Falconridge Plumbers Calgary — Plumbing and Heating for Late-1970s and 1980s Homes
A plumber in Falconridge, Calgary is mostly working on houses from one short stretch of years. The community runs from McKnight Boulevard NE up to 64 Avenue NE, between Falconridge Boulevard NE and 68 Street NE, and it was established in 1979. The City of Calgary's 2021 community profile dates about 87% of its occupied homes to before 1991, compared with about 47% across the whole city. Houses that age have had decades for supply pipe, drains, furnaces and venting to wear out, get patched or get replaced, sometimes more than once. FlameTech's Red Seal journeyman plumbers and Alberta-licensed gas fitters work on every part of that.
Falconridge is also more attached than most of Calgary. Semi-detached houses and row houses make up a third of its homes, about twice the city's share, and another 10% are units in an up-and-down duplex, where one dwelling is stacked over another. Shared walls and stacked units change how a furnace gets vented, where a shut-off might be, and whose pipe a leak is actually coming from.
Our work here covers Poly-B repiping, furnace replacement, hot water tank replacement, gas lines and drain cleaning. We look after the rest of NE Calgary as well, Taradale across 64 Avenue and Martindale to the northwest among them.
We dispatch from both Calgary and Airdrie. Call 587-834-3668 with what's leaking, failing or making noise. A quote costs you nothing, and we agree the price with you before the work begins.
Grey plastic supply lines, a furnace near retirement or a duplex running short of hot water? Phone 587-834-3668 about your Falconridge home; quotes are free.
Call 587-834-3668“Exceptional customer experience from scheduling an appointment to the service call for our year-old AC unit. Shaun is highly knowledgeable, listens to the customer and their specific needs and comes up with solid options to choose from and has top notch people skills. Shaun has been our go to for plumbing and HVAC for the past 5 years - glad to see he’s started up his own business.”
Pam Louie
Calgary · 1 year ago
Poly-B and Falconridge's 1979–1990 build-out
Poly-B, short for polybutylene, was installed as supply pipe in Canadian houses from the late 1970s until about the mid-1990s. Its weak spots are the fittings and the runs close to hot connections, and it can come up when a house is insured or sold.
Why most of Falconridge falls inside the Poly-B years
Falconridge was established in 1979, and the census puts close to nine in ten of its homes before 1991, most of them from the late 1970s and through the 1980s. That lines up closely with the years Poly-B was being installed. It doesn't mean every house got it: some were plumbed in other materials, and some owners have repiped since. A Falconridge address is a reason to check your pipe, not proof of what you'll find.
Deciding whether to repipe
Poly-B has no expiry date, and a lot of it is still holding. Finding it is a reason to plan, not to panic. Our guide on replacing Poly-B or leaving it weighs the two, and our breakdown of Poly-B replacement cost in Calgary explains where the money goes. A whole-house repipe is $3,500 to $7,250 as of September 2026; finished ceilings and the size of the home decide where in that range a job lands. In a semi-detached or row home, the repipe covers the lines that serve your own unit. Poly-B is usually grey plastic joined with metal crimp rings, and our Poly-B plumbing page has more on telling it apart.
Semi-detached, row house and duplex plumbing
A third of Falconridge's homes are semi-detached or row houses, about double the citywide share, and another tenth are duplex units with one dwelling over the other. Attached housing raises a few questions a detached house never does.
Know where your own shut-off is
Every home should have a main shut-off you can reach quickly, usually close to where the water line comes in through the basement floor or wall. In attached housing it isn't always in the obvious spot, so find yours now, while nothing is leaking. If your row house is part of a condominium complex, ask the board or property manager which pipes are the corporation's responsibility and which are yours before you book anyone. That answer decides who should be arranging the repair.
Replacing a furnace when you share walls
A high-efficiency furnace doesn't use a chimney. It pushes its exhaust out through plastic pipe, usually through an exterior wall, and often draws its combustion air in the same way. A detached house has four walls to choose from. A semi-detached home has three, and a row house in the middle of a block may only have the front and back, both crowded with doors, windows and the neighbours' openings. Code sets minimum clearances between a vent terminal and all of those, so on an attached home the route for that pipe is often the deciding part of the quote, and we work it out before we price the job. Furnace installs run $4,500 to $9,600 as of September 2026, with the furnace sized to the house (insulation, windows, air leakage and Calgary's design temperature) rather than to the old unit's rating plate. We're an authorized AirEase dealer; the furnace replacement page covers the rest.
Up-and-down duplexes
The 2021 census counted 10% of Falconridge's dwellings as a unit in a duplex, meaning one home stacked on another, compared with 4% across Calgary. Where the two units share a water heater, the usual complaint is running out when both households want hot water at once. Options go from a larger tank, to a separate heater for each unit, to giving the downstairs unit its own heat with a ductless mini split, which is $3,500 to $5,000 installed as of September 2026.
Hot water, gas and drains in houses past 35 years old
Most Falconridge homes are now well past 35, so the water heater and furnace may not be the ones the builder put in. What you'll find in the furnace room depends on which parts earlier owners replaced, and how well.
Water heaters for a fuller house
Households here average 3.2 people, against a Calgary average of 2.6, and 23% have five or more. A 40-gallon tank that suited the first owners can fall short with that many showers in a morning. Installed, a standard atmospheric tank is $1,950 for a 40-gallon, $2,100 for a 50, $2,450 for a 60 and $2,990 for a 75, as of September 2026. A bigger tank has a bigger burner, so before quoting an upsize we check that the gas supply and venting can handle it. See hot water tank replacement, or leaking water heater if there's already water on the floor.
Owners, landlords and tenants
About 37% of Falconridge households rent. If you're a tenant, a repair to the house normally goes through your landlord or property manager, since they own the equipment and approve the cost. Tell them as soon as something leaks or quits, and if water is spreading, close the main shut-off. Owners, including landlords with a rental here, can call us for a free quote.
Running gas to a range, dryer or garage
Alberta-licensed gas fitters on our team run new gas piping for kitchen ranges and clothes dryers, and out to the garage for a garage heater; garage heater installs are $4,500 to $6,500 as of September 2026. Gas piping is licensed work, not a weekend project. If you ever smell gas, get everyone outside and call your gas utility or 911 from there.
Clearing drains and checking the main line
Forty-odd years of grease, soap and hair narrow a drain, and a main line can pick up roots at its joints. We clear blocked fixtures and the main, and when a backup keeps coming back a camera shows what's inside the pipe. See drain cleaning. If the camera finds a cracked, sagging or collapsed sewer line, you'll see the footage and we'll tell you straight. We don't repair, excavate or reline sewer lines. A backwater valve is a separate matter: it's a one-way valve on the main drain that stops sewage backing into the basement when the city line overloads, and pricing is done on site once we've seen the line.
Falconridge plumbing and heating questions
When was Falconridge built?
Falconridge was established in 1979, on land Calgary annexed from the MD of Rocky View in 1961. The 2021 census profile counts 42% of its homes from 1961–1980 and 43% from 1981–1990, with only a small share since. It shares a community association with Castleridge, across Falconridge Boulevard.
Does a Falconridge house from the 1980s usually have Poly-B?
Often, because the build years line up with when it was used, though a good number have been repiped since. Grey plastic supply pipe held with metal crimp rings usually means Poly-B; our Poly-B plumbing page explains how to confirm it.
I own a row house in a condo complex — who looks after the pipes?
Start with your board or property manager. They can tell you which pipes and equipment the corporation maintains and which are your responsibility as the unit owner. For the parts that are yours, we're glad to come out and give you a free quote.
I rent my home — can I book a repair?
Repairs to a rental usually need to go through your landlord or property manager, because they own the house and sign off on the work. If they'd like a quote, they can call 587-834-3668 or send the form on this page, and the quote is free.
Do you repair sewer lines?
No. Our sewer work is clearing and camera inspection. A broken or collapsed line needs excavation or relining, which we don't offer; we'll share what the camera found so you can take it to a contractor who does that work.
Do you work elsewhere in NE Calgary?
Yes. Our NE Calgary page lists the communities, including Taradale north of 64 Avenue and Martindale to the northwest. We dispatch from both Calgary and Airdrie.
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