No Pre-Purchase Inspection is Complete without a Sewer Scope

Copyright (c) 2010 Gerry Stringer

Because the housing bubble and recession have lowered prices, sometimes drastically, and mortgage rates are at an all-time low, all experts agree that 2010 is absolutely the best time to buy a house in years.

However, just because the deal might be incredible, home buyers are advised to rein in their exuberance and guarantee the deal is as good as advertised.

Accepting a cursory home inspection of the usual things is one of the biggest mistakes home buyers make in the ir due diligence - general plumbing and fixtures, roof, furnace - without digging a little deeper into the things that can end up costing thousands once the deal is closed.

The sewer system is the biggest potential problem, particularly in an older home. Buried underground and susceptible to intrusions like tree roots and excess waste products and paper, not to mention the ravages of age, a residential sewer is critical in the proper operation of the whole home's plumbing system. A sewer that looks to be in fine shape could break at any time potentially causing many thousands of dollars in repair costs, a stinky mess inside the home and a disruption of lifestyle.

There is really only one economical way to insure that the home under consideration for purchase has a sewer system capable of years of worry-free operation: a sewer scope.

A sewer scope, a relatively inexpensive procedure performed by an experienced plumber, involves inserting a cable into the sewer line from the main in the home all the way to the connection with the municipal sewer or a septic tank. On the end of the cable is a tiny television camera that "scopes" the passage and detects blockage, breaks and potential clogs in the line. These images are recorded on tape or digitally and may be reviewed by the homeowner and prospective buyer to verify the condition of the sewer line.

A sewer scope can for the basis of any necessary repair or fix and dedect any size problem. For instance, it might just be a minor blockage that could be remedied by a rooter service, where the inside of the line is simply reamed clean. Some plumbers offer a trenchless sewer line replacement service for more extensive problems, especially age-related, where a modern sewer line is inserted within the old one, allowing for a new line without digging. At the extreme end, a procedure requiring digging up the old line and replacing it with modern piping may need to be performed if the sewer line is completely broken.

A broken or blocked sewer line can lead to an unnecessary expense and disruption for a new home owner, a situation that can be avoided with minimal cost with a pre-purchase sewer scope performed by an experienced professional plumber. If a problem is detected, the potential buyer can choose to walk away, use the information gleaned to re-negotiate the selling price, or ask the seller to address the issue.

Or, the sewer scope will confirm that everything about the sewer line is just fine and the purchaser can move on to closing worry-free.