21 Feb Water Pressure and Water Flow in Your Home

La Maison Homes and Inspections in Sarasota provide professional and certified home inspections for buyers and sellers. One of the many important things that we check during a home inspection is the water pressure and water flow.

While everyone notices low water pressure, having high water pressure can also cause problems because it puts added stress on the pipes.

High water pressure can cause:

• Noisy pipes
• Hissing/air pocket release from the water faucet
• Life span of appliances, such as the washing machine and dishwasher, can be shortened
• Water heater may fail and in some extreme cases can even explode
• Leaking faucets and running toilets
• Increase in water bill/sewer bill; increase cost for water heating

If your water pressure is too high, you might just need to have a regulator installed.

Low water pressure can be more of an annoyance than anything.  Most of the time low water pressure is caused by a buildup in the pipes. This might be a debris or mineral buildup, or corrosion that is restricting water flow. If it is debris that is clogging your pipes, it can usually be fixed with plumbing chemicals. If the pipes are corroding, there is not much that can be done outside of replacing the pipes, which can be a long and expensive process.  Having a plumber equipped with the camera to snake your drains from the home to the street is something we absolutely recommend.

In other cases, low or high pressure may have to do with an issue in your area’s water supply, so unfortunately there is not much that can be done to remedy.

We also check to make sure the home is within the limits for water pressure. This is approximately a minimum of 55 psi and a maximum of 80 psi. If the home is outside of these limits, that will be reported on the home inspection.

Water pressure and water flow are an important part of the home inspection process. If you are buying or selling a home, please contact La Maison Home Inspections in Sarasota and Manatee County for your home inspection. We build, remodel, and repair custom homes, so it’s safe to say we know homes! Contact us today to schedule your home inspection in Sarasota.