After thousands of service calls across Greater New Haven, these are the problems we see over and over.
Connecticut's housing stock is old — a lot of it dates from the postwar boom of the 1940s–60s, and plenty predates that. That means Connecticut plumbers see a very specific set of recurring problems. Here are the seven that top our list.
One: cast iron drain corrosion. Cast iron was the standard for residential drainage for decades, and it lasts a long time — but not forever. Homes from the 1960s and earlier increasingly need cast iron replaced with PVC or ABS.
Two: galvanized water service lines. Galvanized pipe corrodes from the inside, gradually restricting flow. If your home has original galvanized service and you have low pressure or discolored water, replacement is usually the answer.
Three: tree root intrusion in sewer lines. Mature landscaping plus older clay or cast iron sewer lines equals recurring backups. Camera inspection tells you what you're dealing with.
Four: sump pump failures. Connecticut has a lot of basements — and a lot of high water tables. Sump pumps fail, batteries die, and check valves stick. Annual inspection prevents flooded finished basements.
Five: aging water heaters. The average unit lasts 8–12 years. Plenty of homes are running 15+ year old heaters right up until they leak.
Six: frozen pipes. Uninsulated pipes in exterior walls or unheated crawl spaces don't survive a hard CT cold snap. Insulation is cheap; burst pipe cleanup is not.
Seven: outdated fixtures and shutoffs. Multi-turn shutoffs from 40 years ago rarely turn — and when you need them, you really need them. Replacing them with quarter-turn ball valves is a small investment with big peace-of-mind returns.
If you own an older CT home, an annual walk-through with a plumbing professional catches most of these before they become emergencies.