Residential plumbing services will help you find all the problem areas you’ll have to deal with if you make a purchase, and can help you estimate the cost of renovation.
Below are four plumbing areas you should check before making an offer.
Water Heater
One of the most taken-for-granted features of a home, water heaters should be thoroughly inspected. Your first consideration should be its size: is it large enough for your needs? A 40-gallon heater is typical for a family of four, but some homes have two heaters set up in parallel. Or if the home has a tankless system, is it powerful and quick enough for your needs? You might need multiple tankless systems if your household uses plenty of hot water at once.
Toilets
If you’re not planning on swapping out your new home’s toilets because they look fine, it’s important to check them for leaks or running water. Flush them to see if they quickly empty and refill, and check the bases for puddles. If you don’t see liquid, push the flooring around the base to see if it shifts or feels soft under pressure. This is a sign of water underneath the flooring. Likewise, if you can shift the toilet side-to-side it’s likely the toilet’s grounding was made unstable by leaking water.
You can try sealing the toilet yourself, but you’ll have cleaner and longer-lasting results from a residential plumber.
Main Sewer Line
What kind of sewage system does the home have? Does your sewer line lead to a county system or does the home have its own septic tank? If there’s a tank, you should know where it’s located and its capacity. There shouldn’t be any seepage around its location, and neither should there be a prevalent smell of waste. Septic tanks are costly to repair or replace, so if your heart is set on the house, you could factor the cost of replacement into your offering price.
Regardless of the sewage system, you should check out the main sewer line. This requires asking a residential plumber to insert a video camera into the drain to check for invading tree roots and major clogs that might need to be removed with hydro jetting. Severe damage might require trenchless sewer replacement, which is the most minimally invasive repair process, but still pricey.
Shower
Just as you have to check toilets, don’t forget to check the house’s showers. Run the faucet, both the tub and the showerhead, and if the shower has glass doors, run the showerhead against the plane joins. If water seeps through, you’ll have to get it repaired. Also check the base of the shower for leaks that signal a need for fresh caulking.
If the shower has tiled floors, block the drain then fill the shower with about an inch of water. If the level decreases, you have a leak. And if the shower is located upstairs, check the ceiling directly below it for signs of water damage (cracks and peeling/crumbling patches).
