Shut the main valve and call (413) 603-1274. Locally owned in Chicopee: we fix the pipe and dry the house or building in one call.
Old houses, old pipes
Chicopee Center, the old Cabotville mill village, is where the city's housing is oldest. Streets around Front Street, the Dwight Manufacturing canal and the Springfield Street Historic District are lined with homes and mill-era buildings from the 1800s and early 1900s. Many still have plaster and lath walls, original wood floors, and plumbing that has been patched over generations: some galvanized steel, some old copper, some newer PEX where a burst was fixed.
That mix leaks in more places. Old gate valves stick, galvanized pipe rusts at the threads, and copper develops pinholes. When pipes freeze in a cold snap, they often split behind plaster, where the water stays hidden. See drywall and plaster water damage repair and copper pinhole leaks.
What we fix in Chicopee Center
- Burst pipes inside plaster walls and ceilings
- Leaks in multi-family homes running from floor to floor
- Basement flooding from burst lines, water heaters and drain backups
- Old main shut-off valves that no longer close
- Water damage in storefronts and mixed-use buildings
Storm drain and sewer backups
Some streets in this part of the city have older combined sewers, which carry both rain and sewage. In very heavy rain they can back up through basement floor drains in homes without a backflow valve, and residents near McKinstry Avenue have reported sewage in basements during storms. Sewage cleanup is a different, more careful job. See sewage backup cleanup and sewer backup insurance.
Businesses and mixed-use buildings
Front Street and the blocks around City Hall have storefronts with apartments above. A burst upstairs can close the business below for days. We dry both and work around business hours where we can. See commercial water damage.
Nearby areas we also cover
Willimansett, Chicopee Falls, Sandy Hill and the rest of Chicopee, plus Springfield to the south. See Willimansett, Chicopee Falls and all areas we serve.
Storefronts and mixed-use buildings
Around Front Street and Exchange Street, many buildings have a shop on the ground floor and apartments above. When a pipe bursts in an upstairs apartment, the business below often gets the water through its ceiling, sometimes overnight before anyone is there to see it. That turns one leak into a residential claim and a commercial one, with a business that needs to reopen fast.
- Find the shut-off for the apartments above, and make sure the business owner knows where it is too
- Keep stock and electronics off the floor and away from ceiling light fixtures
- Know who to call at night for the apartments, and make sure the tenants know who to call
- Check that the business has its own property and business interruption coverage
Working in historic homes
The Springfield Street Historic District and the streets around it have homes with original woodwork, plaster moldings and old-growth floors that are hard to replace. In these houses the goal is to dry in place wherever it can be done, rather than cut out and replace. That means opening the smallest areas needed, saving trim and molding for reinstallation, and drying plaster rather than tearing it out when it is still firm. It takes a few more days of drying, and it keeps what makes the house what it is. Many of these homes also predate 1978, so any wall or trim that is opened is handled with lead-safe work practices. See why plaster takes longer to dry.
Galvanized pipe in older Center homes
Many older Chicopee Center homes still have sections of galvanized steel water pipe, the gray threaded pipe common before copper took over. It rusts from the inside, so the opening slowly narrows and the threads at each joint thin out. Signs you have it: weak pressure at upstairs fixtures, brown water after the water has been off, and gray pipe with threaded fittings in the basement. Galvanized joints are a common place for a slow leak to start, and a pipe already weakened by rust is more likely to split in a freeze. When a section fails, replacing the whole run back to sound pipe usually makes more sense than patching one joint. See repiping.
Chicopee Center questions
Can old plaster walls be dried instead of torn out?
Often, if the plaster is still firm and still attached to the lath. Soft or loose plaster has to come down. Readings tell us which.
My house has galvanized pipes. Should I worry?
Galvanized pipe rusts from the inside. If you have repeated leaks or rusty water, read repiping and galvanized pipe replacement.
Burst pipe in Chicopee Center? Call now
Call (413) 603-1274 now. Locally owned in Chicopee: we fix the pipe and dry the house in one call.