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Three Dentons, three kinds of plumbing
Denton does not have one housing stock. It has three, and they rarely overlap. The age mix, per NeighborhoodScout’s Census-based figures, is 46.9 percent built in 2000 or later, 38.6 percent from 1970 to 1999, 12.1 percent from 1940 to 1969 and 2.3 percent before 1940. What we find behind the wall depends on which Denton you are in.
Historic core, 1878 to 1957
The Oak-Hickory Historic District has homes built from 1878 to 1931, and the West Denton Residential Historic District has 483 buildings dated 1890 to 1957. Houses from this era were commonly plumbed with galvanized steel supply lines and cast iron drains, and by now many have been partly replaced. We look at what is actually in your walls and crawlspace, tell you what is worth keeping, and quote repairs before we start. If the supply lines are the problem, the conversation may be repiping.
Smaller historic districts add to the mix. The West Oak Area district, adopted in 2008, covers 89 buildings, and the Bell Avenue district, adopted in 2019, covers 28 Craftsman and Ranch homes. Houses like these were built before modern plumbing codes, so a fixture swap can turn into a bigger conversation about what sits behind it.
University-area rentals
Denton is a college town. The University of North Texas has more than 42,000 students and Texas Woman’s University more than 13,000, per Wikipedia. NeighborhoodScout puts Oak-Hickory at 89.1 percent renters, and about half the city’s units are rented. Shared houses and duplexes work their plumbing hard, so running toilets, dripping supply stops and water heaters that quit are the usual calls. We work with landlords, property managers and tenants, and we explain what we find in plain terms so a landlord can decide what to approve.
Newer subdivisions, 2000 and later
Robson Ranch, the gated 55-plus community, began in 2002, and Preserve at Pecan Creek in south Denton is mostly resale homes. With nearly half of Denton’s housing built since 2000, many original tank water heaters have reached replacement age. See water heater repair and installation.
What Winter Storm Uri did to Denton’s water
Denton’s own record from February 2021 is specific. Per the Denton Record-Chronicle, the city logged 16 water main breaks between February 13 and 20, and 740 shut-off or leak requests. Demand ran near 30 million gallons a day, about double normal. On February 17 tank pressure fell to 12.8 PSI at Riney Road and 10.3 PSI at McKenna Park, and a boil water notice ran until February 20.
The cause was a pile-up: pipes freezing in uninsulated exterior walls, attics and crawlspaces, faucets left dripping all over town, and a system that could not keep pressure. On January 24, 2026, temperatures peaked at 21 degrees and pipes froze across Denton County again. Before the next freeze, find your main shutoff, insulate exposed lines (pipe insulation), and let exterior-wall faucets drip. If a pipe bursts, shut off the main and call us any hour. See leak and burst pipe repair.
City water, city permits
The City of Denton treats its own water from Lake Lewisville and Lake Ray Roberts, per the City’s FAQ, which also says the state rates the system Superior. The City’s 2025 water quality report lists alkalinity at about 94 ppm, total dissolved solids at 219.5 ppm and sodium at 30.65 ppm. The report does not list hardness, so we do not quote a number. Dissolved minerals still settle out as a tank heats, and sediment is a common reason a tank heater gets noisy.
The City’s water heater page says repair or replacement needs a permit and a plumbing final inspection. Denton uses the 2021 International Plumbing Code with local amendments, and all inspections are scheduled through the City’s eTRAKiT portal at the Development Services Center on North Elm Street. We pull the permit and schedule the inspection for jobs that need them.
Clay, steel, and gas
The USDA’s Soil Survey of Denton County lists the Sanger-Somervell and Slidell-Sanger soils, which are clayey with high shrink-swell, and flags corrosivity to uncoated steel. Sanger clay can hold cracks one to three inches wide when dry. Foundations that move stress the drain and supply lines inside and under them, which shows up as slow drains, wet yard spots and sticking doors. Our leak detection and drain cleaning work covers these.
Atmos Energy has served Denton since 1912, and the city-data profile shows 57.8 percent of homes heating with utility gas. The Denton Record-Chronicle reports that Atmos has replaced 19 miles of main and 3,679 steel service lines in Denton since 2011. Gas work on the utility side of the meter belongs to Atmos, and house-side piping is a licensed plumber’s job. If you smell gas, leave the home and call Atmos or 911 from outside. For house-side work, see gas line repair.
What a visit looks like
You call, and we come to you. We look at the problem, explain what we find, and give you an up-front estimate before any work begins. The $79 dispatch fee is applied toward your repair when you approve the recommended work. We do the work and show you the result, and we give a 5-year warranty on parts and labor when we supply the parts. Texas Plumbing License M-46210.
Getting to you
Denton is about 12 miles from our shop in Aubrey. We are a family owned local business, open 24 hours, offering same-day or next-day service. Call (469) 552-2881. Denton spans ZIP codes 76201 through 76210, with I-35E and I-35W splitting near UNT and Loop 288 partly circling the city, per Wikipedia, so tell us your cross streets when you call. We also serve nearby Corinth and Argyle.
Last updated: October 3, 2026