# Repiping Riverdale | Fieldston Houses & Co-op Towers | NYC Repipe & Repair

> Repiping Riverdale: Fieldston and Hudson Hill detached houses, plus apartments and risers in 1950s–60s co-op towers, all in Type L copper. Free estimates.

URL: https://nycrepipe.com/boroughs/riverdale/

The Riverdale report

# Repiping Riverdale Houses and Co-op Apartments

Riverdale has two housing stocks a century apart: detached houses on curving hillside streets, and 1950s–60s brick towers that went co-op in the 1980s.

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118

water-line permit filings since Jan 2023 in the Riverdale NTA (broad filter)

DOB NOW LAA data

252

houses and related structures in the Fieldston Historic District

NYC LPC

10–20

stories in the early-to-mid-1960s brick towers, mostly co-op since the 1980s

Wikipedia: Riverdale

1940

median build year, Bronx 1–4 family houses

NYC MapPLUTO

A Tudor Revival house on a wooded, curving Fieldston street above the Hudson. Illustrative.

[NYC Repipe & Repair](https://nycrepipe.com/) handles repiping Riverdale owners need in two kinds of building. Fieldston and Hudson Hill have detached houses from the 1910s to the 1930s on curving private streets. Along Riverdale Avenue, the Henry Hudson Parkway and in Spuyten Duyvil there are brick co-op towers from the 1950s and 60s. Houses get new Type L copper from the service to every fixture. Co-op apartments get new branch lines, and boards get riser projects. Every job is filed in DOB NOW and priced in writing first.

## What repiping in Riverdale actually involves

Riverdale's houses sit on some of the highest ground in the city. Fieldston was laid out by the Delafield family in 1909, after the subway reached Van Cortlandt Park, and its first house was finished in 1911. Its streets follow the hillside rather than a grid and are privately owned by the Fieldston Property Owners' Association, which also handles the sewers. The LPC designated it a historic district in 2006, with 252 houses, many of them Tudor, Colonial and Georgian Revival from the 1920s, 62 of them by Dwight James Baum ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieldston,_Bronx)). Hudson Hill and the 1990 Riverdale Historic District hold older estate houses. The plumbing issues come from the terrain and the size of the houses. Long galvanized runs to bathrooms spread across two or three floors, and hilltop lots start with less street pressure, so a narrowed pipe shows up first as a weak upstairs shower. A Fieldston [whole-house repipe](https://nycrepipe.com/whole-house-repiping/) also needs an LPC Certificate of No Effect.

The rest of Riverdale is apartments. Six-story brick buildings arrived in the 1950s, and 10- to 20-story towers followed in the early-to-mid 1960s, many designed by Philip Birnbaum, among them Skyview, the Windsors and the Whitehall. Most rentals converted to co-ops in the 1980s. These buildings are newer than Manhattan's prewar co-ops but are now 60 to 70 years old. Their risers and branch lines, whether late galvanized or early copper, have had six decades of soft, corrosive water. Pinhole leaks and stains in the apartment below are the common complaint, and the [pinhole leak guide](https://nycrepipe.com/answers/pinhole-leaks-copper-pipes/) covers when repairs stop making sense. Above about six floors the towers run on pumps and roof tanks. Shareholders replace the [branch lines](https://nycrepipe.com/apartment-repiping/) to the riser valve, and boards plan riser work line by line. In eligible Bronx areas, DEP's free program can replace a house's lead or galvanized service line.

The Price Report

## What the work costs in NYC

Published ranges. Every number names its source.

<table class="ledger mt-4 text-[1.02rem]"><tbody><tr><td><a href="/water-leak-detection/" class="no-underline hover:underline">Leak detection, standard visit</a><span class="cite">Yelp cost guide</span></td><td class="fig">$175–$350</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/apartment-repiping/" class="no-underline hover:underline">Co-op apartment repipe</a><span class="cite">The Plumber NYC</span></td><td class="fig">$3k–$8k</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/whole-house-repiping/" class="no-underline hover:underline">2–3 story house repipe</a><span class="cite">A Good Plumber</span></td><td class="fig">$12k–$30k</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/brownstone-repiping/" class="no-underline hover:underline">Brownstone repipe</a><span class="cite">The Plumber NYC</span></td><td class="fig">$15k–$35k</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/lead-service-line-replacement/" class="no-underline hover:underline">Lead service line, private</a><span class="cite">NYC DEP replacement plan</span></td><td class="fig">$5k–$10k</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/answers/repiping-permit-nyc/" class="no-underline hover:underline">DOB permit, 1–3 family, $30k job</a><span class="cite">DOB LAA fee chart</span></td><td class="fig">$195</td></tr></tbody></table>

Sources last reviewed Oct 19

**PEX is not on Table 605.4** of the NYC Plumbing Code. National "average repipe" figures quote PEX, which is why NYC prices run higher.

[Riverdale, The BronxOpen in Google Maps →](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Riverdale%2C%20The%20Bronx%2C%20NY)

In Riverdale

## Leak repair and repiping services in Riverdale

-   [Whole House RepipingEvery supply line from the meter to each fixture, replaced in Type L copper for 1–3 family houses, brownstones and rowhouses.](https://nycrepipe.com/whole-house-repiping/)
-   [Apartment RepipingCo-op and condo branch lines replaced back to the riser, to the board's alteration agreement and shutoff rules.](https://nycrepipe.com/apartment-repiping/)
-   [Water Riser ReplacementBuilding riser projects for co-op and condo boards and managing agents, sequenced line by line to keep apartments on water.](https://nycrepipe.com/riser-replacement/)
-   [Lead Service Line ReplacementLead pipe from the street main to the meter, replaced in Type K copper. Includes how the free DEP program fits in.](https://nycrepipe.com/lead-service-line-replacement/)

Around Riverdale

Landmarks we work around: Wave Hill · Fieldston Historic District · Riverdale Historic District · Henry Hudson Parkway · Van Cortlandt Park. Part of our [The Bronx](https://nycrepipe.com/boroughs/bronx/) coverage, served from 286 Hamilton Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11231.

The Riverdale report

## Repiping in Riverdale, answered

Does a Fieldston house need Landmarks approval to repipe?

Yes. Since the 2006 designation, DOB-permitted plumbing work in the Fieldston Historic District also needs an LPC Certificate of No Effect. Interior copper is normally routine, but it adds several weeks before the start date. Fieldston's streets are private, so the property owners' association has its own rules for work vehicles and street openings. Check those before the service line is dug up.

How much does it cost to repipe a Riverdale co-op apartment?

Published NYC figures for a copper apartment repipe run about $3,000 to $8,000, and riser work is about $5,000 to $12,000 per floor per line. A one-bath apartment in a 1960s tower usually sits near the low end. If your board's alteration agreement makes you pay for the riser section in your walls, it's itemized separately.

Sources: [The Plumber NYC](https://theplumbernyc.com/nyc-guide/why-nyc-bans-pex) · [Handyman New York City](https://handyman-new-york-city.com/guides/cost/pipe-replacement-costs-nyc/)

Can DEP replace my Riverdale lead service line for free?

Possibly. DEP's free lead and galvanized service line replacement began in income-eligible Bronx neighborhoods, and it's for eligible owners only: those who get a DEP letter or are on a block where DDC is working on the main. Look up your address on DEP's service line map first. If you're not eligible, a private replacement typically runs $5,000 to $10,000.

Further reading

## Reading for Riverdale owners

-   [Pinhole Leaks in Copper Pipes: Repair or Repipe?](https://nycrepipe.com/answers/pinhole-leaks-copper-pipes/)
-   [Can I Get Free Lead Pipe Replacement in NYC?](https://nycrepipe.com/answers/free-lead-pipe-replacement-nyc/)
-   [What Is the Water Riser Replacement Cost in NYC?](https://nycrepipe.com/answers/riser-replacement-cost/)

Nearby

-   [Upper West SideAvenue co-op risers and West 70s–80s brownstone side streets.](https://nycrepipe.com/boroughs/upper-west-side/)
-   [The BronxPrewar walk-ups, Riverdale houses and the first free DEP lead-line blocks.](https://nycrepipe.com/boroughs/bronx/)
-   [Upper East SidePrewar co-op branch lines and risers, Carnegie Hill to Yorkville.](https://nycrepipe.com/boroughs/upper-east-side/)

Free Riverdale estimate

A written repipe or leak-repair price for your Riverdale house.