Plumbing in Fort Pierce

Many Fort Pierce homes are old enough to have galvanized steel supply lines and cast iron or clay drains. That pipe is near the end of its life in a lot of houses.

County: St. Lucie County
Permits: Usually the City of Fort Pierce for addresses inside city limits, and St. Lucie County for unincorporated areas. Confirm for your address.

Fort Pierce has some of the oldest housing on the Treasure Coast, built from the 1920s through the 1960s around downtown, along Indian River Drive and in the neighborhoods west of US 1. Pipe materials from that era don't last forever, and the problems they cause are different from what a newer suburb sees.

Old pipe and what it does

Galvanized steel supply pipe rusts from the inside. The signs are low water pressure that gets worse over time, rusty or brown water when a tap first opens, and leaks at threaded joints. Patching one section often moves the problem down the line, so many owners end up asking for a repipe quote.

Cast iron drains under a slab or a raised floor crack and scale, and clay sewer laterals let tree roots in. Repeated backups in an older house are a good reason to ask for a camera inspection before paying for another cleaning. The camera shows whether the line is broken, bellied or full of roots.

Homes on raised floors have one advantage: the pipes are often reachable from the crawlspace. That can make repairs and repipes less disruptive than cutting into a slab.

FPUA water and sewer, and septic

The Fort Pierce Utilities Authority provides water and sewer to much of the city. If your main line backs up, the question is usually whether the blockage is in your private lateral or the utility's side, and FPUA can help sort that out. Some Fort Pierce neighborhoods are still on septic, and FPUA has been extending sewer into more of them. See septic service in Fort Pierce if you're on a tank.

FPUA also supplies natural gas in parts of town, so some older homes have gas water heaters or ranges. Gas line work needs a business qualified for it. See water heaters in Fort Pierce for that side.

Permits

Inside city limits, repipes, sewer repairs and water heater changes usually need a permit through the City of Fort Pierce Building Department. Unincorporated addresses, including much of Hutchinson Island, go through St. Lucie County. If you're in a designated historic area, interior plumbing is rarely an issue, but anything that changes the outside of the house may need extra review. General information is on the plumbing page and the city overview is on the Fort Pierce area page.

Tell us the age of the house if you know it, and whether it's on a slab or a raised floor. We pass it to one independent local business.

Check before you hireFlorida licenses plumbing contractors. Look up the license at myfloridalicense.com and ask for proof of insurance before work starts.

Plumbing questions in Fort Pierce

My older Fort Pierce home has low water pressure. Is it the pipes?

Often, yes. Galvanized steel pipe, common in homes built before the 1970s, rusts from the inside and slowly closes up. Pressure drops a little every year and the water may look brown at first. A plumber can check pressure at the meter and at the fixtures to see whether the utility side or your pipes are the problem.

Is the sewer backup my problem or FPUA's?

Usually the private lateral from the house to the property line or cleanout is the owner's responsibility, and the main in the street belongs to the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority. If you're not sure where the blockage is, a plumber can locate it with a camera. If it looks like the utility side, call FPUA before paying for more work.

Can a plumber repipe my house from the crawlspace?

In many older Fort Pierce homes built on raised floors, yes. The crawlspace gives access to supply and drain lines without breaking a slab, which can make the job faster and less messy. Access still varies a lot with height, debris and pests under the house, so ask the business to look before pricing it.

Do I need a permit for plumbing work on Hutchinson Island?

Most larger plumbing work needs a permit. The question is who issues it. Much of Hutchinson Island is unincorporated, so it goes through St. Lucie County Building and Code Regulation, while addresses inside Fort Pierce city limits go through the City of Fort Pierce Building Department. Condo owners should also check with the association before any work that touches shared lines.

For the general guide, see Plumbing on the Treasure Coast. For more about the town, see Fort Pierce.

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