🕵️‍♂️ Brand-New, Broken? The Case of the Disappearing Water Pressure

🕵️‍♂️The Inspection Insider

The Inside Scoop for Buyers, Sellers, and Realtors

This Week's Inspector Spotlight: New Home, No water???

Brand-new homes are supposed to be flawless, right? No leaks, no cracks, no weird smells—and definitely no mysteries.

But during one recent inspection, I discovered something that left all of us scratching our heads. Imagine standing in a pristine bathroom, turning on the tap… and watching the water pressure disappear like a magician’s trick.

That new home smell
It was a fresh build. Never lived in. Everything still had that new-home smell. Cabinets were spotless, the paint was pristine, and the furnace had zero dust in the filter. This place was supposed to be perfect. I was there doing a pre-possession inspection for the buyer—a young woman excited to move in.

The inspection was going exactly how you'd expect with a new build: smooth and boring. That is, until I turned on the tap in the ensuite bathroom.

The Problem
I opened the faucet and heard… nothing. Then a trickle. Then whoosh—the water surged to life like normal.

Odd, but maybe just air in the line.

Then I flushed the toilet. The pressure dropped. No water at all.

I walked back to the kitchen. Same story. Turn on the faucet: a few seconds of normal flow, then a gurgle, and gone. It was like the entire house had a 5-gallon water limit—and once you used it, it needed a nap.

The buyer looked at me nervously. “Is this normal for a new house?”
No. No, it is not.

The Major Event
We tested every fixture. Same result. Full pressure at first, then silence. Like the house was playing hard to get.

This wasn’t a minor glitch. A new home with intermittent water pressure is a big red flag.

I went down to the utility room. All the shutoffs were open. Nothing kinked, nothing leaking. Everything looked fine.

So we waited a few minutes and the cycle repeated itself.

That’s when I asked the realtor to call the builder.

The builder was dumfounded as well. “It worked perfect last week” he said.

So we had to reschedule the inspection until the builder had the problem resolved.

I got a call 2 days later to come back for the inspection.

Lesson Learned
The builder had forgotten to pay the water bill with the city. The city had turned the water off outside but not all the way, that’s why we had intermittent water pressure.

The buyer was stunned. Their “turnkey dream home” wasn’t ready to be lived in. If she had moved in without catching this, they’d have no reliable water—and good luck showering before work.

To the builder’s credit, once we flagged the issue, they took care of it right away. But if the buyer had skipped the inspection, it would’ve been a nightmare when she moved in.

This is exactly why you always get an inspection—even on a brand-new build.

Because what looks perfect… just might not be.

Services to a new home need to be hooked up prior to the home inspection. That includes water, gas and electricity.

The $3,000 Heating Bill and the Attic That Time Forgot
When a homeowner called us complaining that his brand-new house was freezing in winter and boiling in summer, we expected a minor airflow issue. What we found was jaw-dropping: a one-year-old home with zero insulation in the attic. The builder told him it was “normal.” Spoiler: it wasn’t. This one could cost the homeowner thousands—and it all could’ve been avoided with one look in the attic.

Ron Henderson, CMI
Certified Master Inspector

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