Repiping Services across Vaughan

Pipe that usually needs replacing

• Galvanized steel, common in houses before the 1960s and some additions after. It rusts inside, pressure drops, and the water discolours.
• Polybutylene, a grey plastic line installed in some houses from roughly 1978 into the mid-90s. It has a record of failing at its fittings. See our note on polybutylene and galvanized pipe.
• Thin-wall copper with pinholes. Hard water and high velocity can wear holes from the inside, often at bends.

Copper or PEX?

Both meet code and both last. Copper is rigid, takes heat, and suits exposed runs in a mechanical room. PEX is flexible, which means fewer fittings inside walls and easier fishing through finished spaces. Many whole-house repipes use PEX from a manifold, with copper left at the water heater and near the meter. We go over the pros and cons for this particular house, and you decide.

How a repipe goes

Most of the work happens in the basement, where the mains run along the joists. Branches to upstairs bathrooms and the kitchen go up through walls. We plan routes through closets and behind cabinets to keep openings small and few. Old line is cut out or abandoned in place. Water is off only for parts of each day; we set up so the house has a working toilet and a tap each evening.

Partial repiping

You do not always need the whole house done. If the basement mains are sound and one galvanized riser to an upstairs bath is the problem, replacing that riser solves it. A water service line from the street is a separate job and can be done at the same time if it is also old.

Woodbridge bungalows from the 1950s and early 60s and older homes in Kleinburg village are the places we most often meet galvanized supply. Late-80s and early-90s builds are where polybutylene sometimes turns up.