“Often there has been remodeling done, and what's visible has been replaced with PVC what's not visible under the concrete generally hasn't,” he says. Jack Ragan says visible upgrades don’t tell the whole story. “Get it inspected by a plumber, not just a home inspector, but by a plumber as well.” he says. So what you can do to keep your home’s sewage from seeping into the ground and avoid the surprise expense of replacing pipes? Jeremy recommends you do something before you buy a home. When we reached the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to ask if they had any statistics on this, Media Relations Manager Dee Ann Miller responded: “This is not a statistic we have.” CALL THE PLUMBER BEFORE YOU BUY Their public information officer, Susanna Martinez-Tarokh responded: “I checked with our staff and it looks like these are issues that the FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) handles.” “The challenge with the drain piping is it’s under the floor where you can't see it,” he says.Ī website called associated with Morgan & Morgan – which is bringing a class action lawsuit over cast iron pipes – claims: “Each month, residential homes leak more than 216,000,000 gallons of raw sewage into Florida’s water supply.”įox 4 reached out to the Southwest Florida Water Management District to see if they have any data on residential sewage leaking into the environment. He adds you may not notice all the problems at first because they may not be immediately visible. “Rather than going through the pipe clear to it, it just goes down into the ground,” says Jack. Jack says the result can mean the outflow into your home’s drain pipe ends going where it shouldn’t. “It begins corroding from the outside while the water and sewer gases are corroding from the inside,” says Jack. Jack Ragan, the owner of Integrity Plumbing Solutionssays part of the problem is the corrosive nature of Florida’s water and soil. “We're probably going to be $20,000 into it by the time it's finished.” UNKNOWN AMOUNTS OF SEWAGE ARE LEAKING INTO THE GROUND Since the bathrooms and kitchens have to be torn up to replace the pipes, he and La Jean are looking at a big bill since it will require remodeling too. “The old galvanized pipe has basically corroded shut.” A plumber found galvanized steel when he investigated the clogs in Brad and La Jean’s home. “Nothing was draining, so we knew it was time to do something,” says Brad. He says the repairs have totaled in the “five figures” – an expense the family did not anticipate when they bought the home.įort Myers Beach homeowner Brad Dobbs and his wife La Jean found themselves in a similar situation, even though their home is at least 40 years younger than Jeremy’s. Jeremy says the problems have led to everything from a $700 water bill from the city (because of leaks) to a total remodel job for one of the bathrooms. “It causes blockages to where you have to replace it.” “Cast iron just wears away over time,” he says. He says it wasn’t long before the trouble started – with something as simple as a clogged toilet that couldn’t be cleared. He and his wife bought a beautiful two story 1920’s era home a couple years ago. Your pipes could be a money pit lurking beneath your home, even though it may look perfect in every other way.įort Myers homeowner Jeremy Henley found out the hard way. A warning before you buy a new home or re-model on the one you're in: there could be hidden problem that will cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |