Plumber in Dilworth, Charlotte NC: Older Houses, Older Pipe

What older pipe means for your house

Unless a renovation already replaced it, an older Dilworth house may still have the materials of its time:

• Cast-iron drains. Cast iron was commonly used before 1960 for the vertical drain and vent stacks, and sometimes the horizontal drain lines. Old iron drains collect scale and roots; see drain cleaning and hydro jetting.
• Galvanized supply pipe. Galvanized steel is strong but lasts only about 50 years, and rust and scale inside it can significantly restrict water flow. Weak pressure throughout the house points to whole-home repiping.
• Plastic. Most homes built since the mid-1970s have plastic pipe. A later addition or a renovated bath may use newer pipe than the rest of the house.

Look at the pipe you can see at the water heater or under the house. A house that was already repiped is a different job from one with its original pipe.

Same rules as the rest of Charlotte

Permits and inspections for plumbing work in Dilworth come from Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, as anywhere in the county. For a leaking water heater, see water heater repair.

Is a plumber in Dilworth different from the rest of Charlotte?

No. The permit office and the code are the same. What differs is the house: original pipe changes what the plumber checks first.

Should I replace a water heater in a Dilworth bungalow?

Only when the tank leaks at the base or is rusted through. A. O. Smith calls a leak at the base often the first sign of a corroded tank. A failed part on a sound tank can still be repaired.

Next step

Name the street if you know it, the fixture, and whether you can see iron pipe at the heater or under the house. We check whether a local plumber can take the job.