Galvanized Pipes in Potential Rental Property

[Leyha Williams]

I toured a potential rental property today with an inspector and was told that there were galvanized pipes all throughout the property. Additionally, there were blockages that prohibited the kitchen sink, bathroom sink and toilet from operating a full capacity. There were also water pressure issues. The property was listed for $209,000 (3bed 2bath built in 1975)

Is it worth purchasing? If I purchase, how soon will I have to get the pipes replaced?  Have any of you bought a property with galvenized pipes?If so, what was your experience?

[Daniel Tanasa]

Hello Leyha, 

I bought multiple properties with galvanized piping before. I usually don't change it unless is actually making me problems, but on all my houses with galvanized piping I am planning to have to update within next 5 years or so, so I budget accordingly. 

If the pipes are exposed in the attic, I would try to inspect them as much as possible to find out if you see a lot of rust on the outside also. If you do see a lot of rust on the outside, most likely you're better off to just replace them from the get go as they will keep leaking and will keep giving you problems. Also, if you see a lot of patching that was done to the pipes and on the celling,  is probably a sign that you need to change it. 

If the exterior of the pipes looks pretty good, you may get away with just cleaning the aerators for all the faucets and that will fix the pressure issue for a while. But that will be to just prolongate the life-spam of your pipes for a few years. 

In my opinion this is not a deal breaker, just make sure you account for it and get a price reduction. For reference, for a 1 tory 1500sqft 3/2 house was about 5k to update the pipes to PEX. 

I hope this helps. Let us know if you end up buying it and how it goes. 

Good luck!