Plumber in Lodi, NJ

Living near the Saddle River

The Saddle River runs through Lodi, and low-lying streets near it have flooded in heavy storms. Floodwater in a basement reaches the boiler, the water heater and the electrical controls first. Anything with gas controls that has been under water has to be checked and those controls replaced before it is turned back on; never relight it yourself.

We check every appliance the water reached and get heat and hot water back as soon as it is safe.

Two-family houses

Many Lodi homes are two-families with a boiler and water heater for each floor in a shared basement. We label which equipment serves which unit, service them on one visit, and make sure each floor has its own working shut-off so a problem upstairs never means cutting water to the tenants downstairs.

Older supply lines and pressure

Galvanized steel water pipe is still common in older Lodi houses. It closes up from the inside, so the first sign is usually weak pressure at one tap. Where we can, we replace the failing section in copper rather than re-piping the whole house, and we check the main shut-off while we are there.

Heat and hot water

Hot-water and steam radiator systems are common in the older housing here, alongside newer forced-air homes with tank water heaters. A cold radiator or a short-cycling boiler is usually a part, a vent or a control, not a new boiler, and we will show you what failed before we fix it.

Winter in older Lodi houses

Pipes on outside walls, in enclosed porches and in unheated crawl spaces are the first to freeze in a cold snap. Before winter, shut off and drain the outdoor taps from the valve inside, and keep cabinet doors open under sinks on outside walls when it drops well below freezing. If a pipe does freeze, shut off the water to it and call before it thaws, because a split pipe does its damage when the ice melts.