Plumber Serving North Tolleson, AZ

Serving North Tolleson Homes

North Tolleson, the residential area north of Van Buren Street and closer to the Phoenix annexation boundary, developed primarily from the 1970s through the 1990s. Unlike the Original Tolleson neighborhood south of Van Buren, which dates to the 1920s through 1960s, North Tolleson's housing stock is a generation newer. Homes in this part of the city were built after galvanized steel had been largely phased out of residential supply line use, and most have copper or PVC supply lines rather than the aging galvanized systems found throughout Original Tolleson.

That generational difference does not eliminate the primary plumbing challenge in North Tolleson: hard water. Tolleson's municipal supply arrives at 16 to 19 grains per gallon regardless of which neighborhood receives it. North Tolleson's 1970s through 1990s homes have been accumulating water heater scale, fixture scale, and drain pipe scale for 30 to 50 years — a shorter timeline than Original Tolleson's galvanized pipe era, but long enough for hard water damage to be significant. Water heaters in this part of Tolleson show the same shortened service life of 6 to 8 years seen throughout the city, and drain pipe scale is a consistent contributor to the recurring blockage calls we receive in this area.

Common Plumbing Issues in North Tolleson

In addition to the hard water issues that affect every Tolleson property, North Tolleson's 1970s through 1990s construction era introduces some specific plumbing conditions.

Aging Copper and Early PVC

Copper supply lines from the 1970s and 1980s in North Tolleson are now 40 to 50 years old. While copper has a longer service life than galvanized steel, Tolleson's hard water at 16 to 19 grains per gallon has been working on these lines through pitting corrosion from the inside while caliche soil movement stresses the under-slab sections from the outside. Slab leak events in North Tolleson's 1970s through 1980s copper systems are increasingly common, particularly in homes that have never had the supply system inspected or the under-slab sections assessed. Early ABS plastic drain lines from the same era are also reaching the age at which brittleness from decades of thermal cycling begins to produce joint failures in attic drain runs.

Water softener installation is one of the most effective investments North Tolleson homeowners can make, both to protect the remaining service life in their current supply lines and to eliminate the scale-driven water heater and appliance deterioration that hard water at Tolleson's level produces. We discuss the water softener option at every water heater replacement visit in this part of the city, because the two decisions are closely connected.

Key Landmarks & ZIP Coverage

Further Reading