BEFORE YOU BUY A HOME, GET A PLUMBING INSPECTION and DRAIN CLEANING

When people purchase a home they are excited and tend to only look at the aesthetic issues that may be plauging their new home; stuff like paint colors, broken tiles and a bad roof are at the forefront of a new homeowner's to-do list. However, one key thing homeowners overlook is the things they can't see, namely The Plumbing. Thing like tree roots in the drainage pipes, sewage beneath the foundation are all common problems that potential buyers never even think about inspecting because they affect unseen parts of the house.

A plumbing inspection is hugely important when you purchase a new home. You should insist upon splitting the cost of the plumbing inspection with the home's current owner, that way if problems are found a solution can be made upfront and you can walk away if you don't recieve.

We just recently had a case where a family had moved into a gorgeous mini-mansion on the outskirts of Toronto. They had just taken possession of the home a few weeks earlier, and were happy...except when it rained. Whenever there was a heavy rainfall the new owner's experienced a rush of water down their basement stairs and then an overflow of water into the outside floor drain and then subsequently into their basement. To the casual observer the problem was clearly water running down the stairs and finding its way into the basement.

Luckily for the new homeowners, Drain Rescue isn't just the casual observer. We ran a few tests and determined that the water was not travellng down the stairs, but rather down a crack in the foundation near the railing and travelling through the base of the stairwell and coming out of both the outside and indoor basement floor drains. The rain outside was causing an internal back-up within the home. This is a diagnosis the homeowners were shocked by, and that shock turned to anger and instant bitterness towards the home's previous owners.

Drain Rescue ended up digging up a section of their back patio and replacing faulty pipes, and discovering many other plumbing issues while we were at it. We determined the previous homeowner had to have had knowledge of the plumbing issues, as they were so serious it was impossible to live in the house without noticing them.

The new homeowners ended up taking the previous homeowner to court for the cost of the plumbing work Drain Rescue performed.

The moral of this story: When you buy a new house, get a plumbing inspection -- it may end up saving you thousands of dollars down the road.

If you're buying a house you need to insist on getting a plumbing and drain inspection before you close on the property. Here are a few of the key benefits to getting a plumbing or drainage inspection:

1) Plumbing is invisible, it needs to be checked out to ensure everything in order;
2) Safeguards against probelms down the road;
3) Verifies the legitimacy of the seller; if he / she refuses the inspection then they have something to hide;
4) Allows the home to maintain its purchase value;
5) Identifies problems that can be fixed and increase the overall value of the home;
6) A plumbing inspection is a negotiation tactic that will allow you to offer a cheaper price if small problems are identified;
7) Piece of mind for the Buyer. You can rest well at night if you know that your new home's plumbing is good;

Those are the benefits to getting a residential home plumbing inspection on your new home.