When buying a new home here in Northeast Wisconsin, plumbing is one of the most important things that you’ll want to pay attention to. Sure, the yard or kitchen may be more fun, but paying close attention to the plumbing is really important! Here are a few of the initial plumbing maintenance tasks you should be looking at when you’re at an open house or home tour, nothing can beat the expertise of a professional home inspection though!
- Check for leaks
- Ask about the sewage system
- Check the pipes
- Test the faucets and drains
- Contact a professional
Check for leaks
While you’re taking the tour of your potential home, it is important that you are checking for any leaks. These leaks can be obvious around faucets, but some leaks can be hidden near the toilet. To go even further with this, you should go check the exterior water meter when the house is not in use. If the numbers start to change and go up, you could have a problem with leaking in the house.
Ask about the sewage system
Make sure you know whether or not the house has a septic tank. If it does, check to see if there is any standing water near the area or if there are any foul odors. You’ll also want to check the main sewer drain to see if anything is blocked or deteriorating. If it is an older home, tree roots could be causing issues or the deterioration of the pipes or system. You don’t want to be stuck with the large cost of fixing these issues after buying the house.
Overall, these are some issues that you’ll want to contact a professional for. That way you will know that everything has been thoroughly checked and that the home that you plan on buying is in the best condition that it can be. Even if you have already jumped in and have bought the home, you’ll want to get everything looked at to be sure that things are running smoothly.
Check the pipes
Checking the pipes of the house could be anything from leaks to seeing if they are made of lead. You’ll also want to ask if the pipe size is common for future reference, and check if the water pressure is correct. Low water pressure could mean that the pipes are corroded or that they are clogging. Again, you can look at the water meter of the house to see if the numbers are changing while nothing is actively turned on. This again is a main sign that something is not working properly and needs to be fixed.
To know if the pipes are made of lead, you could go and scrape them a bit, if it is easy to scratch off and it shows a bright silver base, it likely means that the pipes are lead. Also, if you touch a magnet to the pipe it will not stick if it’s lead.
Test the faucets and drains
While touring the house, make sure that you are running the water from them! Check the sinks, showers, and toilets to ensure that they are filling and draining properly. If you turn on the water and it is dark brown in color, something is obviously wrong. But it can also look less obvious, like light brown or yellow in color could mean rusting pipes.
If the water is slow to drain out of the sink or shower it could mean that those pipes are clogged, or a bigger issue such as deeper leaking in the house, or tree roots growing into the pipes. You’ll want to make sure that everything is running as it should before putting in an offer on the house.
Contact a professional
For any of these issues listed above, you can contact a professional to make sure that everything is thoroughly checked over and that you won’t be spending more of your time and money in the future. A professional plumber will be able to check everything and tell you what needs to be done before you put in an offer on the house, helping to save you money before buying. Even if you have already purchased your new home, make sure to get everything checked out to make sure that there won’t be any large issues in the future.
If you are in the process of buying a new house, or have already purchased your new home, call us! At Watters Plumbing we’re always here to help with 24/7 emergency service, home inspections, and leak repairs. Let us know how we can be of service! Contact us today for a home inspection.
Read More Plumbing Tips: Preventing roots from growing inside your sewer line