Checking Bathrooms, Drains and Septic Tanks Before Buying a House

A freshly painted bathroom and shiny tiles can hide a lot. A leak seeping into the next room, a blocked drain and a full septic tank usually only show up after you’ve lived in the house for a few weeks.

In Banjarmasin and the lowlands of South Kalimantan, a high water table and the tides make waste water more complicated. This guide covers what you can check yourself on a viewing.

Bathrooms: start with the floor

A good bathroom floor slopes towards the drain so water doesn’t pool.

• Pour test. Pour a bucket of water on the floor and see whether it runs smoothly to the drain or sits in a corner.
• Tap the tiles. Tap the tiles with a screwdriver handle or your knuckles. A hollow sound can mean the adhesive has let go, sometimes because water got underneath.
• Grout. Blackened, cracked or missing grout lets water under the floor and into the walls.
• Where wall meets floor. Look for cracks along the joint between wall and floor, especially around the water tub (bak mandi) or shower area.

Look for leaks around the bathroom

Bathroom leaks rarely show inside the bathroom itself. The signs turn up somewhere else.

• The wall behind the bathroom. Check the bedroom or kitchen wall that backs onto the bathroom. Bubbling paint, damp plaster or mould at the base of the wall points to seepage.
• The ceiling under an upstairs bathroom. A yellow or brown ring on the ceiling almost always means a leak from above.
• Around the toilet. See whether there’s a small puddle at its base, or whether it rocks.
• Visible pipes. Check the pipes under the sink and near the water heater. Look for drips, rust or joints patched with glue.

The pipes and drains outside the house are covered in checking a home’s water lines and drainage.

Smells from the drains

A bathroom that smells even when clean usually has a drainage problem.

• Floor drains. A good floor drain has a trap, a section that holds a little water so smells from the drain can’t rise. A drain with no trap, or one whose water dries out quickly, will let smells through.
• The toilet. A toilet that isn’t sealed properly to its pipe can smell and seep.
• Vent pipe. A good drainage system has a vent pipe running upwards. Without it, flowing water can suck the traps dry, and drains gurgle when the toilet is flushed.

Flush the toilet a few times and watch whether it drains smoothly, whether other drains gurgle, and whether a smell rises afterwards.

Septic tanks: where it is and its history

You rarely see a septic tank, so you need to ask.

• Where is it? A tank under the carport, garage or house floor is harder to empty. If the access hatch is tiled or concreted over, emptying it means breaking up the floor.
• Is there an access hatch? A good tank has a cover that can be opened for emptying and inspection.
• When was it last emptied? Ask how often it’s usually done too. A tank that hasn’t been emptied for years may be leaking into the ground, or may simply not have needed it, and you want to know which.
• What is it made of? Tanks may be built of brick or concrete, or be factory-made from materials such as fibreglass. Ask whether there’s a soakaway as well.
• How far is it from the well? If the house uses a well, the distance to the septic tank matters to prevent contamination. Checking well water is covered in checking a home’s water on a viewing.

In some parts of the city, houses are connected to a central wastewater network. Ask whether this house is, and who runs it.

High water tables and tides

On swamp and peat ground, groundwater sits close to the surface. That affects a septic tank in several ways:

• A tank that isn’t watertight can fill with groundwater and fill up quickly.
• A soakaway struggles to work when the ground is already saturated.
• At high tide or in heavy rain, drains can slow down or water can back up.

Ask the seller and neighbours whether the toilet or floor drains have ever overflowed in heavy rain or at high tide. Some older houses on riverbanks or over swamp discharge straight into a canal or the river. If you find this, factor in the cost of building a proper septic tank. Our guide to homes on Banjarmasin’s swampland describes the area in more detail.

Water heater, taps and fittings

Before leaving the bathroom, check the fittings too.

• Taps and shower. Turn them all on and see whether any keep dripping once closed. Scale on the tap spouts points to water high in minerals or iron.
• Water heater. Ask what type it is (electric, gas or solar) and how old it is. Turn it on and wait for hot water. An electric heater needs proper wiring and a safety cut-out.
• Ventilation. A bathroom with no window or fan stays damp, and mould grows quickly on the ceiling and grout.
• The door. A bathroom door that is rotting or swollen at the bottom is a sign water often pools on the floor.

Price the repairs

Bathroom and drainage problems can usually be fixed, but the cost can grow quickly if the floor has to come up or the tank has to move. Before making an offer, ask a builder or contractor to look at what you found and give an estimate. That number can go into your negotiation.

Things you may need to budget for:

• Taking up and relaying tiles with a waterproofing layer.
• Replacing pipes or adding a vent pipe.
• Adding an access hatch to the septic tank.
• Emptying or replacing the septic tank.

In short

Pour water on the floor, tap the tiles, check the walls and ceilings around the bathroom, flush the toilet a few times, and ask where the septic tank is and when it was last emptied. Where the water table is high, ask what happens in heavy rain and at high tide. A wider checklist for used houses is in our used house inspection checklist.

If you’re looking for a home in South Kalimantan and would like help on a viewing, the Vorneo Property team is happy to come along.