Old houses
Six things, and knowing which you have explains most of the conversation.
None of this is secret and none of it is leverage. A homeowner who can name the problem gets a better price from everybody, including from us.
01
Galvanised supply lines
Steel pipe from before about 1960. It rusts closed from the inside, so the pressure drops years before anything leaks.
How you would notice
Hot water pressure worse than cold, and rusty water first thing after a weekend away.
02
Cast iron waste stacks
The vertical drain in the wall. It fails at the bottom, in the basement, where it has been wet for eighty years.
How you would notice
A smell in the basement that comes and goes, or a damp patch at the base of the stack.
03
Clay laterals with root intrusion
The pipe from the house to the city main. Roots find the joints. Cabling clears it; it comes back in eighteen months.
How you would notice
A main line that backs up on a schedule rather than after one bad week.
04
Lead bends at the toilet
A short lead section between the toilet flange and the cast iron. Common in the East End and not in itself an emergency.
How you would notice
Usually found when a toilet is pulled for something else.
05
A chimney flue shared with the water heater
Perfectly normal until the furnace is replaced with a high-efficiency unit, and then the flue is oversized for the heater alone.
How you would notice
Nothing you can see. It is the reason a water heater swap sometimes turns into a bigger conversation.
06
No cleanout
Plenty of houses here never had one. Without it a drain has to be pulled through a fixture, which is slower and messier.
How you would notice
We will tell you at the first visit, and cutting one in is usually money well spent.