What to expect
| Typical duration | Full replumb 2–5 weeks · bathroom 1–2 weeks · leak repair same day |
|---|---|
| Cost band | Figures live in the cost index |
| Permit required | Not usually · drainage changes may need approval |
| Seasonal constraint | Year-round · demand peaks Jul–Aug |
Four possible sources, four different installations
- Cistern (στέρνα)
- Rainwater collected from roof and terrace. Soft, and excellent for the building, but finite and dependent on the catchment area and the winter. Needs filtration and, for drinking, treatment. See water cisterns.
- Network supply
- Available in much of the island but not everywhere, and pressure varies with elevation and with peak seasonal demand. A property high on the caldera rim in August is the worst case.
- Tanker delivery
- Common for pools and for properties without adequate network supply. Requires storage sized for the delivery interval, not for daily use.
- Desalinated supply
- Used widely across the island. Reliable, and it brings its own treatment and scale considerations.
Most properties are actually on two of these at once, with a changeover nobody has documented. Establishing which is which is the first thing we do on a renovation.
Scale, and what it destroys
Hard water is the single most consistent plumbing problem on the island. It scales solar hot water cylinders, immersion elements, mixer cartridges, dishwashers, washing machines, shower heads and — expensively — the heat exchangers in pool heating.
The visible symptoms are white deposit and dropping flow. The invisible one is a solar cylinder losing efficiency for years before it fails, which owners routinely blame on the panels.
- Softening or conditioning at the point it makes economic sense, which is not always the whole house.
- Serviceable, isolatable appliance connections so descaling does not mean dismantling a bathroom.
- Solar cylinders specified and sited so the element can actually be pulled.
- For rentals, a maintenance interval written down, because a guest will not report weak flow — they will just review it.
Drainage in buildings with nowhere to fall
Old Santorini houses and cave houses frequently have almost no floor build-up. There is rock or a solid slab immediately below the finish, which leaves very little depth for a soil pipe to fall in.
That constraint governs where a bathroom can go, far more than the layout drawing does. The options are lifting the floor level locally, routing to a different wall, or a pumped solution — and each has consequences worth understanding before the layout is fixed rather than after the tiles are ordered.
Where the property drains to a cesspit rather than a network, capacity and percolation matter too — see drainage and septic systems.
What this trade covers
- Full replumbing and new installations.
- Bathrooms and kitchens, coordinated with tiling and waterproofing so the sequence is right.
- Storage tanks, booster sets and pressure management for high-elevation properties.
- Filtration, softening and treatment appropriate to the actual supply.
- Solar hot water connection and servicing — see solar water heaters.
- Leak detection and repair, including tracing leaks in solid floors and rock.
- Winterisation and reopening for seasonal properties, which is a genuine service here rather than an upsell.
Questions people actually ask
Why is my water pressure so bad in summer?
Usually network demand at peak season combined with elevation, and sometimes an undersized or scaled booster set. It is measurable — static and dynamic pressure get checked rather than guessed, because the fix for a supply problem and a pump problem are different.
Can I drink the water?
That depends on the source and the treatment in your specific property, and it is not a question to answer generally. What we can do is tell you exactly what your building is fed by and what treatment it has.
Is a water softener worth it?
For a property with a solar cylinder, a dishwasher and multiple bathrooms, usually yes on appliance life alone. For a small property used a few weeks a year, frequently not. We will tell you which you are.
My cistern is empty. Can it be refilled by tanker?
Yes, and it commonly is. If you are relying on that regularly it is worth checking the cistern is actually sound first — refilling a cistern that leaks is an expensive way to water the ground.
Can you find a leak under a solid floor?
Yes. Tracing rather than excavating is the whole point, and on a building where the floor sits on rock the alternative is destructive and expensive.