This market has plumbing problems most markets do not
Old supply lines. A great deal of DC and inner-suburb housing still carries galvanized steel supply piping that has been corroding shut from the inside since it went in. Low pressure at an upstairs fixture is usually the first symptom, and it is a repiping conversation rather than a fixture one.
Lead service lines. DC Water’s replacement programme and the lead-service-line inventories now required across Maryland and Virginia mean a lot of properties have a known or suspected lead line to the street. It is worth knowing which side of the property line the pipe is yours before you plan any water service work.
Cast iron drains at end of life. Mid-century houses across the region are reaching the age where cast-iron waste stacks scale up and crack. Recurring slow drains on multiple fixtures is a stack story, not a clog story, and cabling the same line every year is money spent not fixing it.
Clay laterals and tree roots. The mature street trees that make these neighborhoods worth living in send roots into clay sewer laterals. A camera tells you in twenty minutes whether you have roots, a belly or a break — three problems with three different prices.