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Inspecting the Plumbing System

Do not turn the water on yourself if it is shut off when you arrive at the site. You may be guilty of stealing water and/or find out the hard way why it is off. It could be turned off because there are leaks, etc. so insist the water be turned on beforehand by someone authorized.

Establish a protocol or procedure for inspecting the plumbing. Start in the kitchen checking the sink, faucets, drains, and piping. Run the water. Check both the hot and cold water for volume, pressure, and drainage. Look at the condition and check for both supply and waste leaks.

Put the dishwasher through a complete cycle and run the disposer. This not only tests and reveals leaks, but usually uses enough hot water to activate the lower element or burner in the hot water heater.

Move on through the house, checking both condition and function on all bath fixtures. Check hanging sinks for snugness.

Try to move or lift every water closet or toilet. You can lift from under the front of the bowl or rock the bowl by grasping it near the bolts for the seat. Look inside the tank for damage, silt, and mangled equipment. Silt in the tank may mean silt in the water heater. Be sure toilets don't overfill and that they flush and shut off properly.

Check tubs and showers. Check diverter valves to tub showers. Turn on the sink and flush the toilet with the shower running. Look for dramatic reduction in pressure or volume to the shower. This indicates rusted, failing iron pipes, or other restriction in the lines. Look for water on the floor around toilets, under sinks, and around tubs.

The thumb test is a quick way to find a problem with a water heater. If the heater is cold above the lower element but hot at the upper element, there's a problem. Be sure you've waited long enough for the water heater to recover from using the water.

Check outside faucets and function and drains located in area-ways. Carry a bucket or hose for testing floor drains. From the crawlspace, check for active leaks and chronic leak damage to the structure. The same applies to basements and unfinished areas.

From the interior look for staining and other clues or tell tale signs. As you go through the house map out the plumbing in your mind. While in the crawlspace you will know where to find the tub, sink etc. area. Check under toilets, tubs and showers. Pan leaks in a shower are expensive to fix.

Try to sort out maintenance or minor repairs from systemic problems. Replacing faucet washers, stem packing, or simple traps is nothing compared to replacing all the supply piping because it's rusted out galvanized iron.

Always report what you see. Telling your client there is corrosion, unsupported piping, abandoned piping; amateur workmanship may be far more accurate than simply marking Sound because it's not leaking. You live by your verbal wrap up but die by your written report.