We just heard from the buyers about the building inspection on one of our listings, just two hours before the deadline.   The buyers had been advised to schedule a sewer scope of the sewer lines because the home was built in the 1960′s. The sewer inspection was held on the afternoon of the last day of the building inspection, so the inspection request came in just two hours short of the deadline.

A sewer inspection on Seattle’s eastside? We don’t hear about them very often, particularly because many of the Seattle eastside neighborhoods were built from the 1970′s on.  However, there are a fair amount of homes built in the 1950′s and 1960′s.  It’s smart to have the sewer line checked as part of a home inspection to make sure there is no blockage or cracks in the line.  It can be costly to do sewer line repairs.

This blog post from Denver’s Paul Barrow includes an interview with Don Nicholls of Certified Sewer Inspections. Don has some good advice regarding sewer inspections.

Elizabeth Weintraub had some other tips for home buyers regarding sewer inspections.

The bottom line is to ask questions about the sewer if you’re purchasing an older home. (Older to many in the Seattle eastside area is a home built before the 1970′s!)  Of course, you can choose to do a sewer inspection on any home.  Most importantly, make sure a camera is put down the sewer line to do an accurate inspection and be present during the inspection so you can ask questions.