Plumbing in Anaheim: What We See Most
Anaheim was founded in 1857 as a vineyard colony, and the original Anaheim Colony streets downtown still have homes from the early 1900s. Most of the city came later. West and central Anaheim filled with post-war tracts in the 1950s and 1960s, as Disneyland and the freeways arrived. Anaheim Hills, to the east, was built mostly from the 1970s through the 1990s.
The post-war homes are now 60 to 70 years old. Many still have galvanized supply lines, cast iron drains under the slab, and clay sewer laterals, plus, in some tracts, fiber (Orangeburg) sewer pipe that flattens with age. Anaheim Hills is a different job. Hillside streets carry high water pressure, laterals run long and steep, and the copper under 1970s to 1990s slabs is the age when pinholes start.
The most common Anaheim plumbing problems:
- Galvanized supply lines losing pressure in 1950s and 1960s west Anaheim homes
- Clay or fiber sewer laterals with roots, offsets or collapse
- Cast iron drain lines cracking under the slab
- Slab leaks in 1970s to 1990s Anaheim Hills homes
- High pressure and failed regulators on hillside streets
- Hard water scale shortening water heater life
None of this means every home has these problems, and a good plumber will tell you when yours does not. It does mean the diagnosis starts with knowing what is likely in this area, which saves time and keeps you from paying for the wrong repair.