Most of Our Work Gets Buried. Here’s Some That Didn’t.
Pipelines has done plumbing and heating work in Roslindale and the surrounding towns since 1993. Most of it ends up inside walls, under floors and down in the basement, and the only sign it was done right is that you never think about it again. These are a few jobs where we had the camera out: what the house needed, what we did and why.
Pick a Job
Each one opens further down this page.
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Steam boiler replacementWe Got Steam Heat
A brownstone trades a scary, leaky steam boiler for one sized to the building.
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Solar hot waterSolar System
A 350-year-old farmhouse, and an oil burner firing every 20 minutes, winter and summer.
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Kitchen plumbing & gas
Someone’s in the Kitchen
A gas cooktop, a deep sink, and pipes moved so whoever does the dishes gets a view of the garden.
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Boiler ventingFinishing Touches
High-efficiency boiler vents on the outside of the house, done the way they should be.
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We Got Steam Heat
The brownstone building needed a new steam boiler to replace the scary, leaky old one.
Day 1The first sections on the base 
Day 1Setting a section by hand 
Day 1Sections assembled 
Day 2The big header, piped -
Day 3Jacket on, crew finishing up
The job
The brownstone building needed a new steam boiler to replace the scary, leaky old one.
What we did
After calculating the connected load of pipes and radiators, we selected a commercial type boiler with large sections that could accommodate a large pipe diameter header.
We disconnected the old number and waved as it went out the door, to be recycled. Our multi-talented and -muscled demo team brought the heavy new boiler sections into the building and set them out of the way for us at the same time.
How it turned out
Needed from Chris: one or two sentences on the result. For example, how the building heats now, whether the banging or leaking stopped, or what the owner said.
Solar System
The old farmhouse had gone through a lot of heating and domestic hot water changes in its three and a half centuries of life.
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OutsideThe farmhouse, staging up 
On the roofThe collectors in place 
On the roofMounting the collectors 
On the roofBrackets and connections 
In the basementThe storage tank and controls
The job
The old farmhouse had gone through a lot of heating and domestic hot water changes in its three and a half centuries of life: first there was the big central chimney with fireplaces in each room where a pot of water would be heated for bathing, then a coal fired boiler and companion coal fired water heater followed by an oil fired boiler with a coil in it.
The coil was there to take the heat from the boiler’s water through its walls to make the house’s hot water, a system with limits, the worst of which was the boiler’s water had to be kept at a temperature high enough to supply hot water whenever a tap was opened. This meant the oil burner fired every 20 minutes, winter and summer, keeping the boiler hot, running down the oil tank and running up the bills.
What we did
Needed from Chris: what Pipelines installed. For example, the solar collectors, the storage tank, what heats the water on cloudy days, and whether the boiler coil was taken out of the hot water job.
How it turned out
Needed from Chris: one or two sentences on the result. For example, how often the oil burner runs now in summer, or what the owners noticed on their bills.
Someone’s in the Kitchen
A gas cooktop, a deep sink, and a better view for whoever is doing the dishes.
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AfterThe finished kitchen
The job
Needed from Chris: what the kitchen was like before, and whether this was part of a bigger renovation.
What we did
We installed the gas cooktop and the nice deep sink and we moved pipes in the wall behind it so there could be windows and a good view of the garden to compensate the person stuck doing the dishes.
How it turned out
Needed from Chris: one or two sentences on the result, or what the owners said.
Finishing Touches
Most of our good work gets buried. The vents for high-efficiency boilers are one place it shows.
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Outside wallA vent terminal inside a stainless guard 
Outside wallSame care on a red clapboard house
Why we’re showing this
There are a lot of reasons it’s not easy to be a plumber. We don’t have to go into them now: we are used to being us at this point. There are a lot of good things about our job too. It’s just that a lot, no, most, of our good work gets buried, and the only reason you know it’s right is that you don’t ever think about it. It doesn’t leak, smell or make noise. It does what it’s supposed to do, when it’s supposed to do it.
When we do get a chance to leave our work exposed, it’s a cause for celebration and some pride.
What you’re looking at
One of the places our work shows is in the outlets for high efficiency boilers that penetrate the outside of our customer’s houses. There are some pretty hideous examples of how not to do it, but we thought we’d share some that show how well it can be done.
Have a Plumbing or Heating Job in Mind?
Call the office Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm, or send us a note. We’ll set up a time to come see the job, and the estimate is free.