Do you have an older home? Are you thinking of upgrading or renovating some part of it? What about adding an essential fixture or appliance, or a wish list item that was never there before?
Upgrades and renovations, large or small, are common when you own an older home. That is particularly true when it comes to plumbing.
Wear and tear on the plumbing system, especially electric hot water tanks and various pumps, depending on whether you draw water from a well, lake, or river. Or a sump pump.
Does your residence have one? If not, you may need to add one, depending on a variety of factors ranging from the water table, the slope situation around your home, to weeping tile. Is the area prone to flooding? Is there a flood check valve installed to prevent backflow and flooding from the sewage system?
If there is an existing sump pump, does it have a battery backup? If there isn’t, it would be a good idea to add one.
Functional upgrades and/or installs may also include adding venting to older homes that may not have it. For basement plumbing, saniflo, sewage and sump pumps need to be vented. For those on septic systems, the sewage pit and pumps require venting. Radon gas may be an issue with a sump pit, which also needs venting.
Fixtures become dated and/or break, and water lines and faucets can leak. Drains clog, and the pipes they are connected to may back up. It could affect one drain or all drains. If it’s every drain, the problem is more than likely the main sewer drain. Call Plumbtech Plumbing at 705-722-7209 if this occurs.
Appliances have become more efficient over the years and more complicated with new computerized functions. They have also grown in size and may no longer fit in the original area. This is more common now for built-in appliances than in the past. Does your home have the space, or does the space need to change to accommodate new appliances and/or fixtures?
Newer appliances have been designed to add more functions, and plumbing will have to be installed. Refrigerators, for example, have water lines plumbed in to make ice cubes and/or produce cold water for drinking.
Stoves may need to have plumbing added to accommodate pot fillers, which is popular with cooks who like the convenience of filling a pot with water on the stove rather than filling it from the sink and carrying it to the stove.
Dishwashers have also been redesigned. If you have one already, check to see if it has an open bottom to accommodate plumbing and electrical from below, or if the dishwasher is enclosed on all four sides and the bottom. Older homes are more likely to have an open bottom. Moving to a closed bottom dishwasher will require changing/rerouting the plumbing and electrical connections.
Older homes are also more likely to have problematic water lines, which can develop issues and/or be hazardous to your health. There might be silver-grey coloured galvanized metal pipes and/or fittings in your plumbing system. They should be replaced because they break down over time, clogging the inside of the pipe and potentially putting your drinking water at risk for lead toxins.
Lead plumbing can still exist in some older homes built before 1950. Lead contamination can cause major health conditions such as kidney damage, headaches, high blood pressure, and more.
In older subdivisions, tar pipes may still be in existence. Made from a mix of fibre and tar, the pipes were not meant for longevity. They become egg-shaped, break, and collapse into your exterior sewage pipe.
Exterior main drain lines may also collapse when backfill and tamping crush the pipe.
More recently, Poly-B piping and fittings, popular in home plumbing in the late 1970s to mid-1990s because it was easy to install, have fallen out of favour. The tubing becomes brittle over time, sometimes cracking and leaking, particularly in plumbing systems with high chlorine levels. The ‘push-and-turn’ fittings and joints were also prone to leaking.
The experts at Plumbtech Plumbing Inc. are very familiar with the idiosyncrasies of older homes and can provide advice and the best solution for all of it. Estimates are free. Call 705-722-7209 for more information.
