Gaffney is the county seat of Cherokee County, home to about 12,800 people and the Peachoid water tower that every I-85 driver knows. Textiles carried the local economy until the 1980s, and the housing shows it: an 18-block residential historic district of homes built roughly 1890 to 1930 for mill executives, merchants and professionals, smaller houses from the textile era, and newer subdivisions beyond.
Gaffney runs its own utilities, except gas. The Gaffney Board of Public Works supplies water, pumped from the Broad River and Lake Whelchel and treated at its own plants, and runs the sewer system and two wastewater treatment plants. Natural gas is Piedmont Natural Gas, which serves Cherokee County south of the Broad River.
Inside city limits, plumbing and gas permits come from the City of Gaffney's Community Development department, which handles building codes and mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits. Outside the city, Cherokee County Building Safety on Railroad Avenue issues them. The city also has a Historic Preservation Overlay District, which can matter when work changes the outside of a house.
Gaffney is a straight run up I-85 from our base in Spartanburg, and the phone is answered around the clock.
Gaffney at a glance
- Natural gas
- Piedmont Natural Gas. In Cherokee County, Piedmont serves parcels south of the Broad River, including Gaffney; the York County Natural Gas Authority serves north of the river. The Board of Public Works does not sell gas.
- Water
- Gaffney Board of Public Works
- Sewer
- Gaffney Board of Public Works
- Permits
- City of Gaffney Community Development; Cherokee County Building Safety outside city limits
- Housing
- Homes from about 1890 to 1930 in the Gaffney Residential Historic District, textile-era houses, and post-war and newer subdivisions.
Plumbing and gas in Gaffney: what to know
Big old houses, long pipe runs
Homes in the historic district are large by today's standards, with plumbing added, extended and rerouted over a century. Long runs of old galvanized supply pipe, cast iron drains and stacks, and bathrooms moved during remodels are normal. Low pressure upstairs or rusty water at one fixture usually traces back to galvanized somewhere in the run.
Who owns the sewer lateral
The Board of Public Works maintains the public sewer. The line from your house to the BPW tap is yours, and in older parts of town it may be clay or cast iron with joints that roots work into. Recurring backups at the lowest drain in the house are the classic sign.
Gas lines sized for another era
Many older Gaffney homes had gas added for heat long ago, sized for a furnace and perhaps a water heater. Gas logs, a tankless water heater or a gas range can push total demand past what that line carries. We add up the load and check the pipe size from the Piedmont meter before anything new goes on.
Inside the city or not
A Gaffney mailing address is not always inside city limits. If it is, the city's Community Development department permits the work; if not, Cherokee County Building Safety does. Either way, gas piping and water heater work needs a permit and an inspection.
Work on historic exteriors
In the city's Historic Preservation Overlay District, changes to a house's exterior can need design review. Most plumbing and gas work happens inside the walls, but a new wall vent, a relocated gas meter or a tankless water heater hung on an outside wall is the kind of change worth checking with the city before the work starts.