Plumbing Service in High Park

High Park: the housing stock and its plumbing

The streets east and north of the park filled in mostly in the early twentieth century. Detached and semi-detached houses with generous front porches, full basements and leaded-glass windows are typical, along with some later infill and low-rise apartment buildings along Bloor and Parkside.

Inside, many have had a century of updates. You might find original cast iron drains, copper supply lines from a mid-century renovation, and pockets of galvanized steel that never got replaced. Some houses have a basement apartment with its own kitchen and bath tied into the main drain.

Trouble we run into most often

• Root intrusion in clay laterals, given the area's mature canopy.
• Old shut-off valves that will not fully close when you need them.
• Low pressure from narrow original water services.
• Leaky outdoor taps on long front-to-back runs that freeze in exposed walls.

Hillier streets toward the Humber and the ravines can also have drainage quirks: runoff toward the house, or groundwater sitting higher than the basement floor in spring.

Below the floor: drains, sewers and wet basements

When a basement drain backs up in High Park, roots are a prime suspect. Clearing the line is the first job; seeing why it blocked is the second. A sewer camera inspection after cleaning shows whether you are dealing with fine root hair at joints, a cracked section, or a sag.

For water that seeps through walls or up through the slab, the fix is different: grading, downspouts and perhaps a sump pump. Keeping the floor drain trap filled also stops sewer smells; see floor drain care.

What happens when you ring us

Call or send a message with the basics: what you are seeing, which room it is in, and the rough age of the home. We will ask about access, since some homes on the park side have long driveways or rear lane entry. Once on site, we look before we quote, explain the problem, and lay out options with their trade-offs. Where work involves a permit, such as a new water service or backwater valve, we handle the application and inspection booking.

Neighbours in Roncesvalles, Bloor West Village and the Junction share many of the same housing patterns, so the notes on those pages may be useful too.

High Park homeowners also ask us about winter. Exterior walls on older houses were often poorly insulated, and a pipe running along a north wall to a back kitchen can freeze in a cold snap. A few simple habits, from shutting off outdoor taps in fall to opening cabinet doors on cold nights, prevent most of it.