Hendersonville Lake Home Plumbing: What's Different About Old Hickory Lake Houses

Lake homes look like any other house from the outside. The plumbing inside often tells a different story.

Long Service Runs, Low Pressure

Houses on the lake side of streets in Hendersonville often sit a long way back from the meter at the street. The service line under the yard can run 100 feet or more, and over distance you lose pressure to friction.

The fix in older homes is usually one of three things: increase the service line diameter, install a pressure-boosting pump, or add a pressure-regulating valve replacement if the existing PRV has failed and is throttling pressure unnecessarily.

Well Systems Still in Use

Plenty of older Hendersonville homes still have a well as the primary water source, especially properties that pre-date neighborhood water hookup. Well plumbing has its own care list:

• Pressure tank bladders eventually fail and need replacement.
• Submersible pumps wear out and need pulling.
• Check valves at the pump and at the pressure switch fail and cause short-cycling.
• Iron, manganese, and sulfur content can foul fixtures and stain laundry.

If you've bought a Hendersonville home with a well, the first plumbing project is usually a pressure tank inspection and a water quality test — before you discover the iron content during your first batch of white laundry.

Irrigation and Backflow Preventers

Lake houses often have larger lots and more landscaping than a typical subdivision home, which means in-ground irrigation. Tennessee requires a backflow preventer between any irrigation system and the household supply, and that backflow preventer needs annual testing by a certified tester.

If you've moved into a Hendersonville home with irrigation and haven't seen a backflow test sticker on the unit, get one scheduled. Failed backflow preventers can let lawn-fertilizer-contaminated water back into your drinking supply.

Boat Dock and Pier Water

Lake-facing properties sometimes have water service run out to the dock for washing boats and rinsing equipment. These lines deserve attention every winter — they need to be blown out and shut off before the first hard freeze, and the backflow at the house side needs to be intact.

Frozen dock lines that burst in February turn into surprise repair calls in May when the system gets pressurized and the leak appears mid-yard.

Septic Systems on Older Properties

Some Hendersonville lake properties, particularly older estates and a few lots that were never connected to the municipal sewer, still run on septic. Septic systems work fine when maintained, but they need pumping every 3-5 years depending on household size and tank capacity.

Signs your septic needs attention:

• Slow drains throughout the house, not just one fixture.
• Gurgling in pipes when nothing is running.
• Sewage smell in the yard, especially over the drain field.
• Greener, lusher grass over the drain field than the rest of the lawn.

Seasonal Lake Home Plumbing Checklist

Before each winter, lake home owners do well to run through:

• Disconnect and drain all outdoor hoses.
• Shut off and drain dock and pier water lines.
• Blow out irrigation and verify the backflow preventer drained properly.
• Insulate any exposed plumbing in the crawl space.
• Test the main shut-off valve to make sure it still turns.

For homes that sit empty in the winter, drop the thermostat no lower than 55°F and consider shutting off the water main and draining the lines if the property will be vacant for an extended period.