How to Ensure My Plumbing is Up To Code When Buying an Older Home

There is an undeniable charm to older properties, but years of neglect and changing regulations can present problems. While no one likes to spend money, ensuring that everything meets or exceeds your local planning codes can pay dividends.

Why Plumbing Codes Matter In Older Homes 

Building codes of all types exist for a few reasons and all of them are worth paying attention to.

First and foremost, they’re there to ensure that your home doesn’t present a health and safety risk for your family or the general public. Plumbing codes help to prevent issues like:

• Leaks
• Contamination
• Structural damage

Next are the rules around efficiency. Wasting water costs billions of dollars every year and the same goes for energy. Both also have really significant impacts on the planet and local environment. Modern standards on efficiency are there to save you and your local authority money and cut your home’s environmental impact.

Building on this last point, meeting or exceeding code can also help your finances by ensuring your home retains its value. It can also mean you avoid some serious fines for major breaches.

Common Plumbing Issues in Older Homes 

Depending on exactly when your home was built you could face all kinds of issues regarding modern rules. Some of the most common include things like:

Outdated Pipe Materials 

Older pipes present all kinds of potential problems. Galvanised steel, first brought in to replace lead, corrodes and rusts, offering an easy root in for contaminates. Lead, still present in many older homes in the US, has been directly linked to all kinds of health and developmental problems.

Modern options like PEX and copper don’t have nearly as many attendant issues. While upgrading is disruptive and costly, it’s well worth considering.

Low Water Pressure 

Older pipes often suffer from low water pressure thanks to decades of mineral build up. This constricts the flow, leading to problems with poor water pressure.

Low water pressure can make appliances inefficient and exacerbate problems like clogging as the build-up continues.

Improper Venting 

Venting forms an important part of your plumbing. Vents ensure that potential vacuums can’t form, avoiding drainage problem. They’re also vital in ensuring that sewer gas is diverted safely so that it doesn’t compromise your home’s health.

Non-Compliant Fixtures 

Older toilets, faucets and water heaters are unlikely to meet modern standards in terms of water usage and energy efficiency. This means that they use a lot more than their newer counterparts, costing you more in turn.

Hidden Leaks or Damage 

Water generally leaves a trail of destruction when it gets where it shouldn’t. Unfortunately, this isn’t always obvious with a casual glance until it’s too late. Water damage contained within the walls or foundations is often the result of older, neglected plumbing systems.

Steps to Ensure Your Plumbing is Up to Code 

Getting an older home up to code could be a simple process or it could be a more involved, complex one. It really does depend on what has already been done and your local regulations. Whatever is ahead of you, contacting a licensed plumber with plumbing code experience will get you started.

Step 1: Schedule A Professional Plumbing Inspection

First things first, you have to know what you’re dealing with. A licensed, professional plumber will be able to check things like:

• Pipe materials and conditions
• Connections
• Water pressure
• Venting

This lets you know what meets your local codes and what doesn’t, allowing you to form a plan of action.

Step 2: Request A Sewer Line Inspection 

Sewers are a vital element of public health measures, so they’re pretty strictly regulated. The fines for breaking these rules can be pretty hefty, so making sure you’re on the right side of the code is important.

A camera will be used to inspect for blockages, cracks or tree roots finding their way in.

If problems are found, they’ll have to be sorted. This can vary from relatively affordable things like relining the pipes to major excavations to replace full sections, depending on the issue you’re facing.

Step 3: Test Water Quality 

Testing the water quality lets you know if you’re facing contamination issues. These could be bacterial, sedimentary, mineral or even leaching from old lead pipes, so knowing is always a good thing.

Knowing what kinds of contaminates you have will let you make an educated choice when it comes to installing filtration systems.

Step 4: Research Local Plumbing Codes 

Local codes change pretty dramatically from place to place, so researching them before starting is important. Commonly codified rules include things like:

• Pipe diameters
• Venting requirements
• Backflow preventions.

Failing to meet the local rules can lead to lower selling prices or even impact your insurance premiums.

Step 5: Assess Water Heater Compliance 

It’s worth bringing in a firm of water heater compliance experts to ensure that your system meets the standards. These include both efficiency standards and those designed to ensure safety. Whether your home uses electricity, oil or gas to heat the water, ensuring that safety rules are followed is absolutely vital.

Step 6: Check for Proper Drainage Systems 

Older homes may not have proper drainage systems in place, or the ones they do have may be worn out. Sump pumps, French drains and similar systems can help prevent flooding and water damage, especially in your basement, so they’re worth investing in. This is especially true as we experience more and more extreme weather events thanks to climate change.

Step 7: Upgrade Fixtures and Appliances 

The final stage is upgrading your outdated and non-compliant appliances and fixtures with modern equivalents. Not only will these upgrades mean your home is code compliant, it will offer you significant savings in both energy and water usage.

Benefits of Bringing Plumbing Up to Code 

While bringing things up to code might feel like an unnecessary expense, it does come with a lot of positive benefits:

• Peace of mind: you can rest assured that your plumbing shouldn’t give you any issues and avoid costly repairs.
• Improved efficiency: save money on your utilities and do your part for the planet at the same time.
• Increased property value: when it comes time to sell up and move on, code compliant homes command better prices and are easier to sell.
• Health and safety: upgrading your non-compliant home to meet modern standards helps deal with numerous historical issues, hazards and even contamination.

When looking at an older home it can be tempting to write it off as too much of a project. But with a little thought and effort, you can restore it to its former glory. You might even improve it by getting it up to code.