01Three building waves
The southwest corner, around Birch Cliff and Cliffside, filled in first with small houses from the early twentieth century. After the war the township exploded: thousands of bungalows and storey-and-a-half homes went up in Wexford, Dorset Park, Bendale, Clairlea and Scarborough Village. Then came the planned suburbs of the seventies and eighties in Malvern, Milliken, Agincourt North and Woburn, followed by infill condos and townhouses that are still going up today.
- Each wave has a signature.
- Early houses may still have lead or galvanized service lines.
- Postwar homes lean on cast-iron stacks and clay sewer laterals.
- Later builds switched to copper supply and ABS drains, and the newest use PEX.
02Grouped by district
The tabs group neighbourhoods into the southern bluffs, the middle belt along the 401 and the northern suburbs. Each page explains the plumbing we meet most often there.
03How to read a neighbourhood page
Each page opens with the checklist we work through when we arrive at a house in that area, then describes the housing, the pipes we expect and the problems we see most. The notes are general; your own house may have been renovated, repiped or rebuilt. Use them as a starting point for a conversation with the plumber.
04Not on the list
If your street is not named, it is still on our map. Scarborough has dozens of smaller pockets; call and tell us the nearest intersection.
The southern bluffs
- Birch CliffOlder lots near the Bluffs: lead services, tired cast iron, crawlspace runs.View page
- CliffsideWartime and postwar homes along Kingston Road with original stacks.View page
- CliffcrestPostwar bungalows near the Bluffs with clay sewer laterals and mature trees.View page
- Scarborough VillageThe old village core: bungalows, rental towers and mixed-era plumbing.View page
- GuildwoodPlanned 1950s and 1960s streets near Guild Park, with original copper.View page
- West HillPostwar houses near the Highland Creek valley, with sump work in spring.View page
- Highland CreekAn old village near the creek and the campus, with mixed-age houses.View page
The middle belt
- MorningsideSeventies houses and townhouses near Morningside Park.View page
- Tam O'ShanterFifties and sixties bungalows near the golf course with original stacks.View page
- WexfordClassic fifties bungalows off Lawrence, cast iron and galvanized throughout.View page
- Dorset ParkPostwar homes near Kennedy and Ellesmere with aging drains.View page
- BendaleFifties houses near McCowan and Lawrence, with original laterals.View page
- WoburnSixties and seventies homes near Markham Road and Ellesmere.View page
- ClairleaPostwar homes near Victoria Park and Pharmacy with old supply lines.View page
- Kennedy ParkPostwar homes near Kennedy Station and Eglinton East.View page
The northern suburbs
- MalvernPlanned seventies and eighties townhouses and semis around the town centre.View page
- RougeNewer subdivisions near Rouge National Urban Park, with PEX and sump pits.View page
- AgincourtSixties bungalows and back-splits near Sheppard, many with basement suites.View page
- MillikenSeventies and eighties homes near Steeles with copper and ABS.View page
- L'AmoreauxSeventies suburbs and towers around Finch and Birchmount.View page