Are plumbing issues common in 40 year old homes

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Orange81

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I am looking at a house built in 1980. There seemed to have been quite a bit of plumbing issues:

1) Piping under the bathroom sink of 3 bathrooms had a leak and pipe replaced

2) Leaks in the walls behind tub faucets due to piping issues for 2 of the bathrooms

3) Leak that went down all the way to the garage roof from one of the tubs

The owner said the issues have been fixed for a while now. Are these types of plumbing issues common in a 40 year old home? Would you go for a house with these types of issues and how would you approach it?

I am in Houston, Texas. Thank you.
 
yes....no original installation will last forever....stems washers caulking grout all break down over time......will the owner provide the repair slip or can he tell you what was fixed....if things are still leaking you would see wet ceilings/walls mold the sink cabinet would be wet...basically there would be signs of water
 
Not sure about the plumbing done in the past 40 years but the plumbing done 60 0r so years ago, did not have "quite a bit of plumbing issues", in my estimation. On average of course.
 
Have you seen how shower and faucet cartridges look after 20 years.
Water pressure and quality, water heater as well as piping material make a huge differenc, metal piping has a lofe span of about 65 years
 
Cartridge? What cartridge? It likely has washers. :D

Lol,
i think im just tired of wasting time and hearing clients want to repaire theyre 20+year faucet/valve,since i started geting more firm on my presentation i hardly get objections to complete faucet/valve.replacement
 
OP indicates piping issues, not fixtures.

Galvanized was used in Houston area in that time frame. I've heard of some now developing numerous pinhole leaks, requiring the whole house to be repiped. Not sure if its related to water quality, pipe quality, or just natural lifespan of galvanized.

For OP, if piping is galvanized, and there were pinhole leaks, and the whole house wasn't repiped, just the areas that were leaking - that would be of concern to me.
 
When you talk about galvanized steel pipe being used in the Houston area 40 years ago, I would think you're referring to drain pipe only. Not water piping.
 
When you talk about galvanized steel pipe being used in the Houston area 40 years ago, I would think you're referring to drain pipe only. Not water piping.
I don't know how common it was elsewhere, but in the subdivision I lived in (house built in 1983) supply piping was galvanized. Since I moved, I have heard from former neighbors that they had to re-pipe their houses due to pinhole leaks.
 
Galvanized piping was common up to the 70's
when the water piping transitioned into cooper piping

A 40 year old hose would have been built in the 80's
in that era..IN HOUSTON
the poly grey watr pipe craze was alive and everybody was piping house using it
then the crimp rings failed..law suits from hell
back to copper piping

In a 40 year old house, your main worries with [drain] plumbing are actually foundation problems
if the ground is clay. the ground pumps up and down,,misalignment the pipes
causing bellies and disconnecting fittings.
the 2nd problem is grease build up after years of dumping grease down the ks drains

water piping..depends on the water in your area
if you have hard water, expect calcium build up
tore washers.

also..buying chi chi cheap faucets and valves
you save money up front. but wi d up replacing it
or
spend money on quality and be done with it..
 
To the best of my knowledge and Google, "Copper gradually replaced galvanized piping during the 1950's, and was about the only thing used for water pipes in homes by 1960."

When I was a kid helping my father working in homes that were already old in the early to mid 50's, all I remember replacing was brass pipe with copper.
I supposed it varied a lot around different parts of the country. ???

In fact, many of the old houses we worked at, in the big city, still had lead water services.o_O
 

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