Plumber in Murray Hill

The two stocks

Murray Hill holds a good deal of nineteenth century row house, much of it intact and some of it in small historic districts, and a great deal of post-war apartment building from the 1950s and 1960s, the white and beige brick blocks that fill the avenues. They sit next to each other and they have nothing in common below the surface.

What sixty-year-old systems do

The post-war buildings are past the point where the original fittings can be relied on, without being old enough to have been comprehensively replaced. What that produces is specific and fairly predictable.

• Seized stop valves. Original valves that have not been turned in decades and will not close when they are needed. The most common single thing we replace in these buildings
• Tub and shower valves whose cartridges are long out of production, where the choice is between hunting a part and opening tile
• Central hot water plant at the end of its life, affecting every tenant at once. See water heaters
• Copper with pinholes appearing in clusters, which is the same signal galvanized gives and means the same thing. See repiping

The row houses

Different problems entirely. Plumbing added over a century and a half, frequently with abandoned runs still in the walls, a cellar below sewer level, and no easy route for anything new. Most are divided into several apartments sharing one service and one house drain, so work in one unit affects the rest of the house.

Doormen and access

Most of the larger buildings here are staffed, which makes access straightforward but adds a procedure: contractor insurance on file, service entrance and freight elevator rather than the lobby, and approved hours. It is worth knowing your building's requirements before booking anything larger than a repair.

Where we cover

East 30th to 42nd between Fifth and Third: Park and Madison, Lexington, the side streets through Sniffen Court and the blocks toward Grand Central and Kips Bay.