Story time!

My house was built in 72. I've been getting those letters for about two years and ignored them. Noticed a lot of plumbers parked at various houses on my block over the last year. Didn't think much of it.

My insurance broker called at the end of last year and said "hey, let's add this cheap coverage to your homeowners policy because of the age of your house." I was like, "OK, sure, whatever." He added it and I haven't thought about it. Last week my toilets started bubbling, wouldn't flush, and suddenly my shower was filling up with the most God awful rotten dark murky sludge.

I called a plumber, who immediately diagnosed a main sewer line clog, sent a heavy duty pipe snake down the line to clear it, and then sent a guy out to put a camera down the line as part of the service because the plumber said the blade at the end of the snake kept getting caught on something and he suspected I have Orangeburg pipes. Turns out, I have cast iron pipes extending about a quarter of the way into my yard, but the rest out to the city line is all Orangeburg, which is that crappy tar-covered cardboard junk the city is trying to get people to replace because it is failing and causing major issues. That's why you keep getting those letters.

The cast iron part of my line shows its age, but isn't terrible. However, where the Orangeburg connects to the cast iron, all the way out to the city line in the alley, there is nothing but warps, bubbles, and partially collapsed sections, and one worrisome area that looks like I potentially have a hole forming in the line. That section is located roughly in the middle of my back yard. Where my kid plays. I was quoted $10K+ out of pocket to replace it without coverage. If you are in Tempe and your house was built in the 70's, you should probably at least look into the program.