On the road across North Olmsted
Our marked van works the streets around Lorain Road and the postwar neighborhoods on either side of it, and we also head out to Westlake, Fairview Park, North Ridgeville and Olmsted Township. Call the 24/7 line, describe the problem, and a plumber is sent to your door.
The homes behind the calls
North Olmsted is mostly a postwar suburb. The Census Bureau survey profile for the city puts the median home at 1966, and about 83 percent of housing units were built before 1980. The 1960s alone account for roughly 30 percent, followed by the 1950s and 1970s at about 22 and 21 percent.
That age profile decides what goes wrong. Houses from this era often have galvanized supply pipe that has narrowed inside, cast iron drain stacks that crack at joints, and original clay or cast iron sewer laterals that roots find. If your home is from the 1960s, a slow drain or low pressure upstairs is more likely a pipe problem than a fixture problem.
In a house with a basement, the water heater, the main shutoff and the sump pit often share one room. Knowing where those three sit is the single best thing you can do before an emergency. Our leak detection and repiping pages cover what to do when the pipes themselves are the issue.
Wet basements and sewer backups are a local pattern
On May 12, 2014, a flash flood put nearly 1,000 homes under water across Olmsted Falls, North Olmsted and Westlake, according to the National Weather Service, and 15 cars ended up submerged at Great Northern Mall. In 2020 a North Olmsted family told Cleveland TV news that water came up through their toilets and drains three times in one year.
The city has spent years on the cause. Its wastewater office says wet weather pushes extra water into the sanitary sewers, and projects since 2011 have added storage and a relief sewer on Walter Road and in the Deerfield area. Inside your own house, the part you control is the line from the house to the street and anything tied into it.
North Olmsted code forbids connecting roof downspouts or foundation drains to the sanitary sewer, and the city can require a dye test by a registered plumber to prove it. If your basement floods in heavy rain, a sump pump with a battery backup and a clean sewer line are the first two things to check.
Winter is hard on exposed pipes
The National Weather Service normals for Cleveland put the average January low near 22 degrees and annual snowfall at about 64 inches. A few hours at a single-digit wind chill is enough to freeze a supply line in an exterior wall, an attached garage or a crawl space.
If a faucet runs slow in a cold snap, assume ice and open the tap a little while you call. Do not use an open flame on a pipe. A frozen line that has split will leak the moment it thaws, so find the main shutoff first. The burst pipe repair page explains what to do before we arrive.
Permits and who is allowed to pull them
The City of North Olmsted Building Division issues plumbing permits from City Hall at 5200 Dover Center Road. Its application says the permit holder arranges inspections and asks for 24 hours notice. Owners who do their own plumbing must submit a drawing for approval before the permit is issued.
Contractors must register with the city and show a state license and insurance before permits are issued. That is one more reason to avoid an unlicensed neighbor-of-a-neighbor on a water heater replacement or a main line job. An unpermitted job can complicate a home sale or an insurance claim later.
Where we work around North Olmsted
We work the length of Lorain Road, from the Great Northern Mall area to the Columbia Road end of town, and on cross streets such as Dover Center, Butternut Ridge, Porter and Mastick. Neighboring calls come from Westlake to the north, Fairview Park to the east, North Ridgeville to the west and Olmsted Township to the south.
ZIP codes we cover include 44070 in North Olmsted, 44145 in Westlake, 44126 in Fairview Park, 44039 and 44035 in North Ridgeville and 44138 in Olmsted Township. Each location page lists the nearby ZIP codes we dispatch to as well.