Halton Region

Licensed plumbers in Burlington.

Roughly half the houses in Burlington were built before 1981, and much of what we do here traces back to what that stock was and was not built with.

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Burlington has an older housing stock than most people assume. The 2021 census counted just over 73,000 occupied dwellings in the city, and about a third of them went up between 1961 and 1980. Close to half predate 1981 altogether. That is a great deal of postwar subdivision, built to drainage assumptions that a modern storm does not respect.

The city found that out on August 4, 2014. The figure the City quotes in its own Tuck Creek flood study, sourced to Conservation Halton, is 190 millimetres of rain across the afternoon and evening, more than three thousand homes flooded, and the Tuck, Shoreacres, Roseland and Appleby Creek watersheds hardest hit. A lot of the basement work in this city still traces back to that day.

We work across Burlington for homeowners, landlords, property managers, contractors and builders. It sits at the western edge of our normal service area, so anything past the city gets confirmed case by case when the enquiry comes in.

What we run into on Burlington plumbing calls.

What August 4, 2014 actually did

Rain through the afternoon and evening put water into more than three thousand Burlington basements.

The City's Tuck Creek flood study cites Conservation Halton for the 190 millimetre total and names Tuck, Shoreacres, Roseland and Appleby Creek as the watersheds worst affected. On Tuck Creek alone, thirteen culverts overtopped, at New Street, Regal Road and Spruce Avenue among others.

Some of that was creek water going where creek water goes. A good deal of it was sanitary sewer surcharge pushing back up through basement floor drains, which is a different failure with a different fix. The two got conflated in a lot of conversations afterward, and still do.

Half the city was built before 1981

Statistics Canada puts about a third of Burlington's occupied dwellings in the 1961 to 1980 window and close to half before 1981.

Houses from that stretch were generally not built with a backwater valve. They tend to carry clay or early plastic laterals, and at the older end of the range, cast iron stacks and galvanized branch lines. Halton Region's free Household Drainage Survey is aimed at almost exactly this stock: built between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, a reported history of flooding from a wastewater surcharge, and inside a priority area the Region defines.

Miss on any one of the three and the Region's own instruction is to get a drainage assessment from a licensed plumber instead.

Two pots of money, two levels of government

Halton Region runs the subsidy that pays toward the work itself.

It covers backwater valve installation, downspout disconnection, sanitary lateral lining or repair, weeping tile disconnection paired with a sump pump, and exterior storm drain disconnection. The City of Burlington runs a separate grant that waives the building permit fee on backwater valves, sump pumps and sanitary line work.

Amounts and eligibility have been revised more than once, so confirm current terms with both before you budget around either. Three rules catch people out regardless of the numbers: a home on septic is not eligible, an exterior backwater valve installation is not eligible, and the Region wants the municipal permit with a passed final inspection attached to the claim.

Lake water at 124 mg/L, and what that is not

Halton Region publishes total hardness for the Burlington distribution system at 124 mg/L as calcium carbonate, which by the Region's own conversion is about 8.7 grains per imperial gallon.

That sits above the provincial aesthetic objective of 80 to 100, so it is moderately hard water. Enough to scale a tankless heat exchanger over a few years if nobody ever descales it, enough to seize a shower cartridge, not enough to justify the equipment a well-water house needs.

Halton's groundwater-supplied communities run more than double that figure. Burlington and Oakville draw Lake Ontario water through the Burlington and Burloak plants; Acton and Campbellville do not, and the difference shows up in what fails first.

Most requested

What Burlington customers call us about most.

Questions

Plumbing in Burlington.

Do I need a permit for plumbing work in Burlington?

Often. The City's building permit fee schedule has its own plumbing section covering site servicing and private water lines, new sewer and water service installation, and backflow prevention devices, sump pumps and backwater valves. Like-for-like repairs generally do not need one. We are a licensed plumbing contractor with Red Seal certification and a Master Plumber licence, and we take permits out through the City of Burlington Building Department the same as any contractor working here.

Does my building need annual backflow testing?

If it is industrial, commercial or institutional, or multi-residential, Halton Region's drinking water system by-law requires an approved backflow prevention device on the service and annual testing by an accredited tester, with the report filed to the Region within 28 days. Lawn irrigation systems need a device as well, which catches a lot of residential owners off guard. We hold the tester certification, so the test and the filing happen on one visit.

Who is responsible for the sewer line between the street and my house?

Halton Region is responsible for the wastewater service line from the main up to and including the property line. From the property line into the home is the owner's, along with all the indoor plumbing. The Region has been replacing and relining sections of the public side on Burlington streets under its basement flooding mitigation program, but that work stops at the line. A camera inspection tells you which side yours is failing on.

Can you work on a house in Kilbride or Lowville?

Yes, for the plumbing itself. Properties in Burlington's rural north generally sit outside Halton's water and wastewater service area and run on private wells and septic systems. Worth knowing before you spend anything: a home on septic is not eligible for the Region's basement flooding subsidy, so that route is closed regardless of what gets installed. We do not drill wells and we do not pump septic tanks.

Do you charge a trip fee to come out to Burlington?

No. There is no trip fee anywhere inside our service area. Burlington sits at the western edge of it, so a job further out than the city, toward Hamilton or up the escarpment, is something we confirm case by case when you call rather than agreeing to it and backing out later. We work Monday to Friday, nine to five, with Saturdays by appointment. Messages left outside those hours are returned the next business day.

Get a quote

Working in Burlington?

Send the details through the quote form and we will come back to you with next steps. For anything urgent, call the office. A phone call always beats a web form.

Call the office(742) 688-3747 Request a Quote

Mon–Fri 9:00am–5:00pm · Saturday by appointment. We do not advertise 24-hour emergency service. Messages received outside regular business hours are returned as soon as possible on the next business day.