Leak Detection & Repair in Smyrna Heights

Smyrna Heights is a residential neighborhood in the City of Smyrna, established in the post-war suburban expansion of Cobb County through the late 1940s and 1950s. Like Belmont Hills to its west, Smyrna Heights contains a concentration of original ranch homes and small colonials built before 1960, with plumbing from the same era. The neighborhood sits north of the Downtown Smyrna core and shares the same pre-1960 housing cohort characteristic of Smyrna's original residential buildout around the historic city center.

Homes in Smyrna Heights from this era are supplied by the City of Smyrna Water and Sewer Division from the same Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority surface water system that serves the rest of the city. The soft 38-milligram-per-liter supply from the Chattahoochee River and Lake Allatoona does not produce scale buildup in the old galvanized supply lines here. But it does not prevent the iron oxidation corrosion that is the primary failure mode of galvanized steel supply pipe at 60 to 70 years of service. The internal rust scale in original Smyrna Heights galvanized supply reduces flow, and eventual joint failures release water into wall cavities, crawlspaces, and subfloor assemblies.

Pre-1960 Plumbing Profile in Smyrna Heights

The standard plumbing profile for an original Smyrna Heights home from 1955 includes galvanized steel supply lines from the meter to all fixtures. Cast-iron main drain stack with lead-caulked hub connections at each branch, and a clay tile or cast-iron sewer lateral from the house cleanout to the city of smyrna sewer main. All three systems are at or past their expected service life by the standards applicable to this equipment in Georgia's climate.

Some Smyrna Heights homes received partial copper updates in the 1960s and 1970s during bathroom additions or kitchen remodels. Creating the same mixed galvanized-copper system that belmont hills homes frequently show. The galvanic junction between the copper branch and the galvanized main is the highest-risk single failure point in these mixed systems. We identify and assess these junctions during any supply inspection in a Smyrna Heights home.

Elevation and Drainage in Smyrna Heights

Smyrna Heights sits on the rolling Piedmont terrain characteristic of NW Atlanta, with lot grades that vary across the neighborhood. The sloped lots that are more pronounced on the western side of Smyrna Heights are sufficient in some cases to allow daylight crawlspace access rather than the confined-entry crawlspaces on flatter lots. This affects both crawlspace inspection access and the drainage conditions around the foundation: sloped lots drain surface water away from the uphill foundation face more efficiently than flat lots. Which reduces hydrostatic pressure on crawlspace perimeter walls in these locations.

Sewer Lateral Condition in Smyrna Heights

Clay tile sewer laterals, which were standard in Smyrna residential construction before the widespread adoption of cast-iron laterals in the 1950s and 1960s. Are still in place in some of the earliest smyrna heights homes. Clay tile laterals develop joint failures as the mortar seal between sections deteriorates. Allowing root intrusion and soil infiltration that eventually produces partial blockage and water loss into the surrounding soil. A camera inspection of a Smyrna Heights sewer lateral from the 1940s or early 1950s frequently reveals advanced root intrusion at the bell-and-spigot joints and in some cases partial clay tile collapse. The adjacent Downtown Smyrna neighborhood shares this lateral vintage in its earliest blocks.

Services We Provide in Smyrna Heights

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