Real jobs, real pipes
North York plumbing counter
Plumbers in North York, on call for the job in front of you
Every part, every pipe, one counter.
Tell us what is dripping, backing up or gone cold. A plumber who knows North York houses picks up the job and sees it through.
- Drains, leaks, water heaters and basement backups
- Restaurants, offices, plazas and rental buildings
- Fault found and explained before any price
- Phone answered by a person, never a web form
- Licensed and insured (details on the call)
- Price agreed before work starts
- North York and next door
Our work: the whole plumbing aisle
Most calls we take fall into a handful of bins: drains that will not drain, water heaters that have quit, pipes leaking where nobody can see them, and basements taking on water after a heavy rain. Each of those has its own page below, written so you can tell roughly what is going on before you pick up the phone. Nothing on this site asks you to fill in a form. When you are ready, you call, describe the problem, and a plumber takes it from there.
North York houses span a long stretch of building history. A Bathurst Manor bungalow from the 1950s, a Don Mills split-level, a Willowdale rebuild and a forty-storey condo at Yonge and Sheppard all hide very different pipes. Cast-iron stacks, galvanized supply lines, clay sewer laterals and modern PEX can all turn up on the same street, which is why the first questions we ask are about the age and type of the building.
- Drain Cleaningslow and blocked drains cleared with augers and flushing.
- Main Sewer Line Clearingroots and blockages in the main line to the city sewer.
- Backwater Valve Installationvalves that stop city sewer water from entering the basement.
- Gas Water Heater Replacementswapping worn gas tanks for new units.
- Leak Detectionfinding hidden leaks behind walls and under floors.
- Lead Water Service Replacementreplacing the private side of old lead service pipes.
- Toilet Installationnew toilets set, sealed and tested.
- Bathroom Renovation Plumbingnew supply and drain lines, then fixtures, for a remodelled bathroom.
Residential plumbing
- Bungalows, split-levels, rebuilds and condo suites
- Drains, toilets, faucets, shower valves
- Water heaters, sump pumps, backwater valves
- Leaks traced before walls come open
Commercial plumbing
- Restaurant grease lines and interceptors
- Backflow testing and repair
- Office, clinic and retail washrooms
- Condo, rental and property manager calls
What’s wrong?
Pick the symptom, we’ll point you to the right page
The shop behind the counter
Think of us the way you would think of a good neighbourhood hardware store: somebody who has seen the part you are holding a thousand times and can tell you what it does. We would rather explain a problem plainly than sell you a job you do not need. If a two-minute fix on your end will solve it, we will say so on the phone.
- Phone first, so you talk to a person and not a web form
- Plain explanation of what we think is wrong before any work starts
- Price discussed and agreed before the wrench comes out
- Work area left clean, old parts taken away if you want
Why North York plumbing has its own quirks
Much of North York was built quickly after the Second World War, and plenty of those homes still carry original drain lines under the basement floor. Mature trees along streets in York Mills, Armour Heights and Bayview Village send roots looking for water, and older clay laterals are an easy target. Heavy summer storms have flooded basements across the city more than once, and the City of Toronto has offered a subsidy program for backwater valves and sump pumps. Check the current terms with the City before you plan around it.
Counter tip: know where your main water shut-off is before you ever need it. In a typical North York home, hunt along the basement wall that faces the road, where the water service comes in from the street.
How a call runs
- You callDescribe what is dripping, backing up or cold, and the cross streets.
- We ask questionsAge of the building, pipe type if you know it, where the shut-off is.
- We open it upTrap off, clean-out open or wall cut: find the actual fault before quoting the fix.
- We test itOpen each tap on that run, watch the joints dry and show you what came out.
The library: guides worth keeping
Our guides cover the questions homeowners ask us most: how to stop pipes freezing in January, the first moves to make once a pipe has split, how long a water heater should last, and who is on the hook for a leak in a condo. They are free to read and written to be useful even if you never call us.
- How to Prevent Frozen Pipes in a Toronto Winter, explainedSteps to stop pipes freezing in a North York winter, written in plain language for homeowners, with checklists, local notes and when to call a plumber.
- Water heater lifespan in North York basementsWater heater lifespan and signs a tank is near the end, written in plain language for homeowners, with checklists, local notes and when to call a plumber.
- Lead Pipes in Older Toronto Homes, explainedSpotting a lead water service and what to do about it, written in plain language for homeowners, with checklists, local notes and when to call a plumber.
- Keeping a North York basement drygrading, downspouts, backwater valves, sump pumps and the habits that stop a storm becoming a flood.
- Where the main water shut-off hidesWhere the main water shut-off hides in North York houses, condos and townhouses, how to test it and what to do if it is seized.
- Plumbing to sort before you finish a basementFinishing a North York basement? Sort the cleanouts, backwater valve, drain depth, shut-offs and old pipes before the drywall goes up.
Service area: Willowdale to Downsview and next door
We cover the old City of North York from Steeles Avenue down to roughly Lawrence, between the Humber River in the west and Victoria Park in the east, plus a few close neighbours such as Thornhill and Concord. Each neighbourhood page talks about the housing there and the problems we tend to find.
Call when you are ready
Have a rough idea of the problem, your cross streets, and whether water is actively running. If it is, shut off the main valve first, then call (365) 990-1521. If you are not sure what is wrong, that is fine too. Describe what you see, hear or smell and the plumber on the line will figure the rest out alongside you.