Home Plumbing and HVAC Inspection

The real estate marketing is still strong, and with interest rates dropping down to 1.99%, houses are going to be selling fast this summer. A house is an investment, you’re putting your hard earned money into a home for you and your family; the worst thing to happen is you find out your home is a money pit. We always recommend a home plumbing and hvac inspection done by a certified plumber & gas-fitter to ensure its proper functionality.

Plumbing Inspection

There are a few things that a general home inspector might not pick up on when they do their building inspection. Your hot water tank is the first thing we would look at. We want to know the date of it, the condition, and whether or not upgrading to a high efficiency tank is best for your situation.  It could be possible your tank is in fact leaking or very close to it.

Next we want to look at the type of pipe your plumbing has. Poly-B piping is the worst to have as it is very common for leaking. It is also difficult or expensive to get insurance if your home has this type of piping. If your home does have Poly-B, we can give you a rough estimate to change it out for new piping.

Your main water shut off valve is very important, not only to know where it is, but to know if it works. If you have an emergency leak in your house, knowing where that valve is and being able to turn in off can save you thousands of dollars in potential restoration costs.

HVAC Inspection

Having your homes’ HVAC system inspected is a quick process that if ignored, can leave you cold and stuck with a non working heat source. When we conduct an inspection on your hvac system, we will check what heat source you have. You may have an oil furnace, electric furnace, gas furnace, heat pump, or electric baseboards.

No matter what source of heat you have, we need to make sure it’s in good working order, and that it isn’t ready to break. Furnaces have many working parts and processes. If a furnace has been neglected or is very old, it’s not only more likely to have issues, but its not going to be an efficient heat source compared to modern furnaces.

Electric baseboards & furnaces are something to note as well. Electric baseboards are a very inefficient way to heat your home, especially if your home has natural gas available. Even if it doesn’t, there are other products to heat and cool your home, such as a ductless heat pump. If natural gas is available to your home, we can evaluate whether or not upgrading is right for you and your family.

If you have a Heat pump in your potential home, we can have our licensed HVAC technician inspect it to again ensure it is working properly and efficiently. Or, we could look at potentially adding an Air conditioner to your home for efficient cooling in the summer.

 

Conclusion

After reading this article, we hope you now consider having Norms Plumbing and Heating do a home plumbing and hvac inspection on your potential new home. Hopefully you learned more about what to look for when viewing a home, and know which questions to ask your real estate agent, too.