How concerned should I be with this plumbing in new house purchase?

[lbeachmike]

Hi there -

I had a home inspection on a house we are considering buying, but he scared us quite a bit telling us to budget for replacing the cast iron main waste line in the crawl, and questioned whether or not the trap was removed from the main drain. This is all based on what is seen in the below photos.

Any thoughts on what appears to be the overall condition and how a big of an expense this would be?

Thanks for your help.

 

[frodo]

he is correct, the cast pipe looks to be rusted out and needs to be replaced

 

[lbeachmike]

he is correct, the cast pipe looks to be rusted out and needs to be replaced

Thanks. Is this extremely labor-intensive and expensive to deal with in a crawl?

 

[Matt30]

Cast iron looks the worst of it for now, in the future it's all going to need replaced by the look of the pictures.

Best option would be to have a camera inspection done on the inside of the pipe. If it doesn't look too bad, make an offer based in what the line may cost you to replace, or work it into the deal.

 

[lbeachmike]

Cast iron looks the worst of it for now, in the future it's all going to need replaced by the look of the pictures.

Best option would be to have a camera inspection done on the inside of the pipe. If it doesn't look too bad, make an offer based in what the line may cost you to replace, or work it into the deal.

Thanks Matt. We would love to do that. The tricky thing here is that there's another offer on the table $5K less than ours and they would not negotiate. The other buyer is doing their home inspection tomorrow. We were never given the opportunity to bring in a plumber (or an electrician to look at those issues) - so we're not sure how much to estimate for cost and whether or not it should be a deal-breaker for us.

 

[lbeachmike]

in the future it's all going to need replaced by the look of the pictures.

Hey Matt - In reading back your response once again, are you saying that *all* of the plumbing throughout the house would need to be replaced in the near future? Or did you just mean all of the plumbing in the crawl?

 

[Matt30]

Whatever you showed us. I cannot see through the walls of the house from Canada. But what I can see is cast iron and steel drainage, and a PVC p-trap, which would tell me there was an issue over there at some point, or something was changed. When you make your own changes down the road, you will have issues. I would re-plumb all the steel with plastic.

 

[lbeachmike]

Whatever you showed us. I cannot see through the walls of the house from Canada. But what I can see is cast iron and steel drainage, and a PVC p-trap, which would tell me there was an issue over there at some point, or something was changed. When you make your own changes down the road, you will have issues. I would re-plumb all the steel with plastic.

Oh c'mon, word had it that you Canadians had x-ray vision

So, is this a very expensive repair? I realize that working in the crawl is what makes it challenging.

Do I also reasonably expect that the rest of the house plumbing and vent stack would not be far behind in needing replacing?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Matt30]

Vent stack and all that, if it's cast iron, should be fine. Vents aren't exposed to the acids and corrosion that drainage is.

The main building drain / sewer or septic should be replaced in its entireity. That means from the main city sewer or septic, right to the crawl space. So excavation will be involved. Ultimately, the length of pipe and the depth will determine the cost of the repair. The current homeowner should have those details so you can get an estimate from a professional. I've done some that were easy that cost $2000, and some that were upwards of $13000. And that's Canadian funds, so you could expect to pay a little less

 

[lbeachmike]

Vent stack and all that, if it's cast iron, should be fine. Vents aren't exposed to the acids and corrosion that drainage is.

The main building drain / sewer or septic should be replaced in its entireity. That means from the main city sewer or septic, right to the crawl space. So excavation will be involved. Ultimately, the length of pipe and the depth will determine the cost of the repair. The current homeowner should have those details so you can get an estimate from a professional. I've done some that were easy that cost $2000, and some that were upwards of $13000. And that's Canadian funds, so you could expect to pay a little less

Well, you've not factored in New York prices, and then the location in New York that I live tends to be particularly pricey. So, I'm expecting it's more like $10-20K USD where I am.

Given these owners are not negotiating at all, I'm not sure if this + electrical + bad siding job is a deal-breaker for us

 

[Mr_David]

The cast iron looks okay to me. When you start seeing spots on it that are weeping and ozzing then you need to be concerned. The galvanized piping might be a bigger concern. I have never seen it used for drainage pipe like that, only for vents that normally do not carry water. But that would be relatively easy to rework with plastic.

The 2nd picture is kind of odd.
Just to the right of the long sweep 90 looks like a directional fitting and a clean out.
What direction is the waste water flowing?

 

[Mr_David]

When they look like this you should be concerned.
Being that you have a subfloor and this is not under a slab is PLUS.
The value of the home is comparable to similar homes in the area.
They are all just as old, but the extent of them being improved upon may vary.

 

[lbeachmike]

The 2nd picture is kind of odd.
Just to the right of the long sweep 90 looks like a directional fitting and a clean out.
What direction is the waste water flowing?

Hmmm - I don't know much about plumbing other than the basics. But wouldn't the flow of water always be from highest to lowest elevation? So, isn't it flowing from the cast iron into the PVC T? Are you saying that right in the upper corner of the shot is where it looks like it might be a cleanout? I don't think it is - I have a larger version of the shot, though unfortunately just as limited, but it looks like a glavanized steel pipe coming into the cast iron up there - though hard to tell. Wish the inspector had given me more photos from down there ...

 

[Mr_David]

Hmmm - I don't know much about plumbing other than the basics. But wouldn't the flow of water always be from highest to lowest elevation? So, isn't it flowing from the cast iron into the PVC T? Are you saying that right in the upper corner of the shot is where it looks like it might be a cleanout? I don't think it is - I have a larger version of the shot, though unfortunately just as limited, but it looks like a glavanized steel pipe coming into the cast iron up there - though hard to tell. Wish the inspector had given me more photos from down there ...

Yeah I can see that being a galv pipe tied into that.
Picture can be deceiving.
And Yes,Water flows down, and it is a little hard to make out.
Just looks a little odd from the picture.

But like I said before from what I can see in the pictured the condition looks okay to for cast iron drains.

But when I bought my house back in 1992 I shied away from the older homes with cast iron drains and bought in Santee,Ca just outside of San Diego, Ca. My home has ABS plastic drain system and It has been trouble free. almost
I have had 1 kitchen drain stoppage. and I made sure the water lines weren't piped under the concrete slab.
There is always gonna be expenses to maintain and upgrade.

 

[frodo]

home owners that refuse to negotiate..

put your big boy pants on.

the plumbing needs correcting/replaced. they can knock off the price off the sale or they can continue to live their

if you cave in...you wil be stuck with the sale of a house with good plumbing AND paying for new plumbing to be installed.

I KNOW, that the wife, likes the location, the house is all cute and SH---stuff

but be real,,do not let tte "cuteness" screw you outta money

you mentioned electrical problems, siding problems, plumbing problems.
damn,,aint much else left..

run away

 

[lbeachmike]

It's not at all that simple here. These homes are by the beach and most got hit hard from Sandy. This one did not get any Sandy damage The ones that did get damage either have to be raised or cost $3K/year more for flood insurance.

This is also a two-family home and gets rents that more than pay for the monthly expenses. So the owners know what they have and won't negotiate much from where they've already come down to. I realize this is very different than most anyplace else.

 

[Mr_David]

Beach front property! . It's the land and location that has the real value. If that's all that is holding you back I would say go for it. It doesn't look that bad.
But if you're limited on recourses for upgrades and maintenance than you might be getting in over your head.

Good luck.

 

[frodo]

a house is only worth what some damn fool will pay for it....A quote from my Dad