Need opinion on sewer inspection

[JJensen]

I am trying to sell my mother's 67-year-old home in another state. After the inspection, the buyers are asking for the main sewer line (ceramic pipe) to be replaced among other things like a new roof and updated electrical - which are valid.
After the scope, the home inspector discovered a slight offset where 2 pipes are connected and 2 areas with hair-thin roots visible. The general contractor (who will get the entire job ~ $25k all in) agreed along with his plumber. I dealt with this exact issue in our old house in Baltimore. We put off replacing the ceramic main line for years with annual maintenance, root destroyer AND when the sewer was backing up in the house. Note: There are NO problems in the house indicating a clogged sewer line.
I am fighting tooth and nail about it doesn't need replacing now because of future issues. Not getting anywhere. I would love someone to watch the video and give an honest opinion.
03:58 - the offset pipe
04:34 - tree root
04:53 - tree root

I can't download the you tube video. LMK if either link doesn't work.

 

[breplum]

Nobody wants to buy a house with legacy old crappy pipes unless the sale price reflects all the issues.
Assets are priced based on comps.
No home gets sold in our area without accounting for sewer condition as part of the picture.

 

[JJensen]

Nobody wants to buy a house with legacy old crappy pipes unless the sale price reflects all the issues.
Assets are priced based on comps.
No home gets sold in our area without accounting for sewer condition as part of the picture.

Sale price reflects all what issues? The sewer line has no issues.

 

[GReynolds929]

Offsets, and roots aren't issues?

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Sale price reflects all what issues? The sewer line has no issues.

They don’t use clay pipe anymore, nor do they use that infernal "Orangeburg" pipe either. That by itself is an issue. Roots and an offset? That is trouble waiting to happen, and the buyer is being very smart.

 

[Twowaxhack]

If I inspected 50 clay sewer lines then I would most likely find some roots in 95% of them. The other 5% probably has been cleaned or there are little to no trees around.

So do we replace 95% of clay sewer lines ? Nope…

Put a price you want for the house with it’s known defects and accept no less. People try to get the seller to make the practicality new now days but that doesn’t mean the seller has to play ball.

If there are a lot of trees around and the sewer is 20+ yrs old you’re likely to find some root intrusion. Even on pvc…….

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

If I inspected 50 clay sewer lines then I would most likely find some roots in 95% of them. The other 5% probably has been cleaned or there are little to no trees around.

So do we replace 95% of clay sewer lines ? Nope…

Put a price you want for the house with it’s known defects and accept no less. People try to get the seller to make the practicality new now days but that doesn’t mean the seller has to play ball.

Of course what a savvy buyer can do is then buy that $5.95 monthly sewer line insurance offered by (insert name of utility; around here it's the gas company and the electric co-op); wait for trouble and get your new sewer line. May have to live with a backup for a bit...but hey, there's a price to pay for that!

If your current buyer walks away, and now YOU the seller know about the breaks and roots in the pipe you are legally required to disclose that to all subsequent agents and buyers that come to your home. If you don't, you may have a big problem on your hands if you don't disclose...at least in most states.

 

[cgilley]

Daughter is a real-estate agent. Agree with Mitch - disclose, there it is, deal with it buyer. There is nothing legal that forces the seller to fix anything. Interested buyer doesn't like it? Walk.

 

[Riickk]

Check private messages
Spring Market is around the corner.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

I had two incidents in the recent past, having to do with “failure to disclose”, and a known problem that the seller did disclose, or rather just left it for the buyer to figure out.

In the first case, the seller had to reimburse us to the tune of the full due diligence money we put down, as well as our out-of-pocket costs for a builder, backhoe, and all that related stuff to do a Perk test. The seller had results from a few years ago and failed to disclose. We were able to back out of the deal, and they had to pay every penny. It was close to $10,000 in all.

More recently, one of my neighbors had put a full stairway from his garage into the attic above. I informed him that this is a fire hazard and it’s not allowed. He talked about it with his real estate agent and they dismissed my comments and said we are selling the house “as is” thus it’s the buyers problem. Well shortly after the house went on the market, they got a full price cash offer, contingent upon removing that stairway and installing a proper pulldown! My neighbor, the seller called me sheepishly, and said, please don’t say I told you so! I installed a proper drop-down staircase for him…

 

[Twowaxhack]

Of course what a savvy buyer can do is then buy that $5.95 monthly sewer line insurance offered by (insert name of utility; around here it's the gas company and the electric co-op); wait for trouble and get your new sewer line. May have to live with a backup for a bit...but hey, there's a price to pay for that!

If your current buyer walks away, and now YOU the seller know about the breaks and roots in the pipe you are legally required to disclose that to all subsequent agents and buyers that come to your home. If you don't, you may have a big problem on your hands if you don't disclose...at least in most states.

You can’t buy “ sewer “ insurance around here in Alabama.

I don’t think anyones hiding anything the OP just doesn’t want to make sewer repairs.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

You can’t buy “ sewer “ insurance around here in Alabama.

Several times a year, letters come in the mail to me ostensibly from both Dominion Energy (the gas company) and my Energy United (electric coop)

I kind of misspoke. It’s not sewer line insurance. It’s a sewer line warranty… I don’t know why they make such a distinction but if your sewer line breaks, they pay for its repair or replacement, which sounds like insurance to me.

The same companies also offer an identical program for the waterline from the street into your home.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Several times a year, letters come in the mail to me ostensibly from both Dominion Energy (the gas company) and my Energy United (electric coop)

I kind of misspoke. It’s not sewer line insurance. It’s a sewer line warranty… I don’t know why they make such a distinction but if your sewer line breaks, they pay for its repair or replacement, which sounds like insurance to me.

The same companies also offer an identical program for the waterline from the street into your home.

Weird !!!!!!

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

Weird !!!!!!

Next time one comes I’ll post for reference

 

[psomerville]

Initial disclaimer. I'm a Dominion shareholder. Dominion provided my electric service when I lived in VA and SC. That said these water line and sewer warranties are like home warranties that that cover appliances and HVAC systems, which are not covered by your regular homeowner's policy. They are promoted as covering your sewer or water lines from the house to the street. They don't do any underwriting of individual properties and rely on attracting a large volume of customers and paying few claims to make a profit. They must be profitable for the utility companies. I've never had one, but recall a guy I used to work with had issues with his coverage when he had a sewer line problem.

It's one of those things that you have to weigh the likelihood of sewer or water line failure against the cost of replacement, the cost of the warranty/program, and the claims experience of people who have made claims.

 

[TomFOhio]

I get on every month from a company called Endurance.

 

[RickFlorida]

Yeah doing re-pipes for service line and replacing the waste (lateral line) is just the fun of having old homes. IT's done all the time in my neighborhood. I bought my house 13 years ago and looks like the stack was replaced with all PVC but I noticed I still have cast iron 4 inch for the toilets so I assume I will have problems one day. (house was built in 1957). All of the copper in the walls were replaced but I think there is still original copper service line in the terrazo slab. So when that fails I'll have to repipe. That's pretty easy to me. But what is not easy is when the 4 inch cast iron waste for the toilets fail. I guess the terrazo floor will have to be destroyed........... I'm in Florida. I noticed terrazo tile is 50 dollars a square foot so my insurance company will likely try not to replace the terrazo with terrazo.

Where I live, people buy the homes without even seeing them. They know they will likely have to re-pipe, add on demand generators for all of the hurricanes, new AC system, and pavers, etc. It sounds like your buyer is cheap. No one who buys a 70 year old home should expect it to be perfect. When I bought my house, I had to replace all the windows and the roof. So my 1400 square foot house needed 28,000 dollars of work after I bought it. I'm a school teacher. It's just something I had to find a way to get done. Most buyers over the last few years put about 80,000 dollars into homes that are 65 or so years old. Is this just a Florida thing?