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The House Has Old Pipes: Galvanized, Polybutylene, Cast Iron, and the Sewer Line: What Fails, What It Costs, What Insurance Won't Cover, and How to De
Paperback
Real EstateGeneral Construction & Renovation
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 20 2026
Pages: 96
Weight: 0.31
Height: 0.20 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The pipes in an older house used to be a maintenance question. Now they can cost you your insurance.
Galvanized steel that has run out of zinc. Polybutylene that carriers now refuse to write. Cast iron drains rotting from the bottom up under a slab. A sewer lateral you own all the way to the street and that almost no policy covers. If your house was built before 1995, at least one of these is probably behind the walls.
This book is for the moment the problem arrives: a non-renewal letter, an inspection report, a repair quote, water on the floor. It shows you:
- How to identify what you have in fifteen minutes without opening a wall
- Why the same failed pipe is a manageable job in a basement and a five-figure project under a slab
- When lining a drain line works, and when it is a mistake that every lining company will still sell you
- What your homeowners policy pays for, what it excludes, and whether the service line plan your city mailed you is worth the money
- How to read three repipe or sewer bids so they can actually be compared
- What to negotiate as a buyer, what to disclose as a seller, and what to do with a house you inherited from far away
Written for buyers under contract, owners with a deadline, sellers deciding whether to fix it or price it, landlords, and heirs. No do-it-yourself instructions. Just the decisions, the costs, and the questions to ask before you sign.
Companion to The House Is Fifty Years Old.
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