Plumbing - My House Needs Fixin

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The subject of plumbing covers the water going into the house through the supply lines that is distributed throughout the house and water draining out of the house. Plumbing vents and water softeners will also be reviewed. This site will not get into the back and forth banter of what type of filtration or softening system is best for you, but the materials and connections are what will be covered on this web site. Most structures will receive their water from the municipal water system. Water provided from wells and other forms will not be covered on this web site.

A word of caution when discussing plumbing. To the layman, one simple sentence exchange with another person can be completely misleading by accident. Many times it is similar to the childhood game of “Telephone” when a sentence has words that get changed as it passes from one child to the next and finally is almost unrecognizable. Here is what a typical pleasant exchange can sound like when a seller of a house is talking to a buyer. Now there will be no voice inflections here or intended animosity, it is simply to provide an example of misinformation that occurs.

Buyer: Can you tell us about the plumbing? It is a 1950 house.

Mrs. Smith: Well my husband passed away 5 years ago and he took care of things. I know we replaced the plumbing after a leak one time.

Buyer: Was that the supply lines or the drain lines?

Mrs. Smith: I have never gone under the house. What do you mean? My husband replaced the disposal one time and that drain was replaced.

Buyer: Excellent. Do you know if you have a copper main line or galvanized steel?

Mrs. Smith: I know the plumber said he “re-piped” the house.

Buyer: Great. Did they do the front main line from the City street to the house only or did they replace anything under the house?

Mrs. Smith: Honey, I just went to work. I didn’t see what they did. I know we paid a lot.

Buyer: Did they upgrade just the horizontal pipes under the house or did they also replace the vertical pipes behind the shower tile and on into the second story?

Mrs. Smith: I know they didn’t break my tile walls. They were done in two days, but I don’t know how much they did.

Buyer: So for the drains, did they replace all the drains under the house, just the bathroom that you remodeled or did they also replace the exterior drain underground in the front yard all the way to where it connects to the City lateral?

Mrs. Smith: They never dug up my yard and all I know is that I don’t have any problems. The kids are grown and gone. My husband is gone. I’ve been retired for years and I am the only one who uses the water. Not a lot of us here.

This Seller is not at fault, she simply cannot answer the detailed questions. Imagine a Government detailed bid with a scope of work spelled out in more detail. Now have you ever seen what is usually what a plumber writes on an invoice?

It is rarely this: i.e. [Remove 73 feet of steel supply lines in crawlspace. Remove and dispose of old material. Run 45 feet of 1 inch copper main branch from the front of structure to rear laundry room to provide water to all fixtures. Replace with15 feet of ¾ copper lines to bathtub for high flow rate. All remaining fixtures replace with ½ copper including riser pipes. 54 feet in total.]

Any time details are provided, it is helpful, but houses have many families that have lived there over the decades and which family in what 10-year period conducted what repairs or remodel? Do yourself a favor and have a detailed inspection.

Another sad part is when a contractor misrepresents the work he performed to the client/owner of the house when playing this game for money. “What did you do?” “We fixed it. All done and here’s the bill.”

Take a look into the areas of plumbing presented here.

Corroded and Damaged Drains

Posted: December 10, 2016

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