Grey water pipe running up an orange wall

Armitage

Plumbing in Armitage

Armitage is a neighbourhood of curving crescents and two-storey family homes, most of them now about forty years old. That age shows first in the plumbing.

We know the pipe behind the walls in Armitage
Drains, heaters, sump pits and leaks handled on one call
Floor protection and clean-up on every visit
Phone answered by a plumber, any hour

Homes and pipes in Armitage

The houses in Armitage, on Newmarket's southwest side, were mostly built through the 1980s. They share a recognisable kit: copper supply lines, ABS drains, a gas water heater beside the furnace, and a basement floor drain near the laundry. It is solid plumbing, but four decades of hard water have done steady work inside it.

Copper from that period can develop pinholes, especially at elbows near the water heater where hot water moves fastest. Original shut-off valves, many of them multi-turn gate valves, often seize or will not close fully when finally used.

Pipe you will likely find in Armitage

Supply pipe: Type M copper, some Poly-B from the 1980s
Drain and stack: Cast iron in the stack, early ABS in later additions
Usual call: Pinhole leaks in copper, scaled kitchen arms, tired water heaters
First thing to check: Grey Poly-B fittings near the heater and laundry

Jobs we do most on these streets

Grease and scale build-up. Forty years of use narrows kitchen lines; hydro jetting clears them fully.
Sump pump replacement. First and second pumps reach end of life; see sump pump repair.
Pinhole leaks. Small drips from copper, often found by a stain on the basement ceiling.
Shut-off valve swaps. Replacing seized gate valves with quarter-turn ball valves.

Freeze, thaw and storm calls here

Summer storms are the biggest test for Armitage basements: water from the roof and yard flows to the pit fast, and a tired pump can fall behind. In winter, hose bibs on north-facing walls are the usual frozen-pipe call. Check our list of what not to flush as well, because wipes are a leading cause of main line backups in this area.

Getting the van and tools to your door

From our base in Newmarket, Armitage is a short drive via Bathurst or Mulock. Neighbours in nearby Glenway share the same age of house and the same common problems, so the advice on one page usually applies to the other.

Asked on site

Should I replace all my copper at once?

Not usually. A few pinholes can be repaired. Repeated leaks in different spots suggest the pipe is thinning throughout, and repiping becomes worth discussing.

At what age should an Armitage tank be retired?

Most tank heaters give ten to fifteen years. If yours is original or past twelve, plan for replacement rather than waiting for a leak.