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Plumbing Inspection in Seattle, WA
In Seattle, 23% of owner households moved in during 2018 or later — close to the middle of the towns we cover. Enough movement that inspections are routine, not enough that anybody treats them as routine.
The one-paragraph answer
23% of owners in Seattle 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 Seattle 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 Seattle | Share of all owners |
|---|---|
| Moved in 2021 or later | 7% |
| Moved in 2018–2020 | 16% |
| 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: 449,727 occupied housing units, of which 213,440 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
Fire suppression and sprinkler systems are outside the inspection. In a house that has one, the system most likely to matter in an emergency is the one nobody was asked to look at.
Source: InterNACHI Home Inspection Standards of Practice; ASHI Standard of Practice.
What it is required to cover
Sump pumps are in scope on both standards — InterNACHI for drainage pumps with an accessible float, ASHI for sewage ejectors and sump pumps. Accessible is the whole qualifier. A float nobody can reach is not a float anybody tested.
Worth ten minutes before you read your own report: everything the two standards require, in the order an inspector does it.
What to do about it
Two categories are worth chasing before you exchange: water somewhere it should not be, and anything the report could not see the end of. Both are open-ended, and open-ended is what moves a price.
The two standards are published in full and worth ten minutes: what is excluded, what is covered, and why the drains outside the house are a separate instruction.
Other Washington towns we route in
- Everson 16% of owners moved in since 2018
- Lynden 32% of owners moved in since 2018
- Renton 22% of owners moved in since 2018
- Camas 27% of owners moved in since 2018
- Federal Way 21% 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. Any Seattle job at all can be put through here.
Call (888) 764-3501