//Quick answer
- Do it yourself: flapper, fill valve, supply line, aerator, disposal reset, plunging, the meter test.
- Call: gas, sewer, slab, water heater, anything under pressure inside a wall, anything that needs a permit.
- The practical framing: consequences, not rules. Ask your building department about owner-builder rules.
01Definition
What is honestly DIY?
Replacing a toilet flapper or fill valve. Swapping a braided supply line under a sink. Pressing a disposal's reset and clearing a jam with the power off. Cleaning an aerator or a shower head. Plunging a single slow drain. Running the water meter test. Refilling a dry P-trap. None of those need a plumber, and a plumber who sells you one is not doing you a favor.
What is not?
Gas piping: sizing, testing and permits, and a leak inside a building if it goes wrong. Sewer laterals: permitted, and a wrong slope is buried. Slab work: detection accuracy and concrete. Water heaters: gas, venting, relief valve and a permit. Anything under pressure inside a closed wall. The consequences are expensive and, for gas and venting, dangerous.
02Which fits
What about the middle ground?
A faucet replacement, a toilet set, a shower cartridge. Doable for a handy owner with the right part; also the jobs where a forced fit causes the next leak. If the part does not obviously match the rough-in, that is the moment to call. Done-Rite installs customer-supplied fixtures and says up front if the part will not fit.
What does the law say about doing your own work?
That is a jurisdiction-specific question. California has an owner-builder path and each building department applies its own rules, so this page does not assert what you may or may not legally do. The practical framing is about consequences, and the safe answer for anything that needs a permit is to ask the department.
03What goes wrong
What does a DIY gas or sewer job cost when it fails?
More than the licensed job would have, plus an inspection problem at resale, plus, for gas, a safety problem. Done-Rite is CSLB C-36 #998069, and the licence number is on every page because California requires it to be.
04Proof
- California CSLB C-36 licence #998069. Licensed, bonded and insured, with workers compensation.
- Robert Bergholtz, Google, December 24, 2025: "Logan does a great job at explaining what is needed and what to watch for going forward."
- No trip charge, a 1-hour response time, and 24/7 emergency service.
- Independent and family-owned in Orange County since 2014. Not a franchise.
05Action
Try the easy ones; call for the rest
No trip charge, a 1-hour response, and a technician who will tell you when you did not need to call.
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//Terms used in this guide
Where this applies
Done-Rite runs these calls across Orange County from its shop in Anaheim, CA, with no trip charge in any city it serves.
Common questions
Yes. Done-Rite installs customer-supplied faucets, toilets and shower valves and will tell you up front if the part will not fit your rough-in.
