EEK! A Leak!

“There are certain plumbing issues that some buyers and their realtors should be aware of when they consider a home for sale,” my plumber Mark Merone said when visiting to repair a broken "el" pipe in my shower. “You need to pay attention to the quality of materials that bring water into the house from the street or well and take it away to the septic or sewer, and whether those materials are up to code.”

He said that plumbers normally don’t have a lot of problems with the fixtures themselves, such as toilets, kitchen sinks and bathtubs, but they do have problems with the pipes that deliver and drain the water.

“Besides the quality of the piping, a homebuyer should want to know the condition of the hot water tank and boiler that both will need attention on a continuing basis, and the kind of heating system the house has,” Mark said. “The engineer who does the inspection will know good piping practices and, if they are below code, he will suggest certain changes, such as eventually substituting galvanized piping with copper or PVC. The more up to code the piping is, the fewer plumbing problems the homebuyer will have in the future.”

To know more about plumbing problems and solutions, read:

Eeek! A Leak!

Bill Primavera is a Realtor (www.PrimaveraRealEstate.com) in New York representing all of beautiful Westchester and Putnam Counties above Manhattan. He also is a marketing practitioner (www.PrimaveraPR.com) specializing in the lifestyles arena, and writes a syndicated column called “The Home Guru” which deals with all aspects of the housing market, design, decorating and landscaping. He can reached directly at 914-522-2076.