ABOUT OUR COMPANY
Professional Plumbing Removal
Plumbing systems come in all shapes and materials, copper, PEX, cast iron, galvanized steel, PVC, and old lead lines hidden behind walls or under floors. Each type behaves differently and you’ll usually find them connected to fixtures, pumps, drains, and shut-offs that weren’t made to be removed easily.
Using equipment like pipe cutters, reciprocating saws, hydro jetters, inspection cameras, and specialized extraction tools for small spaces, our team’s plumbing removal service is done up to code and safely. From old supply lines, leaky drain stacks, or entire plumbing systems being cleared, we safely shut off water lines, drain the system and disassemble everything.
- Over 20 years of plumbing dismantling experience
- Fully licensed and insured contractors
- WSIB registered
How Plumbing Removal Runs
- Isolate the water. The supply is shut off and drained before anything is cut. On a partial job, that means finding the right valve rather than killing the whole building.
- Cap what is staying. Any line that is being kept gets properly capped, not crimped and hoped for. The same goes for the drain, which is capped so the stack does not vent into the room.
- Check the pipe material. Old buildings mean cast iron, galvanised steel, lead solder and sometimes lead supply lines. What it is made of changes how it is cut and how it is disposed of.
- Check the insulation. Pipe wrap in pre-1990 buildings is a classic place for asbestos. Where there is doubt, it is surveyed and abated by a licensed contractor before we touch it.
- Cut and remove. Fixtures out first, then supply and drain lines, cut into sections that can leave the building without wrecking the walls on the way.
- Haul and hand over. Copper and steel are separated for recycling where the facility takes them, and the space is left ready for the plumber roughing in.
What Decides the Scope of a Plumbing Strip-Out
Plumbing removal is rarely a standalone job. It usually sits inside a bathroom, kitchen or full interior demolition, and these are the things that shape it:
- Whether the stack is staying, which is usually the difference between a straightforward job and a big one
- Pipe material, since cast iron is heavy work and lead needs careful handling
- How much of the wall or floor has to open up to reach the runs
- Whether the building is occupied and other units share the supply
- Asbestos pipe wrap in older buildings
- Who is doing the reconnection, because the sequencing has to suit their schedule
More Demolition Services
ALMAR handles the whole range across Toronto, the GTA and Southern Ontario. A few that often go with this one:
- Interior demolition
- Kitchen removal and demolition
- Bathroom demolition
- Basement demolition
- Floor removal and demolition
See the full list on our demolition services page, or check the areas we serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you disconnect the plumbing or does a plumber?
Anything that has to be capped, reconnected or certified is a licensed plumber’s work. We handle the demolition side, removing fixtures, lines and the walls or floors that have to open, and we sequence it around your plumber so nothing is left open longer than it needs to be.
What about asbestos on the pipes?
Pipe insulation in buildings from before the 1990s is one of the most common places asbestos shows up. If there is any doubt, a designated substance survey happens first and abatement is done by a licensed abatement contractor. We do not remove suspect insulation ourselves.
Can you take out the plumbing without opening the walls?
Sometimes, if the runs are accessible from a basement or a service space. More often some opening is needed. We keep it to the minimum that gets the job done and tell you at quote stage what we expect to have to open.
Do you take the old cast iron away?
Yes. Metal is separated on site and taken for recycling wherever the receiving facility accepts it, along with everything else that comes out.
Plumbing Removal In Southern Ontario