Have you recently received a plumbing pipe assessment? Plumbing pipe assessments involve inspecting your pipes in order to determine their age, the number of years left in their expected life, and if there are any current plumbing problems. After getting one of these assessments, it’s best to read the report thoroughly, fix any immediate problems and plan and save for future repairs, so it doesn’t become a hardship on your tenants or unit owners. However, if the report is reasonably good or the repairs are extremely expensive, you may be tempted to file it away and forget about it. Here’s why that may not be the best idea.
Why It’s Not a Good Idea to Ignore a Plumbing Pipe Assessment Report
A plumbing pipe assessment is designed to tell you about your plumbing pipes and everything that’s right or wrong with them, including cracks, breaks, pinhole leaks, and levels of corrosion. If your pipes are nearing the end of their expected useful life, they could simply be ticking time bombs for water damage and flooding. The most common reasons not to ignore a pipe assessment include:
- High water bills
- Low water pressure
- Damage to drywall, floors, and ceilings
- Flooding in your building due to a burst pipe
- Mold damage
- Structural damage
Understanding the Ins and Outs of a Plumbers Pipe Assessment
If you’ve had a plumbing pipe inspection in the past, it was most likely performed by a Chicago plumber with the intent of determining when your pipes need to be replaced. Of course, replacing your building’s entire plumbing system is expensive. It involves cutting through walls and floors, removing all the old pipes, and replacing them with brand-new plumbing pipes. Then, once the plumbing team is finished, you have to hire additional contractors to repair all the holes. The total cost could be more than what you have in your maintenance account, and your HOA board members may have immediately denied the funds approval. Thankfully, there’s another option that involves lining your pipes instead of replacing them.
A Nu Flow pipe assessment involves looking at the insides of all your pipes via a detailed camera inspection, which will tell you the ages of your pipes, their corrosion levels, and if any pinhole leaks or cracks were seen in any of the recorded images. Our pipelining technicians will then tell you if your pipes are good candidates for the pipelining process and provide an estimate for lining your pipes, which is typically cheaper than a full pipe replacement.
Why Pipelining Is More Affordable than a Traditional Pipe Replacement
When it comes to rehabilitating your plumbing system, pipelining is more affordable than a traditional pipe replacement for a variety of reasons. It doesn’t involve purchasing new pipes or tearing holes in your floors and walls. This means that it takes less time to line your pipes than it does to replace them, which translates into lower labor costs. You also don’t have to hire additional contractors once the pipes have been restored, which means when the project is finished, there’s no more work to do or money to spend.
Getting Approval for a Pipe Lining Assessment
If your board has denied the replacement of your pipes based on your initial plumbing assessment, there are things you can do to help ensure you get your approval this time.
- Know the Benefits of Pipe Lining VS. Traditional Pipe Replacement – You could save thousands on the restoration of your plumbing system by choosing trenchless pipelining over traditional pipe replacement. All you have to do is explain the benefits to your board members. Typical pipelining benefits include being environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and fast.
- Know Your Pipes – Your old and new pipe assessments should tell you what types of pipes are in your building, their ages, and when they need to be rehabilitated or repaired. Plumbing pipes are typically designed to last between 20 and 100 years with PVC drain lines lasting the longest.
- Get an Estimate for the Assessment – If you know a few key details about your plumbing system, our pipelining technicians can give you an estimate on your pipe inspection. We just need a little bit of information, including the age of your building and its square footage, the number of vent and drain risers, how many roof drains your building contains, and the number of drains you would like us to inspect.
- Get an Estimate for the Plumbing Pipe Rehabilitation – Your pipelining assessment will include a detailed estimate for pipelining, and you can take the report with the estimate to your board members.
Create Your Pipe Restoration Plan with Help from Nu Flow
Here at Nu Flow, we can help you create your pipe restoration plan. We are experienced, qualified, and licensed to line pipes in Chicago and the greater Chicago area. We even have a master plumber on staff to inspect all of the work, and if a piece of pipe can’t be lined, we can replace it without having to call any additional contractors. Another benefit of the pipelining process is that your residents are not without water for the entire duration of the project. Overall, the process of pipelining is faster, more affordable, and more convenient than a traditional pipe replacement.
To schedule your Chicago condo plumbing pipe assessment, contact us at 815-790-9000. We would be happy to answer all of your pipelining and restoration questions.