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Health & Fitness

Homes for sale in Sudbury MA - Check the pipes!

For most home buyers, particularly a first-time home buyer looking at homes for sale in Sudbury MA or other townships within Massachusetts there is a good chance you maybe looking at an older home. Unless the older home has been completely renovated there is a good likelihood that the cast iron, lead, brass and copper plumbing pipes are old as well. In this installment of the Home Buyer Education 101 series we will look at the home’s Plumbing and what it means to have good pipes.

To the normal eye, a pipe is a pipe. However, its most often the case these plumbing pipes carry water, sewer or gas none of which you want found leaking into unexpected areas within any of the homes for sale in Sudbury MA.

There are some common issues with a home’s plumbing system which a home buyer could identify fairly easily, these include;

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1.  A leaky faucet may be a telltale sign that the rubber or plastic O-rings holding water back when the faucet is in the off position, are worn out and need to be replaced.

2.  Leaky pipes are often a result of poor soldering, the use of two metals which are incompatible, or poor assembly. Also visually search for decay, rust, corrosion, or calcium build up.

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3.  A constantly running toilet  is an easy one to spot, simply because it can be heard. When a toilet leaks it can waste gallons of water over a short time.

Other common issues that need inspection with the homes for sale in Sudbury MA include;

4.  Shut off valves control the flow of water to your kitchen, bathrooms and other areas. These valves are often left in the open position, sometime for years even decades, are subject to corrosion and decay.  It is sometime the case when the valve is then closed and reopened you find the leak. Also when the valve is closed there should be no water flow coming from a sink faucet, toilet or shower to which the valve supplies water.

5.  Lead pipes are still known to exists in homes built before 1986, which is an environmental toxin.

6.  Water pressure, If the home’s water source is provided by the municipality and water pressure is low, a buster pump and larger feed line could address the problem. If the home has its own well that provides the source of water and the pressure is low, this could be a much larger problem and potentially a very costly solution like hydraulic fracturing.

As always it is highly recommended before purchasing any of the homes for sale in Sudbury MA that the home buyer work with a licensed Massachusetts Plumber or Home Inspector for a complete and thorough evaluation of the home’s plumbing system. Also as an informed home buyer, you should ask the inspection professional questions regarding the areas of concern addressed within this article.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Roger Martin is a licensed Massachusetts Real Estate salesperson and General Contractor with over 20 years experience in residential and commercial real estate.  Serving the Ashland, Boston, Brookline, Chestnut Hill, Framingham, Lexington, Natick, Needham, Newton, Sherborn, Sudbury, Wayland, Wellesley and Weston areas.  If you have questions, comments or suggestion for future articles please feel free to contact Roger Martin at (p) 1.617.365.4311  (email) roger@realestateinmassachusetts.org or (blog site) www.realestateinmassachusetts.com

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