770-PLUMBER
If you own a home in Cobb County—especially in an HOA-managed townhome community—there’s a good chance you’ve heard of, or dealt with, a pinhole leak. Every year, True Plumbing, Heating & Cooling fields dozens of calls from homeowners in Marietta, Smyrna, and Vinings reporting the same handful of symptoms:
- An unexplained spike in the water bill
- A faint hissing sound inside the walls when the house is quiet
- Damp spots on walls, ceilings, or floors with no obvious source
- A water meter that keeps spinning even when every faucet and appliance is off
The culprit is almost always the same: a pinhole leak, a tiny corrosion point in aging copper piping where water finds a way out. Pinhole leaks are a problem across metro Atlanta, but they’re especially common in Cobb County—and in HOA townhome communities with shared water lines, one leak is rarely the only one.
The Chattahoochee Trail Problem
Chattahoochee Trail, a gated community of 66 townhomes off Riverbend Club Southeast Drive near Vinings/East Cobb, knew that better than most. Over two years, our team repaired more than 35 individual copper pinhole leaks on the community’s water service lines. On top of that, the submeters used to divide the water bill among homeowners had stopped working. The HOA was tired of pouring money into a system that kept failing.
A snapshot of the Chattahoochee Trail community.
Why the HOA Chose True Plumbing, Heating & Cooling
Because we’d already earned their trust through dozens of leak repairs, Chattahoochee Trail’s HOA came to us first when they decided it was time to replace the entire system: every original copper line, plus check valves, main shutoff valves, 66 individual PRVs, meter boxes, and submeters. The community solicited multiple bids for a project of this scale, and True Plumbing, Heating & Cooling was awarded the job on the strength of both value and a proven track record in the community.
A Process Built Around the Residents, Not Just the Pipes
A project this size doesn’t work if the residents aren’t on board. Before any digging started, our management team attended multiple HOA meetings to walk homeowners through the plan and answer their questions directly. The top three concerns were predictable: would parking be disrupted? How long would the water be off? And how long would the whole thing take?
We assured homeowners that there would be minimal impact on parking, and that, though water would need to be shut off during the day to complete the job, it would be restored every single evening. And we committed to a timeline of 4 to 6 weeks. With the HOA’s approval, work began on July 20, 2026.
We started with the main shutoff and check valve, then moved through each home’s individual valve, PRV, and submeter. Water was shut off during the workday and back on by 6 PM, every day, for the entire project. To protect the community’s driveways and parking areas, we used horizontal drilling to run the new lines underground with minimal surface disruption.
True Plumbing, Heating & Cooling technician Braiden prepping water meters, shut off valve, and PRVs.
True Plumbing, Heating & Cooling technician Jack preparing new water meters.
Why We Used PEX Instead of Copper
For the pipe replacements themselves, we chose PEX piping over copper—a decision built around long-term cost and durability, not just upfront price. PEX piping is:
- Significantly cheaper than copper, with faster, simpler installation
- Freeze-resistant and quieter in operation
- Corrosion-proof, meaning no rust, no scale buildup, and no chemical degradation
That last point is the one that matters most for a community that had just spent two years fighting pinhole leaks, located in a part of Atlanta known for them. PEX effectively future-proofs Chattahoochee Trail against the exact problem that got them here, saving homeowners from repeating this cycle (and spending more money) down the road.
Pex pipe, installed.
The Results
By August 14, 2026, every water main, valve, PRV, and submeter in the community had been replaced, and all driveways and parking areas were fully restored.
That’s 25 days—three days ahead of the fastest timeline we promised, with water restored every single evening and no major disruptions.
The HOA board and property management company called it one of the smoothest large-scale projects they’d been part of.
Is Your HOA Community Dealing With the Same Problem?
If you’re on an HOA board or work with a property management company overseeing an aging water system, the warning signs are the same ones your residents are already calling you about: rising water bills, mysterious damp spots, meters that won’t stop moving. Waiting rarely makes it cheaper—it usually just means more emergency repairs before the inevitable full replacement.
True Plumbing, Heating & Cooling has done this before, at scale, with a plan for keeping residents informed, water flowing every evening, and the project on schedule. We’re happy to walk your board through what a project like this would look like for your community, timeline and cost included.
Give us a call at 770-PLUMBER to talk through your community’s water system and get a quote.