You had a home inspection before closing. The report came back clean, so the plumbing must be fine. In most cases, the plumbing portion of that report covered three things: drains empty, toilets flush, taps run.
Here is what happens during a plumbing inspection, from the first fixture we check to the report you get at the end. It is a different service with a different scope. A licensed plumber spends the whole visit on one system instead of a few minutes on it.
We run these in Houston homes every week. The problems that cost the most are almost never the ones the homeowner called about. Below we cover what gets checked, what a home inspection leaves out, and what we look for in Houston homes specifically.
A plumbing inspection follows a set order. A licensed plumber will:
Most inspections take one to two hours. You get a written summary at the end.
Every inspection starts with a conversation. We ask what you have noticed, even the small things. A slow drain you mentioned in passing often points us somewhere useful.
From there we work through the house by area:
We also test water pressure at more than one point in the home. A single reading at one faucet can hide a problem somewhere else. High pressure wears out fittings, and low pressure often means a restriction upstream.
Nothing here requires you to make a decision on the spot. We check, we note what we find, and we explain it afterward.
A home inspector covers the whole house in one visit. Roof, foundation, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing all get time. That means plumbing gets minutes, not hours.
The plumbing portion is visual by design. That is the scope of the job, and it is not a knock on home inspectors. They are doing exactly what the work calls for.
| Standard Home Inspection | Plumbing Inspection |
|---|---|
| Minutes spent on plumbing | The entire visit spent on plumbing |
| Confirms fixtures run and drain | Tests pressure, flow, and drain speed at each fixture |
| Notes the water heater is present | Checks age, connections, relief valve, and corrosion |
| No sewer camera | Camera run through the line when signs point to it |
| Nothing under the slab is evaluated | Under-slab lines checked for signs of leaking |
| A whole-house summary | A written plumbing report sorted by urgency |
Nothing underground or behind a wall gets evaluated in a standard home inspection. Neither does anything that requires opening a unit up.
We get called into Houston homes weeks after closing. A problem shows up that the home inspection had no way to catch. In an older home or one on a slab, that gap is where the expensive problems live.
Most Houston homes sit on a concrete slab. There is no basement and no crawl space. Your supply and drain lines run under that slab, which means they are out of sight and hard to reach.
Our clay soil makes that a problem. Clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and the slab moves with it. State building guidance treats expansive soil as a known design problem. Over years, that movement stresses the lines running underneath.
So we look for things a general checklist would skip:
Humidity here complicates one more thing. Moisture staining is common in Houston and does not always mean an active leak. We take a reading and tell you which one you have.
Most of your plumbing is hidden. It runs behind drywall, under concrete, and out through the yard. Looking at fixtures alone tells you very little about the pipe they connect to.
A camera on a flexible line changes that. We feed it into the sewer or drain line and watch the inside of the pipe on a screen. It shows cracks, root growth, separated joints, and low spots where waste collects.
Pressure testing answers a different question. It shows whether your system is losing water even when nothing is visibly wet. A system that will not hold pressure has a leak somewhere, and that tells us where to look next.
For water moving under a slab, we use acoustic and electronic leak detection. These pick up the sound and signal of water escaping below the concrete. That narrows the location down before anyone touches the floor.
Moisture readings settle the stain question. They tell us whether what you are looking at is active or something that dried out years ago.
None of this requires cutting into your walls or floor. We find the answer first, then talk about what it takes to fix it.
Most plumbing inspections run one to two hours. Larger homes take longer, and so do older ones with more to look at. Adding a sewer camera to the visit extends it further.
A little setup on your end makes the visit go faster:
That last one matters more than people expect. A drain that gurgles once a week is a clue, and you are the only one who would know about it.
Plan to be home at the end. The walkthrough is where you find out what we saw and what it means for your house.
You get a written summary of what was checked and what we found. It is not a verbal rundown you have to remember later.
Findings come sorted by urgency, in three groups:
Where we found something, you get photos or camera footage of it. Seeing a cracked line on screen beats reading about it.
We explain what each item means in plain terms. You are not asked to decide anything during the visit. Take the report, sit with it, and call when you are ready.
The summary also works as a record. Buyers, sellers, and insurers all accept documentation of a system's condition.
One more outcome worth naming. Sometimes we find nothing that needs attention. That is a real result, and knowing your system is sound has its own value.
You do not have to wait for something to break to find out where your plumbing stands. We check the fixtures, the pressure, the water heater, and the lines you cannot see. Then we hand you a written report sorted by what matters most.
We have served Houston homeowners since 2003, and our team answers calls 24 hours a day. Whether you are under contract on a house or catching up on maintenance, the answer is the same visit.
We serve Houston and nearby areas including Spring, Humble, Kingwood, Klein, Tomball, Atascocita, Porter, Jersey Village, Conroe, Magnolia, Willowbrook, and The Woodlands.
Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning, & Electrical
Business Address: 4001 Kendrick Plaza Dr, Houston, TX 77032
Hours: Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
Call our Houston team: (713) 812-7070
Get directions to our Houston location
Most plumbing inspections take one to two hours. Larger and older homes take longer because there is more to check. Adding a sewer camera to the visit extends the time further, since the line has to be accessed and reviewed on screen.
No, a plumbing inspection is a separate service with a much wider scope. A home inspector covers the whole house and spends only minutes on plumbing. A plumbing inspection spends the entire visit on that one system.
Once a year works for most homes. Older homes and homes with a history of leaks benefit from checking more often. It is also worth scheduling one after a hard freeze, even if nothing appears to be wrong.
You need one when signs point to a problem in the underground line. Multiple slow drains, gurgling, repeat backups, or soggy ground in the yard all qualify. The camera shows cracks, roots, and separated joints without any digging.
Yes, especially for a home over 20 years old. Houston homes sit on slabs, so the supply and drain lines run under concrete where a home inspection cannot reach them. Finding a problem before closing is far better than after.
Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical serves: The Woodlands, Katy Pearland, Spring, Cypress, Sugar Land, Humble, Kingwood, Friendswood, Missouri City, Pasadena and more. View All Service Areas » (please call to confirm service in your area)
Open Including Holidays
ALAN O’NEILL M-20628 | TACLA135747C | TECL 30557
© 2026 Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical. All Rights Reserved