At a glance
- Place
- Duffins Creek
- Setting
- Ajax neighbourhood
- Phone
- (365) 363-2754
- Read next
- Our service area
Homes and plumbing in Duffins Creek
Along the Duffins Creek corridor you find a broad spread of housing. Some streets date to the postwar growth of Ajax, others to the 1970s and 1980s, and a few pockets are much newer. The creek itself is protected valley land, so homes back onto green space and the ground can stay wet well into spring.
The older homes here sometimes still have cast iron drain stacks and laterals of clay tile or first-generation plastic. Supply lines are usually copper, with a few houses still hiding sections of galvanized steel behind basement walls. Newer homes have PEX and modern ABS drains.
Common problems we see
The age spread shapes the calls. In the older houses we see cracked cast iron, slow main drains and low water pressure caused by narrowed galvanized pipe. Closer to the valley the trouble is water in the basement, whether from a weak sump pump or a sewer backup during heavy rain. Newer homes tend to call about water heaters, toilets and fixtures rather than the pipes themselves.
Local tip Low pressure at every tap? If both hot and cold are weak throughout the house, the cause is usually in the supply line or the main valve, not the faucets. Our low water pressure guide explains how to narrow it down.
Services most asked for
- Backwater valve installation to stop sewage coming back up the floor drain in a storm.
- Sewer camera inspections on older laterals before a sale or a renovation.
- Repiping to remove the last of the galvanized lines.
- Plumbing repairs after a basement flood, done once the water is gone so the house is ready to dry out.
If you have had water come up through a floor drain before, read backwater valve basics. It explains how the valve works and what upkeep it needs.
Older homes, honest choices
When a house has decades of mixed repairs, there is rarely one right answer. Sometimes the best move is to replace a single cracked section of cast iron. Other times the pipe on either side is so thin that patching it only moves the problem a foot down the line. We show you the condition of what is there and lay out two or three options at different price points. You know your plans for the house better than we do, so the choice stays yours.
Getting to you
We work both sides of the creek, in Ajax and across the line in Pickering. Phone (365) 363-2754 to book. We explain what we see in plain words, show you photos or the camera screen where it helps, and you pick the repair that suits your budget and plans. Pickering homes just west of the creek get the same treatment and the same straight answers.
Questions we hear on the phone
What is a backwater valve?
It is a one-way valve on the main sewer line. It lets water leave the house but closes if the city sewer surcharges, keeping sewage out of the basement.
Do older homes near Duffins Creek still have galvanized pipe?
Some do, usually in short sections hidden in walls or near the main. A camera or a look at the exposed pipe in the basement usually tells us.