Annual Plumbing Maintenance Plan

What the annual plan is, in plain terms

Most plumbing calls start with a symptom. Water on the floor, a toilet that runs all night, a water heater that went cold on a Sunday. By then the failure has already happened. The annual plan flips that order. We come out once a year, walk the system from the meter to the last drain, and write down what we find while things are still working.

We aren’t going to list a price, a number of extra visits or a set of perks here, because we’d rather explain the plan on the phone and fit it to the property. What we can tell you is what a real yearly check looks like, item by item, and that’s what the rest of this page covers.

The goal of each visit is simple. You end up with a short written list: what’s fine, what’s wearing, and what should be fixed before it fails. Some items we can handle during the visit. Others become a repair you can schedule on your own timeline instead of in an emergency.

The yearly checklist at a glance

This is the core of the visit. Not every home has every item (a city-water condo has no well tank, and many homes have no gas), so we skip what doesn’t apply and spend the time where it does.

Water heater: flush, anode, T&P valve and expansion tank

The water heater gets the most time on the visit because it has the most parts that wear and the most water ready to leak. For a tank heater, we drain a few gallons off the bottom and look at what comes out. Grit and shell-like flakes mean sediment is building on the bottom, which makes the heater louder and less efficient and can overheat the lower tank on gas units. If the sediment is heavy, we flush it.

The anode rod is the part most people have never heard of. It’s a sacrificial rod, usually magnesium or aluminum, that corrodes so the steel tank doesn’t. Once it’s eaten down to the core wire, the tank starts to go. Softened water tends to burn through anodes faster, and a rotten-egg smell from the hot side only is often a magnesium anode reacting with the water. We pull the anode where it can be removed and tell you how much is left.

• T&P valve: we confirm it’s there, check that it isn’t weeping, and trace the discharge pipe. It should run full size to an approved spot, usually ending within a few inches of the floor or at a drain, never capped or plumbed uphill.
• Expansion tank: on a closed system (a PRV, check valve or backflow device at the meter), heated water has nowhere to expand. We tap the tank and check the air charge at the Schrader valve. A tank that’s full of water is doing nothing.
• Pan and drain: heaters in attics, closets and second floors need a pan with a working drain line. We check that it’s there and not clogged with debris.
• Gas units: venting, draft hood position, burner flame and the connector to the gas valve. Electric units: signs of overheating at the wiring cover.

Tankless heaters get a different check: inlet screen, error code history, scale on the heat exchanger and whether isolation valves are installed for descaling. More detail on replacement options is on our water heater page.

Water pressure, the PRV and the meter leak test

We screw a gauge onto a hose bib or the water heater drain and read static pressure with nothing running. The Florida plumbing code, like the model code it’s based on, calls for a pressure reducing valve when static pressure exceeds 80 psi. Most homes do best somewhere in the 50 to 70 psi range.

A reading in range isn’t the end of it. A PRV that’s failing often lets pressure creep up overnight. So we note the reading, and if something looks off, we leave the gauge’s drag needle set and recheck. Thermal expansion from the water heater can also spike pressure on a closed system, which ties back to the expansion tank. If your house has banging pipes, a toilet fill valve that hisses, or faucets that spit, the details are on our water pressure problems page.

The meter test

With every fixture off, irrigation off and the ice maker paused, we watch the meter’s low-flow indicator. That’s the small triangle, star or dial that spins at very low flow. If it moves, water is going somewhere. Then we split the problem: close the house shutoff and see if the meter stops. If it stops, the leak is inside. If it keeps moving, it’s on the service line between the meter and the house.

This one test matters more here than in a lot of places. Most SWFL homes are slab-on-grade, so a leak under the floor can run for months with no visible sign except the bill.

Supply lines, stop valves and toilets

Every sink, toilet, ice maker and washer has a short supply line and a stop valve behind it. These are cheap parts that cause expensive damage. We look for braided lines that are bulging, kinked or rusted at the crimp, lines with plastic coupling nuts that can crack, and old solid chrome or vinyl lines that are past their life.

Then we turn each stop off and back on. A multi-turn stop that hasn’t moved in ten years often won’t close all the way, or it starts to drip at the stem once it’s disturbed. Better to find that on a planned visit than while water is pouring out of a cracked tank.

Toilets

• Dye test: a few drops of color in the tank, wait, and check the bowl. Color in the bowl means the flapper is leaking.
• Flapper condition: Lee County Utilities uses chloramine for disinfection, with periodic free chlorine flushes. Chloramine is known to break down rubber faster, so flappers in this area tend to warp and harden.
• Fill valve: water level set below the overflow tube, no hissing, no slow refill.
• Base: we rock the bowl. Movement means the wax seal can fail and leak into the subfloor or slab.

If a toilet needs more than a part, our toilet repair page covers repair versus replacement.

Visible piping: polybutylene, CPVC and copper

We look at every pipe we can reach: under sinks, at the water heater, at the softener, in the garage and, where there’s safe access, in the attic. We’re identifying the material and its condition.

• Polybutylene: gray (sometimes blue or black) flexible pipe, often with crimp rings, installed widely from the late 1970s into the mid 1990s. Many Florida insurers won’t write or renew a policy with active PB.
• CPVC: cream or tan rigid plastic, common in SWFL homes built in the 1990s and 2000s. It gets brittle with age, especially in hot attics, and older runs can crack when bumped or when a valve is turned.
• Copper: we look for green or white crust at joints, pinhole leaks and thin spots where pipe passes through framing.
• PEX: we check fittings, support and that it’s kept out of direct sunlight in exposed spots.

We don’t cut into walls on a maintenance visit. We report what’s visible and what it suggests about the rest of the system. If polybutylene turns up, our polybutylene replacement page explains the options.

Softener, filter, hose bibs and outdoor fixtures

Softeners are set-and-forget until they aren’t. We check the brine tank for salt bridging (a crust that looks full but leaves the water below unsalted), confirm the bypass is in service position, read the timer or meter settings, and look for a proper air gap on the drain line. Whole-house and under-sink filters get a date check and a look for bypassed or cracked housings.

Outside, every hose bib is opened and closed. We look for drips at the stem and packing nut, a loose bib that wiggles in the wall, and a missing or failed vacuum breaker. That little screw-on device stops dirty water from being pulled back into your drinking water if pressure drops while a hose is sitting in a pool, a bucket of fertilizer or a pressure washer tank.

Drains, cleanouts and pumps

We run water at every fixture and watch it go down. Slow drains, gurgling at a tub when the toilet flushes, or a drain that backs up when the washer empties all point to a partial blockage or a venting issue. Many SWFL homes built before the 1980s have cast iron under the slab, and slow flow plus odor is often the first sign it’s scaling or cracking.

We also find the cleanouts. In a lot of homes they’ve been buried in mulch, paved over or capped with a broken lid. A cleanout you can’t reach turns a simple drain call into a toilet pull or worse. If something looks wrong down the line, a camera inspection is the next step, and we’ll say so.

Sump and ejector pumps

Homes with a bathroom or laundry below the sewer line, or a pool house tied in by pump, have an ejector. We lift the float to make sure the pump starts, listen for the check valve closing, test the alarm if there is one, and check the basin lid seal for odor.

Backflow, gas connectors and well systems

Testable backflow assemblies on irrigation or fire lines are usually tracked by the water utility, and annual testing is common under local cross-connection programs. The annual visit is a visual check: leaks, damage, missing test cock caps or a cracked enclosure. If your utility sends a test notice, that’s a separate service covered on our backflow testing page.

On gas homes, we look at the flexible connectors behind the water heater, range and dryer. Old uncoated brass connectors have been the subject of federal safety warnings for decades, and we’ll tell you if we see one. We also check that each appliance has its own shutoff and that connectors aren’t kinked or pushed through a wall or cabinet.

Well pressure tank

For homes on a private well, we read the pressure switch cut-in and cut-out, then shut the pump off, drain the tank and check the air precharge. A common rule is precharge about 2 psi below cut-in. A waterlogged tank makes the pump short-cycle, which wears it out early. More on pumps is on our well pump page.

Seasonal homeowners

If you spend half the year up north, the house sits with no one running water for months in heat and humidity. That’s when small problems grow. A flapper that runs for six months. A supply line that bursts in July with nobody home. P-traps that dry out and let sewer gas into the house.

We suggest timing the annual visit near the end of your stay or right after you arrive, so we can catch anything before the house is closed up or put back in service. Our seasonal home plumbing checklist covers what to do yourself on the way out the door.

Landlords, property managers and condo owners

For rental owners, the value is in the written record. Tenants rarely report a running toilet or a weeping heater until it’s a bigger problem. A yearly walk-through puts a dated note on file for each unit: heater age and condition, pressure reading, valves that need replacing. That makes turnover and budgeting easier. Our property manager and HOA page covers how we work with managed portfolios.

Condo owners have a different problem. A leak in your unit doesn’t stay in your unit. Water heaters in closets, washer boxes and toilet supply lines are the usual sources of unit-to-unit water damage. Many associations have their own rules on heater age or shutoff valves, so we check against what your building requires. See our condo plumbing page for more.

Getting ready for a 4-point inspection

Florida insurers often ask for a 4-point inspection on older homes, commonly those 30 years or older, before writing or renewing a policy. It covers roof, electrical, HVAC and plumbing. On the plumbing side, inspectors note the water heater’s age and condition, the pipe material, and any active leaks or signs of past leaks.

An annual check is a good way to clear the obvious problems before the inspector shows up: a weeping T&P valve, a heater with no pan, a corroded fitting under a sink. We can’t promise how an insurer will rule, but we can tell you what an inspector is likely to see and what’s worth fixing first. If polybutylene is in the house, that’s usually the item that decides it.

For plan details and pricing, call (239) 518-4198, email help@homeflowfl.com or use our request form.