Plumbing in Willow Glen, San Jose

On some Willow Glen streets the houses are older bungalows and revival homes with crawl spaces, galvanized supply lines and clay laterals. On others, especially in the Eichler tracts, the houses sit on slabs with copper or steel pipes under the floor and hot water heating loops cast into the concrete.

The same symptom can mean different things in each. A damp floor in an older house points to a supply or drain leak; in an Eichler it may be a radiant heating loop. We ask what kind of house you have before we come out, so the right tools come with us.

Outside the Eichler tracts, many Willow Glen homes are older and still run galvanized supply lines that have narrowed with rust. Low pressure throughout the house and brown water after a vacation are the usual signs. Crawl spaces make repiping these houses practical without opening many walls.

The neighborhood's mature street trees are part of its character, but their roots find every joint in an old clay lateral. A camera inspection before any sewer repair shows exactly where the roots are and whether lining, spot repair or replacement makes sense.