Plumbing questions, answered for Alaska

Given Alaska's climate, the calls we get most are sewer lines sheared by frost heave, flooded basements when frozen lines thaw and leak, and corroded service laterals from road salt and slush. We carry those parts on every truck, so a typical Alaska repair — in North Lakes, Kenai, and Knik-Fairview or anywhere in the state — is one and done.

Our Alaska trucks carry parts for Rheem, Bradford White, A.O. Smith, Navien, and Rinnai, plus most legacy tank and tankless units — so repairs from North Lakes, Kenai, and Knik-Fairview to the rest of the state are usually one-and-done. We are authorized dealers for Rheem and Navien statewide.

Most of Alaska sits in Alaska's cold northern climate, with a cold northern climate of long, snowy winters, deep sub-freezing cold, and short, warm summers. That is hard on home plumbing — a long frost season that keeps buried pipe cold enough to crack, frost heave that shifts and shears sewer lines, and road salt and slush that corrode buried service laterals all speed up wear on pipes, fittings, and water heaters. Across Alaska the failures we see most are sewer lines sheared by frost heave, flooded basements when frozen lines thaw and leak, and corroded service laterals from road salt and slush. We size fixtures and corrosion protection for local conditions, not a generic catalog spec. Across Alaska, homes average about 69 inches of snow and 191 days below freezing a year — snow load and a long frost season keep buried lines cold enough to freeze and split at the joints.