Plumbers in Medford, MA

Medford's two-family houses and pre-war homes

Half the city's housing dates from 1942 or earlier, the census median year built, and 12,498 of 25,587 units (about 49%) are pre-1940. Roughly 27% of units sit in two-family houses, 34% are detached single-family homes, and 17% are in complexes of 50-plus apartments. The post-war 1950s added comparatively little, about 9% of today's homes.

Medford was once known for clipper ships, rum, bricks and tiles, and the Old Ship Street Historic District around Riverside Avenue, the former Ship Street, still holds many historic homes. Tufts University's campus straddles the Medford-Somerville line on the Hillside.

In most two-family houses, the upstairs and downstairs units are fed by the same incoming water pipe and drain into the same sewer line. When that shared line clogs or a cast-iron stack cracks, both units feel it, so the owners need to agree on who arranges and pays for the fix. In a house built before 1940, assume original drain piping and possibly galvanized or lead water pipe until a plumber confirms otherwise.

Lead service lines: the 2032 deadline and the $1,000 rebate

Medford is obligated to remove all lead service lines by 2032, and its 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan sets an interim goal of replacing at least half of the known lead lines by 2029, prioritizing vulnerable populations. Under the city's Lead Service Line Replacement Program, Medford removes the public portion of a lead line and offers a $1,000 rebate toward replacing the private portion on your property.

The city's online service line inventory has an address lookup that shows what your service is recorded as. Testing and service-material inspections are free: the Water Quality Division (781-393-2561) offers water testing to any homeowner or tenant, and you can schedule a service inspection at 781-393-2403. In fall 2025 sampling, three of the 20 sites tested came back above the 15 ppb lead action level, and the city issued a drinking water notice on October 31, 2025.

If your private side is lead, get a plumber's quote for that part of the line and ask the city how to claim the rebate and line up the work with its crew on the public side. Our lead pipes guide walks through what the job usually involves.

Sewer overflows and what must stay out of the sewer

Medford's Water and Sewer Department takes reports of sewer overflows and backups at (781) 393-2403 at any hour, every day of the week. A backup coming out of your own basement drain is a plumbing call, but if neighbors on the street are seeing the same thing, report it to the city as well.

The city is explicit that outside stairwell drains, sump pumps, roof leaders and drain gutters should never be connected to the sewer system. In summer 2023 its consultant Wright-Pierce smoke-tested sewer lines to locate breaks and defects, and the division also runs annual fall flushing, a yearly leak detection program, relining projects and meter replacement.

Medford also posts notices when combined sewer overflows discharge into the Mystic River and Alewife Brook. Those discharges come from Somerville and MWRA outfalls rather than from Medford's own system, but they can affect the water along the city's riverbanks.

Flooding in South Medford and along the Mystic

Medford's 2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan rates flooding as a highest-risk hazard and counts 13 floods since 2004, causing nearly $14 million in damage. Planned fixes include drainage improvements for Meetinghouse Brook and at Main Street and Mystic Avenue.

South Medford is a known trouble spot. In November 2023 the city secured more than $170,000 to design larger drainage for Bowen and Golden Avenues, between Mystic Avenue and Willis Avenue, an area with a history of flooding that the mayor linked to its closeness to the Mystic River. In low parts of the city, a backwater valve and a water heater or boiler set up off the basement floor are worth discussing with a plumber.