Repiping in College Park usually comes up in two kinds of homes: early 20th-century houses in neighborhoods like Calvert Hills and Old Town, and mid-century houses whose original copper or steel has started failing. The city's median home was built in 1979. Call the number on this page to be connected with a local plumber in College Park.
College Park is a university town a few miles from the DC line, home to the University of Maryland. Its older neighborhoods mix houses from the early 1900s with postwar homes, and newer apartment buildings fill in along US 1. In older houses, threaded galvanized steel supply pipe can still turn up, sometimes spliced to copper from later repairs. That combination often explains rusty water and weak pressure upstairs. Houses from the 1960s and 1970s, closer to the city's 1979 median, more often have copper that is now old enough to pinhole. Low-lying parts of town such as Lakeland also see basement water after heavy rain, so it is worth keeping new supply lines and valves up off the floor where a basement is prone to dampness.
What to do now
- Find the main shutoff. Make sure it turns. If a pipe lets go, you need to stop the water quickly.
- Look at the pipe you can see. Dull gray threaded pipe is likely galvanized; reddish-brown is copper; colored plastic is PEX; gray plastic marked PB is polybutylene.
- List where leaks have happened. Note the dates and rooms. A pattern helps the plumber decide between targeted repair and a full repipe.
- Look up your service line. WSSC Water's What's Your Pipe Type? map shows service line material by address, and WSSC says some customer-side galvanized lines require replacement.
- Plan for the permit. WSSC Water issues plumbing permits in Prince George's County and requires a plumber holding its license for interior re-piping.
Symptoms and what they point to
| Symptom | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Brown water when a tap first opens | Rust inside galvanized supply pipe |
| Low flow upstairs, fine in the basement | Narrowed old pipe or a clogged section |
| Pinhole leaks in different spots | Copper thinning with age |
| Leak at a crimp ring or plastic fitting | Failing polybutylene system |
| Hot side weak, cold side fine | Scale or corrosion on the hot line or at the water heater |
Cost factors
- House size, number of floors and fixtures
- Plaster walls in older homes, which take more care to open and patch than drywall
- Access from an unfinished basement
- Material choice and number of fittings
- Whether the private section of the service line is replaced too
- The WSSC permit and inspection
Repiping questions in College Park
How can I tell whether my pipes are galvanized steel?
Does an unfinished basement make repiping easier?
Does the utility's service line map cover the pipes inside my house?
Will a repipe fix weak water pressure?
More plumbing services in College Park
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