Nashville has some of the best older homes anywhere. Craftsman bungalows in East Nashville, brick ranches in Donelson and Madison, character you just don’t get in new construction. But charm and old plumbing come in the same package, and the plumbing is the part nobody sees on the walkthrough. A standard home inspection touches the plumbing, but it’s a broad look at the whole house, not a deep dive into the pipes.
If you’re touring an older home, here’s what to look at yourself before you fall in love with the built-ins and forget to check the water. None of this requires tools. It just requires knowing where to point your attention.
Run the kitchen faucet, then go flush a toilet and turn on a bathroom faucet at the same time. Does the pressure hold, or does it drop off a cliff? Weak pressure that gets worse when more than one fixture runs is a classic sign of old, corroded supply lines narrowing from the inside. It’s one of the most telling things you can check, and it takes thirty seconds.
While you’re at it, let the water run for a bit at a fixture that probably hasn’t been used in a while. If it comes out brown or rusty and takes a long time to clear, the pipes are telling you what shape they’re in.
If the home was built before the 1970s and hasn’t been fully updated, there’s a real chance of galvanized steel supply lines, which corrode from the inside and eventually need replacing. Peek at any exposed pipe in the basement or crawlspace. Galvanized looks like dull gray steel with threaded joints. Copper is, well, copper. White or blue flexible plastic lines are PEX, which is modern and a good sign.
You don’t have to diagnose it perfectly. You just want to know whether you’re looking at original metal or updated lines, because that’s the difference between a house that’s been cared for and one where a repipe might be in your future.
Find the water heater and look for the manufacture date on the label. Most tank heaters last around ten to fifteen years. If it’s pushing that range, factor a replacement into your thinking, because it’s not if but when. Look for rust around the base, water stains underneath, or corrosion at the fittings. A water heater sitting in a spot where a leak would flood a finished area is worth noting too.
Open the cabinet under every sink and look with your phone flashlight. You’re checking for active drips, water stains on the cabinet floor, warped or soft wood, and any sign of a past leak that got patched. A bucket sitting under a P-trap is a red flag someone’s been managing a problem instead of fixing it.
Water leaves a trail. Scan ceilings and walls for stains, especially under bathrooms and around where pipes would run. Look at the base of walls in the basement. Check around the base of toilets for soft flooring or a rocking toilet, which can mean a slow leak that’s been going on a while.
Ask where the main water shutoff is and confirm it actually works. On an older home this matters more than usual, because when something does go, you want to be able to stop the water fast. If nobody can find it or it’s seized up, that’s a small thing that tells you how the plumbing has been maintained.
None of this means an older home is a bad buy. Plenty of these houses have solid plumbing or have already been updated, and the ones that need work are often still worth it once you know what you’re getting into. The goal is simply to go in with your eyes open, so a repipe or a water heater isn’t a surprise the week after closing.
If you’re serious about an older Nashville home and want a real answer on the plumbing before you sign, give Steakley Plumbing a call at 615.254.5325. We can take a proper look, tell you honestly what’s solid and what isn’t, and help you budget for anything that needs attention. It’s a lot cheaper than finding out the hard way.
