My selling agent and I were not very suprised when we found the water shut off at the street.

After months of foreclosure inspections I have begun to expect the unexpected.

I urged my client to have me come back to inspect the plumbing when the water was turned on and we agreed that since we were all together I would go ahead and inspect everything else now. My reasoning on coming back was that in this 17 year old house, the polybutylene plumbing needed to be fully checked.

The rest of the initial inspection was uneventful. There were some major items that the client would need to deal with.  An aging roof and windows that were drafty and needed to be replaced, but all in all, there were not alot of unexpected items. 

An Outside Faucet Problem

On the return inspection of all things water related, I immediately ran into a problem.   I expected this winterized foreclosure house to have winterized outside faucets, (i.e. the outside faucet is open while the inside shut off is closed). What I found was a fully charged rear faucet. Upon further inspection, I found that the only way to shut off this rear faucet was to shut off the water to the house! 

A rear shut off valve may have existed at one time and been left off in what appeared to be a repair to the Polybutylene line. This raises red flags not only about the polybutylene repair, but also, because you can safely assume that a professional plumber would not forget to put shut offs in for an outside faucet.

I cannot count how many times I have run into issues with outside faucets.  Often I find them with water pressure even when the house is vacant.  Quite often they have hoses still hooked up.  Testing the lines has revealed a fair share of broken internal pipes.  While some home inspectors do not always check each outside faucet, especially when they have been winterized, this is a mandatory routine for me.  

A Bigger Problem with the Water Heater

Turning on the water gave me a chance to confirm what I already strongly suspected, the water heater was reverse plumbed. What this means is that the heated water coming from the water heater's gas heat exchanger is being immediately mixed with the incoming cold water. The result is greatly reduced heating capacity for the appliance and a very much higher utility cost to provide hot water.

The solution of course is not difficult.  It is just reversing the hot and cold water connections on this water heater. Again this defect raised red flags. Who installed this water heater 4 years ago? Certainly not a certified plumber.

Here's the interesting question.  Was this Defect Intentional?

This is one of those defects that actually may have been beneficial. One of the primary methods of extending the life of polybutylene plumbing is to lower the temperature at the water heater. High heat tends to make the material brittle over time and can cause cracking and leaking.

Since this property had been a rental unit for the last four years, was the water heater intentionally reversed plumbed to remove the possibility that a tenent could turn the heat to the maximum and cause plumbing leaks? Certainly, with a reverse plumbed water heater, warm is about as good as you get even when the dial is up to maximum.

We'll never know of course.  All the original players are long gone.  Intentional or not, these are defects which might have gone unnoticed were it not for a careful inspection. The buyer had them taken care of easily, can now winterize both outside faucets, and can get hot water from the water heater without wasting money on higher settings.

It is a good idea to have me go over your foreclosure home's plumbing...you never know what you are going to find.

Sincerely,

Home Status Inspection Company, LLC

Copyright January 23, 2008 All Rights Reserved.