All Forum Posts by: Terry Mewhinney

Hi, Other than locked doors , lights, video cameras, and security systems, there's not a lot you can do about wiring, or at least I have not seen anything.

Hi, I live in Oregon but here usually the city does know everything you need, they are the ones who have the final say, I would think, but if you feel they are giving you the run around, you could call  plumbing, electrical, etc. companies and run it by a couple of them. Sometimes you can ask the city to come out and do a walk through with you and tell you all the permits you need, but not every municipality does that. Hope this helps a little. Good Luck

Also, can you legally put another house on the property?

First thing I do is start from the top down, i looks for leaks where the water heater flex connect to the water heater. If I see moisture there I look closer. Sometimes the pressure relief valve is on the top or the side. I check both spots for a sign of moister or a leak. The last place to check is where the thermostat/gas valve goes into the water heater. Those are really the only place a leak can be coming from, or you could just have a pinhole in the tank somewhere. You will never find that leak because it is hidden behind the outside jacket of the water heater. You might have to try to move some of the insulation in the water heater to look at the connections, but if nothing is visible sounds like it could be a bad water heater, it happens sometimes. It should be under warranty though.

Where exactly is it leaking from. The control panel?

Hui Steven, I live in Grants Pass. Great to see locals on here. I'm a plumbing contractor if you have any questions on plumbing just ask. Enjoy your weekend.   Terry

Hi there from Southern, Oregon Good to see locals here.

Hey Michael, I'm not smart enough to be a mentor, yet, but I do know plumbing, if you need any questions answered in the plumbing category just ask. I'm also down the road from you in Grants Pass. Good Luck. Terry

I'm a plumbing contractor here in Oregon, so it might not be the same. First, they will probably make you get a permit, then what they do here is to make us go out and inspect what parts are visible on the plumbing. If it really looks bad on the visible plumbing, they usually have us dig dipper into it, such as cutting drywall etc. Sometimes we can crawl under the house and check the plumbing that way as well. Sounds like yours is probably under the slab though and not able too. The inspectors could make you camera the sewer line though to at least get an idea of how the sewer was run. The sewer side of the plumbing is the one you want to make sure was done as close to right as possible. The water side isn't as big of deal, as long as the hot is on the left and cold is on the right., it will usually work.  Good luck. I guess I should of asked you if any plumbing was involved.

When I bought my rental from HUD six months ago, just remember if you put earnest money down and need to back out for any reason it is very difficult to get that money back, and yes make sure you do your due diligence, after they accepted my offer I found out that it was on a shared well, I should have checked that out myself but I took my agents word for it. It would have taken me about five minutes to check it out but I didn't, it wasn't that big of deal but it could have been. As for inspecting the plumbing, just depends on how old the house is, how long has it been sitting vacant, through the winter, what kind of water piping does it have, and what type of drain pipe does it have, just to name a few. If you have any questions on the plumbing let me know.