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A quiet estate home meets a busy family and the sewer taps out—under a foundation wall, no less. We walk through the call, the chaos, and the choices that turn a near $10k excavation into a fast, clean, no‑dig relining that brought the house back to life the same day. If you’ve ever wondered whether a standard home inspection is enough, or why older cast iron piping fails right when you move in, this story lays out the why, where, and how in plain language.
We start with the pattern no one talks about: low‑use homes masking weak systems. One resident and sporadic laundry can hide corrosion, bellies, and bad connections for years. Add a family’s daily showers, dishwasher cycles, and kid laundry, and the system finally shows its age. In this case, the pipe lost its bottom exactly where access is hardest—beneath a foundation and beyond a cramped crawl space. We break down the safety issues, the engineering headaches, and the real costs that make excavation the nuclear option.

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Then we shift to solutions. The plumber opened access inside, and our relining team installed a five‑foot liner that bridged the failure, sealed leaks, and restored flow without moving a shovel outside. You’ll hear real numbers—about $2,500 for the reline, versus a week of disruption and thousands more for structural dig‑outs. We also dig into the other blind spot: chimneys. Creosote fires crack flue tiles, and gaps can expose framing to heat and sparks. A chimney scope, like a sewer scope, replaces guesswork with proof.
If you’re buying an estate, HUD, or “as‑is” home—or any older property—tie your home inspection to sewer and chimney scopes. Ask about pipe materials, prior occupancy, and usage load, and plan for modern trenchless options when trouble appears. If this story helps you avoid one emergency bill or one dangerous fire, it’s worth it. Subscribe to the show, share this episode with a friend who’s house‑hunting, and leave a quick review with your biggest inspection question—we’ll tackle it next.

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To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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