Edmonton Plumbing Renovations

Anything from getting new countertops to adding a bathroom to your house can fall under the category of plumbing renovations.

I wrote about basement bathroom development in the article about new home construction plumbing. That part of the article could have been just as easily in this article.

Different contractors place the line between construction and renovation at different points on the plumbing spectrum. The reason they do this is because some specialize in one area and will not touch another area. I often wonder why since the two are so close.

Plumbing renovations can encompass a new bathroom or kitchen in your basement or in an addition you are building.

Of course the term renovations is different for different homeowners as well. Some will say they are getting a kitchen renovation when they are having new countertops installed, while others would not say a kitchen renovation until their cabinets were being changed.

More extensive renovations are required when a kitchen sink is moved across the room or a toilet is moved across the bathroom. These require the floor or ceiling below to be opened up to run the water and drain lines to the new location.

Once you do a renovation that requires drains to be moved a permit must be pulled. More on that later.

Any type of plumbing renovation will require a competent, knowledgeable plumber to perform these tasks.

Low Cost or Cheap Plumbing Companies

If you are looking for a low cost or cheap plumbing company then you probably want a handyman not a plumber. If you do this and you have a problem you will end up spending much more money in the long run. Always hire the right professional for the right job.

Throughout my 27+ years as a plumber I have heard of many things about how easy plumbing is. Like everything in life a professional can make what they do look easy, but that does not mean it is easy. Sure, changing the flapper in your toilet or installing a new faucet is not difficult, but when you start doing renovations you should want this done correctly.

Here are some of the calls I have received from people that hired a handyman first.

  • Pipes not glues together
  • copper pipes not soldered properly and handyman left without testing
  • pipes siliconed together instead of being glued
  • plumbing not done to code causing drain problems
  • no permits for job
  • plumber caused damage to house
  • plumber charged client but did not fix the problem

All of these (of which I have seen many of these more than once!), ended up costing you the homeowner 100’s to 1000’s of dollars more to get it done right and to repair the damages caused by a cheap plumber.

I am sure at some point you have seen an episode of Holmes on Homes or another similar TV show that talks about the downside of hiring shoddy contractors.

Do not become a candidate for one of their upcoming episodes!

What you save now costs you more in the long run. You don’t really think a plumbing company can be good and cheap do you?
Plumbing Renovations We Have Worked On

  • Granite Countertop kitchen sink hookups and bathroom sinks hookups
  • Quartz countertop kitchen sink hookups and bathroom sink hookups
  • Kitchen remodeling moving the kitchen sink from one side of the house to another
  • Bathroom remodeling moving all fixtures in a bathroom to different locations
  • Bathroom remodeling remove and replace fixtures
  • basement bathroom development
  • basement bathroom remodeling
  • adding plumbing fixtures to additions
  • adding plumbing fixtures to second story addition
  • adding shower to half bathroom
  • adding sink and toilet to a closet
  • running water lines for irrigation stub outs for irrigation system

City of Edmonton Plumbing Permits

Plumbing permits in the city of Edmonton or for Strathcona County are mandatory when changing the plumbing system. Removing and replacing fixtures that stay in the same location are fine, but anything else needs a permit.
This is set by the Safety Codes Council of Alberta. The reason for permits is to protect the homeowner from poor work being done and to protect the people that buy your house in the future.  Of course this is also required for commercial plumbing.

Permits must be pulled by the people performing the work. This means you cannot pull the permit then have your second year brother in law perform the work. Only the person or company that is pulling the permit can do the work.
If your plumber asks to pull the permit for them then fire that plumber! The reason they are asking you to do it is because they are not licensed, ticketed or both. If you pull the permit and something goes wrong later on down the road your insurance company will find this out and not pay for the damages.

Another reason to have a permit is because not pulling a permit is against the law. The punishment is a $1000 fine for first offense and then $2500 fine for every offense after that. Might not seem like much, but it gets worse. If you do not pull a permit and an inspector sees that you have done work they can make you open up walls, floors or ceilings to inspect the work.

Conclusion

Always hire qualified plumbing companies to do any type of renovation work. Once everything has been boarded up and painted over you will not be able to easily fix a problem that should have never been there in the first place!