Where Almond Grove sits and how the Town describes it
Almond Grove is a historic district near the downtown core of Los Gatos. The Town's ordinance 2165, adopted on October 20, 2008, calls it the first and largest subdivision created after the Town incorporated. The land was an almond orchard before it was divided into lots.
The Town's description names Wilder, Tait, Bachman, Glen Ridge and Bean avenues. Bean Avenue forms the southern edge and Glen Ridge Avenue the western edge. The northern and eastern edges stop short of the lots facing Saratoga Avenue and North Santa Cruz Avenue.
The Town's historic districts page puts the district at roughly 40 acres. If you are not sure whether your address falls inside the district, ask the Town's planning staff before you plan exterior work, because the district rules depend on the exact lot.
What the Town's record says about the houses
The ordinance counts 180 structures in the district, and 147 of them, about 82 percent, were built by 1930. Seventy-eight houses date from before 1895, and 64 of those still stand. The styles include Victorian wood-frame cottages, bungalow cottages, and later Colonial Revival and Mission Revival homes.
That record tells you when houses were built, not what is inside the walls. Over a century or more, kitchens, bathrooms and water lines in a house like this have usually been touched more than once. The pipe material in your own house is something a plumber confirms by looking, not by guessing from the year it was built.
Tell the dispatcher your street in Almond Grove and what you are seeing. Call (855) 575-2890.
Call (855) 575-2890What you notice and where to start
| What you notice | What it can point to | First step |
|---|---|---|
| One sink or tub drains slowly | A blockage in that fixture's own drain | Clear that one line, and see if it returns |
| Several drains slow, or gurgling after a flush | A problem in the main drain or the sewer lateral | Ask for a camera look at the line |
| Sewage coming up in a tub or floor drain | A blocked lateral or district main | Stop using water and call the sanitation district first |
| Low flow at every tap | A problem on the supply side of the house | Check the main shutoff is fully open, then call |
This is general guidance for older houses. A plumber has to see your fixtures to say which row applies.
Sewer lines in Almond Grove: who handles what
Los Gatos sits in the West Valley Sanitation District. Under the district's code, the upper lateral, from the building to the cleanout at the property line, belongs to the owner. The lower lateral, from that cleanout to the public main, belongs to the district.
For a backup, the district tells residents to call the district first and to stop using water until it clears. Its crews check the district main and, where a cleanout exists, the lower lateral. Anything beyond the cleanout needs a plumber. If your property has no cleanout, or nobody knows where it is, the district says the owner is responsible for clearing the line all the way to the main.
Work on a private upper lateral needs a permit, according to the district. Ask about that before any digging starts.
How the historic district can touch a plumbing job
The Town's approval process applies to properties inside a historic district. Its page says minor repairs that replace materials in kind need only a building permit. Additions, rehabilitation and exterior changes go to the Historic Preservation Committee, and the page notes that this includes interior work that affects the exterior.
The Almond Grove ordinance also lists two features for preservation: the concrete roads, to be repaired so they keep their 1976 appearance, and the date stamps in the concrete sidewalks. Changes to them need the committee's review.
In practice, ask the Town before work that could disturb a sidewalk or street surface, or that changes how the outside of the house looks. A like-for-like fixture or water heater swap inside the house is a different situation, and the Town's page is the place to confirm it.
Before the plumber arrives
A few steps in the first minutes can limit the damage in an older house.
- If water is flowing from a pipe, find the main shutoff and turn it off.
- For a sewage backup, stop using water and call West Valley Sanitation District first.
- If you smell gas, leave the house, call 911 from a safe distance, then call PG&E.
- Move rugs and electronics away from the water and photograph the damage for your records.
Services Almond Grove homeowners ask about
A slow or repeating clog usually starts with drain cleaning. When more than one drain is affected, a camera inspection of the sewer line shows what the line looks like before anyone commits to a repair.
If a tub or sink backs up again after a first clearing, ask about sewer line cleaning. Hot water problems go to water heater repair, and a wet spot with no visible source is a job for leak detection.
Next door to the district, the Town's Broadway Historic District and the downtown commercial district each have their own notes. The full list of towns we dispatch to is on the service areas page.
Almond Grove plumbing questions
The Town's ordinance names Wilder, Tait, Bachman, Glen Ridge and Bean avenues, with Bean Avenue as the southern edge and Glen Ridge Avenue as the western edge. The exact boundary is on the ordinance's map, so check it if your lot is near an edge.
The Town says minor repairs that replace materials in kind need only a building permit. Exterior changes, including interior work that affects the exterior, go to the Historic Preservation Committee. Ask the Town if your job could change how the outside looks.
West Valley Sanitation District's code makes the upper lateral, from the building to the property line cleanout, the owner's responsibility, and the lower lateral from the cleanout to the main the district's. For a backup, call the district first.
A plumber can look at exposed pipes and run a camera through a drain line. The year a house was built does not settle what is inside the walls, since older houses have often been updated in stages.
Yes. The Almond Grove ordinance lists the concrete roads and the date stamps in the sidewalks as features to preserve, and changes to them need the Historic Preservation Committee's review. Ask the Town before any work that could disturb them.