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Midlands House Walk
Worried about?

What is worrying you?

Water where it shouldn't bePipes that might be oldA freeze is coming (AI picture)After a floodA smell you can't placeWho to call and what they needWhose water, town by townEvery picture on the walk

Walk round your house and see where the water goes

Five stops around an ordinary Midlands house, in pictures. Tap the place you want to look at.

  1. A brick and stucco bungalow in Melrose Heights seen from the street, with a brick walk across the front lawn1Front yardThe meter, the shutoff and the pipe you pay for
  2. The long side wall of an older two-storey frame house on Senate Street, Columbia2Side of the houseOutdoor taps, the water heater and the pipe down the wall
  3. Looking through an open access panel into a crawlspace with bare dirt and a white drain pipe3Under the houseCrawlspace or slab, damp, and the pipes old houses have
  4. Round green septic access lids set in a mown lawn4Back yardSeptic, soggy ground and the well
  5. A corner in Columbia with curb, street and a picket fence in front of a house5At the streetThe cleanout, tree roots and the sewer line

Swipe along the house: front, side, under, back, street.

Or start from what is worrying you

Water where it shouldn't be: what to do firstPipes that might be old: how to tell AI pictureA freeze is coming: what to do todayAfter a flood: well, septic and the houseA smell you can't place: yard, drain or gasWho to call and what they need

What people look up most

AI pictureGray plastic pipe: could it be polybutylene?Old galvanized pipe: signs and questions to ask AI pictureOutdoor tap dripping or leaking at the wallFind the sewer cleanout in your yard AI pictureLow water pressure: one tap or the whole house?Finding the septic tank in your yard AI pictureSewage coming up a drain: the first hourFind your house shutoff before a pipe breaks

See every picture on the walk

The houses and the water this is about

Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, Lexington, Irmo and Blythewood: crawlspaces and slabs, sand and clay, rivers that came up in 2015, and winters that mostly stay mild until they don't. See whose water serves which town.

A 1950s brick ranch under pines, Charlotte: the type you see across the Midlands too.
A 1950s brick ranch under pines, Charlotte: the type you see across the Midlands too.
A brick cottage and a worn yard, Melrose Heights.
A brick cottage and a worn yard, Melrose Heights.
Floodwater below a Columbia house, October 2015.
Floodwater below a Columbia house, October 2015.
A Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission water tower, Lexington.
A Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission water tower, Lexington.