A Roseville plumber spends a lot of time in basements built between 1950 and 1970, and a fair share of them belong to landlords. Roughly one in three Roseville homes is rented, more than in Sterling Heights or Fraser, and the city runs from Groesbeck on its west edge to I-94 on its east. Most of the houses are small brick ranches and bungalows whose floor drain is the lowest opening in the plumbing. When the sewers fill in a cloudburst, that drain is where the trouble shows up. Our office on Stephens Rd in Warren is a short run down I-696 and Hoover Road, so Roseville is close to home for us.
Postwar ranches and duplexes between Groesbeck and I-94
Roseville grew rapidly after World War II. The population climbed through the 1940s and 1950s and peaked at 60,529 in 1970. Census estimates put the median home at 1961, with a third of all houses from the 1950s and another fifth from the 1960s. Three in four are single-family detached. The rest are mostly small apartment buildings, duplexes and attached units, the kind of stock that ends up with one water heater per unit and one sewer lateral for the whole building. The water is Great Lakes Water Authority supply, carried to each service line by the city’s own Water and Sewerage Department.
From the trade side, here is what that era usually means. A cast iron stack and building drain under a block basement floor. A clay or cast iron lateral running out to the street. Galvanized steel supply pipe in the earliest houses, copper in most of the later ones. Many 1950s homes were built with no sump at all, so groundwater and sewer both find the floor drain. If your house is from the early postwar years and the water pressure has faded, our galvanized pipe replacement page explains what is going on inside the pipe.
July 2019 on Blumfield and what it taught about floor drains
On a Saturday in early July 2019, some parts of Roseville got 2 to 4 inches of rain while others stayed nearly dry. About a dozen homes on Blumfield Street near I-696 took water in their basements, and residents described floodwater mixed with sewage. Manhole covers lifted. The city manager said none of the pumps failed and the system was simply overwhelmed. Even the City Hall basement flooded, and the mayor declared a state of emergency.
Storms like that are why we ask Roseville owners two questions. Does your floor drain have any protection against water coming back up, and does the lateral itself have a crack or root problem that makes it worse? A backwater valve closes when the sewer pushes back. A camera run tells us whether the lateral is sound enough to hold one. Our post on cleaning up after a basement sewage backup covers the first hours if it has already happened.
Repairs a 1950s Roseville basement tends to need
- Basement floor drain cleaning
A 1950s floor drain is often the only drain in a Roseville basement and the first to gurgle when the main slows. We clear it from the cleanout before blaming the city sewer.
- Backwater valve installation
Storms like July 2019, when manhole covers lifted around the city, push sewer water back toward the lowest drain in the house. A valve on the main closes first.
- Sewer camera inspection
Clay and cast iron laterals from the 1950s and 1960s crack and take in roots at the joints. On a duplex’s shared lateral, the video shows whether trouble sits before or after the split.
- Galvanized pipe replacement
About one Roseville home in seven predates 1950, and those earliest houses still carry galvanized supply that narrows with rust. A weak shower is the usual first sign.
- Water heater installation
Gas heats close to nine in ten homes here, and a duplex basement often holds two tanks of different ages. We replace the older tank before it floods the shared floor.
- Plumbing for landlords and property managers
About 34 percent of homes are rented, many in duplexes and small apartment buildings. We work through tenant access, label which unit each shutoff serves and send the owner a written note.
- Faucet and sink repair
About one in three Roseville homes is rented, and worn cartridges, corroded supply stops and leaking traps on 1950s and 1960s fixtures are routine work between tenants.
Coming over on I-696 and Hoover Road to a Roseville rental
From Stephens Rd we head up Hoover Road to I-696 and east into Roseville, or along 10 Mile for houses near the south line. Being this close lets us fit Roseville calls between other work in southeast Warren. We still tell you a realistic window rather than a promise.
For a landlord or a tenant, the visit starts with access. We need the main shutoff, the water heater and the cleanout, and in a duplex we confirm which unit each fixture drains through before running a cable. In a single-family ranch we usually begin at the floor drain and the stack cleanout, then look at the water service where it enters the basement. A plumbing checklist for landlords lists what to have ready between tenants.
Roseville landmarks from the Packard Field site to the Macomb Mall
- Roseville City Hall and civic center, 29777 Gratiot. The building department works from here, and its basement flooded in July 2019.
- Macomb Mall, west of Gratiot and Masonic, opened in 1964 as the city was filling in.
- Eastgate Shopping Center, built in the 1950s on the site of Packard Field, Michigan’s first commercial airport.
- Erin-Roseville Library, a public library for the city.
- Blumfield Street near I-696, among the hardest-hit blocks in the 2019 flood.
Most of these date from the same building wave as the houses around them, which is why the plumbing questions repeat block to block. Eastgate replaced Packard Field in the 1950s, and the Macomb Mall opened in 1964 as the 1960s blocks filled in. City Hall, finished in 1974, still took water in its basement in 2019.
Getting to our office from Roseville
From central Roseville, take Gratiot or 11 Mile to I-696 and head west to Hoover Road. Follow Hoover south through Warren to Stephens Road; our office is just west of Hoover.
11355 Stephens Rd, Warren, MI 48089
Get directions to our Warren officeRoseville plumbing questions
Why does my Roseville floor drain back up only in heavy rain?
When the sewer system fills faster than it can carry water away, it pushes back toward the lowest opening it can reach. In most 1950s and 1960s basements that is the floor drain, which is how about a dozen homes on Blumfield Street took sewage-mixed water in July 2019. A backwater valve stops the reverse flow, and cleaning the main keeps your own line from adding to it.
Who handles plumbing permits in Roseville?
The building department at Roseville City Hall, 29777 Gratiot, in the civic center. Water heaters, sump pumps and sewer repairs commonly need a permit, so check before the work begins. When we do the job, we tell you which permit applies and how the inspection works.
Do you work for landlords and property managers in Roseville?
Yes. About a third of Roseville homes are rented, many in duplexes and small apartment buildings, and homes, rentals and businesses are all part of our work. For rentals we can coordinate access with tenants and explain what we found so the owner can decide on the repair.
Have a plumbing problem in Roseville? Tell us the address and what's happening.
(207) 419-2600Near Roseville
- Plumber in EastpointePrewar and 1950s homes south across 10 Mile
- Plumber in FraserNorth across 13 Mile, with more condos and 1990s housing
- Plumber in St. Clair ShoresShares the Martin sanitary district with Roseville
- Plumber in Clinton TownshipNorth of Fraser on the Macomb Interceptor system
- Macomb CountyHow the county’s sewer districts split the south end
See every city we serve around Warren · More Macomb County cities · What to do after sewage backs up into your basement · Plumbing checklist for landlords between tenants
Last updated October 25, 2026