to files what the department asks.

You tell us about the house once: where it is, what is wrong or what you want done, and when. We put you in touch with one licensed, insured plumber who works your town and does that kind of work, and they call you within one business day, sooner for an emergency. From there it is their quote, their schedule, their warranty. It is free for homeowners; participating plumbers pay us a referral fee for the introduction. We are not a plumbing company, and we do not sell your details; the one company we send you to is the only one that gets your number. If the job is really a septic installer’s, a well driller’s or a heating contractor’s, we say so first. We cover 9 South Fork towns and 6 kinds of plumbing work.