Plumber InWaxhaw

Old pipe in the historic district

The Waxhaw Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1991 with 93 contributing buildings, including Queen Anne houses and Craftsman bungalows around the commercial core. Houses of that period were plumbed with galvanized steel supply lines and cast iron drains. Any original pipe still in service is far past the lifespan usually quoted for either material.

The problems are predictable: low flow from rusted supply lines, slow drains from scaled cast iron, and leaks under the floor that show up as a musty crawlspace. Before opening walls, find out what is there. Leak detection pins down an active leak, and a camera run through the main drain shows cracks, roots and sags on screen.

Subdivision homes from 2005 on are reaching their first big repairs

Harrison Park started in the early 2000s. Prescot, Cureton, Lawson and Anklin Forrest followed from about 2005, and Millbridge from 2007. The earliest houses in those neighborhoods are now 15 to 20 years old, which is past the 10 to 15 years a tank water heater usually lasts. About a third of the town's homes date from 2000 to 2009, according to census estimates, so there are a lot of them.

Other first-generation parts wear out on a similar clock: toilet fill valves, shutoffs under sinks, hose bibs, and the relief valve on the heater. None of it is dramatic until it leaks into a finished ceiling. If you are still on the original tank, plan a water heater replacement on your schedule instead of the tank's.

• Water heater older than 12 years
• Shutoff valves that will not turn or will not close
• A toilet that refills on its own
• Hose bibs that drip after a freeze

Irrigation backflow testing on Union County Water

Union County Water serves the town, and the county's Twelve Mile Creek plant treats the wastewater. The county classes an irrigation system as a high-health hazard, so a sprinkler system on county water must have a reduced pressure zone backflow assembly. A homeowner may install the assembly after filing the county's exemption paperwork, but the test has to be done by a certified tester from the county's approved list.

Residential assemblies are tested when installed, after any repair or relocation, and every three years after that. The owner is expected to keep test and maintenance records on the property for at least four years. Alpha Drain's certified backflow testing is $199 per assembly, and our 30-Day Compliance Guarantee means we test within 30 days. The county keeps its own list of approved testers, so confirm ours when you schedule.

Inspections for buyers, sellers and agents

A town that doubled in size in a decade sees a lot of houses change hands. North Carolina's standard purchase contract gives a buyer a due diligence period, and the Real Estate Commission advises finishing inspections early enough in it for the seller to answer a repair request. A general home inspection does not put a camera in the sewer line.

Alpha Drain does plumbing inspections for agents and buyers, and a sewer camera inspection is worth adding on any house near downtown. Properties on acreage outside the subdivisions may be on a private well and a septic system. Union County Environmental Health issues those permits and keeps the records, so ask for them early.

Waxhaw neighborhoods we serve

Downtown Waxhaw, Waxhaw Historic District, Millbridge, Cureton, Lawson, Prescot, Harrison Park, Anklin Forrest, Hunter Oaks, Quellin, Alma Village, Champion Forest, and the streets in between.

Waxhaw ZIP codes we serve: 28173.