Meet Steve Allen: Master Plumber Behind Allen's Plumbing — 40+ Years Serving Oahu and Maui

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From "The Drain Surgeon" to Allen's Plumbing: A Legacy Built on Oahu

Steve Allen started his plumbing career the way most master plumbers do — as an apprentice, learning every fitting, fixture, and pipe system by hand. By 1982, he had enough experience and confidence to go out on his own. He founded The Drain Surgeon, a drain-focused plumbing business serving Honolulu and the surrounding communities of Oahu. The name wasn't just clever branding — it reflected Steve's early specialization in the most difficult, chronic drain and sewer problems that other plumbers avoided.

Over the years, The Drain Surgeon grew into what is now Allen's Plumbing, expanding from drain work into full-service residential and commercial plumbing across Oahu and Maui. Today the company serves homeowners, property managers, and businesses throughout Honolulu, Kailua, Pearl City, Ewa Beach, Aiea, Kapolei, and across Maui.

What hasn't changed in 40+ years is the direct involvement of Steve Allen himself. Unlike many companies where the founder becomes a figurehead, Steve has remained an active voice in every major job, every hiring decision, and every new technology the company adopts. That hands-on commitment is why Allen's Plumbing has maintained consistent quality across thousands of jobs — and why homeowners on Oahu and Maui trust the name.

Hawaii Firsts: Innovation That Changed Plumbing on Oahu and Maui

Steve Allen didn't just build a successful business — he changed what was possible for plumbing customers in Hawaii. Twice in his career, he was the first person to introduce a major plumbing technology to the islands.

Bringing Hawaii's First Hydrojetter to the Islands (Early 1990s)

In the early 1990s, hydrojetting — using high-pressure water streams to blast through decades of grease, scale, and root intrusion inside drain and sewer lines — was still a relatively new technology on the mainland. Steve Allen recognized its potential for Honolulu's aging sewer infrastructure and brought the first hydrojetter in Hawaii to Oahu.

For homeowners in older neighborhoods like Kaimuki, Manoa, and Nuuanu — where cast iron and clay sewer laterals date back 60 to 80 years — hydrojet cleaning was a revelation. Instead of repeatedly snaking the same recurring blockage, Steve's crews could clear and restore full pipe capacity in a single visit. That innovation is now standard practice across the industry, but Allen's Plumbing was running hydrojet jobs on Oahu before most plumbers in Hawaii had heard of the technology.

Pioneering Pipe Lining on Oahu (2007)

In 2007, Steve Allen made his second landmark contribution to Hawaii plumbing: he introduced cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining — also called trenchless pipe lining — to Oahu. At the time, the standard solution for a failed sewer lateral was full excavation: renting equipment, breaking through Oahu's volcanic rock and coral substrate, and replacing the pipe entirely at enormous cost and disruption.

Pipe lining changed that equation. By inserting a resin-saturated liner into the damaged pipe and curing it in place, Steve's team could rehabilitate a failed sewer line without digging — preserving landscaping, hardscaping, and driveways that would otherwise be destroyed. For homeowners on Oahu and Maui, where lot sizes are tight and outdoor space is precious, this technology was transformative.

Allen's Plumbing has now completed hundreds of pipe lining jobs on Oahu and Maui, and Steve's early adoption of the technology means his crews have more real-world experience with Hawaii's specific soil, volcanic rock, and pipe conditions than any other company on the islands.

What 40+ Years of Oahu Plumbing Work Teaches You

Steve Allen has worked on plumbing systems in virtually every neighborhood on Oahu — from oceanfront estates on the North Shore to high-rises in downtown Honolulu to post-war tract homes in Pearl City and Aiea. That breadth of experience produces knowledge that no training manual can replicate.

A few things Steve and his team see regularly that most homeowners don't know about:

• Oahu's water hardness varies dramatically by district. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply serves different areas with water from different aquifer sources, and the hardness level — which directly affects how fast scale builds up inside water heaters, fixtures, and pipes — varies enough that a water softener or whole-home filtration system that makes sense in Ewa Beach may be unnecessary in Kaneohe. Steve's crews factor in local water conditions, not just generic recommendations, when advising on water treatment. (Source: Honolulu Board of Water Supply Annual Water Quality Report.)
• Hawaii's salt air accelerates corrosion on exposed plumbing. Coastal homes on Oahu and Maui — especially those within a mile of the ocean — show accelerated corrosion on outdoor shutoffs, hose bibs, and water heater components. Steve recommends dielectric unions, stainless or brass fittings, and annual inspections for any home in a coastal zone. Most mainland plumbing guides don't mention this because it isn't a significant issue outside coastal climates.
• Older Oahu homes often have mixed pipe materials. Homes built between the 1950s and 1970s in neighborhoods like Kalihi, Palolo, and Salt Lake frequently have original galvanized supply lines spliced into copper at some unknown point in the past. These transition points corrode faster than either material alone, and they're often hidden inside walls. When Allen's Plumbing diagnoses a pressure problem in a home of this era, the crew knows to look for these hybrid systems first.

Recognition, Credentials & Industry Standing

Steve Allen's work has been recognized far beyond Oahu and Maui. He has been featured in national plumbing trade publications twice in Cleaner Magazine — one of the most widely read publications in the drain and sewer industry — as well as in Plumber Magazine and Business View Magazine. (Cleaner Magazine is published by COLE Publishing and covers drain, sewer, and water technology professionals across North America.)

Allen's Plumbing holds a BBB A+ accreditation — the highest rating the Better Business Bureau awards — reflecting the company's track record of resolving customer concerns and operating with integrity. The company maintains all required State of Hawaii contractor licenses, and Steve personally holds a Master Plumber license issued by the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division.

With 4.8 stars across 2,441+ reviews (aggregated via Birdeye), Allen's Plumbing stands as one of the highest-rated home service companies in Hawaii — not just in plumbing.

What Oahu and Maui Homeowners Can Expect From Allen's Plumbing

Steve Allen built Allen's Plumbing around a straightforward belief: the customer deserves a plumber who shows up on time, explains what's wrong in plain language, and fixes it correctly the first time. After 40+ years on Oahu and Maui, that standard hasn't changed.

Allen's Plumbing offers:

• Emergency Plumbing — 24/7 response for burst pipes, sewer backups, gas leaks, and flooding across Oahu and Maui
• Water Heater Installation & Repair — tank and tankless systems, solar-assist water heaters, and hybrid heat pump units sized for Hawaii's climate and energy costs
• Water Filtration Systems — whole-home filtration, reverse osmosis, and water softening tailored to Oahu's water quality conditions
• Trenchless Pipe Lining & Hydrojetting — the technologies Steve himself introduced to Hawaii, now performed by crews with nearly two decades of island-specific experience

Frequently Asked Questions About Steve Allen and Allen's Plumbing