Enter the year your home was built and see which sewer and water line materials it most likely has, and how far along their service life they are.
This is a guide by era, not an inspection. Only a camera run shows what is actually underground.
Builders used what was standard in their day. Clay and cast iron came first, then Orangeburg fiber pipe in the postwar years until 1972, cast iron drains until about 1975, and PVC and ABS plastic after that. On the water side, galvanized steel gave way to copper by 1960, polybutylene ran from 1978 to 1995, and PEX took over after 2000.
House age varies across our Colorado places. In Denver about 57 percent of homes were built before 1980 and the median year is 1974. In Akron about 84 percent were, with a median of 1957, and in Fort Collins about 31 percent, with a median of 1992. The checker starts from the median year for the place you pick.
Clay joints let roots in. Cast iron rusts from the inside until the bottom of the pipe channels through. Orangeburg softens and goes oval. Polybutylene lets go at its fittings without warning. The checker sets the age of your home against the typical service life of each material, so you can see which ones are near the end.
The era of the home sets the base score. Large trees near a jointed line add to it, and so do symptoms such as slow drains at several fixtures, gurgling, a backup or a soggy yard. The risk class combines all of them.
A low result means nothing here points at the line right now. An elevated or high result means a camera inspection is worth booking. It does not mean the line has failed.
A plumber runs a camera from the cleanout through the line and records the material, the joints, any low spots, roots or breaks, and the distance to each. That video is what turns a full replacement question into a spot repair question, or clears the line entirely.
Orangeburg is sewer pipe made of wood fiber pressed with tar, sold from about 1945 to 1972. It softens with age, flattens into an oval and lets roots in. Homes built in that window are the ones to check, and only a camera inspection confirms it.
Polybutylene is the gray plastic supply pipe installed from 1978 to 1995. It degrades on contact with treated water and tends to fail at fittings with no warning. A home from that window deserves a look by a plumber even without a leak.
About 50 to 60 years by the usual life-expectancy charts. Cast iron installed before 1975 is at or past that now. It fails from the inside, so the pipe can look sound while the bottom has rusted through.
The pipe material and size, the route to the street or septic tank, low spots that hold water, offset or broken joints, root intrusion, scale, and the distance from the cleanout to any problem. The plumber can show you the recording.
Roots follow moisture and find their way into joints on clay, cast iron and Orangeburg lines, then thicken until they block or split the pipe. Glued plastic joints keep roots out, though a large root can still crush a shallow line.
No. Many old lines are cleared, spot repaired or lined and go on working. The camera inspection is what separates a line with one bad joint from one that has failed along its length.
Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2023 for housing age, Daymet winter data 2015 to 2024 for each place, and typical service lives from the InterNACHI life-expectancy chart with documented material eras (Orangeburg 1945 to 1972, polybutylene 1978 to 1995).
Ring for a free, personalized quote. Mention the problem, the room it is in and the year the house was built. If it is a cabin or second home, tell us that too, since a house that sits cold for weeks raises its own questions.
Call (855) 321-3426