A mixed housing stock
Oak Ridges grew from a small community around Yonge and Bloomington into a large suburb. You find former cottages and older bungalows close to Lake Wilcox, 1980s homes, and big subdivisions from the 2000s. Each brings different plumbing: original galvanized lines in some older houses, copper in the eighties, PEX in the newest.
Water and ground
The moraine's sandy soils and high water table in some pockets mean sump pumps work hard in spring. A few properties on the edges still draw from private wells or drain to septic, though most now connect to municipal services.
Calls we take here
- Sump pump replacements and battery backups
- Older homes converting from septic to municipal sewer
- Frozen lines in former seasonal houses with poor insulation
- Water softeners for hard water
- New basement bathrooms in recent builds
Converting from septic to sewer
Where an older Oak Ridges home switches to municipal sewer, the house drain needs rerouting from the septic tank toward the street connection. We camera the existing line, plan the new route and make the connection once the municipal work is ready. The old tank is then decommissioned by a septic contractor. Inside, we check that floor drains and fixtures are properly trapped and vented, since septic-era plumbing was sometimes loose about both.
Related
See Lake Wilcox, battery backup sump pumps and septic and well basics.
Quick checklist before we arrive
- Hang a flanged plunger and a pail beside the basement floor drain
- Shine a light under each vanity and kitchen sink every spring and fall
- Pencil the install date on the water heater and the sump pump
- Pull the pop-up stopper and clear the hair every couple of months
Local note: York Region tap water is fairly hard, so scale builds up early in tank heaters, faucet cartridges and shower valves in Oak Ridges.
Your questions, answered plainly
Do you work on houses with septic systems?
We handle the house plumbing; septic pumping and tank work is for a septic specialist.