Howdy,
On Thu, 13 Dec 2007, Eugene D Abbondelo wrote:
> I find this discussion very interesting. I'd like to ask a less
> technical question if I may:
>
> I live in a city and have public water and sewer;everything works fine.
> I've never owned a home not being so provided. My wife and I plan on
> retiring in about 3 years and moving to a rural area. When buying a
> house that is not on a public water/sewer supply is a normal house
> inspection going to cover the problems that have been brought up in this
> discussion (low pressure/capacity; type of pipe used, etc.) or do you
> really have to get a specialist in to check that specific aspect
> (water/sewer) of any house you're really interested in? Sounds like you
> could unknowingly inherit a poor system needing lots of money to fix.
> Simply turning the water on or flushing a toilet in an inspection may
> not be enough.
I think like with most home inspections, it really depends on the
inspector you get. Personally, I've got about a 50/50 ratio on "snake
charmer" to "ok" the two times I've used them... Make sure you get
recommendations, and ask them if they're able to handle inspecting
well/septic systems. If their answer is handwaving, walk away.
Also... For both places I've been involved with (selling my house, buying
another), the municipality drove septic inspections... That dictated
replacing the sewage line as the place I was selling (on city water/sewer)
and putting in a whole new leech field, another spetic tank, and a pump at
the place we bought. The 'good' news, depending on which side you're
coming from, is that the current owners are responsible for fixing any of
these problems and they can't sell the house until they do (or until the
money is in escrow to do it when the ground thaws, if that applies to
you).
I grew up with a well/septic system, then after I moved away from home had
city water/sewer until our current house which is back to well/septic.
I'll take city water/sewer every time, if its available. Well and septic,
to me, are just hassle after hassle, occassionaly with big dollars
required. City water/sewer is a couple pipes that go to the road, perhaps
with a pump in some cases. Way the heck easier to deal with.
Mark
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