What the standard inspection does not cover
This is not a criticism of home inspectors. Their scope is defined, it is broad rather than deep, and a good one will tell you directly when something needs a specialist.
The sewer line is not inspected. A general inspection covers what is visible and accessible. The line running from the house to the main is buried, so it is neither. On an older Boerne property with mature trees over the route, this is the single largest unbudgeted repair a buyer can inherit — and nothing in the standard report will mention it.
Supply pipe material is often noted but not evaluated. “Copper supply lines observed” is a description. Whether the system is at the end of its life is a judgement.
Water pressure is rarely measured. Running a tap tells you water arrives. It does not tell you the house is sitting at 95 psi overnight, quietly destroying appliance valves.
Water heater age is recorded, not assessed. The date is on the label. Whether the tank has years left is a different question.
What a plumbing inspection covers
The point is to answer the question the buyer actually has: what is this house going to cost me in the next five years?
- Supply pipe material and condition throughout — and specifically whether there is galvanized or polybutylene anywhere.
- Static and overnight water pressure measured with a gauge, plus the condition of the pressure regulator.
- Water heater — age, corrosion, T&P valve function, sediment, venting and whether it meets current requirements.
- Drain function under real load, running multiple fixtures simultaneously rather than one at a time.
- Sewer line camera inspection where warranted — often the whole reason for the exercise.
- Visible leaks and past water damage, including under sinks, around the heater and at supply connections.
- Shutoff valves — whether the main and fixture stops actually work.
- Gas appliance connections and whether shutoffs and sediment traps are present.
- Irrigation backflow assembly, and whether it has a current test on file.
Worth knowing
Ask for the sewer camera specifically. It is sometimes an add-on rather than standard, and on a property built before about 1980 — or one with large trees near the line — it is usually the highest-value part of the whole inspection.
When it is worth doing
It is not necessary on every purchase, and we would rather say that than sell inspections indiscriminately.
Worth it: any home built before about 1980; any home with mature trees near the sewer route; anything built 1978-1995, where polybutylene is a real possibility; a house that has been vacant a while; and any property where the general inspection flagged something plumbing-related.
Probably not necessary: a recently built home still under builder warranty with no symptoms and no red flags in the general report.
The arithmetic is simple. Against a purchase price, a few hundred dollars is noise. Against a sewer line replacement or a repipe discovered three months after closing, it is the cheapest money in the transaction.
For sellers, which is the less obvious case
Most people think of this as a buyer's tool. It arguably does more for a seller.
A plumbing problem discovered by the buyer's inspector, during the option period, is a negotiation you are losing. You are dealing with their contractor's estimate, under time pressure, with the deal in question. Buyers routinely ask for more than the repair costs, because uncertainty is expensive.
The same problem found before listing is just a job. You get your own quotes, choose your own timing, and either fix it or price it in knowingly.
It also removes the worst outcome: a deal collapsing late over something that turns out to be modest. That is common with sewer lines specifically, because the word “sewer” frightens buyers out of proportion to what many of the repairs actually cost.
If you do fix things, keep the paperwork. A documented repair with an invoice is worth considerably more in negotiation than a verbal assurance.
What to do with the report
Sort it into three piles: what is broken now, what will need doing within a few years, and what is simply noted.
Only the first is really a negotiating item. A fifteen-year-old water heater that works is not a defect — but it is a known cost arriving soon, and it is legitimate to factor that in.
Get the significant items quoted rather than negotiating on estimates. “The sewer line needs attention” is not a number, and both sides tend to imagine a worse one than reality.
And keep the report after closing. It is a baseline for the house, and in three years when something goes wrong you will want to know what was already true on the day you bought it.