As a general rule, a lot of homeowners don’t give certain systems in their homes much thought until those systems break down or need repairs. One such system is your home’s plumbing. It is a large series of pipes running underneath your home and in the walls to your sinks, toilets, washing appliances, and showers or bathtubs. At some point, you do have to replace all those pipes, and with many a good reason.
You’ve Lived in Your Home at Least 20 Years
If you have lived in your home at least 20 years and you’ve never replaced any the pipes even once, it’s time. Even if you have modern PVC pipes and not lead or galvanized steel pipes, you need to replace them. Pipes wear out and wear down inside a little more each year that they are in use. By the time you hit the thirty-year use mark, the separation of material between you and a gushing flood of water may only be a few millimeters at best.
Pipes Are Holey and Gushing
A dead giveaway that your whole house pipes need re-piping is that they are holey and gushing water. You might not notice this at all unless you are in your home’s crawlspace or basement. A ton of water pools and collects and doesn’t seem to dissipate, or you have unexpected water damage in one area of your home.
Once the plumber pulls the old pipes out, you will see the gaping holes and how those holes developed. As for the resulting water damage in your home, you will need to hire a remediation specialist to address this before walls and flooring are sealed back up to hide the new pipes. Without the water damage remediation, you set the stage for a lot of mold to develop, and then your home is untenable.