cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Seperately and by a Plumber!

tag
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Seperately and by a Plumber!

Hey guys!  We closed January 24, and I wanted to give out some advice for the people who are going through the mortgage and offer process right now....

 

HAVE A PLUMBER COME OUT AND DO AN INSPECTION!

 

 

We just had a 4k repair bill for some plumbing and septic work. The piping from the house to the septic tank was collapsed, and the piping going out to our lateral field was collapsed. The junction boxes to our lateral field were originally made of concrete... they were in chunks...   We contacted our plumber, and after we told him that we had just bought the house he asked if we had had him do an inspection on the plumbing. We said no, my realtor didn't recommend it, and I was trying to save money on the front end. Our General Inspector did inspect our little aerobic system that connects to our outbuilding. Anyways, if we had contacted them and had them come out and do the inspection, he would have done those repairs for free.

 

In oklahoma, the summer was super hot and dry, we had been under drought conditions for a long time. We didn't start realizing we had problems until the ground got wet from rain, and suddenly our septic wasn't going out anymore!!  The ground was so dry before the rain, that everything was able to be absorbed into the surrounding soil without causing us problems. We are lucky that the backflow was contained in the bathtub and didn't cause problems in the rest of the house.

 

 

I wanted to post this experience to help other out and to make sure that people are aware that there can be unseen issues which can cost you big money later on. We spent 4k on these repairs!

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
StartingOver10
Moderator Emerita

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Separately and by a Plumber!

I agree - have all the inspections done immediately when you contract for a home. The whole house inspection is just a general report so you can determine what else needs a more detailed review. The whole house inspector doesn't normally do septic tanks or wells or mold or docks etc.

 

There are different type of inspections, normally if you have a septic tank then you get your drainfield inspected and your septic tank inspected. If you have well water you want the well equipment checked as well has having the water report (this is two separate things). 

 

Saving on inspection money is taking a huge (and expensive) risk.

 

I'm sorry you had to find out the hard way.

Message 2 of 12
FrugalRican
Blogger

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Separately and by a Plumber!

Duly noted for when I decide to buy a home.

Follow my financial journey: http://www.frugalrican.com


EQ FICO (01/16/2012): 656 - EQ FICO (02/16/2012): 743 - EQ (02/24/2012): 760 - EX (04/28/2012): 739 - GOAL 2013: 800+

AMEX BCE (0/10K) --- BOA 1-2-3 (0/15.9K) --- Discover More (0/6K) --- Chase Freedom Visa (0/1.4K) -- Hyatt Visa Sign. (0/5.8K) -- Barclay's NFL Card (0/7.5K) -- Chase Sapphire Preferred (0/5K)

Message 3 of 12
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Separately and by a Plumber!


@StartingOver10 wrote:

I agree - have all the inspections done immediately when you contract for a home. The whole house inspection is just a general report so you can determine what else needs a more detailed review. The whole house inspector doesn't normally do septic tanks or wells or mold or docks etc.

 

There are different type of inspections, normally if you have a septic tank then you get your drainfield inspected and your septic tank inspected. If you have well water you want the well equipment checked as well has having the water report (this is two separate things). 

 

Saving on inspection money is taking a huge (and expensive) risk.

 

I'm sorry you had to find out the hard way.


It wasn't my intent to try and save money on inspections, I just didn't go above and beyond to order any inspections that were beyond what the realtor recommended.  I did a general, a structural, and a termite.  I should have had the plumbing done, but since I've never had plumbing problems, I didn't see the need... I thought these problems were super rare... apparently not!

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 4 of 12
IOBA
Senior Contributor

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Separately and by a Plumber!

webhopper - I am so sorry you had that experience!   Thanks for the great advice for the septic tank inspection.

 

I think you are in the running for horrible plumbing stories!  (See our thread under Misc Topics)

Message 5 of 12
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Separately and by a Plumber!


@IOBA wrote:

webhopper - I am so sorry you had that experience!   Thanks for the great advice for the septic tank inspection.

 

I think you are in the running for horrible plumbing stories!  (See our thread under Misc Topics)



I don't know how to find that thread, can you post a link?

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 6 of 12
IOBA
Senior Contributor

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Separately and by a Plumber!

Sorry about that!   It's under smorgasboard, called "Any Plumbers in the fico fam"

 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/SmorgasBoard/Any-Plumbers-in-the-fico-fam/td-p/1326295

 

 

Message 7 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Seperately and by a Plumber!

Here we have septic tanks. So we always have a septic inspection (they check everything septic and leach) and a sep home inspection where the home inspector checks visible pipes and plumbing. We've never bought nor sold a house that has passed a septic inspection.

 

We also have wells, so we have water and pest inspections. This house, we flunked the water test big-time. So glad we had that done, the levels of lead, etc, were dangerously high. (Sellers installed whole house filtration system.) Well worth the $ spent on specialized  inspections. 

Message 8 of 12
webhopper
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Seperately and by a Plumber!


@Anonymous wrote:

Here we have septic tanks. So we always have a septic inspection (they check everything septic and leach) and a sep home inspection where the home inspector checks visible pipes and plumbing. We've never bought nor sold a house that has passed a septic inspection.

 

We also have wells, so we have water and pest inspections. This house, we flunked the water test big-time. So glad we had that done, the levels of lead, etc, were dangerously high. (Sellers installed whole house filtration system.) Well worth the $ spent on specialized  inspections. 


Well, we don't have well water here, all the water comes from the reservoir up at KeyStone Lake. That is scary to have high lead in the water... think of the kids' exposure!

 

We should have had a Septic home inspection

FICO 9:
Filed Chapter 13 on 6/1/2017 after job loss. Discharged 6/1/2022.

Goal: Gardening!


Message 9 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Advice: Get your Plumbing Inspected Seperately and by a Plumber!

Nope. I never met anyone who regretted having a septic inspection. Smiley Happy Or, okay, as a seller we regretted it being done. The house was only 5 yrs old and the leach had failed. Cost us 5k. *sigh* But as a buyer, it's always saved our tushes.

 

Anyway, it wasn't just lead in the water. We were high in ph and a bunch of other nasty stuff. But, in truth, most wells, we have issues. At the least, the water is too hard. You should see what it does to the pipes. So, we always have a water test done too. And an aside, but I noticed everyone around here is doing radon inspections now too. But we do live in the granite state, so. 

Message 10 of 12
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.