Appendix B: Walk the place

Take this page and a pencil and walk the property in the order water moves across it, from source to drain. Each line points to its chapter. Everything here is looking, reading and asking. Open no lids, dig nothing, enter no pit, and touch no wiring.

Before you set out

• Leave septic lids and well caps closed, and meter lids too unless your supplier has said you may lift one. Tanks and pits can hold gases that kill quickly, and an open one is a fall hazard.
• Do not dig or probe. Call 811 before any digging, and remember your own lines will not be marked.
• Keep clear of standing water near electrical panels or pump controls.
• If you smell gas or propane anywhere, leave the building first. Use no light switches, phones or flames inside. Call 911 and the gas utility or propane supplier from outside, and do not go back in. See Chapter 33.

Where the water comes from

• Name the water system on the bill, or note that there is none. Chapter 2
• Note whether the road frontage shows any sign of a main, and write down what the utility says it would take to connect. Chapter 1
• Ask whether the membership on the land is active and what remains to be done for service. Chapter 3
• Find this year's annual water report and read its violation lines. Chapter 4
• Write down depths from well reports near the tract, and what the neighbors say. Chapter 5
• Look for a driller's log among the property's papers. Chapter 6

Keeping a well

• Note the date of the last water test, and what it tested for. Chapter 7
• Look at the wellhead from outside: cap in place, casing unbroken, ground around it undisturbed. Chapter 8
• Look for signs the wellhead sits low, and ask whether floodwater has ever covered it. Chapter 9
• Look into the pump house from the door. Note the pressure tank and gauge, and leave the wiring alone. If the well sits in a pit, stay out of it. Chapter 10
• Walk old house sites and fence corners for unused casing or hand-dug wells. Stay well back from anything uncovered, and keep children and animals away. Chapter 11

The long line

• Find the meter box from above, and leave its lid closed unless your supplier has said you may. Ask the office where its responsibility ends. Chapter 12
• Sketch where the line seems to run from the meter to the house, and ask the seller for any drawing. Chapter 13
• Look for cracks in dry clay along that route. Chapter 14
• Look for a green or soggy strip along the route in dry weather, and note it. Chapter 15
• Ask how old the line is and what it is made of. Chapter 16
• At each trough, look for an air gap between the fill pipe and the water, with the pipe above the rim. Ask whether a well and the public line are connected anywhere. Chapter 17

In and under the house

• On a slab house, look for cracks in bare concrete in the garage, and ask about any past leak under the floor. Chapter 18
• On a pier-and-beam house, look at the skirting and vents from outside. Note any wet ground or hanging pipe you can see without going under. Chapter 19
• Look at faucets and spouts for scale, and find out what the water test says before thinking about equipment. Chapter 20
• Look at the water heater from a step back. Note its age and whether a pan sits under it. Leave valves, burners, flues and wiring alone. Chapter 21

Where it goes

• Ask the authorized agent whether a septic permit is on file for this address. Chapter 22
• Note what the permit's site evaluation or planning materials show, if there are any. Chapter 23
• Look at the soil where the field is said to be, and note whether it is clay. Chapter 24
• Look for spray heads, and read any maintenance tag you can see without opening anything. Stay out of the spray. Chapter 25
• Look over the tank and field area for soggy or unusually green patches, sewage smell, and anything parked or built on top. Check by eye that riser lids are in place and undamaged. If one is damaged or missing, keep people and animals away and call a licensed professional. Chapter 26

Weather

• Ask how the place came through the February 2021 freeze, and what was repaired afterward. Chapter 27
• Note hose bibs, well houses, crawl spaces and pipes on exterior walls that would need covering in a hard freeze. Chapter 28
• Find the main water shutoff and make sure everyone in the household knows where it is. Chapter 29
• Note how your water system announces a boil-water notice. Chapter 30

Rules and people

• Note whether the property is a homestead, a rental or a second place, and ask TSBPE what that means before planning plumbing work. Chapter 31
• Note whether the tract lies inside city limits, and ask the city or county who issues permits. Chapter 32
• Look at any propane tank from a distance and find out who the supplier is. Learn the gas steps above before you need them. Chapter 33
• Write down the license number of anyone who has worked here or will, and check it with the state. Chapter 34

Your notes

Keep this page with the deed, the well log and the septic permit. Appendix A lists the offices to ask, county by county.