A heating system inspection and comprehensive plumbing inspection is money well spent and should be part of the home buying budget. Recently, we had an appointment with a new homeowner who plans to convert from oil to gas. Because she did not apply for her gas line to be installed by National Grid in time to make the November 15th cut off for digging, her plan is to be first on the list for the spring. Upon inspecting her old oil fired boiler heating system, we found that it is on its last leg -not likely to make it through the winter. So what does the homeowner do? Risk spending large amounts of money on heating emergency calls only to have her boiler fail anyway? Purchase a new oil boiler and then be stuck heating her home with an expensive fuel source as opposed to natural gas? She has a very tough decision to make. In addition to this, we found her plumbing in very poor condition – she needs to replace the main cast iron stack and her pipes are all crumbling. She has $10,000-$15,000 worth of necessary repairs that are imminent within months. If she had a heating system and plumbing system inspection, this information would have been given to her before she purchased the home. The information could have been used as a negotiating tool to save money or she could have walked away.
Home Inspectors provide a valuable service to potential buyers. But most don’t hold a plumbing license, and haven’t had training in the field. Consider having a licensed plumber inspect any property before you buy it. A true professional will walk you through the entire heating and plumbing systems, and document all of the findings in a report.
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