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Stack of new pipe lying on a sidewalk
New pipe laid out for a repipe.

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Aisle 7 · Supply

Repiping galvanized steel in North York houses

Galvanized pipe was standard in houses built through the early postwar years. Seventy years on, the inside is rust and the outside looks fine.

  • We start at the wherever the water is
  • On the van: pipe wrenches and fittings
  • You see the broken part before you hear a number
  • Every fixture on the run tested before we leave
Call nowTalk to a plumber(365) 990-1521
  • Licensed and insured (details on the call)
  • Price agreed before work starts
  • North York and next door

How to spot it

Galvanized line is grey steel pipe joined with threads. Scratch it with a key and it stays grey; it does not turn shiny like lead or copper-coloured like copper. A magnet sticks to it. Look in the basement where the lines leave the meter and run up into the walls.

  • Brown water after the tap sits overnight
  • Low flow that gets worse year by year
  • Leaks at threaded joints, often in the basement ceiling
  • Patchwork of copper sections spliced into steel

What repiping involves

  1. We trace every supply line and decide on routes, often through closets and along basement ceilings.
  2. A new manifold or trunk line goes in from the main shut-off.
  3. New lines run to each fixture in copper or PEX.
  4. Small access holes are cut where pipe needs to pass; they are patched-ready, not finished.
  5. Old steel is cut out or abandoned in place, capped and labelled.
  6. Everything is put under test pressure before the walls go back.

Galvanized line is grey steel pipe joined with threads. Scratch it with a key and it stays grey; it does not turn shiny like lead or copper-coloured like copper.

From the counter

Copper or PEX

PEX bends around framing and needs fewer joints, which means fewer holes in finished walls. Copper is rigid, durable and preferred by some for exposed basement runs. Many jobs use both: copper near the meter and water heater, PEX up into the walls.

Do the service too. If the pipe from the street is lead or a narrow steel line, a new house repipe will still be choked at the source. We check it first.

Typical North York house

A storey-and-a-half on a street off Wilson or Avenue Road often has steel to the kitchen, bathroom and laundry, with a few copper repairs from past leaks. The bathroom upstairs usually sits over the kitchen, which keeps the vertical run short. Most of these houses can be repiped in a few days with the family still living there.

Questions

Is a partial repipe possible?

Yes. Plenty of owners begin with the worst runs, usually kitchen and bath, and finish the rest another year.

Is galvanized pipe unsafe to drink from?

Its main problems are rust, low flow and leaks. If you have concerns about lead from older service pipe or solder, the City of Toronto offers lead testing; check current details.

How the job runs

  1. You callDescribe what is dripping, backing up or cold, and the cross streets.
  2. We ask questionsAge of the building, pipe type if you know it, where the shut-off is.
  3. We open it upTrap off, clean-out open or wall cut: find the actual fault before quoting the fix.
  4. We test itOpen each tap on that run, watch the joints dry and show you what came out.