Clogged drain

[Jayhawk]

Need an opinion. I'm a realtor and I closed on a home, representing the buyer, last week. The home had been empty for a couple of months. One month prior to closing we had a whole house inspection done by an inspector I use quite a bit. Plumbing is fine, drains flowing freely, etc., he reports. Right after closing buyer goes to the house and starts cleaning, running water in the kitchen sink. Water starts shooting out of the washing machine drain directly below the kitchen. Plumber comes out, snakes it out, everything is fine, bill is $92. I call the inspector and he says it was fine a month ago and drains can dry up and material can flake off creating a ball of gunk. I'm really wondering if he ran water at all -- it doesn't make sense to me that the drains would be clog up in a month when the house had not been used at all.

I'm probably going to pay the $92 bill myself, (neither seller, nor buyer feel obligated and I understand that) but I'm more curious if I can trust this inspector. Does that sound like something that can happen in a month? Thanks.

 

[havasu]

Most inspectors only conduct a visual inspection, and if you read the fine print, they are not responsible for things which are not obvious by just a visual inspection.

 

[Hyper48fan]

If the Kitchen Sink waste is OLD 1 1/2" galvanized pipe then I would say it's absolutely possible (even with 2" it's possible). I've had several calls where the occupants complain about a tub/shower or sink that won't drain, then I find out they haven't used it for a few months and it's galvanized waste pipe. This is a very common occurrence, you're lucky the bill was only $92, sometimes the amount of debris that is knocked off when you snake takes a while to clear. This may happen in cast iron systems as well but I haven't responded to one of those calls yet.

 

[Another-Plumber]

another thing, the washer dumps much quicker than from a faucet spout, i doubt he brought a washing machine to to do the test, in my option, the inspecter was at NO fault...

 

[AllAces777]

One thing you can do in the future is follow up behind the inspector, verify his finding by doing your own. It'll bring you peace of mind 1 way or another.

I find it hard to believe that if he ran water and everything drained fine, that it would plug up a short while later.

 

[Jayhawk]

The inspectors in our market do more than a visual when it comes to plumbing, and he stated that they put as much stress on the system as possible, running water from multiple locations at once. The house was built in '81, but I'm not sure what kind of drain pipes it has. Thanks for all the input -- I appreciate it.

 

[Caduceus]

In my experiences with this situation, it takes a few weeks for any of the scale or dried residue inside the pipes to break loose and clog. The inspectors, property owners and realtors could have no knowledge as to what will happen once the pipes are used regularly.