Covina Plumbing Help: Homes From the 1950s and 1960s, Hard Water and Aging Lines

A leak in a house this age often starts at a fitting or a corroded section and shows up as a stain, a musty smell or a meter that will not stop. With every tap shut, a meter dial that creeps forward tells you water is escaping. Acoustic and thermal tools find the source without opening the wall.

Ask the plumber to put the location in writing, since an insurer will want it. For the steps, see leak location services.

One slow drain is a branch line; several slowing together point to the main. The city's Public Works page puts the house connection to the public sewer on the owner, including the lateral and the roots of nearby trees, so a stoppage between your house and the street is yours to clear.

Roots and grease are the common causes. Camera work shows which one you have. See snaking and hydro jetting for what to ask.

The city's 2025 water report lists hardness averaging 230 mg/L, about 13.5 grains per gallon, so scale builds up quickly in aerators and cartridges. A faucet that drips or a shower that will not shut off is often a scaled cartridge. Toilets that run are a flapper or a fill valve.

When a fixture is old enough that parts are discontinued, replacement is the sensible option. For how to choose, see shower valve and fixture repair.

Repeated backups, sagging lines and roots on camera lead to a repair decision: patch, line or replace. A dig may involve a permit, a call to 811 beforehand and, for a new dwelling unit, approval from the County Sanitation Districts. The city's Building and Safety Division at (626) 384-5460 can tell you what applies.

Read sewer line replacement for how the choice is made.

A tank that leaks from the shell has to be replaced. A replacement is a plumbing permit job, since the city's handout says a plumbing permit is required to install, alter, repair, replace or remodel plumbing systems. Inspection comes before anything is concealed. Ask the plumber who pulls the permit.

See tank water heater replacement for the checks the inspector makes.

When a house with 1950s plumbing has several leaks, replacing the lines can cause less disruption than patching one leak at a time. For owner-occupied homes either the owner or a contractor can apply for the permit; for other work only a licensed contractor can. For what a replacement involves, see replacing old pipes.

Water heater repair, slab leaks, tankless units, gas lines and water damage. These are handled on their own pages: no hot water repair, a leak under the floor, tankless descaling and repair, gas line service and mold testing after a leak.

We also dispatch for jammed disposal help, main water line repair and water softener service. Business customers, restaurants and apartment buildings are covered under restaurant plumbing repairs. For how emergencies are handled after hours, see the after-hours dispatch information.