Sewers and drains in Westboro, Carlington & Hintonburg
The neighbourhoods around Raven Avenue mix pre-war houses closer to Wellington Street with the 1950s bungalows and split-levels that filled in around Carling Avenue and Iris Street. Most were connected with clay or cast iron sewer laterals, and many still have the original cast iron stack and building drain under the basement floor. After 60 to 100 years, those are exactly the parts that crack, root up and rot through.
The City is renewing the infrastructure on some of these streets now. On Whitmore Avenue, Cline Crescent and Sherman Drive, sewers and watermains from the late 1950s have reached the end of their life and are scheduled for replacement from spring 2027 to summer 2028, with laterals replaced to the property line.
City works on your street
When the City replaces the sewer and watermain on your street, it replaces its side, up to your property line. The pipe from there to your house is yours, and it's usually the same age as what the City just dug out.
That makes a street renewal the cheapest moment to deal with your side:
- Camera your sewer lateral before the City's crew connects to it, so you know if you're connecting a new pipe to a failing one
- Check your water service for lead if the house is pre-1958. The City's lead pipe program has its own steps and rebate
- Add a backwater valve while you're thinking about the sewer. Eligible homes can get up to $1,000 back
Storms and basement flooding
The July 2026 Canada Day storm dropped up to 167 mm of rain in parts of the west end. The City called it a 1-in-200-year event, and hundreds of basements flooded. Older homes with no backwater valve, and floor drains tied straight to the sanitary sewer, took the worst of it. We were in many of those basements afterwards.
Live in Westboro & Carlington?
Tell us what's going on at your place. You get a clear answer and one written price before any work starts.
What's in your house, by the year it was built
The year a home was built tells us most of what's behind the walls and under the floor. Builders used the materials of their time, so one subdivision can share the same weak spots. Here's what we usually find in Westboro & Carlington:
| Built | What's usually in the walls and under the floor | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1958 | Possible lead water service, clay or cast iron sewer lateral, cast iron stack, galvanized supply pipes | Lead in drinking water; root-filled or cracked laterals; rusting cast iron |
| 1958 to mid-1970s | Copper water lines, cast iron stack and building drain, clay or early plastic lateral | Cast iron rotting under the slab; roots at lateral joints; no backwater valve |
| Late 1970s to mid-1990s | ABS drains, copper or Poly-B (grey "PB2110") supply lines, sump pits in many suburbs | Poly-B fitting failures and insurance limits; first-generation sump pumps; no backwater valve |
Buying a home here
Before you firm up an offer, ask for:
- A sewer camera inspection of the lateral from the house to the street. Replacing a failed sewer line is one of the biggest repair bills a homeowner can face.
- The water pipe material where it enters the house (lead before 1958; Poly-B in some 1980s and 1990s homes).
- A look at the sump and floor drain: age of the pump, battery backup, and whether there's a backwater valve.
- Any history of water in the basement, and what was done about it.
Already own here?
- Test your sump pump each spring and fall, and check the backup battery's age.
- If a floor drain has backed up even once, get the line cameraed before the next storm.
- If the City sends a renewal notice for your street, call us before their crew reaches your connection.
How old plumbing ties into new
Most homes here are a mix of eras: an original cast iron stack with an ABS bathroom added in the 1990s, or copper lines patched with PEX. That works when the joins are done properly. Cast iron to ABS needs the right transition couplings and support so the old pipe doesn't crack under the new. Copper or Poly-B to PEX needs the right fittings, not a quick crimp onto pipe that's already brittle. And a backwater valve has to go into the building drain at the right spot, with an access cover you can actually reach.
Why call Michael
When the problem is under the basement floor or out under the lawn, most plumbers send you to someone else. We don't. Michael's crews cut the concrete, dig the trench, replace the pipe, pass the City inspection and put the floor back, in Westboro & Carlington and every other part of Ottawa. One crew, one written price, and a 2-year workmanship warranty.
