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Aisle 6 · Water service

Lead Water Service Replacement for North York homes

If your house went up before the mid-1950s, the pipe bringing water in from the street could be lead. It is worth five minutes to find out.

  • We start at the where the service enters the house
  • On the van: copper or pex service pipe
  • 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

Symptoms that call for lead water service replacement

A lead pipe does not leak or look sick. It just sits there. The way to know is to check the pipe coming through the wall into the house, usually through the front basement wall, right before the water meter.

  • The pipe is dull grey and soft enough that a key scratch shows shiny silver
  • A magnet will not stick to it
  • There is a bulb-shaped joint where it meets the copper near the meter
  • The home was built before about 1955

If a magnet sticks, it is likely galvanized steel, which has its own problems but is not lead. Copper is orange-brown. Our lead pipes column explains the check step by step.

How the job is done

The water service is split into two halves in Toronto. The city owns the pipe from the main under the road to the property line. You own the part from the property line into the house. Replacing only one half leaves lead in the line, so the best results come when both sides are done.

On the private side, the old pipe is replaced with new copper or approved plastic tubing. That can be done by open trench, or with trenchless methods that pull the new line through with a small pit at each end, which saves a lot of lawn and driveway. Inside, we connect to a new main shut-off valve and reset the meter.

Call 311 early. The City of Toronto has a process for replacing the public side when a homeowner replaces theirs. Lining up timing with the city saves digging twice.

After the swap, run the cold tap for a few minutes before drinking, and flush the aerators. Disturbed scale can loosen for a while after the work.

If a magnet sticks, it is likely galvanized steel, which has its own problems but is not lead.

From the counter

North York housing notes

The southern parts of North York, closer to Lawrence and the older Toronto boundary, have more houses old enough to have lead. Much of North York was built in the postwar boom after lead had fallen out of use for services, so plenty of homes have copper from day one. Some had a lead section replaced at some point while another stretch was left behind.

A new service also often fixes low pressure. Older half-inch lines are small for a modern house with two or three bathrooms, and an upgrade to a larger line helps. See water pressure problems if that is your main complaint.

What to do before we arrive

  1. Clear the area around the water meter in the basement.
  2. Mark any sprinkler lines, landscaping or buried cables you know about.
  3. Contact 311 about the public side and note the reference number.
  4. Use a certified filter for drinking water until the work is done.

Whole-house pipe upgrades are covered under repiping. Buying an older home? Add a service check to the list in our home buying checklist.

Questions

Is lead pipe dangerous?

Lead can leach into drinking water, and health agencies advise reducing exposure, especially for children and pregnant people. Replacing the service removes the source.

Does the city replace its half for free?

The City of Toronto replaces the public portion under its own program. Call 311 for the current process and timing before you book your side.

Will my lawn get dug up?

Trenchless methods often need only small pits at each end. Open trenching is sometimes needed depending on the route and soil.

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.