What we check first in Birch Cliff
- 1Service linelead or galvanized pipe at the point of entry
- 2Main valveold gate valves at the meter that may not close
- 3Stack and floor drainoriginal cast iron, sometimes cracked along the bottom
- 4Crawlspace runspipes under additions that freeze in hard winters
- 5Previous repairsmixed materials and fittings from decades of patch work
01Old lots, old pipes
Many Birch Cliff streets south of Kingston Road were built up between the wars, with small houses on deep lots. Some of those houses were later raised, extended or rebuilt, but under the floor the original service line can still be lead, and the basement may keep the cast-iron stack it was built with. Walking into one of these basements, we often see four or five generations of plumbing in a single run: lead, galvanized, copper, a length of PEX and a shark-bite fitting holding it together.
None of that is unusual, but it does mean a small repair can turn up a bigger question.
| Typical housing | Early twentieth-century cottages and storey-and-a-half houses, plus later infill |
|---|---|
| Plumbing to expect | Lead or galvanized service, cast-iron drains, clay laterals |
| Seasonal trouble | Freezing in additions and crawlspaces |
02Lead in the ground
If your house was built before the mid-fifties, inspect the line at the foundation wall. A soft, dull grey pipe with a bulbous joint is likely lead. Toronto runs a replacement program for the city-owned part of the line, and doing your part alongside it saves digging twice.
03Additions and crawlspaces
Back kitchens and sunrooms added to old cottages often sit over crawlspaces with little insulation. Those are the pipes that ice up first when the temperature plunges.