We hav'em copper pipes! And the water main is right there. That was the best place to install it. Bummer it always breaks.
Water softeners are only sometimes used in some of the rural areas peripheral to my main service area, Montreal. However this post has alerted me to look for specific details when I do encounter them. Thanks Reuben.
Reuben,
I see missing bonding all the time. I almost should put it as a auto comment then just remove it when I find a home that is properly bonded ;)
Reuben, great tips, more for me to keep an eye out for, but more importantly to stress why a proper home inspection is vital.
Jay - huh? What always breaks?
Robert - you're lucky; we have a lot of hard water in our area, and a lot of houses just kind of need them. When I used to live in Minneapolis, I was spoiled with my soft water :)
Donald - same here. I've been meaning to write up a blog to use as a reference in my inspection reports explaining a few of these issues.
Chris - thanks, and thanks for the re-blog :)
The softening device. It stops softening, or sending out the brine water, or whatever. The repair guy is expensive and I got tired of it. It's unplugged now and has been for years.
Good Morning Reuben, water softners are rare in this area with either public or private water systems. The few we do have are ofter over looked. The post is an excellent review that I will remember. Thanks for the 'heads up'!
Jay - I've heard that they don't last for much longer than about five years. That's been my own experience...
Dan - you're lucky too. I wish I didn't need one.
Just goes to show that home inspections are vital to the success of the sell of the property. Thanks for sharing and I am re-blogging to get the word to more readers.
Hi, Reuben -- thanks for the tips -- I always learn a lot through your blog. Water Softeners are very common in the Phoenix market, due to the high mineralization in our water supply. But I find that they often convey 'as is' in real estate transactions (much like the landscape watering systems) because of ongoing problems.
Even the guy from Sears who installed our softener 13 years ago bonded it, to my surprise. Of course it has broken so much over the years that I unplugged it and gave up, but it's bonded!