Plumber in Sipoo

A bilingual municipality of houses

Sipoo – Sibbo in Swedish – is a bilingual municipality where many villages have two names: Nikkilä is Nickby in Swedish and Talma is Tallmo. The main centres are Nikkilä and Söderkulla. Both have apartment buildings, but the most common home is a detached, semi-detached or terraced house.

House ages vary widely. Sipoonranta and the new residential areas of Söderkulla were mostly built in the 2000s and have modern pipework. In older villages such as Paippinen and Box, houses date from many different decades, and the pipework may have been renewed in several stages.

A detached house has no housing company (taloyhtiö), so no renovation notice (muutostyöilmoitus) is needed and you make the decisions. In return, you are responsible for all the pipework, from the water connection or well to the taps (faucets). Keep a record of plumbing work – it helps when you sell the house or if your insurer asks about past leaks.

Sipoon Vesi network or your own well

In the built-up areas, such as Nikkilä and Söderkulla, properties are usually connected to the water and sewer network of Sipoon Vesi, the municipal water utility. In rural areas, some houses are connected to a network run by a water cooperative (vesiosuuskunta), and some get their water from their own well. Wastewater is also often treated on the property there; the municipality's environmental protection unit can tell you what rules apply.

In a house with a well, your own pump supplies the water, usually with a pressure tank and sometimes water treatment equipment. Well water varies: iron, manganese or hard water can clog tap aerators and leave limescale on fixtures. Regular water testing shows whether a filter or other treatment is needed. Tell us when you book that your water comes from a well, so this can be considered when choosing a tap or appliance.

When a rural house is later connected to a water cooperative's network or to Sipoon Vesi, the old well is often kept for watering the garden or as a backup. The well pipework and the mains pipework must never be connected to each other, so that well water cannot get into the shared network.

Heating and pipe renovations in a detached house

If the house has water-based central heating, the radiators and heating pipework are entirely the owner's responsibility, whether the heat comes from a ground source heat pump, oil or pellets. Replacing radiators often becomes relevant when the heating system changes, for example from oil to a ground source heat pump. Replace the radiators and thermostatic valves in the same project, so the system is drained and refilled only once. If a radiator just gurgles or is cold at the top, see how to bleed a radiator.

In older detached houses the water pipes are often copper, and the oldest may still have galvanised steel pipes. Soldering copper pipes counts as hot work, and the hot work card (Tulityökortti) is one of our plumber's certifications. Alongside copper, new installations also use composite pipe.

If the pipes are original and there have been several leaks, it's time to look at the whole system. Radiator pipework renewal or water pipe replacement is often worth timing with other renovation work, so walls and floors aren't opened twice. Afterwards the heating system is balanced so that every room heats evenly.

Your own fixtures and our prices

You can buy a tap, toilet or appliance yourself and order just the installation. Toilet installation costs €235.31, sink installation or replacement €156.88–235.31 and tap replacement €125.50. Prices include 25.5% VAT (ALV), and extra fittings and hoses are charged separately. All prices are in our price list.

Many older washrooms still have a two-handle shower mixer. A thermostatic mixer keeps the temperature steady even when the pressure varies – useful in a house with a well, where the pump starts and stops as water is used.

If toilet waste goes into a sealed holding tank, the amount of flush water directly affects how often the tank has to be emptied. A low-flush toilet is then a sensible choice. Small repairs, such as a leaking valve or a dripping tap, are part of our small plumbing jobs.

For a summer cottage or other holiday home, choose fixtures that are easy to drain for winter, and let us know when you book, so winter use can be allowed for in the installation. If a frozen pipe does crack, our guide to a water leak at home covers the first steps.