6 March 2018
 Categories: , Blog

Living in an older home can have some very real advantages over newer construction homes. For instance, many older homes have large pantries, and more storage space than newer more compact homes usually offer, as well as larger yards with established lawns and more mature landscaping. But the age of the home can also offer some real challenges that will need to be addressed when renovating the home and the plumbing system is an important consideration when making any improvement plans.  

Is the existing hot water supply adequate to reliably meet your household's needs? 

Homes built 50-100 or more years ago may have only had one bathroom, or even none at all when originally constructed. Later renovations likely added indoor plumbing or enlarged an existing bathroom, but the home may still be lacking convenience or functionality even now.

Planning a current renovation project is the perfect time to look at the existing location, size, and type of your hot water supply and see if improvements can be made. Homeowners with existing water heaters that are too small or located too far from points of usage may want to consider upgrading to a larger model or even adding an on-demand water heater to provide a more convenient, economical hot water supply for their home. 

Does your home currently experience water pressure problems? 

Water pressure issues are another problem commonly found in an older home. In many cases, even homes that have had updates made to the plumbing system will still have water pressure issues that result in inadequate water flow when showering, filling the washing machine, or even flushing toilets. 

Water pressure issues in older homes are often caused by some or all of the following problems: 

• pipes and fittings that are incorrectly sized
• inadequate water pressure coming into the home
• old repairs and modifications that reduce the flow of water to certain areas of the home
• undiscovered water leaks 

If the home has an unfinished basement, homeowners can often see some parts of their existing plumbing system easily by examining the pipes that are visible under the main floor of the home. If the piping consists of more than one size of pipe or contains more than one or two obvious repair points, it is probably affecting the amount of water pressure throughout the home. 

To learn more about the benefits you can realize by upgrading the plumbing system in your older home, homeowners should contact a reliable plumber in their area to examine their system and make recommendations for improvements.