What is worrying you: pipes that might be old

Pipes that might be old: how to tell

Old house plumbing shows itself in the material: gray flexible plastic may be polybutylene, dull threaded steel may be galvanized, and lead pipes are more likely in homes built before 1986¹. Color alone isn’t proof, so ask a licensed plumber or your utility.

Start at the crawlspace hatch with a flashlight, then finish at the meter box out front.

Updated November 4, 2026, Midlands House Walk

Heavily corroded lengths of old pipe half-buried in broken rubble — Corroded old cast-iron water pipes in rubble after being dug up. Nobody sees a pipe like this until the ground is open, so go by the parts that show.

Flexible gray pipe with copper crimp rings running along wooden floor joists — Gray flexible pipe with copper crimp rings on crawlspace joists. If yours looks like this, take a photo from the hatch for a plumber. AI-generated picture.

Gray, flexible plastic

Look for: From the hatch, look for flexible pipe in gray, silver or blue². Rings at the joints are worth a close photo.
What it tells you: It could be polybutylene, which a 2000 law-firm paper says went into an estimated 6 million homes plus 3 million mobile homes from 1978². Have a plumber confirm it. The gray pipe stop goes further.

Hand holding a sawn-off length of pipe, rust caked inside the opening — A cut length of old galvanized pipe with rust caked inside the opening. From the outside it looked like plain gray steel.

Rust you can't see from outside

Look for: Look for dull gray threaded steel at the water heater or the hatch, and notice whether pressure is weak at several taps.
What it tells you: Galvanized means iron or steel dipped in zinc, and a galvanized service line can take up lead from upstream³. The galvanized stop lists the questions to ask.

Dull gray pipe at the bottom of a dug hole in a garden, running toward a house — An old lead water service pipe in an open hole in a Washington, D.C. garden. Yours is buried too, so ask about it before anyone digs.

The line from the street

Look for: You can’t see this one. Ask your utility what its service line inventory shows for your address³, and ask about the line under your yard.
What it tells you: Testing is the only sure way to know about lead, at $20 to $100¹. Use cold water for drinking and formula, and remember that boiling doesn’t remove lead.

Hand aiming a flashlight into an open wooden hatch in a brick foundation — A flashlight held at an open crawlspace hatch. A few clear photos from here will save a plumber’s first question. AI-generated picture.

Look from the opening

Look for: Take photos of each kind of pipe you can see, keeping your feet outside. From the hatch tells you what else to check.
What it tells you: Mixed pipe is normal in an older house, since repairs get made in whatever was current. It tells you parts of the system have already been replaced.

Is there still money from the polybutylene settlement?

The 2000 paper describes class actions and a settlement². Whether any claim fund is open today was not checked for this page, so treat old claims about one with care and ask a lawyer if it matters to you.

Yours to do

Photograph every pipe you can see, with a note of where each one is.
Ask the utility about your service line, and who keeps the part past the meter. In Columbia Water’s area that part is the homeowner’s⁴.
Consider a lead test if the house was built before 1986¹.

For a licensed pro

Confirming the pipe material, since color alone doesn’t settle it.
Replacing old pipe, and telling you whether the job needs a permit.
Any work that means going under the house. Stay out if there is standing water, sewage, live wiring or a gas smell.