Plumber in Troy, MI

Plumbing in Troy is a different job from the inner-ring suburbs south of 14 Mile. Troy grew from about 19,400 people in 1960 to almost 81,000 by 2000, and the median home here dates from 1978. So the house we walk into is usually a 1970s or 1980s colonial or ranch with a basement, often finished, a sump pit in the corner and copper water lines, not a 1940s bungalow with galvanized pipe. At 87,294 residents in 2020, Troy is the largest city in Oakland County. It also has a big commercial side, with office towers along Big Beaver Road and two large malls. Water comes from the Great Lakes Water Authority through the city’s own Water & Sewer Division.

Subdivisions north of 14 Mile built after the 1960s

Census figures tell the story. Nearly a third of Troy’s homes were built in the 1970s alone, another 16 percent in the 1960s, and about 17 percent since 2000. Only around one home in ten is older than 1960. Seven in ten are detached single-family houses, and owners occupy 72 percent of them. That is a very different starting point from Hazel Park or Madison Heights just to the south.

From the trade side, houses of this era usually have footing drains that run to an interior sump pit instead of into the sanitary sewer, copper supply lines, and drains in cast iron, ABS or PVC depending on the year. Michigan law has let cities require storm water and footing drains to be kept out of sanitary sewers since 2002, and older residential sewers were often built combined until the 1970s. Part of Troy drains into the George W. Kuhn system with the older south Oakland suburbs. Sanitary backups do happen here. In 2013 raw sewage came up through toilets and floor drains in more than a dozen Troy basements, and the city’s Water & Sewer Division warns that wipes and other flushed items can cause exactly that.

What the office towers along I-75 hide behind their walls

Commercial buildings on that scale usually run on plumbing most visitors never see: booster pumps, backflow assemblies on every water entry, commercial water heaters and grease interceptors under food courts. Testable backflow devices need a yearly test by a certified tester, and our article on the annual backflow test for businesses covers what that involves. Smaller offices and stores along the same roads need the same basics on a smaller scale.

Down I-75 and across I-696 from a Troy basement to our office

Troy is farther from our Stephens Rd office than the cities along Dequindre, so we plan Troy visits with care. We take Hoover Road up to I-696, head west to I-75 and go north into Troy, and we group calls heading that way when we can. We tell you on the phone where your visit fits.

In a house, a basement call starts at the sump pit: pump age, float, check valve, where the discharge line goes outside and whether there is a backup pump. Then the water heater, its age, venting and expansion tank, because a heater from the early 2000s is due. For a leak in a finished basement we use moisture readings and the layout of the supply lines to open as little drywall as we can. Permit submittals go to the city’s Building Department at 500 W. Big Beaver Road, so we confirm what a water heater, sewer or gas job needs before it starts. If your house is on a slab or crawlspace rather than a basement, we adjust the order.

See every city we serve around Warren · More Oakland County cities · What size water heater does your household need · What happens during an annual backflow test for a business

Last updated October 25, 2026