Chances are, you've never been under your home and have no idea what the sewer pipe looks like. Or whether it's cast iron or PVC. But if you own a home built before the 1980s, there's a good chance it has cast iron plumbing because that's what was used before builders started using PVC. That pipe is now approaching 50 years old.
You can get estimates all over the board about how long cast iron will last before it fails, but speaking from experience, we have two homes in the past year that were built in the '70's and both required complete replacement of the sewer pipes. That tells me this is an issue that's going to become more prevalent every year.
If you live in an older home with cast iron plumbing and aren't having issues like foul smells or ponding, the system is probably still in good shape. But when it fails, and it's not a matter of if but when, you'll know, unless you lost your sense of smell to Covid. If that happens, it makes no sense to avoid the problem. It's only going to get worse, so I suggest you be proactive and have an inspector come out and look at it. We can recommend a good inspector if you need one.
Your home insurance probably won't pay for the repair, so it will be an expensive out-of-pocket expense. If you're planning on selling your home, the buyer will probably want to have it addressed before closing. I know I would.
I'll bring up some additional points to consider and show you some new technology that might change the way repairs are done in the video.
