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Most Richmond homes were built between 1900 and 1990, and the plumbing reflects that range. Galvanized steel in older Fan and Museum District houses, polybutylene in 1980s subdivisions, copper in most of Henrico, and PEX in newer Glen Allen and Hanover builds. Even within the same neighborhood, the supply lines, drains, water heaters, and shutoff valves in any two houses can be a decade or two apart in age and condition.
The whole-house plumbing inspection answers the question every homeowner should know the answer to: what do I actually have, what is at risk, and what should I budget for over the next five years. Most people only think about their plumbing when something fails, and most of the time, something failing means a flood at 2 a.m. on a Sunday. The inspection puts you in front of the next problem instead of behind it.
The inspection covers everything from the meter at the street to the last fixture upstairs. Here is what each part of the walk-through looks like.
We identify the material type of your supply lines (copper, PEX, polybutylene, galvanized, CPVC) and document the condition of every visible run. Galvanized lines older than 50 years are at end of life and routinely fail without warning. Polybutylene is the gray plastic pipe used widely in the 1980s and is known to crack, leak at fittings, and fail under chlorinated water. We also check visible drain and waste lines for corrosion, sagging, or improper slope, all of which cause slow drains and eventual backups.
Every sink, toilet, washer, and dishwasher has a shutoff valve that is supposed to let you stop the water flow when something fails downstream. Most homes have at least one shutoff valve that has seized up or is leaking around the stem. We open and close every shutoff during the inspection and flag any that need to be replaced. A $25 valve replacement now is the difference between a five-minute cleanup and a $5,000 to $20,000 water damage claim when a supply line eventually fails.
We check toilet operation (fill valve, flapper, flush volume, leaks at the tank-to-bowl gasket and at the wax ring), aerator condition and flow at every faucet, hose bibs outside, the dishwasher and washer connections, and any tub or shower valves we can access. Most homeowners have at least one running toilet costing them real money on the water bill, and almost nobody knows about it.
Tank age, condition, anode rod (the sacrificial rod that protects the tank from corrosion, which most homeowners do not know exists), sediment buildup, expansion tank, temperature and pressure relief valve, and the shutoff valve on the cold inlet. Water heaters have a useful life of 8 to 12 years on a standard tank and 18 to 25 years on a tankless. We will tell you where yours sits on that curve.
We put a gauge on a hose bib and read the static pressure. Anything above 80 psi is hard on every fixture in the house and accelerates the failure of supply lines. If your pressure is high, you need a pressure-reducing valve at the main, and we will tell you so. We also locate the main shutoff and verify it actually works (a surprising number of them do not).
We check the meter, the visible portion of the main line from the meter to the house, the sewer cleanout (if accessible), exterior hose bibs and frost-free sillcocks, and any irrigation tie-ins. If you have a well or a septic system, we add those to the scope.
You get a written report with photos and a prioritized list of what needs work now, what to plan for, and what is fine. The report is structured so you can hand it to a real estate agent for a pre-listing review, to an insurance adjuster for a claim, or to your spouse for a budget conversation. We do not pressure you into immediate repairs and we do not hide the photos behind a sales call. The inspection is the deliverable.
For homeowners who are about to list, the inspection often pays for itself by catching items the buyer's inspector would have used as a negotiating point. For homeowners staying put, it usually identifies the one or two repairs that would save the most money over the next five years.
A typical inspection on a single-family home takes 2 to 3 hours on site. Larger homes (4,000 square feet and up, multiple water heaters, well systems) take 3 to 4 hours. The written report is delivered within 48 hours of the visit. We work around your schedule and can usually have a technician out within the same week.
A standard inspection on a single-family home runs $245 to $425 depending on size, age, and complexity. Adding a sewer scope (a camera run into the main sewer line from the cleanout) runs another $185 to $295 and is worth it for any home built before 1980, any home with mature trees over the sewer line, or any home with a history of slow drains.
For new homeowners, we bundle the plumbing inspection with an HVAC inspection at a discount, because most people moving into a new house want eyes on both systems at the same time. Call us for the bundled price.
The inspection is most valuable for four groups. First, anyone who just bought a home and wants a real baseline beyond the standard home inspection (which is usually surface-level on plumbing). Second, anyone preparing to list a home and trying to get ahead of the buyer's inspector. Third, anyone who has not had eyes on their plumbing in five years or more, especially in older Richmond housing stock. And fourth, anyone who has noticed any of the warning signs: slow drains, low water pressure, recurring leaks, discolored water, or a water heater making sounds it did not used to make.
Call Fresh Air at 804-730-1999 or book online. We will confirm the visit, send a technician within the week, and have the written report in your inbox within 48 hours of the inspection. Fresh Air carries Virginia license 2705143403 (electrical, gas, and plumbing) and has served the Richmond area since 2011. The same technician who does your inspection is the one who would handle any follow-up work, so the report and the repair quote come from the person who actually saw the system.
