What goes wrong along the I-35 corridor
A busy commercial strip puts plumbing under a kind of stress that a quiet street never sees. Restaurant kitchens push grease into drains all day. Restrooms in shops and event venues take sudden surges when a crowd arrives. Water lines under parking lots get driven over every hour.
The calls that follow are fairly predictable. A floor drain backs up behind a kitchen. A toilet in a shared restroom runs and floods the tile. A tenant finds water on the ceiling and nobody knows which unit it came from. In each case the first useful thing is knowing how many tenants share the pipe, because that decides how far the water can travel and who has to be told.
Houses in the same town fail in quieter ways, and they get the same attention. A water heater weeping at the base, a toilet that will not stop running or a kitchen sink that stops draining all fit a standard home call.
Selma grew from 788 people to 10,952 in twenty years
Selma was settled in 1847. Its population was 788 in 2000, 5,540 in 2010 and 10,952 in 2020, per Census counts. That is nearly fourteen times the size in two decades.
Growth that fast tends to mean a mix. Old and new buildings stand close together, and a business may have been remodeled several times by owners who never saw the earlier work. If you manage or rent a space, do not assume the plumbing matches the paint. Ask whoever did the last renovation where the shutoff valves and cleanouts are, and write the answer down before you need it.
The town spans Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties. That matters on a repair call because the water bill, not the map, tells you who serves your meter. Check the bill for the utility name. Leaks on the street side of the meter belong to that utility, and a plumber handles the building side.
Dispatch for Selma runs around the clock from our Cibolo base address. The line is answered every night, weekend and holiday, we do not promise an arrival time, and same-day appointments are offered when available.
Restaurants, shops and shared buildings
Retama Park and The Forum at Olympia Parkway shopping center are both in Selma, and they point to a kind of building where plumbing is shared. If you run a food business, a restaurant, bar or snack counter near an event venue, plan for the busy weekend rather than the quiet Tuesday. A slow floor drain or a restroom that gurgles is a warning that the line will not survive a crowd.
Many food businesses have a grease interceptor, which is a tank that catches fats before they enter the sewer. If it is not pumped on schedule, the grease slips past and coats the drain pipe downstream. A visit to clear the drain can open the line, but a plumber will usually ask when the interceptor was last emptied, since the cable only treats the symptom.
In a building with several tenants, one main drain usually serves many units. When it clogs, the lowest drain gives way first, and that tenant gets the flooding even if the blockage began three doors up. Our commercial plumbing work page covers the work that suits shops, restaurants and multi-tenant buildings, including why the landlord and tenants should agree beforehand on who calls.
Water in a ceiling or a wall
Water that appears on a ceiling, drips from a light fitting or darkens a wall has traveled from somewhere above or behind. In a one-story house that is often a supply line or the water heater closet. In a two-story shop or an upstairs apartment it could be the unit overhead.
Shut off the water to the building at the main valve, and if the leak stops, you know it is a pressurized supply line. If it keeps dripping, it may be a drain or a roof issue, and a plumber can tell the difference. When the source is hidden, electronic leak detection uses listening gear and moisture readings to narrow the spot before anyone opens drywall.
Keep people and equipment away from wet electrical areas. If water is dripping near a light, outlet or breaker panel, do not touch it, and say so on the call. A plumber does not replace an electrician, and we will tell you when the electrical side needs its own visit.
| Where you are | What often goes wrong there | What helps on the call |
|---|---|---|
| House on a private lot | Water heater leaks, toilet fill valves, kitchen branch clogs | Say which fixtures are affected and where the main valve is |
| Restaurant or food counter | Grease clogs, floor drain backups, dishwasher line leaks | Mention the interceptor and when it was last pumped |
| Shop in a shared center | Restroom leaks, shared drain backups, roof or ceiling drips | Name the tenant spaces involved and who manages the building |
| Event or busy public space | Many toilets failing together, supply pressure drops | Describe how many fixtures are affected and what time they stopped |
Water spreading through a building?
Call the 24/7 line, tell us whether it is a house or a business, and a licensed plumber is sent with a clear price before work starts.
While you wait for the plumber
Close the main
Turn the main water valve clockwise to stop the supply. In a shared building, ask the manager where the building main is.
Protect equipment
Lift stock, paper files and electronics off the floor, and cover items you cannot move.
Keep people clear
Block off wet floors near outlets and panels, and keep customers out of the affected restrooms.
Take pictures
Photograph the damage and note when it began, because an insurer or landlord may ask.
One ZIP, shared with Schertz
ZIP 78154 is the Selma ZIP we cover, shared with Schertz. The two towns are neighbors, so a street that straddles the line can carry the same ZIP on either side. Give the dispatcher the street address and the nearest cross street, and they confirm the town before sending anyone. Our Schertz page covers the other side of that ZIP.
If your mail says Selma but the water bill names a different city, say both. The dispatcher uses the street address first. We do not go by the ZIP alone.
Code and permits when work opens a wall
The City of Cibolo enforces the 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC) inside Cibolo, and that code is a useful reference for how traps, vents and water heater discharge lines should be installed. For work in Selma, permit rules vary, so ask the City of Selma which rules apply before a repair that opens a wall, a slab or a parking lot.
A plumber should be able to tell you how a repair meets general trade practice and what the price covers. If a business owner is replacing a drain line during a remodel, the better call is to settle the permit question first and the date second. Nearby, Universal City is served by the same line if your work crosses that way.
Selma, TX on the map
Selma sits beside Schertz, and the map shows how the two towns neighbor each other.
Questions about plumbing in Selma
Yes. The 24/7 line is answered every day, including nights, weekends and holidays, and a licensed plumber is dispatched to Selma addresses. We do not promise an arrival time. Same-day appointments are offered when available, and you hear the price before work starts.
ZIP 78154 is the Selma ZIP we cover, shared with Schertz, so the dispatcher confirms the town by street address when you call. If you are unsure which side of the line you are on, the street and nearest cross street settle it.
Yes. Drain backups, supply leaks and restroom problems in commercial spaces are part of the work, and the plumber will ask about shared lines and the building manager. The commercial plumbing page explains what is covered.
Check your water bill for the name of the utility that serves your address. That utility handles the street side. The plumber handles the house or building side, and can show you where the line crosses.
A plumber starts with the meter, which should be still when every fixture is off. If it keeps moving, electronic leak detection narrows down the area before anything is cut open. The plumber explains the options and the price before work starts.