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Plumbing Inspection in Anacortes, WA
Anacortes turns over at about the national middle: 23% of its owner households arrived in 2018 or later. Common enough that most people know somebody who has had a report, rare enough that few have read the exclusions in one.
The one-paragraph answer
23% of owners in Anacortes bought in 2018 or later, an ordinary rate. Ordinary is where the usual mistake happens, which is assuming the inspection covered the plumbing: the buried lateral is excluded by both published standards.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25038.
When Anacortes moved in
An average rate hides two different populations: recent buyers with a report, and long-standing owners without one. The advice for the two is not the same.
| Owner households in Anacortes | Share of all owners |
|---|---|
| Moved in 2021 or later | 5% |
| Moved in 2018–2020 | 18% |
| Moved in 2010–2017 | 30% |
| Moved in before 2010 | 47% |
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B25038 (tenure by year householder moved into unit), 2023 release. Universe: 10,382 occupied housing units, of which 7,566 are owner-occupied. This counts when the CURRENT occupant moved in, so it measures recent moves as a share of the housing stock — not a rate of sales per year.
What the inspection will not cover
Clothes washer connections are excluded, which surprises people because the machine is in the house and plumbed into it. The supply valves behind it and the standpipe it drains into were not part of the job.
Source: InterNACHI Home Inspection Standards of Practice; ASHI Standard of Practice.
What it is required to cover
The covered list is shorter than the excluded one and it is not thin. Every fixture run, every toilet flushed, the drain-waste-vent system described, the water heater and its venting examined, the shut-offs located. That is a real morning of work and it is worth knowing it happened.
The full list of obligations is published here. Reading it once is what stops a standard note from looking like a finding.
What to do about it
Ask a contractor what would have to be opened up to answer the question, rather than asking for a number. A quote given without that step is a guess with a figure attached to it.
Everything above comes from documents you can read yourself: the exclusions, the requirements, and why a camera down the lateral is never part of it.
Other Washington towns we route in
- Bellevue 20% of owners moved in since 2018
- Renton 22% of owners moved in since 2018
- Washougal 27% of owners moved in since 2018
- Lynnwood 22% of owners moved in since 2018
- Lake Stevens 24% of owners moved in since 2018
Checking a plumber in Washington
Checking a credential in Washington
Washington licenses are issued by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, which publishes a public search you can use before work begins.
Inspection report in front of you?Read us the plumbing lines and nothing else — we do not want the document. We will route you to a contractor covering your area who can quote the items on it, and you are never charged by us. Not only inspection items: Anacortes gets routed whatever is needed.
Call (888) 764-3501