Repiping in Hyattsville, MD

Signs your pipes are wearing out

• Brown or orange water when a tap is first opened after a while
• Pressure that is fine in the basement but weak on the upper floor
• Threaded gray pipe that leaks at the joints
• Copper with green stains or new pinholes every year or two
• Low hot water flow, even after the water heater is flushed

Older steel pipe narrows from the inside as rust builds up, so weak flow is often the first clue, well before anything leaks.

Hyattsville's older housing

Hyattsville is a walkable inner-ring city with a National Register historic district of late-1880s Victorians and interwar Sears and Arts and Crafts bungalows, plus a large stock of postwar homes. Houses that old can have galvanized steel supply lines, sometimes mixed with copper from past remodels. Plaster walls are common in the oldest homes, which affects how the new lines are routed and how openings are patched.

WSSC Water provides water and sewer service. WSSC says it removed all known lead pipes from its distribution system and publishes a service line inventory map, and it is identifying service line materials on private property as well. Look up your address before the repipe, because an old private service line may be worth replacing in the same project.

The city has no permits office of its own. In Prince George's County, all plumbing permits are issued and inspected by WSSC Water, and WSSC requires a plumber holding its license for interior re-piping; building permits are a county function.

What changes the price

• Plaster versus drywall, and how much of each must be opened
• Number of floors and how lines can be routed from the basement
• Number of bathrooms, the kitchen and laundry
• PEX or copper
• Replacing the private part of the service line at the same time
• Permit and inspection through WSSC

When you call

You will be connected with an independent local plumber who serves Hyattsville. Have the approximate age of your home handy, and note what pipe is visible near the main shutoff and water heater. The plumber will check those areas, explain whether a full repipe or targeted work fits, and outline how the job would be staged so you keep water as much as possible.