Start with conditions, not a product
A useful diagnosis considers fixture behavior, pipe materials, pressure, drainage, venting, shutoffs, access, and previous work.
Build a complete scope
- Existing conditions and likely cause
- Preparation and protection
- Materials, compatibility, and installation details
- Permits, testing, cleanup, and restoration
- Exclusions, warranty terms, and change-order process
Fort Wayne context
Fort Wayne's neighborhoods carry a century and a half of plumbing history layered on top of each other. The city's canal-era core, built up around the Wabash and Erie Canal in the 1830s and 40s, gave way to the Greek Revival and Gothic Revival homes of the West Central Historic District, built out through 1950, and later to the Tudor and Colonial Revival houses of the Forest Park Boulevard district, built mainly in 1910. Each wave of construction arrived with the supply-line and drain materials common to its own decade, and Fort Wayne's freeze-thaw winters -- the city averages roughly 30 inches of snow a year, with the ground typically frozen from mid-October to late April -- put real stress on whatever pipe happens to be in the ground.