Plumber in Piedmont, SC: Mill Houses, Manufactured Homes and Two Counties

By the GVL Plumbers editorial team · Updated Oct 30, 2026 · 6 min read

Greenville side or Anderson side?

Piedmont quick facts

A mill town's plumbing

Piedmont grew around Piedmont Manufacturing Company, founded in the 1870s by Henry Pinckney Hammett at Garrison Shoals on the Saluda. A second mill went up across the river in 1888, and by the early 1890s the company was one of the largest textile producers in the world. It built 147 houses for its workers and sold them to residents in the 1950s. Production at Mill No. 1 ended by 1977, and most of it burned in 1983; it had been named a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

The houses outlasted the mill, and so did some of their plumbing. Most have been updated at least once, but often piecemeal: new PEX to the kitchen, original galvanized to the bathroom, a cast-iron drain under the floor. When MetroConnects took over the sewer, it described the system it inherited as about 100 years old and began a state-funded rehabilitation. That work covered the public mains, not the private line from each house to the main, which is still the owner's.

What to look for in a mill-era house

• Mixed supply pipe: galvanized steel joined to copper or plastic. The joints between different metals corrode and leak first.
• Low pressure at one fixture: often a galvanized section narrowed by rust inside.
• Repeated backups: roots or a sag in an old clay or cast-iron line to the street. A camera inspection shows which.
• Raised floors over short crawlspaces: cheap to repipe from below, cold in a freeze.

Manufactured-home plumbing

About one in four homes in Piedmont is a manufactured home, and their plumbing works a little differently from a site-built house:

• Pipes run under the floor, inside the skirting. A torn skirt, a missing panel or a gap around the water inlet lets cold air reach them. Check the skirting each fall.
• The water inlet needs protection. The supply pipe rising from the ground to the home is the most exposed spot. Insulate it, and if it has heat tape, plug it in and confirm the indicator light works before the first freeze.
• Older homes may have polybutylene. Gray plastic supply pipe was common in manufactured homes built from about 1978 to 1995. It's prone to fitting failures; a plumber can confirm it and price a PEX replacement.
• Water heaters are often a special type. Many manufactured homes use units built for them, sometimes in a closet with an exterior access door. Tell the plumber it's a manufactured home so they bring a matching replacement.
• Access is through the belly board. Leaks under the floor soak the insulation and the vapor barrier, which must be dried or replaced, not just patched.

Freeze protection by home type

Repair or replace on a budget

Home values in Piedmont run lower than the county median (about $161,900 against $299,000), so a $10,000 repipe is a bigger decision here than in Five Forks. Some ways to keep the job proportionate:

• Ask for a sectional repair price as well as a whole-house one. Replacing the worst galvanized run, often the one feeding the bathroom, can buy years.
• Camera before you dig. A sewer camera inspection costs far less than an excavation and tells you whether a backup needs a repair or just a cleaning.
• Check insurance first after a sudden leak; sudden water damage is often covered.
• Batch small jobs into one visit to pay one trip fee.

Permits in Piedmont

Piedmont isn't an incorporated town, so there's no town permit office. On the Greenville side, Greenville County Building Safety issues plumbing permits; on the Anderson side, Anderson County does. A water heater replacement or repipe usually needs one. Ask your plumber which county they'll file with and whether the permit is in the price.

Choosing a plumber for a Piedmont home

• Mention the home type: manufactured, mill house or newer build.
• Ask which county they'll pull the permit in, and that it's included.
• Look up the SC license on the LLR website.
• Ask for repair and replace prices side by side.

What plumbing costs around Piedmont

Around Piedmont

• The Saluda River and Garrison Shoals: the mill site and the county line.
• Piedmont Manufacturing Co. No. 1: the National Historic Landmark site, with the mill village around it.
• Highway 20 and Highway 86: the main roads toward Greenville, Powdersville and I-85.

Piedmont plumbing questions