I am in a house that sat vacant for about a year with no running water. When I replaced one faucet in the bathroom I noticed a lot of build up of rust or clay in the drain pipes. Would a snake help or is there a need to replace all of the plumbing? Or is there something that is environmentally friendly that I can run through the drains? I am purchasing the home, so I'd like to know what I'm getting into.

Hi Aaron... well, if drains sat dry that long, when you run water down the pipes anything that was in the drain has dried up and now when re-wetted may start to clog the drain lines... You can try some of the chemical drain cleaners for this (sold at home supply stores)... but chemical or snake will be determined by just how clogged drains were before the water was shut off.

I think the bigger issue here will be your toilets... toilet parts do not like to sit dry for very long, so be aware and test your toilet tank for leaks (drop food color drop into toilet tanks overnight and see if color shows up in bowls). If color shows then need to replace the flappers.. maybe the flush valve and fill valve, too... depending on how old was before water was shut down.

I would also drain the water heater (if present) and flush the water heater (hook hose onto drain at water heater and with water on full, open the drain and flush for 10-15 minutes).

CHECK THIS STUFF OUT... GET BACK TO ME.

The toilet tanks are actually fine. I did test these first. The only issues that I have seen are from my bathroom sink and one side of my kitchen sink. I also, just this weekend, replaced the bath faucet and when I turned the water back on in the house, all of the faucets pushed out some sort of red rusty sediment. I don't know if this is rust build up or if this is because of the part of the city (charlottesville, va) that I'm in.

Flush the water heater and the water lines. Good luck.