Escape Catastrophe with a New Home Plumbing Inspection

When you finally do find what you think is your dream home, the first thoughts that probably flash through your mind are financing, what color the walls should be, where your furniture will go, and generally how your life is going to look living in this house. Almost certainly a plumbing check doesn’t even feature. However, checking the plumbing should be much higher on the list than whether or not you can even get that mortgage. Plumbing is essential and bad plumbing can mean a great house becomes a serious regret. There are a few essential things you should have checked, before anything is signed, to avoid a massive disappointment.

The main sewer

The main sewer drain line is your life line to the city sewer and it is the hub of all things plumbing in the house. If there is a problem that is common to multiple toilets or sinks, it is often traceable back to the main sewer line. Therefore, a main sewer needs to be maintained correctly and frequently to ensure that you do not get any clogs in the system. Clogs are a headache to fix and can often be avoided by regular plumbing maintenance.

Clogs become more of a problem when they come with your newly bought house. The most frustrating part about them is that they could be so easily fixed by the previous owners. Before buying, have a plumber use a drain camera to check each connection to the main sewer to highlight any issues, which the seller can then fix.

Water heaters

Water heaters, like all appliances, degrade with use and age. Things like how well it has been maintained, how often it is used, and the quality of water used, affects how long the water heater will last. The average lifetime of a water heater is about 10 years, making them things that should be checked for faults on a regular basis. Especially if you are about to buy the house.

A badly placed water heater could be the ruin of your dream hardwood floors, if it leaks. That heater in the attic or in the second floor closet could damage dry walls or short some wiring, which can get quite costly to repair. But a plumber can check the age, current state, and the position of the water heater to recommend whether or not it needs to be moved, replaced, or both. Ultimately saving you the hassle of damage control.

Toilets

Leaky toilets can lead to some of the most disgusting situations to fix. Toilets in general, if they do leak, will probably leak around the poorly installed base. Even if the leak is not large, it can lead to damaged flooring, especially wood floors, wood floors will rot, meaning an expensive replacement.

Toilets you can actually check yourself. When inspecting the toilet, check for any problems at the base. Check if there is discoloration, or if the floor feels soft. The toilet should not be able to move at all, any movement means a shoddy base and repairs will be needed.

And finally it is a good idea to find out what type of pipes have been installed in the home, if they are inferior, you could ask for them to be replaced or even have the seller drop the price of the house. If you do decide to hire a plumber to do an inspection, you should be there as well to make sure you understand everything and then you can buy your dream home fully informed.