Nic’s Plumbing is built around Queen Anne and the older-home neighborhoods next to it — Magnolia, Ballard, Fremont and Wallingford — and works a wider circle beyond that. Most of that map is old housing, and old housing is what this company is for: galvanized supply lines, cast-iron stacks, clay side sewers and lath-and-plaster walls.
- Where I work mostQueen Anne, Magnolia, Ballard, Fremont and Wallingford — plus condo and apartment work in Belltown, South Lake Union and Downtown Seattle
- What these homes tend to haveOriginal supply lines, side sewers and water heaters in houses built before the 1960s
- Combined-sewer basinsBallard, Fremont, Wallingford and north Queen Anne drain sewage and stormwater in one pipe
- Same standard everywhereYou see the price and approve the work before I start
Where I work most
These five are the center of the business. Each has its own page covering housing eras, landmarks and the problems common in homes of that vintage.
Queen Anne
ZIP 98109, 98119. Victorians, foursquares and craftsman homes climbing the hill, many from the early 1900s. Three floors of fixtures on a century-old supply line is the classic pressure complaint, and the grade makes the side sewer run longer too.
Magnolia
ZIP 98199. 1920s–1930s craftsman and Tudor homes near the Village, mid-century ramblers toward Discovery Park. Larger parcels mean longer supply runs; daylight basements are where a bluff drainage problem shows first.
Ballard
ZIP 98107, 98117. 1910s–1920s bungalows near the core, mid-century homes farther north, decades of partial updates joined under the floor. Low crawlspaces instead of full basements are what change the job here.
Fremont
ZIP 98103. Early cottages and craftsman bungalows above the Ship Canal, with heavy ADU and gut-remodel activity layering new fixtures onto century-old lines. Combined-sewer basin.
Wallingford
ZIP 98103. Craftsman bungalows and Seattle box homes from the 1910s and 1920s, on flat blocks that tip downhill toward Lake Union. Cast-iron stacks, clay side sewers and combined-sewer drainage are the recurring issues in homes of this era.
Also serving
Phinney Ridge, Green Lake and Greenwood sit just past the core five and share the same 1910s-to-1930s housing stock, so the same old-house questions apply. No dedicated page for these yet — call, describe the house and the symptom, and I’ll tell you plainly whether it’s a fit.
Condo and apartment work downtown
Three denser neighborhoods where the work is in-unit rather than whole-house: stacked units, shared risers, water heaters in closets, building or HOA coordination.
- Belltown — towers and a few surviving early-1900s brick low-rises
- South Lake Union — post-2005 towers plus converted warehouse lofts
- Downtown Seattle — the tower core, and Pioneer Square’s brick on fill land
Why this map is built around old houses
In the core five, there is a good chance nobody has replaced a house’s supply lines since it was built. Galvanized steel and cast iron last a long time, and when they fail they do it quietly: brown water at the hot tap, a shower that fades when the toilet flushes, a slow drain that keeps coming back. Those symptoms are easy to live with for years, and easy for a plumber to patch in one spot and leave.
I chose these neighborhoods on purpose: the housing is old enough that the plumbing needs a specialist, and the homes are worth keeping. Anywhere on this map a job runs the same way — I look first, you approve a written price before I start, the house is protected while I work, and you see photos of what I found and what I fixed. The full process.
What a house’s age tells us before we open a wall
The year a house was built is the first clue to what’s inside it. Remodels change the picture, but this is roughly what to expect.
| Typical era | Where you see it | What’s often found | Most common work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s–1920s | Queen Anne, Wallingford, Fremont, Ballard core | Galvanized supply, cast-iron stacks, clay side sewers, tight chases in balloon framing | Whole-house repiping, side sewer repair |
| 1920s–1940s | Magnolia, north Ballard, Wallingford | Galvanized meeting later copper, original drains, basements that take on water in heavy rain | Partial repipe, storm drainage |
| 1950s–1970s | Magnolia, north Ballard, upper Queen Anne | Copper supply, aging water heaters, cast iron nearing the end of its life | Water heaters, drain and fixture work |
| 2000s and newer | South Lake Union, Belltown, Downtown, townhomes citywide | Modern materials, in-unit water heaters, fixture wear, shared-building rules | Service calls and fixture repair |
Old-house note: the combined-sewer neighborhoods
Seattle Public Utilities notes that sewage and stormwater from Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford and the northern portion of Queen Anne flow into the same combined sewer system. For a homeowner that means a heavy-rain problem and a sewer problem can look identical from the basement — and the side sewer connecting your house to that system is yours to maintain. Start with the side sewer guide or the basement flooding guide.
Repiping, neighborhood by neighborhood
Whole-house repiping is the flagship service. These four pages cover what a repipe looks like in that neighborhood’s homes: wall construction, routing, and how the scope options shake out.
Homes everywhere else on this map get the same repipe service; start from old-home repiping. For everything else: sewer line repair, water heaters, storm drainage, service calls.
In one of these neighborhoods? Let me take a look.
Tell me the neighborhood and the symptom. I’ll diagnose it, explain it plainly, and send Good, Better and Best options to approve before any work starts.
Questions about where I work
My neighborhood is not on the list. Can you still help?
Maybe. The map is drawn tight on purpose, so old houses get the time they need. If you’re close to one of these neighborhoods, call and ask. If it’s a good fit I’ll say so, and if it isn’t I’ll say that too.
Do you work on condos and apartments, or only houses?
Both. Belltown, South Lake Union and Downtown are mostly in-unit work: fixtures, water heaters in tight closets, leaks between floors. I coordinate with building management where required.
How do I know whether my house still has its original pipes?
Look at the exposed pipe near the water heater or where the main enters the basement. Gray threaded pipe that a magnet sticks to is galvanized steel; copper is reddish; PEX is colored plastic. The guide to telling if you have galvanized pipes walks through it.
Does the neighborhood change the price?
Not directly. What moves the price is the house: size, fixture count, wall and floor construction, access, and materials. Neighborhoods matter only because they tend to share a housing era. See why two quotes on the same house can differ.