A standard home inspection is a great start, but most inspectors look at what they can see: fixtures, visible pipes, the water heater label and whether drains flow. In an older Lancaster home, the expensive surprises are usually buried in walls, under basement floors and under the front yard. These seven checks fill the gaps.
1. Get a sewer camera inspection
If you do only one extra plumbing check, make it this one. A plumber runs a camera through the sewer lateral from the house to the street and records what it finds: roots, cracks, sags, collapsed sections or old Orangeburg pipe. Many city laterals are clay pipe that’s 80 to 100 years old, and the homeowner is usually responsible for it. Replacing a lateral is one of the most expensive plumbing repairs there is, and a camera inspection costs a small fraction of that. Read more in our sewer line repair guide.
2. Identify the supply pipe
Look at the pipe coming in from the street and the lines running across the basement ceiling. Copper is shiny or brown; PEX is colored plastic tubing; galvanized steel is dull gray with threaded fittings. Galvanized pipe rusts from the inside and is the usual cause of low water pressure and brown water in older homes. It doesn’t mean walking away, but budget for repiping in the coming years.
3. Check the service line for lead
Homes built well before 1986 may have lead solder on copper joints, and the oldest homes can still have a lead service line from the street. Scratch the pipe where it enters the house gently with a key: lead is soft, dull gray and turns shiny silver when scratched, and a magnet won’t stick to it. Ask the water supplier what their records show for the address. If there’s lead, ask about replacement programs and plan for it.
4. Look at the water heater’s age and setup
The serial number on the label usually encodes the manufacture date. A tank over 10 years old in hard-water country is near the end of its life. Check for rust at the base, a relief valve piped down toward the floor, and proper venting on a gas unit. See water heater repair for the warning signs.
5. Inspect the cast-iron drains
In the basement, look at the big vertical stack and the horizontal drain running to the front wall. Rust streaks, flaking, wet spots or patches on cast iron suggest it’s nearing the end. The bottom of horizontal runs often rots through first, where you can’t see it without a camera.
6. Test pressure and drainage at every fixture
Turn on the bathtub upstairs and flush the toilet at the same time. Does the tub pressure drop to nothing? Run water in every sink and tub for a few minutes; slow drainage in several fixtures can point to a main-line problem. Look for stains on ceilings under bathrooms, which often mean a past or present leak.
7. For county homes: test the well and septic
If the home has a private well, get the water tested for bacteria, nitrates and hardness, and ask about the pump and pressure tank’s age. If it has a septic system, ask for pumping records and consider a septic inspection. Both are common across rural Lancaster County and both are expensive to replace.
| Check | Who does it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sewer camera | Plumber | Laterals are costly and usually the owner’s responsibility |
| Supply pipe type | You or inspector | Galvanized means future repiping |
| Lead service line | Water supplier, plumber | Health and replacement planning |
| Water heater age | You or inspector | Replacement soon after moving in |
| Cast-iron condition | Plumber or inspector | Drain replacement can be major |
| Well and septic | Testing lab, septic inspector | Rural systems are expensive to replace |
Problems found before closing can become a repair credit, a price adjustment or a reason to walk away. Problems found after closing are yours. Get written estimates for anything significant.
A good Lancaster plumber can do most of these checks in a single visit before your inspection contingency runs out.