Old house plumbing in Portland: what to watch and when to replace

Census Bureau survey data for 2020 to 2024 put Portland's median year built at 1966. About 63 percent of homes were built before 1980, about 45 percent before 1960 and about 27 percent in 1939 or earlier (ACS table B25034 via Census Reporter). Many of these houses have had some plumbing updated, often in a patchwork: a newer water heater and fixtures connected to original pipe in the walls and an original sewer line under the yard.

Sources for the table: the Portland Water Bureau's lead in water page, Oregon City's guidance on galvanized pipe and Portland's broken sewer and drain lines guide.

Oregon City's water division says most galvanized pipe in the ground today is over 50 years old and has reached the end of its useful life, that it corrodes from the inside and narrows like plaque in an artery, and that most water quality complaints it receives trace to galvanized piping in customer homes. It generally recommends replacement. A simple way to tell what you have: where the water line enters the house, scratch the pipe with a coin and try a magnet. Galvanized steel stays dull gray when scratched and a magnet sticks; copper scratches like a penny and a magnet does not stick.

Portland requires a plumbing permit to repair, replace or move plumbing pipes, and its residential plumbing permits page warns that replacing a metal water line, copper or galvanized steel, with a plastic line may also need an electrical permit and a new grounding electrode. Ask your plumber who handles the electrical side of that change.

Portland never used lead service lines, and the Water Bureau removed all known lead service connectors, called pigtails or goosenecks, by 1998. In June 2024 the city certified to the Oregon Health Authority that all service lines are non-lead, made of copper, plastic or galvanized iron. The remaining risk is inside the house: lead solder on copper pipe and leaded brass in older faucets. The bureau's advice is to run a tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes when water has sat for several hours, use cold water for cooking and baby formula, clean aerators regularly, and order a free lead-in-water test. Since 2014, pipes, fittings and fixtures must contain less than 0.25 percent lead.

Portland's broken sewer guide says breaks commonly occur at the connection to the branch lateral at the curb, at the transition from cast iron at the house to clay or cement pipe about five feet from the dwelling, and at the p-trap between the stormwater and sanitary systems. Common signs are sewage odor and rat holes in the yard or parking strip that keep reappearing after being filled. The property owner is responsible for the line from the house to the curb, including under the sidewalk and parking strip. Once the city notifies you of a break, you have 30 days to repair it or request more time; after that the city can make the repair and place a lien on the property for the cost plus overhead and civil penalties.

Repairs from the house to the property line need a plumbing permit; work between the property line and the curb also needs a right-of-way permit, with two inspections. HomeGuide's 2026 national sewer line guide puts replacement at $50 to $250 per linear foot, and says clay and Orangeburg pipe last 30 to 60 years while PVC and cast iron last 50 to 100 years. Our tree roots guide and sewer line repair guide cover the options.

• A sewer camera scope of the whole lateral to the curb, with the video saved.
• The supply pipe where it enters the house, and any visible galvanized sections in the basement.
• The water heater's age, strapping and relief valve discharge.
• A lead-in-water test if the home has copper pipe from before 1985.

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