CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — People looking to buy a home might find the process tedious when it comes to inspections.
KRIS 6 News reporter Tony Jaramillo spoke with home experts, including a Jonathan Mares a realtor, Scott Wiley, a home inspector A Starand Dean Johnson, owner of Eagle Foundation Repair. All three said they absolutely recommend a hydrostatic test when buying a home.
"It would keep you from having to do thousands to possibly tens of thousands in foundation repairs in the future," said Dean Johnson.
"So it's real important that we do a static test to prevent having to have foundation repair work done to your home," Johnson said.
"It's money well spent. That's just my opinion because it goes hand in hand with the foundation," Scott Wiley said.
"I think it's essential. I've done it, I actually remodel houses as well. In my experience remodeling properties it's something I always do," Jonathan Mares said.
Scott Wiley, a real estate inspector in town, demonstrated with a water jug how the test works. He said, think of the water jug as the drain line in your home and the drain line gets filled with water, and the other end gets plugged with a rubber ball.
"So right now, if we filled this full of water and it held, then the test would pass. But if it already had a hole or a crack in it and we started to fill this full of water and it goes down, then it's absolutely telling you it has a leak," Wiley said.
Wiley added that there is a common misconception that the test could damage the pipes. He says it is not true, as only water is in the system during the test. He said any cracks that the test revealed would have already been there.
Wiley also said plumbers have told him one in four of the pre-built homes in Corpus Christi fail this test and that one out of ten new builds fail.
Dean Johnson identified the areas most prone to this issue and the causes of the failures: "Calallen, the Southside of Corpus. Kings Crossing. The Lakes."
"It's due to the fact of the unstable soils that we live in; it causes heaving and up and down on our foundation, which causes foundation damage," Johnson said.
All three said that the price is typically around $100 for this test, which they believe is worth the savings in potential repairs.
"I had one person tell me hers to repair hers was $11,000 . I've had a plumber tell me between that and a reroute was $35,000.
Click here to learn more about hydrostatic tests.
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