Plumbing Repairs & Leaks

Most plumbing repairs in a Calgary house come down to a handful of things: a fitting or valve that has started to drip, a shut-off that will not close, a toilet that runs all night, a pinhole in an old copper line, or a pipe that froze in a cold snap and split when it thawed. A plumber finds the source first, because water travels along pipes and framing and the stain on the ceiling is often not under the leak.

Frozen pipes are the Calgary-specific one. The City's advice is to keep the heat at 15°C or higher, insulate pipes that run through cold areas, and open interior doors and cabinet doors during a deep cold spell. If a line does freeze, the City says to thaw it from the tap back toward the frozen section with a hair dryer, heating pad or hot towels, and never with an open flame. Its guidance also notes the highest risk is in older communities and close to the river.

Know where your main shut-off is before you need it. The water line from your house to the service valve near the property line is yours to repair; everything past the property line belongs to the City. A plumber can also tell you whether a repair is a one-off or a sign that the whole system is near the end of its life, which matters in homes still on Poly-B or original galvanized pipe.

Most repair work is priced by the hour plus parts, so a written quote or a clear hourly rate before the visit saves arguments later.