Pipe replacement and building risers

When repairing stops making sense

There is a point beyond which patching costs more than replacing. It usually shows like this: the same area bursts two or three times within a few months, water comes out coloured after a few hours without use, pressure has dropped for no apparent reason, or there is no longer a fitting compatible with the old diameter.

Much of the construction from the nineteen sixties to eighties in the Lisbon region uses galvanised iron pipework. On the inside, that pipe closes up with scale until only a fraction of the diameter is left. No amount of drain clearing or chemical product fixes that, because the problem is the pipe wall itself.

What we replace

• Internal hot and cold water networks in flats and houses
• Shared building risers, coordinated with the building management
• Drain branches and soil stacks
• Individual sections at the point of failure
• Connections to the meter and the mains

How we plan the work

First we establish the real route, which rarely matches what the owner imagines. Then we define where the new network runs, trying to reuse existing paths to reduce how much wall has to be opened. Only then do we give the quote, with a list of what will be done.

We show you where we are going to open before starting. In a pipe replacement, the surprise that damages trust is not the price, it is discovering halfway through that the work is bigger than you were told.

Water cuts and coordination

We agree the water cuts with you in advance. In a building this is essential, because it affects every resident, and we give the management enough notice to inform everyone.

On partial replacements, the home is usually without water for a few hours within the same day. On a complete flat network, we plan in phases so there is water by the end of the day wherever possible.

Pressure test before closing

All new pipework gets a pressure test before the wall is closed. That is the moment a badly made joint shows up, and it shows up with the wall still open, which is the only moment when fixing it is cheap. Once closed, the same defect costs finishes, paint and time.