As a Certified Professional Inspector, I am always going to recommend that a potential home buyer consider having the sewer lines in their dream home scoped by a reputable Plumber. I realize that when you are buying a home it is most everyone’s goal to save money in any area they can, but trust me when I say, this is not the area to be a penny-pincher. Paying as little as a couple hundred dollars can save you thousands in possibly the very near future. This is why:
We recently purchased an older home with a septic tank and a private well. Any time you are considering buying an older home, whether it be on a private septic or city sewer I HIGHLY, (yes I am YELLING) consider having a reputable plumbing company come out and run a camera down the sewer clean-out to evaluate if the home’s sewer pipes have any signs of cracking or possible rupture. Many older homes have clay and cast iron pipes for the sewer lines. These pipes have an expected life time, just as we do. Premature cracking and rupture can also be caused by root systems from near trees and large shrubs.
Plumber Utilizing Rigid Camera System
For as little as $209 and a single call they can be in your home with this $14,000 Rigid Camera System utilizing the best technology to scope your pipes to evaluate whether or not there is a breakage. We used WaterWorks out of Columbus, OH and were very pleased with them. There customer service was top notch and they were able to come out quickly. (which is what you want when you see what is in this video.
We were advised by a knowledgable friend to have our sewer lines scoped because of the age of our home. We decided because times were tight to forego the inspections and go ahead with the purchase of our home. One word: D.U.M.B. Rule of thumb: six people flush the toilet and take more showers than a single 84 year old.
Um, yes that was a sewer fly. After only a month or so after moving into our new (to us) home we began to notice a horrendous oder and a new species of fly in the living space of our home. As a home inspector I troubleshooted until I found a sub slap air vent that allowing raw sewage to enter through a few small cracks.
Diagnosis: The sewer line going under our closet, hallway, and entire width of our family room is completely deteriorated to the point that raw sew is being dumped into the foundation gravel beneath our home.
Estimate: $12,000! This is not covered by any type of home owner insurance.
Moral of the story: If you have someone giving you a stern warning about what could happen (that would be me right now) DO NOT IGNORE THEM.
If you hire Safe Check Home Inspections, we will insist that you pay the $209 and save your self thousands and thousands. This is the reason we chose the slogan, BE SAFE, NOT SORRY. and let’s face it DON’T BE AN IDIOT doesn’t have the same ring.
