Plumbing and heating in Lynn Valley

Homes of a particular era

Much of Lynn Valley went up between the late fifties and the seventies, with steady infill and renovation since. That's a useful thing to know before diagnosing anything, because houses of that vintage share a fairly predictable set of issues.

The one worth knowing about is Poly-B. Polybutylene supply piping — grey, flexible, usually with copper or plastic crimped fittings — went into a great many BC homes between roughly 1985 and 1997, which covers a lot of the renovation work done here. It fails unpredictably, usually at the fittings, and often inside a wall. Some insurers now ask about it directly, and a few will load the premium or decline coverage.

If you have grey plastic supply lines and you're planning a renovation, repiping while walls are already open costs a fraction of doing it later as an emergency. We're happy to look and tell you what you've got, with no obligation.

In the older houses that predate that, galvanized steel supply is the more likely find, with the same slow corrosion story — falling pressure and discoloured hot water as the internal diameter closes up.

Mature trees and drains

The trees are one of the best things about Lynn Valley and one of the harder things about its drains. Established roots find the smallest defect in a clay or older sewer lateral and grow into it, and once they're in, they keep coming back.

Snaking clears a root blockage but doesn't stop it recurring, and we'd rather say so than sell you the same job annually. A camera inspection shows what's actually happening down there — whether it's roots at a joint, a bellied section holding water, or a genuine break — and lets you decide between periodic clearing and a proper repair. Homes with a big cedar or maple near the front line are the ones this most often applies to.

Crawlspaces, damp and heating equipment

A lot of Lynn Valley houses have their furnace, water heater or both in a crawlspace or an unheated utility area. Our climate does that equipment no favours — corrosion sets in earlier than it would in a finished basement, and a furnace in a damp crawlspace tends to reach the shorter end of its expected life.

Condensate drains on high-efficiency furnaces are the other recurring one. They block with the kind of growth damp encourages, and a blocked trap trips the pressure switch and shuts the furnace down. It's a small job when caught and a no-heat call when not.

If your equipment lives in a crawlspace, an annual look at it is worth more here than the same check would be elsewhere.

Where we work

Lynn Valley proper, Upper Lynn, Westlynn, Lynn Valley Centre and the streets running up towards Lynn Canyon and Mountain Highway. We're based in North Vancouver, so most of Lynn Valley is a short drive and same-week bookings are usually straightforward.

What we can help with

• Repiping — Poly-B and galvanized replacement in copper or PEX, whole house or section by section.
• Drains — clearing, camera inspection and honest advice on repair versus repeat clearing.
• Heating — furnace repair and replacement, boilers, and heat pump changeovers.
• Hot water — tank replacement, usually same or next day.
• Gas — lines, ranges, BBQs and fireplaces with permits pulled.