Trouble Report
Symptoms: What Your Plumbing Is Telling You
Plumbing rarely fails without warning. A smell from the floor drain, a knock in the wall, a toilet that hisses all night: each one points at a part we can find, open and fix.
- Residential and commercial plumbing
- Drains, pipes, water heaters and sumps
- Straight answers on the phone
- Every job water-tested before we leave
or ring (365) 399-5986Real people answer. Bookings by phone only.
- Licensed & insured (details on request)
- Oakville & Halton
- Phone bookings only
Read the symptom, find the part
Every page in this section starts with what you notice and works back to the pipe, valve or fitting behind it. A sewer smell in a finished basement usually means a dry trap or a cracked cleanout cap. A tub that burps while the toilet empties suggests a partial blockage or a blocked vent. Banging when a washer valve snaps shut is water hammer. A sump pump that runs in dry July is often a stuck float or a failed check valve letting the same water fall back into the pit.
What to check before you phone
Note which fixtures are affected and whether it is one drain or several. A single sluggish basin means its own trap or branch; every drain in the basement slowing at once is the main. Look at the water meter with every tap closed: if the dial creeps, there is a leak somewhere on the supply side. Lift the toilet tank lid and watch the flapper and fill valve through one full cycle.
Sewage rising through the basement grate? Close every tap and leave the toilets alone until we arrive; each flush feeds the backup.
When it is our job
Roots in a clay lateral, a seized main shut-off, a collapsed section of cast iron or a pump motor that has burned out are jobs for a cable machine, a camera, a pipe cutter and a plumber. Phone us, describe the symptom, and we will tell you what we expect to find before we arrive.
The full list
- Signs Your Sump Pump Is Failing
The sump pump sits in a hole in the basement floor and works quietly for years.
- When Tree Roots Invade the Sewer
Oakville is proud of its tree canopy.
- Common Causes of Low Water Pressure
A shower that dribbles, a hose that barely reaches the garden.
- Why Your Toilet Keeps Running
A hiss in the night.
- Getting Rid of Smelly Drains
A whiff of rotten eggs from the basement or a sour smell from the kitchen sink.
Keep reading
- Every Department, One Phone Number
Every service in one place.
- Advice from the Archive
Guides written for Oakville homeowners who want to understand their plumbing before something goes wrong.
Ready when you are
One call books the visit. Tell us what you are seeing and we will tell you straight what it likely is.