Services
Drain Clearing
Blocked drains happen. Whether it is the kitchen sink or the building drain, these blockages seem to happen at the worst times. Food debris, baby wipes, grease, and improper installation are all things that can lead to blocked drains and an inevitable call to the plumber!
We use up to date, reliable equipment to deal with any situation that you may be facing. Our team of licenced, skilled plumbers can quickly diagnose and resolve any blockage. Let us help you get back up and running again!
Why do blocked drains happen?
Drains become blocked when non-soluble solids make their way down the drain and become lodged. The usual culprits are grease, baby wipes, and paper towels. Pipes can also sag, crack, or even be crushed by the load of the earth on top of them. You rely on the drains to be working properly to remove waste water from your home or business; we will get things running again in a quick, timely manner!
Virtual Assessment
When you contact us, we’ll start by conducting a quick, virtual assessment of the situation. This allows us to be sure to have the correct equipment on site as quickly as possible and avoid any unnecessary trips. That way we can resolve the issue as quickly as possible when we are at your home or business.
Protect Your Home
After clearing the blockage, we will look at ways to avoid this ever happening again. Thorough, direct discussion with the homeowner allows us to lay out the options that you may have to avoid another sewer backup. Whether that is installing a backwater valve, re-piping a section of cracked or broken piping, or simply looking at what you can do yourself, we are always as open and upfront about solutions as possible. We never go for the hard sell; we believe in true, honest, transparency!
Drain Jetting
Drain jetting is the act of cleaning your drains, while using highly pressurized water in the drainage system. Imagine being able to use a pressure washer on the inside of your drains. We run our drain jetter to clear large, or hard to displace blockages. Usually working at about 1500 psi, the drain jetter will cut through all types of blockages including grease, sludge, and most other things that could find its way into your drains.
How Does a Drain Jetter Work?
A drain jetter works by using highly pressurized water to clear the insides of the pipes. Nozzles facing both forwards and backwards on the jetting head give the pipes a thorough, 360-degree cleaning. Where a regular drain snake will dislodge most blockages, it won’t clean the inside lining of the pipe. This leaves you more susceptible to future blockages if there is something for debris to cling to. A drain jetter is like the spa treatment for your pipes!
Preventative Cleaning
Many of our customers opt to have us in for annual drain jetting. This helps to prevent larger issues that may arise in the future. Keeping the inside lining of your pipes clean allows for the free flow of waste, lessening the chance you will have to call us in an emergency situation!
Faucet Repair
Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and powder rooms – there are more faucets in your house than you realize. From time to time, they start to drip, lose pressure, or leak into the cabinets below. If you’d like to extend the life of your faucet, we will always try our best to repair it before having to suggest a replacement!
What Can Go Wrong with My Faucet?
Faucets are actually quite finicky and have a number of parts that can fail over time. This can show up as water temperature issues, dripping faucets, low pressure situations, or even damaging leaks in to the cabinets or floor below. When you see your faucet has an issue, let us know right away and we will find the resolution that best fits your needs and budget.
Dripping Faucets
A dripping faucet may not seem like something you’d need to deal with right away, but in fact you should! A dripping faucet can send thousands of litres of water down the drain each year. Constant dripping can also discolour sinks and even lead to the corrosion of steel. Aside from the cost of wasted water or having to replace your sink, there is also a large environmental impact.
Toilet Repair
There are quite a few things that can go wrong with a toilet. Aside from the obvious blockages, there are a number of different parts of a toilet that will need replacing over years of use. Common issues we see every day include “phantom flushing”, water not refilling the tank after flushing, water leaking from the base, and many others. These are usually all things that can be taken care of quickly and efficiently by our team of licensed plumbers.
What is the Lifespan of My Toilet?
Many customers ask us about the lifespan of a toilet. The toilet itself will last as long as you’d like it to – it is the different parts that start to fail. Flappers, fill valves, tank-to-bowl gaskets, and wax rings all fail on a semi-regular basis; sometimes every 5-7 years. The good news is we have whatever is needed, no matter which brand of toilet you have!
Toilet Blockages
Toilets will become blocked in any number of situations. We receive calls every day for kids flushing their toys, simple toilet paper or baby wipe blockages, or anything else that may have made its way down there! Old or new, we can get your toilets working for you again!
Bath and Shower Repair
Bath and shower problem are usually not as complicated as they seem, but there are quite a few areas that can cause issues. Leaks, water temperature issues, dripping spouts, or blocked drains; there are a number of things that can go wrong! We are here to first diagnose, then repair any issues you might have with your bathtub or shower. We’ll do it in the most cost effective, timely way possible!
Bath and Shower Cartridges
Dripping shower faucet? Issues with your hot or cold water? Usually this means that we will need to replace the cartridge that controls the hot and cold water in your bath or shower valve. Starting with a virtual assessment, we will diagnose the issue, then determine availability of parts. Once we have parts in hand, we will stop in and make the quick and painless repair for you!
Drain Blockages
The combination of hair and soap scum wreak havoc on a bath or shower drain. Blockages here are quite common, but can usually be avoided by using a drain cover to prevent hair from going down the drain. If your tub drain is clear, put one of these in right away. If it’s blocked, put one in after we’ve cleared it for you!
Hidden Leaks
Hidden leaks are a major source of stress for anyone involved. All of a sudden you have a water stain in the ceiling, or water is dripping from your pot-lights. Constantly dripping leaks should be looked at right away, as there is likely an issue with a pressurized water pipe that could become worse over time. If the leak has shown up more slowly, it is likely to do with the drainage piping.
What Causes Leaks?
Many of our homes and businesses still have the original piping, which is often more than 100 years old! Over time, whether it is a pressurized copper pipe or an old cast iron drain, water can wear through the inner surfaces of the pipes, creating leaks that show up as dripping or staining. We will always try our best to repair the leaking pipe while creating the least amount of disturbance to the surrounding area.
Mold Issues
Leaking pipes should not be put off, as mold will quickly grow in the moist environment that is being created. Once you notice a leak, contact us right away and we will have one of our licenced plumbers there to take care of it for you, before any more damage is done!
High Water Bills
An unexpectedly high water bill is something nobody wants to get. We have had horror stories of customers coming to us saying their last bill jumped to $2000! If you notice even a small increase in your water bill, please contact us to do a full diagnostic of your home or business water system. We will be able to point out and repair any issues that may have arisen.
What Causes a High Water Bill?
High water bills are usually an effect of a constantly running toilet, a dripping faucet, or burst in an underground pipe. Unfortunately, these are all things that are very common and should be corrected right away when noticed. Dripping faucets or running toilets can add up to thousands of gallons of water waste every year, substantially increasing your water bills. When left unchecked, these issues only get worse!
Our Process
We will take the time to audit each and every source of water in the home to check for leaks, drips, running water, or anything else that may have caused your high water bill. We will be able to check the water meter to see if there is a constant flow of water, then move forward to fix whatever issues we are facing. Once we’ve finished, you should expect your next water bill to be back to its normal amount!
Sump Pumps
A sump pump is a very worthwhile investment to help save your basement from the natural groundwater that will rise in the events of large storms, thawing snow, or even displaced underground water tables. A sump pit collects naturally occurring groundwater from underneath your home or business, then pumps it away from your home and foundation. It is one of the best ways to prevent naturally occurring basement flooding.
Battery Powered Backup Pumps
We will often suggest you also install a Battery Powered Backup Pump when installing or replacing your Sump Pump. A typical Sump Pump will only work when it is plugged into direct power. When do you lose power? During the large rainstorms that have the greatest chance to flood your home or business with groundwater! Using a Battery Powered Backup Pump, even if the power goes out, your home or business will be protected until the power comes back online.
Sump Pump Maintenance
Sump Pumps should be checked to be in good working order on a yearly basis. This can usually be done by the homeowner by simply taking off the cover and ensuring all floats are moving freely, there is no debris in the pit, and the pumps themselves are properly moving water out of the pit. A quick, annual check can save you thousands of dollars if your pump has failed – just watch for spiders!
Frozen or Burst Pipes
A burst water pipe is the worst-case scenario for a home or business owner. The unstemmed flow of water can easily cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages in no time at all. There are a number of steps we can take to prevent pipes from freezing in the first place. In turn, this should greatly reduce the chance of a water pipe bursting. Also, it is a good idea to know where the main water shut off valve is in any building, so in the event that a pipe does burst you can quickly turn the water off and lessen any damages.
How We Prevent Frozen Pipes
There are a number of different ways we can prevent pipes from freezing in the first place. We use “Heat Trace Cables”, pipe insulation, and selectively vented areas to do this. However we do it, we need to make sure that the pipes do not freeze again in the future! Contact us if you’re experiencing frozen pipes and we will have one of our plumbers out to see what we can do about it!
How You Can Prevent Frozen Pipes
There are also a number of things you can do on your own to prevent pipes from freezing. One way is to leave faucets dripping slightly – this slow movement of water in the pipes will stop ice from forming and save your pipes from bursting. Just be aware that there will be an inevitable increase in your water bill. Another alternative is to use space heaters in areas that are extra cold in the winter months - be sure to have the proper clearances to prevent any fires!
Water Pressure Issues
Many older homes in Toronto experience moderate to severe water pressure issues. These are sometimes drastic enough that an upstairs faucet may only receive a small dribble of water if the water is being used somewhere else in the house as well. Don’t even bother trying to shower!
What Causes Water Pressure Issues?
Water pressure issues in older buildings can be caused because of a number of different issues. Most commonly, the interior of the water pipe in the home has lessened to a fraction of what it once was. This is especially common if the building has galvanized steel or sometimes even copper water piping.
What Can We Do About It?
We have a few different options when looking to increase the water pressure in a building. There are certain pieces of equipment which will help and can be installed in a less invasive procedure. On the other end of the spectrum, it is sometimes necessary to replace the water main that enters the building, or even some of the piping within the building itself. Please feel free to reach out for us to diagnose the issue and work with you to find the best solution!