Most plumbing questions in an old Seattle house start the same way: “Is this the galvanized pipe thing?” “Do I really need the whole sewer line replaced?” “Why can nobody give me a straight range?” These guides are our answers, written the way we would explain them at your kitchen table. They cover the old-house problems that repeat across Queen Anne, Magnolia, Fremont, Ballard and Wallingford, what each one actually means inside the wall or under the yard, and how to tell a permanent fix from a patch. The full list of neighborhoods is on the service areas page.
- Who they are forOwners of Seattle homes built before the 1960s, and anyone comparing plumbing quotes
- What they coverRepiping, side sewers, water heaters, heavy-rain drainage, and what a first visit looks like
- Seattle specificsSide sewer ownership and permits, combined-sewer neighborhoods, the City Light heat pump water heater rebate
- What they are notA sales pitch. Several of them explain when the expensive fix is not the right one
Repiping an old Seattle house
Galvanized steel supply lines were standard in Seattle homes for the first half of the last century, and they fail slowly from the inside. These three guides take you from “what is that brown water” to a quote you can compare with confidence.
Signs your old house needs repiping
Read this if you have rusty morning water, a shower that fades when someone flushes, or a plumber who said “replace everything” without saying why.
How to tell if you have galvanized pipes
Read this if you want a ten-minute basement check with a magnet and a flashlight before you call anyone.
What drives the cost of a whole-house repipe
Read this if you are holding two repipe quotes that are far apart and want to understand which line items make the difference.
How to read the numbers in these guides
Where a guide mentions cost, it uses market ranges only: what Seattle-area homeowners commonly report paying, so you have a sense of scale before anyone comes out. Those are not Nic’s Plumbing prices. The real number for your house is the written quote I prepare after looking, which you approve before any work begins. Two quotes for the same house should not be thousands apart without a reason you can see, and the guides show you where to look for that reason.
When you are ready to talk about your own house, the service page for old-home repiping explains our targeted, partial and whole-house options.
Side sewers and sewer line decisions
In Seattle the pipe from your house to the city main is yours, including the part under the sidewalk and street, and the rules around fixing it are specific to this city. These guides cover ownership, permits and the trenchless-or-dig decision in plain language.
Seattle side sewers explained
Read this if you have never heard the phrase “side sewer card,” or you are about to buy or sell an older Seattle house.
Trenchless vs. dig-and-replace
Read this if a camera inspection turned up cracks, roots or an offset joint and you are deciding between a liner, pipe bursting or an open trench.
Both guides pair with our sewer line repair page and the deeper dive on sewer camera inspections, where we mark the footage so you can see the problem yourself.
Water heaters
A water heater rarely gives much notice. This guide helps you judge how much life yours has left, what the warning signs look like, and which way to go: a repair, a like-for-like replacement, or an efficiency upgrade.
Water heater lifespan and efficiency upgrades
Read this if your tank is past its first decade, the hot water has started to run rusty, or you are weighing tankless and heat pump options.
For the comparisons themselves, see tankless vs. tank and heat pump water heaters, including the Seattle City Light rebate that applies to them.
Heavy-rain drainage and basement water
Every fall the first big atmospheric river finds the weak spot in an old basement. Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford and north Queen Anne sit on combined sewers, where storm runoff and sewage share a pipe, which changes both the risk and the fix. These two guides cover the why and the what-to-do.
Why Seattle basements flood in heavy rain
Read this if water showed up in the basement during a storm and you need to know whether it is groundwater, a plumbing failure or a sewer backup before you spend a dollar.
Seattle rainy-season plumbing checklist
Read this in September. A short list of gutter, downspout, floor drain and sump checks that head off the problems November usually brings.
The fixes themselves, from downspout rerouting to a sump and backwater valve, are on our storm drainage page.
Straight answers
Shorter pages, each one built around a single question homeowners get stuck on. If you are mid-decision and want the answer rather than the background, start here.
Should I repipe now, or wait?
Read this if the galvanized pipe has not leaked yet and you are trying to decide between acting on age alone and waiting for evidence.
Why are my two repipe quotes so different?
Read this if two honest-looking plumbers gave you numbers thousands apart and neither quote explains the gap.
Low hot water pressure: is a repipe the only fix?
Read this if the hot side fades upstairs and someone has already used the word “repipe.”
Rusty or brown water from the hot tap
Read this if the first draw of the morning runs orange and you want to know whether it is the heater or the pipe.
Spot repair, or the whole side sewer?
Read this if a camera found one obvious problem and you are being quoted for the entire line.
Do I really need a new water heater?
Read this if you were told to replace the tank and want to know what is legitimately repairable first.
Why do plumbers charge a service fee?
Read this if a trip or diagnostic fee surprised you, and you want to know what is normal and what is not.
Working with us
For a lot of homeowners the hardest part is not the pipe, it is letting a contractor into a house they love. This guide walks through a first visit minute by minute so there are no surprises on either side.
What to expect on a first visit
Read this if you want to know exactly what happens between the text on the way and the photos at the end, and what we will never pressure you to do.
The short version lives on our process page, and the quote itself is explained on how the free quote works.
Questions about these guides
Are the costs in these guides Nic’s Plumbing prices?
No. Where a guide mentions cost, it uses market ranges only: what Seattle-area homeowners commonly report paying, so you have a sense of scale before anyone comes out. The real number for your house is the written quote after a look, which you approve before any work begins.
Which one should I read first?
If something is happening right now, start with the straight answer that matches the symptom. If you are planning rather than reacting, start with the longer guide for the system involved: repiping, side sewers, water heaters or drainage.
Do I need to book a visit to use them?
No. Several of these guides tell you how to check something yourself with a magnet, a flashlight and ten minutes in the basement, and a few explain when the expensive fix is not the right one. Reading them and doing nothing is a perfectly good outcome.
Read enough? Let us look at the actual house.
Tell us what you are seeing and we will come out, trace the real cause, and send three priced options to approve before any work starts.
Have a question these guides do not answer yet? Send it to us. Your questions are where the next guide comes from.