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When buying a home in Jacksonville, FL you’ll typically book a general home inspector to investigate the property condition. While they may take a cursory look at the plumbing, it’s much better to book a dedicated plumber inspection. It takes numerous years to be qualified in the plumbing trade and know what to look for during inspections, and a general home inspector may not understand the nuances of home plumbing. For example, you may discover after you move in that a drain line has improper installation or issues with the water heater that the general home inspection didn’t identify before the sale. You’d consider booking electrical inspections, roof inspections, and even checking the insulation, so it’s essential to consider plumbing inspections too.
One of the reasons it’s crucial to book a plumber to inspect your potential property is because you’ll find some investors are buying FL properties and fixing them up on the cheap to maximize profit during a sale. If the home was a foreclosure or no one has been living in it for a long time, areas such as drain lines and sewer lines may be suffering from neglect. Getting a plumbing inspection could also lower the cost of buying your property. If a plumbing inspector highlights an issue and you feel comfortable going ahead with the house purchase, you can use it to negotiate a lower price. Before the sale, it’s the seller’s responsibility to pay for fixing any plumbing issues. Once you’ve completed the buying process, then the costs will fall squarely on your shoulders.
Thankfully, a plumber can utilize a wide range of modern technology to scout out problem areas in a potential home purchase. Even within the last fifty years, plumbing technology has vastly improved. Many plumbing tasks that were once time-consuming and costly are now much quicker and cheaper to resolve. Fifty years ago, if a drain or sewer line clogged up, an ordinary solution was to dig up the pipe and then fix or unclog it by hand. Now, with the widespread use of fiber optics, CCTV, and flexible, waterproof cameras, a plumbing company can inspect the inside of pipes without any digging.
Types of Home Plumbing Inspections
You can book a wide variety of plumber inspections, including:
- Full home inspections
- Drain inspections
- Drain line inspections
- Main line inspections
- Kitchen inspections
- Bathroom inspections
You can book an inspection to focus on specific sections of the house. However, if you’re buying a Jacksonville, FL, home, you will benefit most from a complete home inspection. Homes in Florida are often expensive, which means you could also be facing expensive repairs if you don’t highlight issues ASAP. To avoid potentially being stuck with unexpected costly repairs soon after a house purchase, book a plumbing company to do a whole house inspection and highlight any issues beforehand so you can be fully prepared.
What’s Included in a Plumbing Inspection
Once you’ve decided to book a home plumbing inspection, it’s time to tick off what investigations will cover. One of the first, likely obvious, components of a home plumbing inspection is to check for leaks. Some leaks are so small that average homebuyers may not be able to identify them at a glance. A plumbing company can use specialist tools, such as listening discs, ground microphones, fiber-optic video inspection equipment, thermal imaging, and soil probes. These tools are an unnecessary expense for a homebuyer making a single purchase, but a professional will often have all of these tools readily available.
Visual inspections are par for the course when you book a plumbing company to investigate your home’s plumbing. Not only will leaks be detected, but plumbers will search and identify dampness, mold growth, and other problematic symptoms of water damage. The professional doing your home plumbing inspection can advise what’s causing it, as well as its severity and how to fix the issue. Leak inspections don’t just apply to the interior either. Sewer pipe inspections and main water line inspections can help warn homeowners of potentially hazardous leaks in the future.
Plumbing professionals can also check water pressure during a home inspection. Low water pressure can be an indicator of internal corrosion and pipes that may need replacing. High water pressure could lead to spontaneous holes, and the sooner a plumbing company identifies incorrect water pressure, the quicker you can address the issue. Plumbing professionals will check pressure relief valves linked to water heaters to ensure they’re installed correctly and are the correct type. Without the correct valve, a water heater can burst. Luckily, plumbers will inspect all forms of water heaters, including conventional storage tank heaters, on-demand tankless water heaters, hybrid water heaters, and more.
In the bathroom, all fixtures and fittings are checked for broken or deteriorating parts. In particular, toilets, sinks, and bathtubs receive special attention as these can cause extreme damage when broken. Generally speaking, a traditional home inspector surveying real estate up for sale will only check if water runs from taps, drains run clear, and toilets flush. However, bathrooms often require technical knowledge to know if the plumbing is up to code.
During any dedicated plumbing inspection, a plumbing professional will thoroughly investigate your home’s plumbing. Professionals will also look at shut-off valves, sump pumps and discharge, kitchen and laundry room drainage and venting, traps under each sink, and all above-ground plumbing.
How to Book a Plumber Inspection with Bert Norman
Bert Norman’s Plumbing is family-owned, state-certified plumbing business established in 1985. Through years of experience, our plumbers have learned to utilize modern plumbing inspection techniques, meet all safety protocols, and help you identify, resolve, and avoid a variety of plumbing issues that might crop up in your new home.
Even if you’ve already recently purchased your home, it’s not too late to book a plumbing inspection. Bert Norman specializes in fast, friendly plumbing inspections for all Jacksonville, FL communities, including Riverside, downtown, north Jacksonville, and the surrounding areas. Request a professional plumbing inspection by calling at any time or submit a request online. Plumbers at Bert Norman are available 24/7/365.