This particular client had bad experiences with numerous inspectors who failed to find such problems of which he had to pay out of pocket himself…needless to say he was impressed with my methodology of inspecting a home and being thorough at that.
I know this has been discussed before but I can not reiterate why simply turning on a shower or tub for a few minutes does nothing than give a person a false sense of security. I would rather deal with a homeowner complaining about their water bill than paying for a plumbing repair bill out of pocket.
Steven, its not a wall…the picture is of a 2x8 floor joist looking up from the crawlspace floor…I pull back all insulation around plumbing penetrations (as well as hvac duct work)… failing to do same can bite you in the butt. This inspection would have normally taken about 3 - 4 hours considering the write ups…however with the client on my heels it took 6 hours. In addition to this leak I found a shower pan that was slightly leaking as well…it to had been running for at least 20 minutes if not more. With whirlpools and shower tub combos, I will also fill the tub up and dump same as I inspect the plumbing. If any leaks occur once I leave then I can say with 100% certainty that it was not leaking when I inspected same.
I know most inspectors don’t want to waste the additional time in doing this or are more concerned about a homeowner getting upset with the additional water use however as I stated earlier, its more costly to fix a plumbing leak or shower pan than to listen to some moron gripe about his utility bill.
I am slated to repair a shower pan on a home where the inspector failed to catch same…price tag…$3000.00…now that I think of it…all you inspectors around the Charlotte Metrolina area…do me a favor and DONT turn on the water…I enjoy tearing out and reinstalling shower pans. : )
What are you guys doing while the water is running for “20 minutes plus” at each fixture? Any fear of a slow drain and you footing the bill for new carpet or a ceiling repair? (I don’t leave the area while water is running and can’t spend 20 minutes at each bathroom.)
For houses with crawl spaces (about 1/2 around here), it shouldn’t take long to reveal a problem if you pull back the insulation in the crawl. And if there’s a significant leak in the crawl (a totally disconnected pipe for example–it happens), you’ll end up flooding a portion of the crawl space, which will limit your inspection there.
It’s really not that difficult Joe. I wouldn’t suggest you have fixtures at different floor levels running at the same time, but all fixtures at the floor where you’re inspecting is not an issue.
I continually walk back to the fixtures and check that there is no flooding, but most back-ups will reveal themselves within the first minutes. Leaks, however, may take several minutes to become evident, and I try to flush each toilet at least five times.
If there’s an open line in the crawl space, it’s likely to be flooded already (unless the home has been vacant for a period of time) and I’m not going in anyway.
I would rather that the crawl flood…and I have had that happen…and have my client know what they are looking at in repairs versus simply running the water for a few minutes and knowing that such will rarely show any leakage.
I flush the toilet about 3 - 4 times…except at my own home where I have two teens who for some reason can not use the bathroom without going through half a roll of toilet paper…I am about ready to set up an outhouse for them and tell them to use it instead of having to unclog the toilet every week.
The leak in the picture I provided would not have shown up if you only let run for 5 minutes or so…as you can see it not like there is a whole lot of water pouring out.
Again, I don’t mind getting paid to fix the leaks…its good money. : )
He Jeff, heres what I did with my kids. After the first 3 or 4 times of this, I handed them the plunger and the pipe snake and said: “You clogged it, you fix it.” It only took once for most of them, and twice for the really stubborn one before I no longer had that problem (at least if I do, it is now solving itself. )
Yeah… I did that a few month ago…my oldest son was in the bathroom with a plunger for 6 hours…I told him not to come out until he fixed it. :shock:
Bad habits are still hard to die… now they just blame one another…which they learn to take turns… nothing like brotherly love in a stinky bathroom. :mrgreen:
I think I see dark wood around that drain. I would have called out a possible leak even if the water was off. 20 minutes to reveal the leak wouldn’t be necessary in that particular case.
Am I understanding correctly that you do repairs on homes you inspect?
Not sure he said that Joe, think it was directed at us who inspect around the Charlotte metro area and south. Looks like that could have been spotted with-in a shorter time frame than 20 mins of running.
)