Service area
Four cities, set at the points of the compass from our office in Kempsville.
Our office is in the Kempsville area of Virginia Beach, and we have long served all of South Hampton Roads: Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth.
Each city was built in a different era and sits a little differently against the water, so the plumbing differs too. These are the places we know, and what we tend to find there.
Home base. From 1960s ranch houses in Kempsville and Thalia to polybutylene-era subdivisions in Green Run and Salem, oceanfront cottages, and well-and-septic properties south of Pungo.
Greenbrier and Great Bridge subdivisions from the 1980s and 1990s, older homes in South Norfolk, and rural properties toward the Dismal Swamp that depend on wells, septic systems and pumps.
Some of the oldest plumbing in the region: galvanized water lines, cast-iron stacks and clay sewer laterals in neighborhoods where the tide already reaches the street several times a year.
Portsmouth’s older districts share Norfolk’s cast iron and galvanized pipe. Northern Suffolk is newer and growing, with wells and septic systems as you move toward the country.
What we plan for
Most of South Hampton Roads sits only a few feet above sea level, and groundwater is never far down. That is why homes here stand on crawl spaces and slabs rather than basements, and why sump pumps and sewage pumps matter more than they do inland.
Much of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake was built while grey polybutylene pipe was in fashion. It fails from the inside, often without warning. We check for it before quoting any repair on a home of that age.
Hurricanes, nor’easters and king tides push water where it does not belong: into crawl spaces, up floor drains, over sewage pump basins. A pump that is tested in May is worth far more than one that is replaced in September.
Salt air corrodes outdoor valves and water heaters kept in garages near the water. Damp crawl spaces rust cast iron from the outside. Sandy soil washes away from a leaking pipe and lets the line settle. We plan repairs with all three in mind.
City, district or yours?
Each city’s public utilities department owns the water and sewer mains in the street. HRSD, the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, carries and treats the region’s wastewater. The pipes on your property are yours. Part of our job is telling you which of the three has the problem, before you spend money on it.
Not on the list?
If you are anywhere in South Hampton Roads, call the office at (757) 495-4157 and we will tell you straight away whether we can get to you.
Put it in the book
Homes, businesses, churches and schools across South Hampton Roads. Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.