Under a Kingsgate home in Kirkland, the horizontal drains in the crawlspace were still galvanized steel, rusting at the fittings. In May, Nick and Jeremy replaced every exposed run in new ABS, from the kitchen and the laundry to the bathroom sinks, the tub and the shower, in a single day of about six hours.
What We Did
The estimate visit a week earlier had found galvanized drain lines running under the floor to the kitchen, the laundry, the bathroom sinks, the tub and the shower, with rust working through the fittings. On the day of the job, Nick and Jeremy worked under the house replacing all of the exposed horizontal galvanized pipe with new ABS. Where the old vertical pipe or existing ABS was sound, they tied into it with shielded couplings, and they carried the new lines through to the toilet stack, sizing each drain to code and setting every run at a proper slope.
While the water was off, they also replaced the Delta cartridges in the bathroom sink faucet and installed a kitchen faucet the homeowner had bought, at no extra charge. The work carries our two-year warranty.
Why It Matters
- Replace the whole run, not just the worst joint. Galvanized drains of the same age tend to fail one after another, so doing every exposed run at once means one visit and one set of connections instead of a string of repairs.
- Keep what is still sound. Old vertical pipe in good condition can stay, and new ABS joins it with shielded couplings, which keeps the work under the floor.
- Slope matters as much as material. A drain that holds water will clog whatever it is made of, so each new run is set to fall steadily toward the stack.
- Small jobs can ride along. With the water already off and the crew on site, a faucet cartridge or a new kitchen faucet takes little extra time.
Why Kingsgate
Kingsgate grew up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Kingsgate Highlands planned community filled in on Kirkland's northeast edge, and it joined the City of Kirkland in 2011 along with Finn Hill and North Juanita. The drains under houses from those first building years are now fifty years old or more, and where they are galvanized, like these, they have reached the end of their working life. Our Lynnwood shop is a short run down I-405, so a full day under a Kingsgate house fits easily into the week.
Call About Your Drains
If the drains under your house are galvanized, or you are not sure what they are, call for a free estimate, or request a callback. We look under the house, tell you what we find and quote the whole run.
More: drain and pipe services · plumbing in Kirkland · faucet repair and installation · a Bellevue laundry drain rebuilt in ABS · drain cleaning