No water?

[Dale Duffy]

I had the oddest inspection today of an REO property, the home was built in 2007 2900 sf. with three bathrooms.

The house has PEX Plastic Piping, there was water to two of the bathrooms and none at the Kitchen or one of the baths at the southwest corner of the house, a long distance from the Kitchen.

I looked and looked at every valve under sinks, toilets, the water heater, every possible place there could be a valve turned off, everyone in the house was on.

This made me very curious rather than just saying you needed a plumber, so I looked and looked for a Manabloc for the PEX, generally here they (if installed) are located in the garage, laundry room, or in a closet somewhere.

I could not find a Manabloc any where, and believe me I tried to figure out why there was no water to the Kitchen and that one bathroom for a LONG time, because this is the first time it has happened to me. I have built hundreds of buildings in my days, and this blew my mind.

The only thing I could think of after searching and searching for the problem was maybe there was a Manabloc in the attic, so I even went back up there a couple times looking and looking.

The house was occupied before it was repossesed so they certainly had to have water to the Kitchen and that bathroom, because I could tell they had both been used in the past.

Anybody have any idea what the problem could be?...the water was on when I arrived, so there was no water coming out from under the slab, or leaking from the pipes in the walls-ceiling or I certainly would have seen a MAJOR leak if there was NO water at all to these two areas.

Only thing I could think of, is the past owner may have known where a Manabloc was in the attic and turned a couple valves off in retaliation for the hard times of having the home reposessed.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Buy an IR camera, locate where the water is blocked, then tell the client to CALL A PLUMBER.

[mjones6]

Dale,
If it's in a sub division with other homes of the same model you could ask one of the neighbors if they know where the valve might be.

[Mark A. Timpani, CMI]

good one Mark!

[James F. McKee]

that is a strange one Dale....Mark's idea sounds like a winner though...

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by mjones6

Dale,
If it's in a sub division with other homes of the same model you could ask one of the neighbors if they know where the valve might be.

Yeah, good idea, (never thought of that), thanks......this really blows my mind..!!

Well, no matter what the question, someone always has a better idea.....!!

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

I think you're on the right track. I have found manifolds buried in attic insulation.

[mjones6]

I might disconnect the hose at the sinks and run a fish tape into the hose see how far it goes. find a location that matches up. IE. 25' from the bathroom 15' from the kitchen sink. I hope you get the idea.

I would not actually do this on a home inspection.

[rmaday]

Originally Posted by mjones6

I might disconnect the hose at the sinks and run a fish tape into the hose see how far it goes. find a location that matches up. IE. 25' from the bathroom 15' from the kitchen sink. I hope you get the idea.

I would not actually do this on a home inspection.

I like your previous idea better!

[mjones6]

So do I, but if that doesn't work and you've checked all the obvious places closets, cabinets etc... The second idea might help narrow down the location.