We are about 25 minutes away in Port Orchard. Wauna gets the same flat-rate pricing, four-hour window and text-when-en-route as the rest of our territory, and because we pass through here on the way to the Key Peninsula, fitting in a Wauna call is easy.
Veteran-owned and family-run, with over 200 Google reviews at five stars. Greg often brings an apprentice, and the goal on every call is to explain what we found and let you pick the fix.
Wauna at a glance for plumbing
Water
Peninsula Light Company water systems serve much of the Wauna and Lake Kathryn area, with other small community systems and private wells on the outlying lots. There is no city water here.
Sewer or septic
Septic throughout. Wauna is outside any sewer service area, and the homes along Henderson Bay and around Lake Kathryn rely on tanks, drainfields and, on the low lots, pump chambers.
Homes
Beach cabins and small homes from the 1940s to the 70s along the bay, with 1980s and 90s ramblers and a few newer builds up the hill and around the lake. The bay-side houses are the ones with galvanized pipe, shallow crawlspaces and original drains.
Ground and weather
A narrow strip of low shoreline on Henderson Bay backed by a steep bank up to the plateau, then glacial till and a lake basin inland. Groundwater sits near the surface on the shoreline and around Lake Kathryn through the wet months. Wind off Henderson Bay and the Carr Inlet makes Wauna's bay-side homes colder than the plateau in a freeze. December 2022 and January 2024 both produced frozen crawlspace lines and hose bibs here. Winter atmospheric rivers raise the lake and the water table together.
The bay-side cabins and what they hide
The houses along Henderson Bay started as summer cabins, and plenty of them still have the summer cabin's plumbing. Galvanized steel supply lines that have been rusting since the Eisenhower years, an ABS or cast iron drain with a few patches, and a crawlspace low enough that the plumber works on his back. The first sign is usually hot water that barely flows at the kitchen sink while the cold is fine, which is galvanized closing up on the hot side first.
A PEX repipe from the crawlspace restores flow everywhere and gets rid of the rusty water. Because these crawlspaces are tight and damp, we also check the drain line to the septic tank while we are down there. Roots and a cracked joint in that short run are common, and they let groundwater into the tank all winter.
Septic chambers on the low lots
Wauna is entirely on septic, and many of the lots nearest the water cannot drain by gravity to a field. The pump chamber takes over: an effluent pump, floats and an alarm. When the alarm sounds, the fix is nearly always in the chamber, and we carry Liberty pumps and floats to replace it on the first visit.
Watch for sewage smell near the tank lid and a chamber that is full when the alarm has not sounded, which means the float or alarm failed too. We test the whole chain when we replace a pump. If the field itself is saturated or the tank needs pumping, we say so and refer you to a septic company for that part.
Community water on the hill, wells beyond it
Peninsula Light's water systems cover a lot of Wauna and Lake Kathryn. Homes at the top of the hill and the far end of a line get the weakest pressure, and summer irrigation drops it further. A DAB booster pump installed where the service enters the house gives you steady pressure without changing anything on the utility side.
Outlying lots on private wells need the usual care: pressure tank, pressure switch, check valve and the pump itself. A pump house that was built as a plywood box is also the first thing to freeze, so we insulate lines and add heat tape when we are out there in the fall.
Freeze season on the water
Bay-side homes in Wauna lost pipes in both the December 2022 and January 2024 freezes. The pattern was the same each time: crawlspace vents open, a copper or PEX line near the vent, three nights in the teens, and a split that showed up when it thawed. We fix the split, insulate the run, and show you where your main shutoff is so the next freeze is a shutoff instead of a flood.
Hose bibs on these cabins are often the old non-frost-free kind. Swapping them for frost-free bibs, and making sure the hose is disconnected in winter, prevents most of the spring surprises where the wall gets wet the first time the hose is turned on.
Plumbing problems we see most in Wauna
Local patterns
- Frozen crawlspace lines and hose bibs on bay-facing cabins
- Effluent pumps and floats in septic chambers on low waterfront lots
- Weak pressure at the end of community water lines on the hill
- Galvanized supply pipe in older cabins restricting flow
- Water heaters in unheated outbuildings and crawlspaces failing early
- Roots in old drain lines between house and septic tank
Neighborhoods and areas in Wauna we serve
We work throughout Wauna, including Wauna waterfront along Henderson Bay, Lake Kathryn Village and the Wauna post office, Highway 302 corridor, Lake Kathryn shoreline, Wauna Hill above the bay and Purdy Spit end of Henderson Bay, and around Lake Kathryn Village, Henderson Bay beach, Wauna Post Office, Purdy Bridge view from the west shore. Population is a small unincorporated community of a few hundred homes, most with Gig Harbor mailing addresses; ZIP codes include 98395, 98329.
Wauna plumbing questions
Where exactly is Wauna, and do you serve it?
Wauna is the community on the west shore of Henderson Bay where Highway 302 begins, with Lake Kathryn just inland. Yes, we serve it, about 25 minutes from our Port Orchard shop.
Is Wauna on sewer or septic?
Septic, all of it. Many of the waterfront lots use a pump chamber to lift effluent to the drainfield, and we service those pumps and alarms.
Who provides water in Wauna?
Peninsula Light Company runs water systems serving much of the area, with some smaller community systems and private wells on the outlying lots.
My cabin's hot water barely flows. Is it the water heater?
Often it is galvanized pipe, not the heater. Galvanized closes up on the hot side first. We check flow at the heater and at the fixtures and tell you which it is before quoting anything.
The drain between my house and the septic tank keeps slowing down. Is that a septic problem?
Often it is the pipe, not the tank. Roots and a cracked joint in that short run are common on the bay-side lots, and groundwater gets in all winter. A camera inspection shows which it is, and if it is the tank we will say so.
Can you winterize a Wauna beach house we only use in summer?
Yes. We drain and isolate the lines, set the heater to vacation mode, and can install a smart shutoff or leak sensors so a problem in January does not run until May.
