Plumbing Problems in Older Homes

PLUMBING PROBLEMS IN OLDER HOMES Living in a historic home with all its quirks and charm can be an uplifting experience until you start to have plumbing problems. Old-fashioned pipework, multiple pipework configurations and old age can combine to give you issues that can leave your plumbing in dire need of help or even replacement.

Blocked drains, knocking noises, problems with tree roots in your underground sewer can all mean that you need to call in plumbing specialists to get your plumbing in a usable condition again. And working on old plumbing can often be more time-consuming than tackling issues in more modern systems.

Older Properties Present Plumbing Challenges While we may not have an abundance of older properties in this area, specialists in blocked drains in Nelson Bay advise that plumbing repairs and improvements carried out in older buildings often present challenges that are not usually found in newer homes.

But a house doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘historical’ to throw up plumbing issues.

Properties that were built before the 1970s have their own issues due to outdated plumbing materials and old age – after all the plumbing in 1970s houses has been around for almost fifty years.

Repairs are Just a Band-Aid Plumbers often find problems in blocked drains in Port Stephens due to old pipes rusting and starting to close up which causes an issue with water pressure.

With the advent of copper and plastic piping, this kind of problem has been mostly eradicated, but the issue can still be found in older homes.

This necessitates small repairs such as substituting rusted sections of pipe with new piping to temporarily fix the problem but if it does become a more widespread issue, it could mean that all the pipework will need to be replaced with new PEX piping.

Old Fashioned Craftsmanship Can Be an Issue Plumbers often find it difficult to repair pipework due to the way in which older properties have been built. Many older houses have a stronger, more substantial construction which makes drilling or cutting into an exterior wall a lot more difficult.

Furthermore, if the house is of historical interest, special permission may also be needed to make any changes to the plumbing, such as installing new boilers etc.

Get Your Plumbing Checked Out If you do live in an older property and you’re not sure about the condition of your plumbing, it may be worth asking your local plumber to give it the once over to see if any potential significant problems are looming.

For anyone who is thinking of buying an older house or historic home, always ensure that you get the plumbing thoroughly checked out as part of a more comprehensive structural survey before you sign on the dotted line.