How To Analyze The Plumbing System When Buying A House
Posted on: 11 October 2019
There are a lot of different things you should examine and look for when buying a house, and one part of a house you should always thoroughly inspect is the home's plumbing system. The purpose of this is to make sure the system is working as it should and that the house is problem-free. Here are some of the best ways you can do this when buying a single-family home.
Test Things Yourself
The first way to do this is by testing the plumbing parts yourself, and here are some of the best ways to do this:
- Run the showers to see the water pressure and temperature
- Flush the toilets to see how fast they go down and refill
- Run each sink and watch how the drains work
- Flush a toilet while the shower is running to see if the water pressure or temperature changes
- Examine the water heater
- See if there are shut-off valves by each plumbing fixture
- Look for signs of staining in plumbing fixtures
Testing all these things will help you get an idea of how the plumbing system works, but it will not tell you everything about it.
Get a Plumbing Inspection
A second thing you can do is hire a plumbing contractor to perform a plumbing inspection. This is not something people always do when buying a house, but it is a good idea if you suspect that there might be problems or if you just want to be absolutely certain that there are no problems with this system. A plumber will inspect all the same things as you did but will have the right tools and equipment to go even further with the inspection. You are likely to learn a lot about the home's plumbing system from this inspection.
Get a Sewer Line Inspection
A lot of plumbing companies can take a plumbing inspection one step further by offering a camera sewer line inspection. This is a test that involves placing a small camera into the sewer line to look for obstructions and signs of damage. This will help you avoid buying a house that has main sewer line issues, and it will save you a lot of money in the long run.
If you would like to find out more about ways you can test and evaluate the condition of a home's plumbing system or any other part, talk to a real estate agent for help.
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