Gas pipe flagged by home inspector
Q. We bought our home about 25 years ago. At the time, it was all-electric. After a few years, I installed a propane tank in the yard and ran about 100 feet of buried gas pipe to the house. Now that we're selling the property, the buyer's home inspector says the gas pipe is not safe or legal because it is galvanized steel, without plastic coating. He says the buried pipe should be replaced because it will eventually rust through and leak gas. I thought galvanized steel doesn't rust. The home inspector says galvanized gas pipe is not approved for underground use. Replacing the line would be very costly. What do you advise?
A. The buyer's home inspector is right about galvanized steel pipe not being approved for use as buried gas pipe. Galvanized steel is rust resistant, but it is definitely not rust proof. This is why galvanized water pipes in old homes are usually replaced after 30 or 40 years. You must have installed your gas line without a building permit, because this kind of pipe would not have been approved by a qualified code inspector.
Buried steel pipe will eventually rust through and allow gas leakage. How long this will take is unpredictable. It depends on the quality of the galvanized coating, wetness of the ground, and the chemistry of your soil. What's more, leaking propane is more dangerous than natural gas because it is heavier than air and will not readily dissipate into the atmosphere. As unpleasant as the cost or re-piping may be, this gas line should definitely be replaced.
Q. We bought our home about a year ago and hired a home inspector. We were with him during the inspection, and the only plumbing test he did was to run water in the kitchen sink. Since moving in, we have had sewer backups almost monthly. Our plumber did a video inspection of the main sewer line and found that it is an old clay pipe that does not extend past the tree roots in the front yard. He also said the drain clean out in the front yard is relatively new, so the sellers must have known there was a problem, yet said nothing about it in their disclosure statement. A new sewer line will cost about $1,500. Do you think the seller or the home inspector should be liable for this?
A. A home inspector should test all of the plumbing fixtures, not just the kitchen sink. Standard procedure for an inspection includes drain testing of all sinks, bathtubs, showers and toilets. Testing the kitchen sink only is professional negligence, pure and simple. However, had your inspector run water in all of these fixtures, sewage backup would not necessarily have occurred. Continuous use for days or weeks may have been necessary to reveal the problem.
Although your inspector appears to have been negligent, your claim against the seller for nondisclosure appears more substantial. If monthly backups were occurring, they must have known there was a problem.
Given the abbreviated nature of your home inspection, it would be interesting to know what other defects your inspector may have missed.
• To write to Barry Stone, visit him on the web at www.housedetective.com, or write AMG, 1776 Jami Lee Court, Suite 218, San Luis Obispo, CA 94301.
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