Established in 1867, Minneapolis is a historic city—one that Roto-Rooter Minneapolis plumbing technicians help preserve. While owning an older home can provide families with a unique sense of history, it is always important to touch up all areas of the residence to ensure that it can continue to thrive into the modern age. Plumbing is an important aspect of a home’s infrastructure, and if not maintained properly, there are many costly problems that could show up down the road.

Common Plumbing Problems Found in Older Homes

• Small Vent Pipes

Vent pipes are essential parts of a home’s indoor plumbing, as they are responsible for removing sewage gas from the home—often through a roof vent. When vent pipes are small or become compromised, it is expected that an array of problems can surface. For instance, homeowners may notice slow drainage among many other drain problems. Since smaller vent pipes are common in older homes, it is important to have these inspected, treated, cleaned or replaced to make sure that everything continues to run smoothly.

• Natural Age

Roto-Rooter Minneapolis professionals know that in life, years eventually bring old age and deterioration. This fact of life is certainly true for homes, especially if they experience wear and tear throughout the years without proper attention and maintenance. When new homeowners are lucky enough to come across an available historic home, chances are they are receiving the property from an owner who passed away or left due to old age. Since homeowners typically fail to properly maintain homes in their older years, these homes must face full inspection to make sure there are no plumbing areas that are compromised. In order to help homeowners protect their investments, these plumbing professionals can provide regular inspections that includes leak detection and analysis of overall plumbing systems.

Roto-Rooter Minneapolis Cautions Against Lead and Galvanized Pipes

According to the licensed and certified plumbing technicians at Roto-Rooter Minneapolis, galvanized pipes are commonly found in older homes. Before the 1970s many builders utilized galvanized pipes rather than using copper and plastic materials, as professionals rely on today. Much older homes had entire runs of lead pipes or just short joiner pipes linking iron pipes to plumbing fixtures. Roto-Rooter Minneapolis explains that lead and galvanized pipes should be replaced as soon as possible, because lead pipes can lead to dangerous health issues and galvanized pipes are prone to rusting after the galvanizing wears away from the iron pipes. Such pipes will gradually rust from the inside out growing narrower each year until water flow is drastically restricted or there is a complete pipe failure. While seeking out pipe replacement from Roto-Rooter Minneapolis may seem like an unwelcome cost, the damage and inconvenience this action will prevent is well worth the investment. New copper water supply pipes are naturally resistant to rust and oxidation and will serve reliably for decades to come. New plastic pipes such as PEX are a less expensive alternative that is almost as reliable and trouble-free as copper pipes.